Zhejiang Province of China, Taiwan, Indonesia, and others
Quick description
Popular worldwide. Flavor varies according to the growing location of tea used for production
Gunpowder tea (Chinese: 珠茶; pinyin: zhū chá; lit. 'pearl tea'; pronounced [ʈʂú ʈʂʰǎ]) is a form of tea in which each leaf has been individually rolled into a small pellet. Its English name comes either from some resemblance of the pellets to gunpowder, or from a phrase in Chinese that phonetically resembles the word "gunpowder". This rolling method of shaping tea is most often applied either to green tea (the most commonly encountered variety outside China) or to oolong tea.[1]
Gunpowder tea production dates back to the Tang dynasty 618–907. It was first introduced to Taiwan in the nineteenth century. Leaves being processed into gunpowder tea are withered first, then steamed, rolled into pellet shape, and dried. Although the individual leaves were formerly rolled by hand, today all but the highest grades of gunpowder teas are rolled by machine. Rolling renders the leaves less susceptible to physical damage during packaging and storage, and allows them to retain more of their flavor and aroma. In addition, it allows certain types of oolong teas to be aged for decades if they are cared for by being occasionally roasted.[1]
The pellets are dried or "heat-fixed" by pan-firing, sometimes multiple times; this dry heating may contribute a slight smoky flavour. Heat-fixing is a typical part of green tea processing and stops oxidation. (Oxidation of green tea, which if allowed to continue would change it into oolong tea or black tea, has often been incorrectly called fermentation; fermentation is actually unique to pu'erh and "dark" teas). Japanese green tea processors typically stop oxidation by steaming instead of dry heating, and do not usually produce "gunpowder" style tea.
Shiny pellets indicate that the tea is relatively fresh. Pellet size is also associated with quality, larger looser pellets being considered a mark of lower quality tea. High quality gunpowder tea will have small, tightly rolled pellets.[2] The tea is graded alphanumerically, 3505AAA being considered the highest grade while 9375 is a relatively lower grade.[3]
^ ab"Gunpowder Black". Archived from the original on 2016-03-02. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
^"For All The Tea In China". Retrieved 2016-02-22.[permanent dead link]
Gunpowdertea (Chinese: 珠茶; pinyin: zhū chá; lit. 'pearl tea'; pronounced [ʈʂú ʈʂʰǎ]) is a form of tea in which each leaf has been individually rolled...
Pearl tea may refer to: Bubble tea, tea, milk, and chewy tapioca balls Gunpowdertea (zhū chá or "pearl tea"), a form of green Chinese tea This disambiguation...
mint tea and Algerian mint tea, is a North African preparation of gunpowder green tea with spearmint leaves and sugar. It is traditional to the Greater...
pronunciation: [ʃiːrʲ t͡ʃaːj]) is a traditional tea beverage originating in Kashmir. It is made with gunpowdertea (green tea leaves rolled into small balls), milk...
Green tea deteriorates more rapidly, usually in less than a year. Tightly rolled gunpowdertea leaves keep longer than the more open-leafed Chun Mee tea. Storage...
plum-like flavour. Gunpowdertea (珠茶) A tea which is tumble-dried so that each leaf is rolled into a small pellet that resembles gunpowder. Huangshan Maofeng...
list of Chinese teas. Chinese tea is a beverage made from the leaves of tea plants (Camellia sinensis) and – depending on the type of tea – typically 60–100 °C...
Kombucha (also tea mushroom, tea fungus, or Manchurian mushroom when referring to the culture; Latin name Medusomyces gisevii) is a fermented, lightly...
Tea culture is defined by how tea is made and consumed, how people interact with tea, and the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking. Tea plays an important...
ˈmɑːtʃə/; is a finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves that originated in China. Later, the green color exhibited in most...
in Chinese tea processing. Tea leaves may be left to dry as separate leaves or they may be rolled into small pellets to make gunpowdertea. This process...
increased (the British, in return, began importing gunpowdertea, used in Morocco's national drink, mint tea). By the 1860s, around 5,000 residents were there...
octane" green tea served at the Arcata co-op and discovered by Aaron Cometbus during one of his many dumpster diving adventures. Pinhead Gunpowder was founded...
The Japanese tea ceremony (known as sadō/chadō (茶道, 'The Way of Tea') or chanoyu (茶の湯)) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation...
Earl Grey tea is a tea blend which has been flavoured with oil of bergamot. The rind's fragrant oil is added to black tea to give Earl Grey its unique...
teas but also produces CTC, white and green teas. The two types of green tea produced are the gunpowder type and sencha. The industry was introduced...
Leptospermum commonly called tea tree). White tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong, dark tea (which includes pu-erh tea) and black tea are all harvested from...
Mint tea is a herbal tea made by infusing mint leaves in hot water. Mint tea made with peppermint leaves is called peppermint tea, and mint tea made with...
The history of tea spreads across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. With the tea plant Camellia sinensis native to East Asia and probably...
Moulay Abdallah al-Ghalib following a devastating explosion at a nearby gunpowder reserve in the second half of the 16th century. Notably, the Saadian Tombs...
several types of tea, sold both in tea bags and as open tea, rolled into small leaves like gunpowder green tea. Lipton Iced Tea or Lipton Ice Tea is sold in...
Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white and...
tea or simply breakfast tea is a traditional blend of black teas originating from Assam, Ceylon and Kenya. It is one of the most popular blended teas...
Prince of Wales tea blend is a blend of Keemun tea, gunpowder green tea, and a dash of currant juice or infused with dried currants. This produces a full-bodied...
jasmine tea has green tea as the tea base; however, white tea and black tea are also used. The resulting flavour of jasmine tea is subtly sweet and highly...
'mixed-spice tea') is a popular beverage throughout South Asia, originating in the early modern Indian subcontinent. Chai is made by brewing black tea (usually...
world's largest tea consumers, with an average annual per capita supply of 1.9 kilograms (4.2 lb). Originally an upper-class drink in Europe, tea gradually...
of fresh fruit juice is not very common. Attaya (made from Chinese gunpowdertea, sugar and mint) is also highly popular. Local beers (Gazelle and Flag...
Global Information