American "Chinese Restaurant" tea blends

[mbanu]

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I was reminded of these due to the Tea Lover's Treasury thread.

Not the tea served in American Chinese restaurants, but rather the named Taiwanese blends that were developed in response to the U.S./China trade embargo. Most of these blends have been retired, I think due to the end of the embargo and changing role of the Taiwanese tea industry. They usually aren't talked about online because they were not generally premium teas and the Orientalist packaging and advertising of old brands like Ch'a Ching and Ch'in Ch'u are often seen as embarrassing today. However, they are a piece of the puzzle in America's long fascination with Taiwanese oolongs, so I thought they deserved their own thread.

[mbanu]

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It sounds like there was some variation in the blends -- James Norwood Pratt seems to imply that Ch'a Ching was pure Formosa oolong, although I don't know if that is true...

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Ch'in Ch'u was Formosa oolong and pouchong mixed with Taiwanese Keemun. Dynasty Foods Chinese Restaurant Tea was a mix of oolong, jasmine, and green tea, which is interesting -- was there an earlier blend they were copying (their competitor KA-ME also had a blend like this), was this original, were these changes to adapt to using mainland Chinese teas instead of Taiwanese ones, or something else?

Unlike John Wagner & Sons or R.C. Bigelow, KA-ME and Dynasty were both primarily instant and canned food manufacturers, specializing in Asian foods. KA-ME started in 1970, right before the end of the embargo.

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Servit Foods is the oldest of the three, I think, and despite the name (later changed to Eastern Tea, possibly through a buyout), I think they may have originally been a tea-packer, as they held the patent for "Spoon-Lift" teabags in the 1940s. Apparently the name came from a merger in 1947 with Sidney Smithline, a maker of puddings, cocoa mix, and gelatin desserts. Ch'in Ch'u, as far as I can tell, first came out in 1959.

(Bigelow's Chinese Fortune came out in 1967/1968, as far as I can tell, and chugged along for about 40 years until 2007, when it was replaced by Bigelow's Chinese Oolong -- not sure if it was a re-blend, or if Chinese Fortune had been using Chinese oolongs since the embargo lifted. Today it is just called Bigelow Oolong, dropping the Chinese.)

[Baisao]

James Norwood Pratt seems to imply that Ch'a Ching was pure Formosa oolong, although I don't know if that is true...

When I read 'A Tea Lover's Treasury' I found Pratt's knowledge of Taiwanese teas to be limited. It has the feel of pipe tobacco scented occidental scholars who write about the Orient. They use outdated terms and focus on things that, while curious to a stuffy westerner, are not essential within the cultural context. Whether it is over emphasizing suffering or satori in Buddhist literature or referring to teas by obsolete or meaningless names, it is all a kind of colonial arrogance. Perhaps it is laziness. It's like they aren't even trying.

Anyway, I digress.

Which of the dozens of teas in Taiwan does he mean by 'Formosa oolong'?

[Bok]

@Baisao +1

In any case we can’t take the judgement of this gentleman for nothing, until we had tea with him and could judge his ability to discern what is what in a tea and how his palate is trained.

Reading about tea has a lot in common with reading about martial arts, it’s really all quite pointless unless you can feel/touch/smell the exact same thing/person live.

[Baisao]

Baisao +1

In any case we can’t take the judgement of this gentleman for nothing, until we had tea with him and could judge his ability to discern what is what in a tea and how his palate is trained.

Reading about tea has a lot in common with reading about martial arts, it’s really all quite pointless unless you can feel/touch/smell the exact same thing/person live.

I think you hit upon an important point. It's one of the downsides of an online forum for these things. Tea is so intimate that we can never really know if the person on the other end is having the same tea, so to speak. It becomes a matter of trust.

[LeoFox]

By Pratt:

Taiwan’s tea grows mostly below one thousand feet at the northern end of the island around Taipai where the Formosa cultivar Ching-Shing Dapan flourishes. Traditionally about sixty percent fermented, this classic tea is quite singular in aroma, taste and appearance. It is flamboyantly perfumed and has the taste and aroma of ripe peaches and none of black tea’s bitterness or astringency – “no peaks, no bites” tea men say. More deliciously fruity than any other tea, Formosa Oolong (also sold as Champagne or White-tip Oolong) is both delicate and lush, rich and light. The top grades are Fancy and Fanciest.

Dry leaf of Jade and Amber Oolong is “shotty,” meaning rolled up into balls, but traditional Formosa Oolong is a crisp, open Souchong leaf, mostly reddish-brown with greens and blacks and (often) flecks of white liberally intermixed. In looks, it could be a distant cousin of China’s Shou Mei, the full-leaf, sun-dried white tea. Loveliest and most prized is Bai Hao, its silver or white portion a result of microscopic insects chewing on the edges of the tea leaf. Most tea men prescribe seven minutes steeping for Formosa Oolong, which responds best to boiling water, just as Amber likes water ten degrees below boiling, and Jade water twenty degrees below. These taste best after two to three minutes’ steeping time.

https://tching.com/2009/02/formosa-oolong/

Note the funky terms he likes to roll out and then the misleading comparison to shoumei. And also the authoritative way he declares the steeping Parameter

[Ethan Kurland]

Anyway, I digress.

