Tea Blog

Tea is the perfect gift. For yourself for precious moments of solitude, and for them as you show your care from afar. Having guests? Tea is the perfect gesture of hospitality and kids young and old can enjoy a special teatime.

Whether your loved one is a tea lover, new to tea, or (gasp!) isn’t a tea drinker yet, Zhi Tea has over 100 organic teas for you to give. There truly is a tea for everyone and this holiday, you could be the one who introduces them to their new favorite.

For your tea personalities, consider the following suggestions:

What Zhi Tea do you love to give?

Hello, tea lovers!

Dr. Oolong here, writing to you while steeping a cup of one of our new teas: Stenthal Darjeeling.

As you know, Zhi hasn’t carried Darjeeling for a few years. While a very popular tea, we just never came across an organic one that had lived up to the hype. Happily, this one does, and it is priced right too! This true Darjeeling has the pleasant, smooth complexity that we were looking for, while also boasting muscatel undertones. There’s a faint hint of astringency, but just enough to pull the cup’s complexity together. We trust you’ll love it as much as we do Quantities limited: enjoy while you can!

Speaking of exquisite, rare teas, winter oolongs are in! This year’s harvest will prove to be one of the most delightful, and we invite you to enjoy the small artisan batches of Zhi’s direct sourced Frozen Summit Tung Ting, Jade Oolong, Golden Lily and Four Season varieties. Be sure to extract your multiple steepings as these very patient leaves are really expressing themselves over multiple infusions.

Next month, I will be traveling to Yunnan, China to visit the ancient tea trees and drink pu’erh. I’ll be sure to tweet and sent pictures via Instagram so follow us today @zhitea. We will be carrying even more amazing pu’erh options soon, in addition to our outstanding ripe, loose leaf version that you know and love.

Well, my tea is ready! Gotta go. Until next time,

Dr. Oolong

Pu-erh is one of the oldest types of tea in China with a history of over 1700 years, tracing back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. During its height of popularity, the tea was freely traded even used as money for the bartering of goods. Pu-erh gets its name from the city of Pu-erh in south-western China where the trade for Pu-erh was conducted. Not far from Pu-erh are the areas of Xishuangbanna and Simou, where cultivation and processing of the tea is carried out today.

Unlike other teas, the processing of pu-erh is carefully guarded. In the past, trespassers mistaken as spies on pu-erh tea farms were known to be killed. To this day, the secrets of processing pu-erh remains ruthlessly guarded and it is only in China where genuine Pu-erh tea can be produced. The most basic processing methods include roasting the leaves right after they’re picked. After being roasted, theleaves are sun-dried before being steamed slightly and allowed to ferment. Some pu-erh manufacturers ferment the tea twice, making the flavor more intense.

Pu-Erh tea is known for being a great tea to drink for digestion, especially after a heavy meal. It also helps lower cholesterol which has been confirmed by several customers who drink a lot of it. Dr. Oz likes this tea for it’s fat shrinking ability.

Pu-erh’s post-fermentation process is similar to wine, cheese and saurkraut. The aging process allows the tea to develop added complexity in character. Some would say the tea has an earthy, moss like character. With active microbes living within the tea, pu-erh evolves with each passing year.

Pu-erh is traditionally compressed and packed into tea cakes or bricks to age. This originated from the natural aging process that happened in the storerooms of tea drinkers and merchants, as well as on horseback caravans on the Silk Road. This method made it easy to transport the tea by horseback and reduced the damage to the tea during travel.

Two antioxidant compounds, theabrownin and gallic acid, activate enzymes in our body responsible for fat metabolism. These antioxidants shrink fat tissue and help the body keep fat off weeks after ingestion. Plus, the caffeine in pu-erh helps speed metabolism, making the body more efficient at digesting a meal. Enjoy some today!