COFFEEE VERSUS TEA: An Oolong, Please, And There's No Rush

By Judith Weinraub
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 17, 1999; Page F01

Tea drinkers are sensitive, health-conscious, contemplative
types. They can be fussy--they know their teas and often have strong
preferences about which one they want when. But they can be laid back
too.

They like to sip their tea sitting down, lingering over it, savoring
the aroma, the color, the taste.  They appreciate a finely crafted
porcelain cup and saucer or hand-wrought mug for their tea--never a
paper cup.

And they're patient. Serious tea drinkers have to be because each time
they want a cup, they put fresh cold water in the kettle, wait for it
to reach just the right temperature, and then wait some more while
their tea steeps.

Tea drinkers think coffee drinkers are macho, power-hungry, always in
a rush and not particularly polite.  And much less reasonable than tea
drinkers.

The battle is on.

In case you haven't noticed, tea is huge. It's hip. It encourages a
slower, more civilized quality of life--even serenity, say its
devotees.

And it's healthy. Tea lays claim to multiple benefits that stave off
ill health--cancer-fighting compounds, protective antioxidant
properties, cardiovascular assistance.

Take a look around: Tea is everywhere. In New Age tins. Dressed up and
packaged in bottles. As a flavoring for chocolates. As a soup
base. Not to mention as the mainstay in hundreds of tea salons that
are cropping up all over the country: West Hollywood, Manhattan,
Phoenix, Savannah, San Francisco and, of course, at Washington's own
Teaism on Dupont Circle, at its new outpost on Connecticut Avenue and
H Street NW, and come September, at 8th and D streets NW in the
Pennsylvania Quarter.

"People who care about their future, about the next generation--about
the value of life--are drinking tea," says Miriam Novalle, owner of
the T Salon & Emporium in New York City.

Who are these tea types? They're not just health professionals. Think
actress Sharon Stone. ("She loves her Irish Breakfast," says Novalle.)
Actor Laurence Fishburne. ("He drinks my Zen Blend on stage," she
says.) New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier. (He worked on his
recent book "Kaddish" at Teaism every morning, accompanied by a pot of
an earthy Oolong called Ti Kuan Yin.) The Siddha Yoga meditation
spiritual leader Gurumayi.

In all likelihood, the new tea people are not drinking anything
remotely related to a tea bag. What they're downing are exotic blends,
specialty teas, ready-to-drink tea-based bottled beverages, even a
smattering of loose teas from premium estates. All of these are
spurring on the growing tea market in America.

"The growth is just staggering, from $1.9 billion in sales in 1991 to
$4.2 billion in 1998," says Brian Keating, head of the Sage Group, a
Seattle-based consulting company that watches over the tea industry
worldwide.

Keating's figures account for sales of all types of tea (black, green,
exotic, herbal) and all formats (loose, bottled, bagged). Which brings
up an interesting point.  Technically all those things are not
tea. "People think it's anything steeped in hot water," says Teaism
co-owner Michelle Brown. "But it's not a brewing process. It's a
plant," says her partner, Linda Orr.

The plant is the Camellia Sinensis, an evergreen that grows and
thrives in subtropical and highland tropical regions, particularly in
China, India, Japan, Taiwan and Sri Lanka.  (All those herb teas made
from other plants are really "tisanes" or infusions of boiling water
and edible leaves rather than tea.)

Legend has it that tea was discovered accidentally in 2737 B.C.  when
a leaf from a nearby tea plant fell into the cup of boiling hot water
the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung was drinking. He liked it, and enough
other people did too, so tea became a Chinese staple, though for
centuries, its primary purpose was medicinal rather than gustatory.
(Boiling the water, which kills some bacteria, undoubtedly protected
tea drinkers.)

By the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., tea was cultivated and prized in
China and traded to foreign merchants. From China, tea drinking spread
to Japan, where Buddhist monks drank it to stay alert during
meditation. Tea made its way to Europe in the 17th century and was
particularly popular in England and Russia.

