Drinking tea is a part of my lifestyle and my diet. In fact, I drink at least a pot of tea everyday. My favorite tea is Sencha (green tea from Japan) followed by Genmaicha (green tea with roasted rice) and then Oolong tea (from China). I love teas because of its health benefits and because they bring back some childhood memories.
When I was younger, I used to drink those teas in teabags like for example Lipton and Twinings. Those teas are good but when I was introduced to Japanese loose tea, I fell in love with it instantly. From that moment, I knew that I have to order Japanese tea right away.
My partner introduced Oolong tea to me. Oolong’s aroma and taste has captivated my senses too and some memories from my past came back (I got a bit sentimental then.), like when I was sick my mom or grandma used to give me this kind of tea to me. I am not Chinese but I grew up with some Chinese culture in me because first I was surrounded by Chinese friends. Second, my great grandfather (according to my grandpa) was 1/4 or 1/2 Chinese. Then last, my grandfather’s business establishment was just a couple of blocks away from Manila’s China Town so he had lots of Chinese customers and made friends from that community too. So every year I got lots of Chinese stuff/gifts like moon cakes, hongbao (red envelope) and li hing mui (red salty dried plum) from my grandpa’s friends. I learned some Chinese words and characters/alphabets as well but too bad I cannot remember them anymore.
I cannot read what the tea packet says here. Well, some of the packets has the Latin alphabet translations but not this pack in the picture. How I wish we had Chinese at school! I thought that it was Oolong tea but when I opened the packet it was not Oolong leaves inside but red tea. At first I did not know what kind of tea it was but thanks to Mr. Wikipedia I found the answer. Here it is:
In Chinese and the languages of neighboring countries, black tea is known as “red tea” (Japanese 紅茶 kōcha; Korean 홍차 hongcha, Bengali লাল চা Lal cha, Assamese ৰঙা চাহ Ronga chah), a description of the colour of the liquid; the Western term “black tea” refers to the colour of the oxidized leaves. In Chinese, “black tea” is a commonly used classification for post-fermented teas, such as Pu-erh tea; outside of China and its neighbouring countries, “red tea” more commonly refers to rooibos, a South African herbal tea.
Moving on, this post is by the way my take on this week’s The Daily Post’s challenge, Alphabet.
The Rebel Chic 
It sounds like you have tried done wonderful teas. I need to try green tea more. I love your little teapot.
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Thanks for dropping by. Yes I’m satisfied with the teas but I want to explore more teas other than the Japanese and Chinese teas too. Any suggestions?
Gosh that’s a tough one to many to recommend. If you like mint there are so many to try from light and refreshing through to stronger varieties. I have also discovered fruit tea blackcurrant is very nice. I hope this helps.
Thank you. I’ll see what I could find in the local coffee&tea shops here. 🙂
Hat’s off to you, my tea-drinking sister! Loose leaf darjeeling is probably my favorite, and gunpowder is (so far) my favorite green, (I like them both fairly strong, not simply letting them “steep” but “soak” in the tea pot…) I’m not a fan of rooibos red. Have you ever tried a flowering tea in a glass tea pot? Truly an interesting art form.
I’ve never tried the teas you have mentioned but I did try a cup of rose tea when I was at a SIngaporean restaurant. Not sure if it’s the same kind of tea you’re referring to as a “flowering tea”. I need to read more about teas now and time to visit the coffee and tea shops soon!
And thank you for your encouraging word on my daughter in Stavanger–it’s a L-O-N-G way from Missouri.
You’re welcome. You should visit Stavanger one time. It’s a nice city with great culture.
Interesting post! I am a tea lover too- do check some of my posts like ‘ The Origin of Tea- A Prose Poem’
Thank you. So great to have a visitor who is also a tea lover like me and nice prose poem by the way. 🙂
Thank you and thanks for the visit 😊
I’ve been drinking a ton of tea lately due to my digestive issues. It definitely helps and it also helps when the tea tastes good lol. 😉