Tie Guan Yin - Black Tea or Green Tea? Neither!!!

Opened a new can of Tie Guan Yin tea at work today. My cube neighbor, SS, turned to me for expert opinon, and asked what kind of tea that is. “Is it black tea or green tea?” I was caught off guard. Gee, I should know the answer considering that I’m from a country known for its tea! I quickly researched on the Internet a bit, and realized that it’s actually a premium variety of Oolong tea, supposedly the best kind in the Oolong tea family. So, I went ahead and assumed that it’s a black tea, since Oolong tea is known as a kind of black tea here in the States.

Unsatisfied with this level of understanding of tea, I surfed around a bit more later to learn about categories of tea. It turns out that there are many ways of categorizing tea. But in general, one can really divide them into three categories based on the level/use of fermentation in the process of making teas:
1. Fermented tea (Black tea falls in this category; Yellow Tea, e.g. Yingzhen Tea, also belongs to this category.)
2. Half-fermented tea (Oolong [Tie Guan Yin], Pu'er)
3. Un-fermented tea (Green tea such as Longjin)

Back to Tie Guan Yin tea, it was originally grown in An Xi county, Fujian province. Now it has thrived in Taiwan. Multiple websites claim that Tie Guan Yin tea has magic healing power: it can help lose weight; it can help cure Diabeties; it helps prevent one from getting cancer; it can even help prevent one from getting cavities! Next time, when I drink my cup of Tie Guan Yin, I’d have to be mindful of its potent effects on me. Maybe it’ll taste even better just envisioning these benefits!

Back to doodling on my space :)

The holiday season is around the corner again. This is when I can tangibly feel the weight of the cliché – “Time Flys.” I have not written anything on my blog for months. There is a huge gap between the Summer and the Winter, as if I have not lived those days. Being busy justifies my being lazy.

We’ll be on the road again in two weeks. I want to warm up my writing muscles for keeping travel journals. So, here I’m back on my space foraging through my latest random diversions.