Judging the quality of your Pu-erh Bing Cha by its appearance Written by Tea Hub
As we discussed last week, a Pu-erh Bing Cha’s shape and leave presentations on surface of a cake reveal its quality. A good quality Pu-erh Bing Cha must be in round, regular shape, have even thickness and smooth surface, and tea leaves must be well compressed without breaking into layers. An extremely tightly compressed (flat) Pu-erh Bing Cha will take longer time to age. Those flat Pu-erh Bing Cha normally will become less flat after being aged for a few years and leaves loosing up during aging process.Many experienced Pu-erh collectors know how to judge a Pu-erh by surface leaves. The quality of leaves and composition of leaves and buds all hold future of a Pu-erh Bing Cha. Adding tea buds to leaves will make a Pu-erh Bing Cha sweeter. However, it is strength of leaves that affect aged taste of a Pu-erh Bing Cha. The balance between buds and leaves is crucial to a Pu-erh Bing Cha’s taste. You can find perfect balance in our Young Green Ancient Tea Tree Pu-erh Bing Cha (http://www.teahub.com/puerhtea.htm).
| | The Harmony between Food and WineWritten by Dan Phillipe
Wine is a social drink which should be enjoyed in company of friends and .. food. The right combination between food and wine is a source of ultimate bliss for every connoisseur. Both wine and food can benefit from right pairing. The right wine can accentuate unexpected gastronomical aspects of food and vice versa, wine can shine in a new light when accompanied by right dish. In order to savor splendor of such combinations, one does not need to frequent expensive restaurants and buy overpriced wines. Rather, when combining food and wine it is one’s intuition and curiosity that are of paramount importance. Most rules for agreeable food - wine combinations date back to 19th century and are made by French cooks who travel around Europe showing other nations French savoir-vivre. It is since then that we know that champagne goes well with oysters, white wine – with seafood, and red wine – with game and red meats. Those rules, however, have been broken many times throughout years because nature of certain dishes and rich wine variety available allow for a much freer interpretation. For example, some red meats could be made more enjoyable by stronger white wines. A more practical approach for combining wine with food is to avoid any possible dissonance between them. For example, an exceptional wine stands out much better when accompanied by a not so sophisticated dish that will bring out wine’s superb qualities instead of fighting with it. Certain wines and foods have “found” each other over years and represent especially suitable combinations. Generally those are regional wines and foods. Almost all local dishes go best with wines from their regions.
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