Tea tasting @ Ming Cha

It is common for Asians to drink tea, but does it mean Asians are tea savvy? I realized there are so much to learn after attending a tea tasting session at Ming Cha. One thing worth noting here is that I like to order Puer when having dim sum because it is the most neutral tea; and it helps with digestion system. I thought I am smart till I learnt about many restaurants don't have a good air conditioning system to keep the tea leaves from molding. Thus, some restaurants would re-roast the tea leaves and serve to customers. Usually it is not obvious with black tea. So this is the risk you have to bare by ordering black tea in a dim sum place. The safest choice would be white tea, because it is clear color, and it bears a very subtle taste. In case something went wrong, it is easier to spot.


Ming Cha provides several tea tasting packages. My friend and I tried four different kinds of tea ( Mandarin Orchid, Phenix Supreme, Wuyi Mountains back tea and Red Plum Classic) for HKD 300. The session lasted about 2 hours, and I gained a lot of knowledge on tea. Different type of teas need to be brewed at different water temperature. For the green tea lovers, have you ever noticed your green tea is just too bitter? That's probably because you brew it with over 90 degrees Celsius, and burnt the green tea leaves. For the fermented or post fermented tea, we could feel free to brew it with higher water temperature.




The tea tasting menu is a bit pricey since MingCha is located in a factory building with mediocre tea tasting environment. However, with a completed tea leave stocking and one on one tea education which comes with the tea tasting; I can see this is not a bad place to visit for tourist who are interested in learning more about Asian culture. And if you are looking for any tea related gears, this is the place. Last but not lease, the founder Vivian Mak is truly passionate about tea. I read several of her articles on SMCP, she is a definitely a tea guru.



My recommendation of her green tea article since I am a green tea lover >>

 http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1248240/yum-cha-green-stuff


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MingCha
12D Wah Ha Factory Building, 8 Shipyard Lane | Taikoo, Hong Kong, China
http://www.mingcha.com/tea1.html