Chinese tea under 8 Chinese tea classes.
All Chinese tea names in Chinese are in graphics
format. Watch out for long loading time. Chinese tea name translations are not official.
Chinese Tea Green
Green tea is the most natural tea class. Green tea is only dried with heat and undergoes
no fermentation process. Green tea has the most medical value and very low caffeine.
Tea Name in
Chinese
Mandarin Pronunciation
Place of Origin - Tea Name
Tai Ping - Hou Kui
Meaning in English
(for Tea Name only)
Monkey King
Xi Hu - Long Jing
Dragon Well
Dong Tin - Bi Luo Chun
Green Spring Snail
Lu Shan - Yun Wu
Cloud & Fog
Huang Shan - Mao Feng
Fur Peak
E Mei - Zhu Ye Qing
Green Bamboo Leaf
Xian Ren Zhang Cha
Cactus Tea
An Hua - Song Zhen
Pine Needle
Liu An - Gua Pian
Melon Slice
Jing Ting - Lue Xue
Green Snow
Nan Jing - Yu Hua
Rain Flower
Liu An - Gua Pian
Melon Slice
Xin Yang - Mao Jian
Fur Tip
Tian Shan - Lu Ya
Green Sprout
Chinese Tea Oolong
Oolong is a class of tea as well as a kind of tea. Oolong tea is half-fermented and thus is
relatively thick in flavor. Oolong tea is very popular in south-east China and Taiwan and
also is the most used tea for Kung Fu Cha. You got to love this - Oolong is an emulsifier
for fat and cholesterol. Like a savior for today's junk food eaters.
Tea Name in
Chinese
Mandarin Pronunciation
Place of Origin - Tea Name
An Xi - Tie Guan Yin
Wu Yi - Da Hong Pao
Meaning in English
(for Tea Name only)
Iron Guan Yin (goddess of
mercifulness)
Big Red Robe
Song Zhong Dan Cong
SONG Species Lone Bush
Feng Huang - Shui Xian
Water Fairy
Yong Chun - Fo Shou
Buddha's Hand
Chinese Tea Black
Black tea is a fully fermented tea class. Black tea is the everyday tea of the west and
northwest. Black tea is good for cleaning up the digestive channel because it's an
emulsifier for fat and cholesterol. Weight-watchers' gospel.
Tea Name in
Chinese
Mandarin Pronunciation
Place of Origin - Tea Name
Meaning in English
(for Tea Name only)
Pu' er
Pu'er (the name is Pu'er)
Hu Nan - Hei Cha
Black Tea
Lao Qing Ye
Old Green Leaf
Xi Chuan - Bian Cha
Edge Tea
Chinese Tea Red
Red tea is not the major hit in China. Red tea's known way of usage, , is to make tea eggs.
Tea Name in
Chinese
Mandarin Pronunciation
Place of Origin - Tea Name
Qi Men - Hung Cha
Meaning in English
(for Tea Name only)
Red Tea
Ying De - Hung Cha
Red Tea (Yes, not fancy names. the
place of origin is what tells the teas
apart)
Chinese Tea White
White tea is similar to green tea except that it's roasted.
content and is very light in color and aroma.
Tea Name in
Chinese
White tea has the lowest caffeine
Mandarin Pronunciation
Place of Origin - Tea Name
Shou Mei
Meaning in English
(for Tea Name only)
Longevity Eyebrow
Bai Mu Dan
White Peony
Yin Zhen Bai Hao
Silver Needle White Fur
Chinese Tea Flower
Flower tea is sometimes called scented tea. (Oh, I have said that in the title) The base of
flower tea can be black, green or whatever. Then ingredients like flower petals might be
added. Flower tea is popular in northern China.
Tea Name in
Chinese
Mandarin Pronunciation
Place of Origin - Tea Name
Mo Li Hua Cha
Meaning in English
(for Tea Name only)
Jasmine
Mei Gui Hua Cha
Rose
Bai Lan Hua Cha
Gardenia (not sure of the
translation though)
Dragon Ball
Long Zhu Hua Cha
Chinese Tea - Compressed Tea
Tea Name in
Chinese
Mandarin Pronunciation
Place of Origin - Tea Name
Bing Cha
Meaning in English
(for Tea Name only)
Cake Tea
Tuo Cha
TUO (just a name) Tea
Zhuang Cha
Brick Tea
Brewing methods of Chinese tea are closely related to everyday life. On this huge piece of
land called China, 1.3 billion people use more than a couple of brewing methods to get their
teas done. It's not like looking into a reference book and you can find them all because
there are methods so casual that books don't care to tell.
