Is traditional tea due for a makeover like an old phone?

Some products need to be updated periodically and the others the originals are still the best. What is happening to tea after being consumed by human kind for more than 2000 years?

Tea was invented more than 2000 years ago and has stood the test of time for more reasons than one. It has also produced many ‘offspring’, mostly under the umbrella of ‘blends’ or ‘chai’ created through simple mixing but which makes them appear to be exotic and exciting. Caught in the middle is tea itself; it came from ancient times and seems to want to be left just the way it always was: it loves natural spring water, an open fire and unglazed clay tea ware. The modern synthetic products take the real glory out of it. To the younger generation of tea drinkers however, the good old cup of tea somehow belongs to their grandparents’ era. It is simply not flashy enough for their modern life styles. Yet, they are attracted to tea because of the continuing publicity in the media portraying tea as a healthy, carb free beverage which offers many health benefits.

The market somehow has managed to create various ‘creative versions’ in a short time to meet demands and these are called blends. A fancy label is usually attached under the brand of the company. Mankind consumes tea for several reasons: to relieve thirst, for taste enjoyment and more recently because it has been advocated as a beverage that offers many health benefits. There are no apparent reasons for the new ‘blends’ to offer anything additional apart from in the area of ‘taste’. As democratic as we are, we do believe that ‘everyone has a different taste’. It is only fair to allow the space for creativity and experimentation.

My personal experience so far however has led me to believe that the original is still the best. Tea is similar to wine to a large extent, the art of growing and processing is highly specialised and there is a strong culture associated with its consumption. In China, there are sub-cultures associated with individual teas, in relation to their production and consumption. For example in the green tea family alone, there are more than 300 Chinese green teas. They are produced in different areas, using different species of tea plants, cultivated under different climate and soil conditions and produced for a harmonic match with the local diet. There is one thing that the Chinese do NOT do, however, which is to blend/mix the premium teas. These teas are naturally balanced in their aroma, flavour and texture and are there to be enjoyed but not covered or converted.A good cup of tea is described as dew from heaven. Teas of low quality are handled differently; they are often turned into teabags and used in blends. Generally speaking, the low quality teas are bitter with a rough texture, they need a ‘face lift’.

Finally, traditional teas do not necessarily stay as fossils forever.  They are often regenerated and fine-tuned by the specialist tea masters for further developments. This art requires special knowledge and experience in the area of tea processing.  For example, a Chinese premium black called JinJunMei has recently been developed on the back of the traditional black tea Lapsang souchong. Its unique high class quality has been acknowledged and accepted by the tea drinking community almost immediately and it has very quickly made it to the top selling tea list in China.