The Art and Craft of Tea by Joseph Wesley Uhl

Author:Joseph Wesley Uhl
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Rockport Publishers
Published: 2015-04-21T04:00:00+00:00

CHOOSING A TEA

By adding water to the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, one can create a true elixir of life. Deciding what type of tea to use can be as mundane as deciding to use the ubiquitous yet dusty commodity tea in your cabinet or as memorable as deciding to use a handcrafted tea from one of the world’s famous growers and producers. But, how should one decide?

Choosing a tea should never be stressful. Unfortunately, the marketing strategy for most tea companies is to overwhelm the market with choice, creating a real-life example of the famous psychological dilemma known as the paradox of choice. The paradox of choice is the title given to the two phenomena that occur when people have too great a choice. First, a person is less likely to feel happy about the choice he does choose and regrets or refuses to enjoy that which he bought (often referred to as buyer’s remorse). Second, he becomes less likely to make a choice at all, essentially becoming paralyzed (often referred to as the paradox of choice).

Assuming the paradox of choice is accurate, it is unfathomable how someone new to tea should choose a tea. First, he must determine if he wants a green, white, yellow, oolong, black, or dark tea. Then he must choose what type of tea he wants. Does he want a Chinese green tea? A Japanese green tea? How about a New World green tea? God help him if he wants to try a Chinese green tea. Not only does he need to navigate the Chinese names, but he also needs to choose one among hundreds of various green teas. Good luck!

Compounding the problem is the fact that most of the teas for sale in supermarkets, and even most tea shops, are not even tea. They are tisanes, herbs, aromatics, or low-grade tea with added flavorings.

With all of this in mind, here are a few quick and easy rules that one can follow in deciding which tea to try:

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