A BIT OF ZEN OVER THE WEEKEND

Soothing breeze,  quiet and peaceful  atmosphere (the humming of the air-conditioner providing the added ommm..)  and sipping fragrant tea puts me into a relaxing mood after a  week of  rushing.  Where am I? I was attending a tea appreciating workshop away from the hustle and bustle within the busy shopping complex in Bangsar at The Tea Republic.

The Tea Republic, a cafe offering only tea -located in a corner on the 2nd level of Bangsar Shopping Village.

Quaint decoration- teapots and teacups were used as lampshades.

Tea cups as flower pots for the plants along the verandah where we were having the shop. 

Standing behind is one of the sisters behind the CultureRun-

This workshop was organised by CultureRun with their catch word - Do Something Different for the weekend. So instead of being a potato couch, decided to become more cultutred in tea history.

There were 13 of us in the group.

I am no tea connoisseur, only indulging in  the occasional cup of Enlgish tea and drinking Chinese tea during and after meals - you know Chinese tea helps to get rid of the fats!

The teacher is Sumita - the owner herself of The Tea Republic- gentle and soft spoken lady. She gave us a brief history on tea - how  a tea leaf that accidently fell into the cup of water which the Chinese Emperor was drinking and hence started tea drinking ceremonies in China and tea cultivation in China.  Later when tea  spread to the West and Asia. The tea plant (camellia sinensis) can grow up to 10 ft- the reason why you normally see the tea plants at chest level is just to facilitate the easy plucking of the tea shoots- as you know the fresh shoot/tip is only being harvested for tea.

 

She then went on to explain the different types of tea - mainly 4 groups- white, green, oolong and black.   There is also the red tea- (Rooiboos) and tisane (there is actually no tea leaves in this group- the herbals/flowers teas eg Chammomile tea, lavender etc). 

Judging from the colour of the pots of tea above and here you can see the tea -
From bottom left- white tea- this tea is  weak and delicate but with a light fragrance of jasmine flower as the tea leaves are dried over jasmine flower.  This is different from the Jasmine Chinese tea where the flowers are added to the tea.

Bottom Right: green tea- the matcha and sencha would come under this group. These tea are plucked, sorted and dried for a very short time.  The one we tasted is called Jade Sword - as with all green tea, the taste and aroma is grassy.

Top left: Black tea - this is the Lapsang souchong. Dark colour with a smoky aroma.  These teas are fully fermented and hence the darkish tone.  Pu'er tea will come under this group.

Top right: Red tea or commonly known as Rooiboos tea. This comes from the African bush tree. Its aroma to me is herbal, orangey and woody.       

 Here are the tea leaves after seeping.  Here you can see that the Red tea leaves are not actually leaves but look like needles/pines.

Each tea with their own leaves

The red tea

Black Lapsang souchong

 Jadd Sword Green tea

White tea.

After sipping those hot teas, its time to change get creative. We are to create our own brand of Ice Tea.

The ingredients that were often added to make a refreshing glass of Ice tea.

Everybody were getting excite to create their own tea - and how knows maybe it can become popular and we sell our own brand worldwide...!

My creation - Strawberry Mint Iced Tea.  It is green tea  with a dash of ginger ale and apple juice. No sugar is added.  Minty, zappely and refreshing - just ideal in this hot weather  (hard sell here)!

 I enjoyed the class and now have a better understanding of tea.