Integritea

Fact and fiction should contrast as dramatically as black and white. Strangely that truth does not seem to hold anymore as the world enters a state of altered reality reminiscent of that which George Orwell described in 1949. In this dimension, it is not the State that is Big Brother, but something far worse. The history of tea is marked by more than the occasional subterfuge. Since Robert Fortune disguised himself as a Chinese Peasant to learn the art of producing tea in 1842, through to the Opium Wars and Boston Tea Party, tea has been no stranger to conspiracy and conflict. However the conspiracy in which tea finds itself involved in the 21st Century is one that is against tea itself. A Georgetown University Medical Centre study presented at the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism suggests that women who drink tea are more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Ignoring EULAR president, Prof Paul Emery’s words, "We do assert the need for caution in the inte...

Two mugs of Dilmah : one bright and one not

Two mugs of tea, made using the same Dilmah Single Origin Pure Ceylon teabag, brewed for the same time in identical porcelain mugs and tasted seconds apart in the same conditions – yet entirely different. One has brightness, depth and strength, with the wonderful balance of richness and flavour that is the hallmark of Ceylon’s Dimbula region orthodox teas. The other, pungency but without depth, and strength without the diverse notes that formed the more complex character of the other tea. In appearance, they are similarly different to each other – the former a bright burgundy, with a tinge of orange around the edges where the tea ...

Tea is a perfect beverage to soothe us through these troubled times and yet its 5,000 year history is punctuated more by conflict than calm. The Opium Wars of the 1800s, the ‘Tea Party Rebellions’ in the US in 1773 and their modern day equivalent in 2009, have all given tea an undeservedly dramatic heritage. In reality it is serenity that defines tea; the story behind your cup of tea begins in the ‘nurseries’ in the mountains of Sri Lanka where like infants, the young tea plants are nurtured and prepared for planting. Several years on, as the plants start producing ‘flush’ – the tender shoots consisting of two leaves and bud – they are harvested by hand in an artistic tradition. (more...)...

Lenin wrote that ‘a lie told often enough becomes the truth.’ Generations of politicians before and after him have relied on this wisdom. Corporations have followed suit, and even tea has not been spared its vile influence. White Tea, is in many ways a most refined form of tea. Nurturing real white tea – such as the Silver Tips we produce on some of our tea gardens – requires enormous commitment and expertise. From the special cultivar of Camellia Sinensis that is used to make White Tea, to the gentle handpicking of the buds and their expertly supervised preparation, it is a labour of love. There is art, expertise and dedication in produ...

Infusions for size matters (15NOV08)

Mastering the art of tea can take a lifetime, but understanding a few simple but important aspects of tea can be crucial to the appreciation of tea. Some of the ‘tea masters’ who have tasked themselves with educating tea drinkers about tea have unfortunately perpetuated some of the myths about tea. Chief amongst these is the common refrain about ‘Dust’ tea, meaning small leaf or fine grain tea. Wikipedia suggests that, “Dust tea is a low-quality grade of fine grained black tea. Traditionally these were treated as the rejects of the manufacturing process in making high quality leaf tea like the Orange Pekoe. When leaves break o...

Warsaw 8th Oct 08 - judging Poland Tea Sommelier 2008 (ed)

Putting on the kettle and brewing up a cuppa sounds simple doesn’t it. It’s not – not because it is complicated – but because most people just don’t take the simple precautions to get it right. Like selecting garden fresh, origin packed tea and brewing black tea for at least 3 minutes to get the full benefit of natural goodness in tea and its flavour. (more...)...

Fears of global recession have corporate planners scurrying to improve their financial prospects, mainly by cutting costs. The snappily titled programmes that are the outcome of these are obviously intended for the consumption of Wall Street, but are they fair on consumers and the worker? (more...)...

Here's where it all starts, the two tender leaves and the bud. Picking tea by hand, as we do in Sri Lanka, ensures that we use just these two leaves and bud, not the third and fourth leaves which introduce coarse, undesirable characteristics to the tea. Antioxidants in tea are concentrated in the bud, making real white tea (not the many pretenders which claim to be white, but are really green or black) deliciously, naturally good for you. White Tea in its pure form consists only of the bud - in fact a special cultivar of Camellia Sinensis with a particularly slender bud, covered in tiny, fine silvery 'fur'. This gives Ceylon Silver Tips, its characteristic appearance. Read all about it here....

Terry Durack, the Independent newspaper's (UK) restaurant critic and gourmet wrote some years ago in his Food for Thought column: Coffee and tea measure our lives. As youngsters, most of us start with tea, then we leave its safer pleasures behind for the racy glamour of espresso as we venture out into the world. Later we move back, retreating from the aggressive nature of the bean to the gentler leaf, marking a circle as perfect as that left by a mug on an oak table. The real difference is that we drink coffee because we need it, and tea because we like it. In the same column, he writes, Coffee is a fix, tea is a palliative. If coffee speeds things up, then tea slows them down. The urbane and elegant nature of tea is something that our time poor society has robbed itself of. Yet the faster our pace of life, the more vital become those aspects of tea in fuelling that lifestyle. The calming, relaxing and often inspiring taste, aroma and appearance of tea and the sense of pleasure goo...

Tea, in the late 1700s and early 1800s was surrounded by intrigue, conspiracy and even war, although not so now. Or so we thought until a few years ago, 'white tea' seemed to take on a new shine, for the major tea brands. Nothing ominous in that I hear you say, but what was ominous was that in none of these packs could we find real White Tea. One or two had a few leaves of white tea although together that real white tea content was less than 2% of the net weight of the tea in those packs. White Tea is handmade tea, consisting of the tender bud of a special cultivar of camellia sinensis. It has a certain distinct, silvery appearance and produces a light and refined liquor. The 'white teas' we found on supermarket shelves, and still do for that matter, was in fact green oolong or in some cases even black tea. It soon became apparent that this form of 'white tea' was in fact the response of marketers in the major tea companies, to flagging tea sales. Their efforts to find the silver bullet tha...

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