The British East India Co. expanded the international market for tea
when it began producing tea first in Bengal and then North India. It
eventually reached the New World, and notoriously, Boston Harbor.
There, in 1767, frustrated by duties levied on tea that were intended
to support the British, a band of colonists dumped 340 chests of tea
into the water, and smoothed the way for coffee drinking in America.

Almost 5,000 years after its discovery, tea is the most popular
beverage on Earth, except for water.  For much of that time, it's been
associated with health. Tea has no calories, no cholesterol--and may
even lower ours. And it has from one-third to one-half as much
caffeine as coffee, give or take a couple of minutes of brewing time.

"The most basic reason for the rise in tea consumption for the last
four or five years is health," says Tomislav Podreka, a lecturer,
specialty tea importer and the author of the recent "Serendipitea: A
Guide to the Varieties, Origins and Rituals of Tea" (William Morrow,
$16). "It's been spurring non-tea drinkers to it, and bringing out an
awful lot of closet tea drinkers--it's funny how proud they are of
it."

The health aspects that seem to be attracting tea converts emerge from
an increasing number of studies that point to the disease-fighting
antioxidant powers of green tea (and more recently black tea as well),
to the cardiovascular benefits of tea and, although more experimental
human evidence is needed, to tea's possible protective effects against
certain cancers--oral, digestive, lung, breast and colorectal.

Although such studies haven't been universally accepted by the
mainstream medical community--or rejected, for that matter--they're
getting a lot of attention and were focal points at the second
international symposium on the relationship of tea to human health.
Held in Washington at the U.S.  Department of Agriculture Jefferson
Auditorium last September, the event was sponsored by the American
Health Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the Nutrition
Committee of the American Heart Association and the Tea Council of the
USA.

Health concerns, however, aren't the only things pulling in more and
more tea drinkers. Commerce is a big part of the picture too--think of
the many ready-to-drink tea-flavored beverages like Snapple and
Nantucket Nectars and the ubiquitous sweet, spicy Chai drinks that
have flooded supermarkets, gourmet stores and college campuses. "They
became an over-$2 billion category in less than seven years," says
Keating.  "Americans were tired of colas and coffee."

And then there's the culture of connoisseurship--an activity
particularly appealing to people who like to be ahead of the
curve. These days cognoscenti across the country are learning the ins
and outs of tea. And the path to enlightenment only begins with loose
tea versus tea bags. (Actually, if you're still buying tea bags,
you're barely at the first stages of the tea culture.)

For starters, tea people need to know the difference between the four
major categories: black, oolong, green and white (in decreasing order
of caffeine strength). And they should be able to tell packaged loose
teas (think Fortnum & Mason, Jacksons of Piccadilly) from loose teas
sold by weight.

They must master the different characteristics of teas within the same
category. Darjeeling and Keemun, for example, are both black teas, but
one comes from India and the other from China (where it used to be a
green tea but is now a black referred to as a red); one is good with
milk and sugar, but the other tastes better without because it's
slightly sweet in the first place.

And of course, there are the differences among teas produced in China
and Japan, India and Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Zimbabwe. And the
nuances that mark brisk teas from flat ones, smooth teas from harsh
ones. And the intricacies involved in brewing different kinds of
teas--how much water to use and how hot it should be and how long the
leaves should be steeped.

And all this is pretty basic.

Then there's all the "stuff" that is a part of the tea culture. Tea
canisters and tea pots and tea strainers and tea balls and infusers
and strainers and samovars. (Teaism says it sold $40,000 worth of such
stuff last December.)

And if that weren't enough, the tea connoisseur should be able to
master the intricacies of which teas go with which foods--a world no
less challenging than knowing which wine to drink with which foods
(see box above).

"The culture of tea is arriving, sip by sip," says Keating. "We think
that as people discover tea drinking, it won't just be
something-I-do-for-my-health but something that's fascinating to
them."

Put all that together, and tea is a natural for the 75 million-strong
baby boomer generation, which is certainly fueling much of its growth.

Even the enemy camp senses the shift. If you doubt it, consider
this. You figure the Starbucks people are pretty serious coffee
people, right? But, sensing the future, what did they do in January?