Here, Kam shares a few methods he has come across and has practiced. You can choose
your brewing method from the list base on what tea ware you have, the class of Chinese tea
you want to brew, degree of convenience, occasion, etc.
Kam drinks Oolong and green tea mostly. His most used brewing methods are Kung Fu Cha
(big & small) and glass brewing (see below).
The Serious Methods
These are the brewing methods that all tea books and tea sites have to mention. They are
cool ways of doing tea. If you don't mind the trouble of setting up a few things and you
want more flavor from your tea, pick one from below.
Kung Fu Cha (small pot)
Kung Fu Cha (big pot)
Tea ware - YiXing teapot <= 6 oz,
teacups
Tea ware - YiXing teapot > 6 oz, teacups
Tea class - best for Oolong, NOT
for green tea
Tea class - best for Oolong, NOT for green
tea
Convenience - low (very
inconvenient in fact)
Occasion - serious tea drinking,
want to get the best flavor out of
your Oolong, tea friend meeting,
when you have time to kill
Convenience - medium
Occasion - when you are working but still
want to drink a nice cup of Oolong. Kam
likes to make a big mug of Oolong in a
couple of brews and drink it throughout the
day in office.
GaiWan (small)
Tea ware - porcelain GaiWan <=
4oz, teacups
Tea class - ALL, ok for Oolong
Convenience - medium
Occasion - casual tea friend
meetings, or non tea friend
meetings.
The Casual & Other Methods
These are done purely for the sake of making Chinese tea to drink. Period. No one would
demonstrate these in front of you and make a fuss about them - just like you wouldn't show
a friend how to turn on a TV and expect a round of applause.
GaiWan (Large) or Porcelain
Teacup
Tea ware - GaiWan>4oz
Glass
Tea ware - water glass, it's ok if it's
got Winnie the Pooh printed on it. Kam
sometimes use a Bodum coffee press
for convenience.
Tea class - Green, ALL other teas OK
Tea class - best for green, flower,
ALL other teas are ok
Convenience - high
Convenience - super high
Occasion - in upscale restaurants,
friend meetings, wedding ceremonies
(served by younger generation to
older to show respect)
Occasion - when you have only 3
minutes
Teapot says "don't click me. There is no link here!"
Porcelain Teapot
Kettle
Tea ware - kettle, bowl
Tea ware - porcelain teapot
Tea class - ALL, usually used for low grade teas.
Tea class - compressed tea
Convenience - super high
Convenience - high
Occasion - Dim-Summing in Chinese restaurants; in a casual meeting - too
little time, too many friends
Occasion - everyday serving for
southern western Chinese (e.g.
Tibetans)
There is no detailed web page for this method. You
simply infuse whenever you like and pour whenever you
like. You don't care if the tea gets bitter because you are
too busy eating Dim Sum. Tea is simply not the prime
concern here.
* Because of difference in tea quality and individual preference with flavor thickness,
the following data should be taken as a general guideline only. Don't forget to
experiment.
1st=first choice
ok=also ok
not=not ok
Kind of
Chinese Tea
Oolong
Iron Guan
Yin
Brewing
Method
1st- kungfu sm
ok- gaiwan sm
1st- kungfu sm
ok- gaiwan sm
water : dry tea
(by weight)
Kam's
Suggested
qty.
Brewing Time & Remarks
4:1
1st round 60 sec. add 15, 25, 35 ... etc
for infusions after, some drinkers would
use up to 2:1 tea leaves, it's up to your
own preference.
4:1
1st round 60 sec. add 15, 25, 35 ... etc
for infusions after, some drinkers would
use up to 2:1 tea leaves, it's up to your
own preference.
Hottest water possible. Needs high
temperature to brew.1st round 60 sec.
add 15, 25, 35 ... etc for infusions after.
This is a favorite dim sum restaurant
tea in Hong Kong. Can be brewed in a
bigger teapot and left standing for a
longer period, like half an hour or so.
Very casual tea. Whatever teapot,
whatever cup, whatever brewing is
fine.
Remove stalk, crush bud before
brewing. Again, whatever teapot,
whatever cup, whatever brewing is
fine.
No boiling water. 180-190F is good. Do
not use YiXing teapots for as high water
temperature over brews DW. Use a
regular glass. 120 seconds for 1st
round, 240 for 2nd, 360 for 3rd. The
taste drops off quickly after the 2nd
round. Spring tea of Dragon is more
forgiving on tea quantity and brewing
time.
It's another casual tea. Whatever
teapot, whatever cup, whatever
brewing is fine.
Please follow regular glass/ceramic
brewing procedure.
