By Li Simeng
Chinese tea is steeped in more than 3,000 years of history, and there are many different types of tea that exude a strong sense of place. It is assumed by people that to find traditional Chinese tea is a difficult thing to do in Europe, but do you know that there are amazing traditional Chinese tea shops are opening right here, in Budapest?
Zhao Zhou is the first Chinese tea shop that I had found in Budapest, the name of the shop is quite striking from the first sight due to its special Chinese pronunciation (Zhao Zhou赵州：a place in Southern China in the ancient period). The store is in the 1stdistrict of Budapest, on the Buda side, nearby the Duna river. Mr. Talos Gabor, whom had been living in China decades ago, is the owner of this tea shop.
It is interesting to note that the the tea in Zhao Zhou is from Yunan, China, the place which is famous for tea planting. The shop mainly offers five kinds of Chinese tea: white tea, green tea, oolong tea, black tea and dark tea.
White tea:
White tea contains a very high number of antioxidants. In addition, white tea is one of the least processed of teas, therefore the tastes will be lighter than other kinds of teas. It is the best choice for people who cannot stand the taste of stronger teas. When making white tea, the water temperature should not be too low, otherwise the tea will have little taste. However, if the water temperature is too high, it will also hurt the tea buds. Therefore, the best temperature of making white tea is between 90-95 °C.
Green tea:
Green tea is one of the most popular tea kinds in the world, it is unleavened and usually matures in Spring, to which people usually remark ‘green tea in the early Spring’, because the green teas taste best in the early Spring when they are totally fresh and tender. Green tea is also known as diet tea, the reason is that the green tea contains lot of Vitamin B1, C and caffeine, which can promote gastric juice secretion to help digestion. However, green tea will bring negative effects to people who has stomach illness, because it will worsen the situation. (recommended temperature for making green tea: 80°C ).
Oolong tea:
It is also called Qing tea; it is semi-fermented or full-fermented tea with more varieties and it also has distinctive Chinese characteristics among the major teas in China. Oolong tea contains more than 450 organic chemical components and more than 40 inorganic mineral elements; therefore, it is highly nourishing and can bring medicinal effects. It can also bring positive effects on hearing ability and reduce the possibility of getting skin allergy. (recommended temperature for making Oolong tea：90-100 °C ).
Black tea:
Black tea is full-fermented, during the processing of black tea, a chemical reaction centered on the enzymatic oxidation of tea polyphenols takes place. The chemical composition in the fresh leaves’ changes greatly, and the tea polyphenols are reduced by more than 90%, the aroma increases significantly when compared with the fresh leaves. Black tea brings benefits to heart and it warms the stomach. (recommended temperature for making Black tea: 86°C ).
