#JING JING GARDEN PERU MENU SERIES#

The tea-iere was first warmed with a rinse of hot water, then the loose leaves were added. Since this was an audience of wine experts, the tasting must include consideration for aroma and colour.

Will then showed us the optimal way of preparing the tea incorporating the ‘tea-iere’. As is with wine, we started with the most delicate. The first tea we tasted was the ‘Organic Jade Sword’ green tea from Hunan province, China. Soon it was time to taste some tea, accompanied by breath-taking photo slides of the traditional tea regions. Felicity further highlighted the concept of ‘single garden’ (similar to single vineyard or clos in winemaking) being the hallmark of character in tea, also defining quality and provenance.

How can a single plant produce such diverse styles of teas – white, green, yellow, black, oolong and pu’er? As with wine, many factors determine the ultimate characters of a tea – cultivar, terroir, pruning, picking season, processing, service, and many details in-between – all play their indispensable part. First things first, tea comes from Camellia sinensis, like wine comes from Vitis vinifera. Felicity first took us on a whirlwind tour of tea fundamentals. The tasting was conducted by the deeply knowledgeable tea masters Felicity Fowler, Head of Tea Experience at JING, and Will Ritson, a Tea Experience Executive. More a tasting with fusion influences: tea-ware with a nod to coffee culture and an audience of wine experts – I couldn’t wait! Well, one thing was for sure by the look of this ‘tea-iere’ – this was not going to be a traditional tea ceremony. I liken it to how winemakers taste grapes in their vineyards, pips and all, and in that act a bit of Truth is revealed. Although I should add that I am not averse to tea leaves floating casually about in my mug or the occasional bits of leaf that I end up chewing and swallowing. I was also intrigued by the accompanying ‘tea-iere’ – a clear glass container with a fill level marker for making exactly one perfect cup, and a lid with an in-built cafetiere style mesh to keep away the leaves when pouring. When the tasting set arrived, I was pleased to note that what initially looked suspiciously like tea bags, were in fact pre-measured portions of loose-leaf sachets, covering styles from green to black to Oolong.

It was straight into the diary in permanent ink.

I love the diverse range of topics discussed in the various CWW forums, so when the latest ‘Let’s taste…’ series offered a chance to try fine teas from the specialist house of Jing, I was surprised and delighted. Janet Wang on the CWW May virtual tea tasting and reflections on why wine writers should know more about tea!

#JING JING GARDEN PERU MENU SERIES#

Jing jing garden peru menu