TDG: Watch Your Language: Cha Cha Cha

[Fat Guy]

Cha beeyootiful cha.

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[EGQuan]

Priscilla,

Thanks for the cha/chai/tea analysis and interpretation. When I was studying Japanese I learned that tea was cha, or ocha if you wanted to be honorific. When I married into a Cantonese family and heard my new non-English-speaking grandmother offering me cha, I thought I'd stumbled across some great linguistic discovery. Now you have enlightened us all.

On the subject of American-style chai, I do have a word to say. When I was recently shopping in my local Indian grocery, I saw a bottle of ground spices labeled "Chai Masala, for tea".

I asked a woman there whether it was an instant thing you add to your tea. She responded that it was not instant, but rather that I should boil the tea and the spices together. Of course, there were no proportions given on the packaging.

I hurried home and put a pot of water on to boil, into which I put some Keemum black tea - the only loose I had in the house - and some of the ground spices. Not sure how much to add, I added until it seemed like "enough".

Boiled til it looked almost black, cooled, sweetened and milk added, it tasted sort of like the chai you can get at Starbucks, but wow, what a difference! Spicy, potent, zippy...it was really wonderful. The only problem was how to strain out the finely ground spices, but a little grit in your tea is a small price to pay.

Any experiences with making your own spiced tea?

Elizabeth

[Priscilla]

Thank you, Elizabeth.

I have made masala chai at home (with some success), but only occasionally, only occasionally because it is sososo nice and convenient and DELICIOUS when the nice lady at my fave Indian takeaway makes it for me!

Masala chai is a great morning tea. Hmmm perhaps I oughta be making it for myself more often!

(Superfine tea strainers capable of holding back ground spices should be pretty easy to find, either from tea specialists or on the ubiquitous Gadget Wall in housewares departments.)

Edited August 1, 2003 by Priscilla (log)

[Rhea_S]

In Tagalog (or Filipino), it's cha-a (phonetic spelling). Tea was brought to the Philippines by sea but most likely by the Chinese merchants and immigrants. Coffee seems to be a far more popular hot beverage with tea mostly regarded as the drink of choice during an illness (aside from Chinese-Filipinos).

[mags]

That was really interesting, and thank you. But, a question I have actually mulled over for a while: Why, in Cockney English, does "tea" become "char" -- which I have figured was probably a variation on "cha" or "chai"?

[Gary Soup]

To add to this esoteric subject, the word "tea" is said to come from the way "cha" is spoken in the dialect of China's Fujian province (origin of most good oolong teas). In Shanghainese dialect, "cha" is pronounced "zo" with a falling and rising tone (3rd tone).

[Gary Soup]

To add to this esoteric subject, the word "tea" is said to come from the way "cha" is spoken in the dialect of China's Fujian province (origin of most good oolong teas).  In Shanghainese dialect, "cha" is pronounced "zo" with a falling and rising tone (3rd tone).

I guess I should have read the Daily Gullet article before my pedantic display.

I get my tea neither by land nor by sea but by air (from sencha.com, a great source for both Chinese and Japanese green teas). What shouild I call tea?

[Hobbes]

This is a great topic of discussion, the etymology of the word tea. This article opens an opportunity to for us here on egullet to chat about a very complex subject; where tea comes from and the process the tea leaf goes through to make the beverage we call tea in English. I have had an opportunity to work at a tea shop for a numbers of years in Washington DC named Teaism which sells 50 varieties of loose leaf tea. The shop’s goal was to educate the public about the complex world of tea (outside of a Lipton’s tea bag). On this post I’ll briefly go into what I learned while I was at Teaism which this article helps open this topic of discussion.

What we call tea comes from one plant (Camellia Sinensis) no matter what type of tea we are drinking. (There are some other principal genetically related strains recognized (and a number of hybrids between the varieties ) but are all still in the Camellia family). What causes the difference in taste and quality of tea is determined by how the fresh leaves of the tea plant are processed and their level of contact with oxygen. The flavor of the tea is also effected by the environmental factors of the area where the plant is grown, much like how the grape is for wine.

The principal tea growing countries happen to be mostly the countries that were on the silk road trading route. Theses countries are: China, Japan, Taiwan (Formosa), Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Africa, Indonesia. Other tead growing countries include: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Burundi, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Azores, Bangladesh, C.I.S., Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Turkey, Vietnam, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

More on tea growing areas.

