A Gentleman's Guide to Tea

Basic Black Is Always in Style

by Bruce Richardson

The tea family most consumed by western cultures is black tea. Black teas may be offered as single-estate, blended, or flavored teas. Just as a gentleman�s single-malt Scotch collection should include at least one example from the four main distilling regions of Scotland, his well-stocked tea cupboard should include at least four classic single estate black teas from the major growing regions of the world.

Consider this starter set of black teas for your gentleman's tea collection:

Assam A robust, malty tea from the northeast Indian state of Assam where over 800 tea gardens are cultivated. It is often manufactured for breakfast with the addition of milk. Look for a mellow tippy grade to go with afternoon tea meals.

Darjeeling A delicate, slightly-green, black tea from the Himalayan foothills of India. Eighty-six gardens in Darjeeling produce exceptional, and expensive, teas known for their distinctive muscatel overtones. The three major pickings are First Flush, Second Flush, and Autumnal Flush. These light teas are best infused for no more than four minutes.

Yunnan China�s Yunnan province has been producing exceptional teas for more than 1700 years. Golden Yunnan is a handsome black tea that displays large golden buds and uniform shaped leaves that brew to a liquor that is a rich, dark reddish-black with a molasses-like sweetness and a malty finish. Show the dry leaves to your guests for added appeal.

Sri Lanka Many tea blenders offer a tea called �Orange Pekoe.� It is not a blend and has nothing to do with oranges. Orange Pekoe (OP) is a grade of uniformly long pointed tea leaves, usually from either India or Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). Look for a single estate Ceylon OP tea for all-day consumption � with or without milk.

Bruce Richardson is the owner of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas and Benjamin Press. He is the author of a dozen tea books, such as The Great Tea Rooms of Britain and The New Tea Companion. He serves on the Editorial Board for Fresh Cup magazine and he is the Perfect Cup columnist for TeaTime magazine.

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