Lone Bush
1st- kungfu sm
ok- kungfu big
gaiwan sm
10:1
Longevity
Eyebrow
ok- porcelain tp
glass
gaiwan lrg
30:1
Jasmine
ok- porcelain tp
glass
gaiwan lrg
70:1
ok- glass
gaiwan lrg
100:1
Dragon Well
1st- glass
ok- gaiwan lrg
not- kungfu
50:1
Dragon Ball
ok- glass
gaiwan lrg
35:1
Fur Tip
ok- gaiwan
gaiwan lrg
glass
50:1
Spring Snail
ok- gaiwan
gaiwan lrg
glass
50:1
Please follow regular glass/ceramic
brewing procedure.
Tian Red
ok- glass
gaiwan lrg
kungfu
50:1
Lychee Red
ok-glass
gaiwan lrg
70:1
Tuo
Not sure. If a YiXing
teapot is not ok
enough to extract
the flavor, use a
kettle.
50:1
Pu'er
ok- porcelain tp
glass
gaiwan lrg
for compressed tea
version of Pu'er,
kettle is the best but
others are fine
70:1
Heard that this red could be brewed the
Kung Fu Cha way. But that could result
in a very strong tea. It's up to your own
experiment.
Just a glass and a little bit of tea will do.
1-2 min. of brewing and it's all ready.
Not very demand on brewing
procedure. Just a casual bit of tea
leaves and hot water will do. No
stopwatch needed as you can leave it
standing for a long time.
This is another favorite dim sum
restaurant tea. Can be brewed in a
bigger teapot and left standing for a
longer period if you don't mind it gets
too dark. For Pu'er compressed tea, boil
with a kettle.
Rose
What's a Good Cup O Chinese Tea?
So how do I know I have:
good quality Chinese tea leaves?
made a good cup of Chinese tea? Or a bad cup of Chinese tea?
There is no one single Chinese tea that can give you all these
pleasure but we can have them all on one list:
Gan, or even better, Hui Gan.
Flavor
Smoothness in the mouth after drinking
Aroma
Color
Sang Jin
Attributes to
Look for in a
Good Cup O
Chinese tea
They are not listed in order of importance as your personal preference is king. No one
can tell you you should like flavor over aroma, etc., etc.
Some, if not all, of these attributes come with the Chinese tea you are brewing, and you
have to brew it right so you don't kill any of them in the brewing process.
Bitterness
"Bitterness" means a bad cup of tea right? Yes and No.
There are 3 types of bitterness described by Chinese, of which
2 are no good and 1 is heavenly. It's hard to tell in English but
here is Kam's attempt (follow links to jargon page):
Type
Mandarin
Pronunciati
on
Description
Plain
Bitter
"Ku"
Could be the original taste of certain kinds of tea like
Pu'er. Or could be too much tea leaves used in the
process. Or could be the result of slight overbrewing.
Rough
Bitter
"Se"
This is a result of bad overbrewing. Recommend to throw
the cup of tea out or the Se taste will ruin your taste
buds, and your tea day.
Minty
Bitter
"Gan"
Although the attributes are not ranked, lots of Chinese
tea drinkers pay for this Gan thing, and big bucks for
Hui Gan (recurring Gan). So you can guess this is the
heavenly attribute most tea drinkers are looking for in a
good cup of tea.
There are 2 sides to the flavor attribute.
Flavor
Side 1 is richer vs. thinner. Richer is always better than thinner. If you have good tea
leaves but you are getting tea that tastes more like water than tea, it's likely you have
used a shorter-than-enough brew time, or lower-than-enough water temperature, or the
wrong brewing process.
Side 2 is heavier vs. lighter. But heavier is not necessarily better. Fully fermented teas
have heavier flavor while less fermented teas have lighter flavor. It's just the way the
teas are.
Smoothness
Smoothness is one of the attributes that make Chinese tea
expensive but it's not a determining factor. Some teas are simply not the smooth type
no matter how pricey they are.
If you have a supposedly smooth tea, watch your brew time (don't overbrew) and water
temperature (don't be too hot) and you will be fine.
This is another attribute that tea drinkers seek for. It's not
necessarily the thicker the better. The tea should smell fresh
and natural as well, both before and after brewing.
Aroma
You can't go very wrong brewing aromatic tea. Unless you have a flu, the aroma stays
even if your overbrew (it doesn't taste good though).
Color is something to appreciate during the tea drinking
process.
Color
Choose the right cup to brew your tea. Say, a white cup for Tie Guan Tin to show against
the background, a glass for green Dragon Well to dance around and you will be able to
enjoy your Chinese tea to the fullest.
Sang Jin
Ha, mandarin again. Here is what it means. It's wonderful to
feel the tea still working an hour after you finish drinking it.
Just don't overbrew your tea so it gets Se because Se tea definitely won't Sang Jin.