Knowing the nation (or area) tea is grown in is very important because, not much unlike wine, tea is named by where it came from and how it is processed. There are five main types of tea, all originating from the Camellia sinensis : white, green, oolong, black, scented.

White tea results from the finest tip top leaves being picked when just sprouted and then are dried with out oxidation (fermentation). White tea is mild and slightly sweet.

Green tea is not oxidized and the leaves are processed by picking then drying them by steaming or pan frying to stop any oxidization process and then rolling the leaf. There are 100s of types of green teas available and different drying, steaming, and rolling techniques create different results. There is even one type of green tea (named Gen Mai Cha ) that roasted rice is added to the tea.

Oolong tea is semi fermented meaning that green tea is allowed to oxidize 12-70% more than a green tea. This gives the tea tasting notes that have qualities between a black tea (fully fermented leaves) and a green tea (no fermentation at all).

Black teas are a fully fermented tea where the leaves go through a four steps process - withering, rolling, fermenting, and firing (or drying). This process results in different flavors of black tea and will result in different levels of quality of the tea depending how the tea master chooses to take on.

Tea quality is basically rated on size of the leaf. A tea with a higher percentage of full leaves will result in a greater quality of tea in the end. Green teas always have a larger percentage of full leaves in them which results in a more expensive and better tasting product. There are two stages of tea grading; one for full leaves and one for broken leaves. Tea bags use the broken leaves which is mostly compiled of dust. There are many levels of (and terms for) a tea that goes from full leaf (the best) to dust (the worst). If you see the term Orange Pekoe on a tea bag this is a level of grading and has nothing to do with an orange flavor of the tea. Orange Pekoe is on the full leaf scale and is near the bottom 1/3 of the quality level.

More on tea areas grading and tea types.

Scented teas can come form any tea type above. Earl grey is a popular scented tea (a blend of Indian and/or Chinese black teas flavored with bergamot (a citrus fruit) oil). Some teas in this category do not get any additional flavor from additives such as bergamot but by toasting the actual tea; one such tea is Lapsang souchong.

See Teaism's web site for a very comprehensive list of teas in all the above categories. There are pictures of each individual tea which I find to be nice feature of the site.

As you can see tea is very complex and I have not even gotten to the part about brewing the tea itself. I can go into the minutiae for brewing tea and what is needed for different tea types, but I wont due to the lack of space. Just check Teaism's web site and the The Tea Caddy web site for a very good primer for brewing and you will have a good cup every time. Each type of tea needs different water temps and brewing times. These web sites will help you determine this. The best tool to brew loose leaf tea is a basket strainer or loose in a tea pot then strained. Tea balls or spoons that trap the tea are no good because it crams the tea and dose not allow for the tea to expand, allowing the fullest of brew. Need anymore help just ask.

This post is far form conclusive but hope will spur some conversation or answer some questions about tea. Me I am not an authority on tea but if you have any question feel free to ask away.

Another very good resource is the Way of Tea web site. It goes into great detail about what I posted here and is very interactive due to you being able to check on this year's harvests, etc.

Hobbes

Edited August 2, 2003 by Hobbes (log)

[maggiethecat]

Priscilla: Thank you, Lexicographer Lady. I'll remember the etymological difference forever.

Hobbes:

What does a tea master do?

[Hobbes]

oh, a tea master is simply a person who processes tea leaves for the beverage. Processing meaning; picking the tea leaves, drying the leaves, fermenting the leaves or blending different types of tea for a blended tea (such as English breakfast).

[Hobbes]

Any experiences with making your own spiced tea?

The recipe for Masala Chai on Food & Wine.com is very authentic and is the same recipe that Teaism uses which The Washington Post proclaims that this is "the most authentic version". A blend of Indian black tea with spices - cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and cloves. Boil with milk and sugar.

Enjoy (I do)

Hobbes

[Priscilla]

I like some black pepper in the masala for chai, also a little anise. But of course this is a personal thing -- there are lots of variations.

[trillium]

That there are. A friend from Madras puts ajwain in his masala chai. One of the funniest moments ever was when he ordered a chai at a Starbucks and was corrected "no, you mean a chai tea latte". Um, yeah, and I'll skip the tea tea milk, but thanks. Not masala chai, but a friend from Venezuala by way of Paletstine drinks her tea with sage added to the brew. Everybody has a favorite. I like ordering from Upton Tea.

regards,

trillium

[Priscilla]

Trillium, I love Upton. Over the years they have supplied me with an untold number of Assams, and their consistently excellent very lightly oxidized Osmanthus, a staple.