They bought Tazo Tea, a quirky, young Oregon-based company, with a
line that includes bottled tea beverages, loose teas and even teas in
filter bags. Last week--less than two months later--Tazo teas went
onto the shelves and into customers' cups at Starbucks' 2,000 coffee
bars.

TO BREW THAT PERFECT CUP

Start with fresh cold water in your kettle.

Measure out your tea carefully.  There are varying guidelines for that
measuring: 4 to 5 grams of tea for 8 ounces of water, 2 grams of tea
for 5.5 ounces of water, 1 teaspoon of tea for each cup of water, and
so on. It can be confusing. But these days most loose teas come with
instructions. Read them, follow them and adjust measurements to taste.

Heat the water in the kettle. Warm a teapot with hot water.

Different teas like to steep at different water temperatures, but
experts disagree on exactly which temperatures. Generally speaking,
black teas like water more or less at the boiling point, oolongs at
just below the boiling point, and white or green teas at an even lower
temperature. Again, read the instructions.

Steeping times also vary for different teas. Instructions for brewing
oolongs range from 2 to 3 minutes (green oolongs) to up to 5 minutes
(black ones). Recommended times for brewing black teas range from 3 to
5 minutes, green teas from 1 to 5 minutes, and white teas 30 seconds
to 5 minutes. Steeping any tea more than 5 minutes invites
bitterness. So once again, your label and your taste buds should be
your guide.

AND TO ACCOMPANY THAT CUP OF TEA

Rosie's Butter Cookies

(Makes 48 cookies)

With its dollop of jam in the middle, this butter cookie echoes
something in nearly everyone's past: a grandmother or aunt who served
them when you visited, a neighborhood bakery that sold them by the
pound, or a roommate's relative who sent them during exam week, bless
all their hearts. With this classic recipe, you can carry on the
tradition. Do not devour these cookies when they're hot (hard as they
may be to resist) because the jam can burn the roof of your mouth.

From Judy Rosenberg's "Rosie's Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream,
Sugar-Packed No-Holds-Barred Baking Book" (Workman Publishing, 1991).

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup raspberry preserves with seeds

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and
set aside.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter and
sugar together in a medium-size mixing bowl until light and fluffy,
about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer twice to scrape the bowl with a rubber
spatula.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed for several seconds. Scrape
the bowl, then turn the mixer to high speed and beat until the batter
is light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

Refrigerate the batter in plastic wrap or a covered container for 3
hours.

Thirty minutes before baking, remove the dough from the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with baking
parchment paper or leave them ungreased.

When the dough has come to room temperature, measure out rounded
teaspoonfuls of dough and roll them into balls with your hands. Place
the balls about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Make
a firm indentation in the center of each cookie with your thumb or
index finger.

Bake the cookies until lightly golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the
sheet from the oven and increase the heat to 325 degrees.

Place 1/2 teaspoon jam in the center of each cookie and return the
sheet to the oven. Bake the cookies just until the jam melts and
spreads, about 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheets
before eating.

Per cookie: 73 calories, 1 gm protein, 9 gm carbohydrates, 4 gm fat,
11 mg cholesterol, 3 gm saturated fat, 17 mg sodium, trace dietary
fiber

East 62nd Street Lemon Cake

(10 servings)

This lemon cake recipe, from Maida Heatter's "Cakes" (Cader Books,
1982), is a keeper.

Fine dried bread crumbs for the pan

For the batter:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus additional for the pan

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup milk

Finely grated rind of 2 large lemons

For the glaze:

1/3 cup lemon juice

2/3 cup sugar

Adjust an oven rack to the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350
degrees. Butter 9-by-4 1/2-inch tube or bundt pan with a 12-cup
capacity and then dust it with fine dried bread crumbs. Set aside.

For the batter: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and
set aside.

Using a standing mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar and
beat until incorporated. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, scraping the
bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula.  (The mixture may look
curdled--but it's okay.) On the lowest speed, add the flour mixture
alternately in 3 additions with the milk in 2 additions, beginning and
ending with the dry mixture and beating only until incorporated after
each addition. Stir in the lemon rind.  Transfer the batter to the
prepared pan and level the top by rotating the pan briskly back and
forth. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into
the center comes out clean. Let the cake stand in the pan for 5
minutes. Then cover the pan with a rack and invert.  Remove the pan,
leaving the cake upside down. Place the rack over a large piece of
foil or wax paper and prepare the glaze.