Keep digressing. You create wonderful images & make some profound comments.

You allow me to envision somewhat harmless & somewhat useless men sitting in easy chairs with pipes & drinks talking free from worry that their "conclusions" etc. will be challenged. I think such men have not spent much time, if any, w/ Buddhists who come to temples hoping to be helped w/ getting $ for regular concerns: food, shelter, etc. Prayers to Buddha to move luck their way might help; or, perhaps a monk might have a clue about what lottery numbers to pick. (Note: my comments are not meant to deride anyone nor any religion. I simply know what I have observed. Most religions' daily prayers & routines are asking God, gods, or spirits etc. for good luck such as the right amount of rain for crops etc.)

I believe that religion is engaged more for material relief than for a philosophical way out of suffering. Even if not looking for a better car or home but answers about feelings etc., often how to get through the day, through a crisis, etc. is the concern dominating concern.

About tea here's another ?: If one takes all of the tea of every tea-producing country for comparisons, overall which country has the best tea? (& for whom does the answer matter & why)

[mbanu]

James Norwood Pratt seems to imply that Ch'a Ching was pure Formosa oolong, although I don't know if that is true...

When I read 'A Tea Lover's Treasury' I found Pratt's knowledge of Taiwanese teas to be limited. It has the feel of pipe tobacco scented occidental scholars who write about the Orient. They use outdated terms and focus on things that, while curious to a stuffy westerner, are not essential within the cultural context. Whether it is over emphasizing suffering or satori in Buddhist literature or referring to teas by obsolete or meaningless names, it is all a kind of colonial arrogance. Perhaps it is laziness. It's like they aren't even trying.

Anyway, I digress.

Which of the dozens of teas in Taiwan does he mean by 'Formosa oolong'?

Were there dozens? Sadly I'm fairly ignorant about the Taiwanese tea industry during the martial law era (1949-1987), which is when these "Chinese Restaurant" blends would have been most popular. Pratt mentions offhand that the old-fashioned grading system (Fancy, Choicest, Choice, Finest, Fine, Superior, Good, Fair and Common) was actually formalized by a Taiwanese regulatory agency, Taiwan's Tea Inspection Office. If they were regulating the grades, perhaps they were also defining the oolong categories?

*Edit: This looks interesting -- http://rportal.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/bitstrea ... 02_013.pdf

It says that in 1960, 95% of all tea production in Taiwan was exported, while oolong tea only made up 1.8% of exports, for a total of 201,162 kilograms in all, of which 132,017 kilograms went to the United States (I suppose for the "Chinese Restaurant" blends and to supply the few legacy shops that sold Formosa oolong under that name?)

[mbanu]

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Another interesting one, Sembodja China-leaf, which despite the name was Formosa Oolong. Sembodja was one of the companies Frank F. Cho worked at before starting Grace Rare Tea. According to Broadcasting/Telecasting Magazine, they had a TV and radio ad campaign lined up to introduce it.

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The timing is especially interesting, as I'm not sure that the embargo had even started by July of 1950 -- I suppose they were making a market prediction?

[Baisao]

James Norwood Pratt seems to imply that Ch'a Ching was pure Formosa oolong, although I don't know if that is true...

When I read 'A Tea Lover's Treasury' I found Pratt's knowledge of Taiwanese teas to be limited. It has the feel of pipe tobacco scented occidental scholars who write about the Orient. They use outdated terms and focus on things that, while curious to a stuffy westerner, are not essential within the cultural context. Whether it is over emphasizing suffering or satori in Buddhist literature or referring to teas by obsolete or meaningless names, it is all a kind of colonial arrogance. Perhaps it is laziness. It's like they aren't even trying.

Anyway, I digress.

Which of the dozens of teas in Taiwan does he mean by 'Formosa oolong'?

Were there dozens? Sadly I'm fairly ignorant about the Taiwanese tea industry during the martial law era (1949-1987), which is when these "Chinese Restaurant" blends would have been most popular. Pratt mentions offhand that the old-fashioned grading system (Fancy, Choicest, Choice, Finest, Fine, Superior, Good, Fair and Common) was actually formalized by a Taiwanese regulatory agency, Taiwan's Tea Inspection Office. If they were regulating the grades, perhaps they were also defining the oolong categories?