And ... sage in tea? Steeped in there with black tea leaves? Interesting.

[joler]

Some great teas available on the internet at www.teavana.com and www.mightlyleaf.com

I recommend Mighty Leaf's Green Tea Tropical - in such a beautiful little bag, you might be tempted to slip it in your lingerie drawer!

Teavana's Yerba Mate also a favorite.

[laurenmilan]

I first tried masala chai in Indian restaurants (hot, no milk) and tried the iced sweet variety (honey and milk on ice) in a local coffeehouse. It was quite powerful and fragrant, not too sweet, and since then, I insist on making it myself by the pitcher. I get good results with Stash Chai (loose, not bagged) but I also make it with black tea & the whole spices from my cabinet.

And yep, I've tasted the boxed stuff (won't touch the powdered stuff) and it's sickeningly sweet and kind of bland. And when I live in such an Indian neighborhood, why pay 4X as much for something 1/10 as good?

Edited August 7, 2003 by laurenmilan (log)

[eleanorm]

I'm new to this site, and found the discussion about tea,cha, chai very interesting, and would like some further information about one of my favourite teas which is labelled (translated from the Cyrillic letters) Chai. The tea is from Georgia, formerly a province of the U.S.S.R., now independent. I have bought it from tea dealers in "loose" form, or in decorative tins from Russia, but have never been able to identify the type of tea. It is often served, in Russia, with lemon. If anyone can identify the origin of this tea for me, I would be really grateful. Thanks.

Eleanorm

[Episure]

To make 2 cups of masala chai (as we do it here in Bombay):

Boil 2 tsps. of robust black tea in a cup of water and a cup of milk, with a sliver of cinnamon, 1 clove, 1 cardamom and sugar.

You should boil the tea leaves till just before the brew turns bitter, this can be achieved only by trial and error as it depends on the tea brand.

You can also have it iced and makes a nice summer cooler. Ginger, anise, thyme, basil are optional.

Then there is the Kashmiri Kahwa tea, which is a lighter brew using green tea and no milk. It is brewed with cinnamon, cardamom, a couple of strands of saffron, sugar and garnished with ground almonds.

[lala]

Interesting article...but what's wrong with singing a little tea song in the morning? Sometimes, when it's cold and wet outside at 6:00am, I do, too! A little celebration of the little things in life that get us going is a good thing!

Tea, beautiful tea....

[Priscilla]

Thank you Lala. Nothin' wrong with singing in the a.m., so long as one has established with one's neighbors a tacit understanding.

And Episure, thank you for the masala chai instructions ... all those ingredients are always in my pantry. Is the no-milk green Kashmiri Kahwa ever served iced?

[kumquat]

Hey, I've got an exception:

In Tamilnadu, in South India, where I live tea is called theneer. Though really nowadays I dont hear it being called that at all -- everyone calls it tea.

[Kirk B]

Only one nit to pick in this excellent essay. I know that "tea" in Portuguese is "chá," so I looked up the origin of "tea" and "cha" on Wikipedia.org. They say the following:

"The word "Tea"

"The Chinese character for tea is 茶, but it has two completely different pronunciations. One is 'te' which comes from the Malayan word for the beverage is used in the Min-nan dialect found in Amoy. Another is used by Cantonese and Mandarin which comes from the word 'to pick' and sounds like 'cha'.

"This fact causes the name of tea in non-Chinese languages to fall into two groups.

"Languages which have Te derivatives include Danish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Finnish, German, Indonesian, Latvian, Tamil, Singhalese, French, Dutch, Spanish, Armenian, and scientific Latin.

"Those that use Cha derivatives include Hindi, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Albanian, Czech, Russian, Turkish, Tibetan, Arabic, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Greek and Romanian.

"It is tempting to correlate these names with the route that was used to deliver tea to these cultures, but this correspondence does not follow. For example, most British trade went through Guangdong which uses Cha.

"In Ireland, or at least in Dublin, the term "cha" is sometimes used for tea, and "char" was a common slang term for tea throughout British Empire / commonwealth military forces in the 19th and 20th centuries, crossing over into civilian usage. Recently in the United States, many coffee houses have begun to serve a milky, sweet, spiced tea called "chai", loosely based on Indian recipes but much less spicy."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea

[Pan]

"Teh" is borrowed from Malay to Minnanese??? Who'da thunk it?