For the glaze: Mix the lemon juice and sugar and slowly brush it over
the hot cake, allowing the cake to absorb the syrup. The glaze should
be used immediately after it is mixed. Let cool completely and then
transfer to a cake plate. It is best to wait a few hours before
cutting the cake.

Per serving: 555 calories, 7 gm protein, 82 gm carbohydrates, 23 gm
fat, 141 mg cholesterol, 13 gm saturated fat, 255 mg sodium, 1 gm
dietary fiber

Classic Cream Scones

(8 servings)

Here's a classic scone, from "Irish Teatime Companion" by Conrad
Bladeys (Hutman Productions, Linthicum, Md., 1999), to serve with tea.

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for working dough

1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for dusting the tops

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled, plus additional
for the baking sheet

1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried currants (optional)

1 egg mixed with 1 teaspoon water for glaze (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Lightly butter a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and
salt. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add to the flour mixture.
With a pastry blender or 2 knives used in a scissor fashion, cut in
the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl,
stir together the cream, egg and vanilla. Add the cream mixture to the
flour mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in the currants, if
desired.

With lightly floured hands, pat the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness on a
lightly floured cutting board. Using a floured 2 1/2-inch-diameter
round biscuit cutter or a glass, cut out rounds from the dough and
place them on the prepared baking sheet. Gather the scraps together
and repeat until all of the dough is used.

Lightly brush the tops of the scones with the egg mixture, if desired.
Bake until lightly browned, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet
to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes.  Serve either barely warm or
cool.

Per scone (based on 8): 274 calories, 4 gm protein, 31 gm
carbohydrates, 15 gm fat, 69 mg cholesterol, 9 gm saturated fat, 175
mg sodium, 1 gm dietary fiber

SUGGESTIONS FOR MATCHING THE BREW TO THE DISH

If you drink wine, you know that some wines complement certain foods,
and others don't. The same principle works with tea. Specific
characteristics of certain teas work particularly well with some
foods, but not others.

We asked Teaism's Michelle Brown and Linda Orr and "Serendipitea"
author Tomislav Podreka for guidance.

From Teaism:

* If you like a buttery Chardonnay with certain foods, you'll probably
enjoy Gen Mai Cha, a Japanese green tea with toasted rice added to it,
with the same dishes.

* Likewise, Keemun, a "very winey" Chinese black tea works with foods
you'd eat with a big red wine.

* Curries, which are inhospitable to some wines, work well with big,
black Indian teas--Assam, Nilgiri.

* Jasmine tea, as well as oolongs in general, are good dessert
teas. And the roasted, complex woodsy flavors of Ti Kuan Yin in
particular work well with chocolate.

From Podreka, who suggested matches for teas not only to the menu but
also to his mood and the time of day:

* With a breakfast that includes sausages or other meat, drink a
Ceylon tea or an Assam.

* With lunch, try a good fruity tea, like Pouchong, or very green jade
oolongs.

* With pastas, creamy pastas or those with vegetables work well with a
Temple of Heaven tea. A pasta with a tomato base goes better with a
Ceylon, a Yunnan or an Assam. For a pasta with pesto sauce, try a
Darjeeling or oolongs such as Ti Kuan Yin or Tung Ting.

* With meats or poultry, good choices are a Ceylon tea or an
Assam. With steamed poultry or fish, a light green tea like a Sencha
works well. Roasted poultry is enhanced by a darker green tea like a
Hojicha, which has a pronounced roasted flavor. For grilled meats or
poultry, try a dark oolong like a fancy Formosa.

* Desserts work well with fruitier teas, like some oolongs. Chocolate
cake can handle richer oolongs like Ti Kuan Yin or Tung Ting as well
as black teas like Darjeeling, Ceylon and Yunnan.

* With cheese, Darjeeling is right for Stilton and pears. But a Ceylon
or a Yunnan works better with a Camembert.

Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company