*Edit: This looks interesting -- http://rportal.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/bitstrea ... 02_013.pdf

It says that in 1960, 95% of all tea production in Taiwan was exported, while oolong tea only made up 1.8% of exports, for a total of 201,162 kilograms in all, of which 132,017 kilograms went to the United States (I suppose for the "Chinese Restaurant" blends and to supply the few legacy shops that sold Formosa oolong under that name?)

There were and there are. A lot of R&D effort began under the Japanese colonial era. I think TRES began around 1900. There are 22 cultivars and each one is suited to various broad classifications of teas (white, green, yellow, etc.). There are also seed grown teas and wild teas. Within these broad classifications we have various terroirs, plucks, processings.

In the quote provided by @LeoFox from Pratt, he’s describing the same tea but often by different names. The low elevation cited and the description hints that “Formosa oolong” is Oriental Beauty 東方美人 (aka, Dongfeng Meiren, Bai Hao, Pengfeng, etc.).

But it gets weird because he describes the same tea with different colonial names for the same tea.

Loveliest and most prized is Bai Hao, its silver or white portion a result of microscopic insects chewing on the edges of the tea leaf.

…Formosa Oolong (also sold as Champagne or White-tip Oolong)…

Bai Hao (白毫) can be directly translated into White Tip, the same tea he calls out separately.

Taiwan’s tea grows mostly below one thousand feet at the northern end of the island around Taipai [sic]…

It’s hard to ignore the generalization that all Taiwanese teas are this one type, even if he is inconsistent and later mentions “Jade” and “Amber” teas, whatever those are.

Who calls teas by these strange appellations other than idle British clubmen and those who long to be one of them?

You are in for a treat if you have not explored modern Taiwanese teas. There is so much more to Taiwanese teas than “Formosa oolong” or tone deaf restaurant teas.

I don’t want to detract from your detailed research into the dusty corners of Western tea history. It is frequently fascinating, as in this case. Keep up the good work.

[bliss]

It sounds like there was some variation in the blends -- James Norwood Pratt seems to imply that Ch'a Ching was pure Formosa oolong, although I don't know if that is true...

Let's have a look!

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There's clearly two different kinds of oxidation going on among the leaves, and a small amount of jasmine flowers.

Tea that have been in tins for decades often have a tin flavour and aroma. That said, if the tin is larger, full, has quality leaves, and sealed in shrink wrap, it can sometimes still be worth it.

There's not much to say about this tea. I don't recommend it Seriously weird vibe from drinking it. Tin aroma and stale tea mostly. I'd say it tasted more of old hongcha and stale green tea, than a variation involving old oolong, but hard to assess with all the unpleasantness of that tea.

Of course, I don't know if this is the original tea inside. The content is old, and it doesn't seem like the sort of tin someone would use to top up with loose weight tea. Given that I didn't pay much for it, I don't think anyone went out of their way to top it up with decades old tea they'd sourced from elsewhere.

Here's the back of the tin, with some orientalist copy.

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Yes, curiosity got the better of me and I purchased this a while back to see what sort of tea was in there.

With that out of the way, I think it's time to bin this tea

[Baisao]

That copy is precious

[GaoShan]

If I'm reading Pratt correctly, it sounds like he recommends a seven minute steeping time for Bai Hao. :O Has anyone actually done this? I imagine it would create an incredibly bitter mess.

About six years ago when I was just getting into tea, I bought something called Formosa Oolong consisting of dark, unrolled leaf fragments. It tasted like hay and roast and had no nuance whatsoever. It was one of the worst oolongs I've ever had.

[Baisao]

If I'm reading Pratt correctly, it sounds like he recommends a seven minute steeping time for Bai Hao. :O Has anyone actually done this? I imagine it would create an incredibly bitter mess.

About six years ago when I was just getting into tea, I bought something called Formosa Oolong consisting of dark, unrolled leaf fragments. It tasted like hay and roast and had no nuance whatsoever. It was one of the worst oolongs I've ever had.

He's probably making it Western style but even then it sounds too long to me. Oriental Beauty can be nasty if it is low quality and doesn't like boiling water, contrary to what he says "tea men" prescribe. This is because it is a low altitude summer tea and will have more bitter compounds than teas from colder locations.

[GaoShan]

If I'm reading Pratt correctly, it sounds like he recommends a seven minute steeping time for Bai Hao. :O Has anyone actually done this? I imagine it would create an incredibly bitter mess.

About six years ago when I was just getting into tea, I bought something called Formosa Oolong consisting of dark, unrolled leaf fragments. It tasted like hay and roast and had no nuance whatsoever. It was one of the worst oolongs I've ever had.

He's probably making it Western style but even then it sounds too long to me. Oriental Beauty can be nasty if it is low quality and doesn't like boiling water, contrary to what he says "tea men" prescribe. This is because it is a low altitude summer tea and will have more bitter compounds than teas from colder locations.

I thought the recommendation for boiling water was off. I usually use 190 or 195F water for Bai Hao.