Puer from Kwong Chen Beverage Trading

This was the puer that was purchased at the kwong Chen Beverage Trading in Singapore.

It was their 10 year old plus loose Puer that cost Singapore $10.00 per 100 grams.

The brew was clear but with slight particles.

It has a very earthy and robust flavor.

The scent was of damp earth after the rain.

Kwong Chen Beverage Trading

Most Chinese of Cantonese descent that patronize this store was probably brought here by their grandparents.

This is one of the older tea shops in Singapore - established in 1935.

This is Singapore's tea heritage and Chinatown's heritage store.

This merchant carries puer teas and Dragonwell.

They sell prepackaged teas in tins and their Puer is from Yunnan and Dragonwell tea is from Shanghai.

The owner was very friendly and chatted about tea and how there are those who drink tea and don't understand what they are drinking. 

She further noted that Puer tea that she sells is quite old and has a distinctive earthy overtones, which many are not familiar with consequently think the tea is of poor quality.

The least expensive puer she has in the store was a loose Puer that was over 10 years old and cost Singapore $10.00 per 100 grams.

The teapots in the store were quite old as well and from YiXing. 

So, if you are looking for some old YiXing teapots this might well be the place to seek these gems out.

Tea Getaways in Singapore - Enjoy Tea

A lovely tea shop tucked away in Chinatown.

Chinese New Year preparations are at its heights in Chinatown.

The store was hidden in the midst of the tents that are being erected outside the stores along Sago Street.

This happens every Chinese New Year for the seasonal vendors.

The owner was also busy with his preparations as he was unloading inventory but was gracious to allow me to take some photographs of his store for this article.

It was a lovely store that carried an array of teas in particular some Puers and religious Buddhist paraphernalia.

It was one of the more modern style tea houses in Singapore.

The tea accoutrement are more contemporary in style and they had a lovely collection of tea trays and bamboo scoops. The teapots were more streamlined and functional.

The incense pots are some of the Buddhist and Art of Tea paraphernalia that the store carries.

As we were leaving, we were greeted by a beautiful Mulberry plant and its seasonal yield.

Location of this store is:

Enjoy Tea

18 Sago Street, #01-01

Singapore 059017

New Aquisition - Tea Cups

Wandered into Chinatown Singapore and found these rather unique and lovely teacups.

They are white, eggshell thin porcelain with Blue and White renderings.

The teacups have a shallow depth to them and makes them ideal for summer tea drinking maybe even winter with the way the weather has been this past week.

This particular tea store has some lovely pieces and are most from China rather than the coveted\

Taiwanese tea utensils.

Very well executed and detailed designs.

The delicateness of the porcelain is quite remarkable for the fact that these are commercially produced.

Pek Sin Choon - The oldest tea merchant in Singapore

We wandered into Mr. Kenry's store after walking for a few hours in Chinatown, Singapore.

It was quite a warm and humid day and he was in the midst of tea taste testing.

The cup of tea was quite a thirst quencher.

This particular brew was in the midst of being taste tested when we were offered to partake of it.

It was a very delicate brew that had hints of a an oolong and an after taste of sweetness that was only triggered at the back of the throat.

It reminded me of some of the more delicates Korean teas I have had.

Mr Kenry mentioned that it was at its taste testing stage and that there were these tiny Chrysanthemum flowers and some oolong tea in it.

Mr Kenry's ancestors were Chinese immigrants when they first arrived in Singapore during the early 1920's.

It the spirit of all immigrants his ancestor's who worked as coolies began the enterprising of tea in the early days of Singapore and has thrived and lasted to this very day.
Pek Sin Choon is the family business of Mr. Kenry.
It is the oldest tea merchant in Singapore.
He is the fourth generation tea merchant and is the oldest tea merchant in Singapore.
It was founded in 1925.
Pek Sin Choon is the largest distributor of teas particularly to the Bak Kut Teh hawkers in Singapore.
We want to thank Mr Kenry for his cups of generosity upon our impromptu visit to his store.

 Pek Sin Choon
36 Mosque Street
Singapore 059514
63233238

Operation hours: 8am to 7pm
Closed Sundays and Public Holidays

Blessed and Healthy New Year

Blessing of a healthy, prosperous New Year to all.

Saying goodbye to the year

 

The year is almost up! 

This was an intense year for the country and the world. 

Much to the consolation of many that the year is almost over and hopes for a brighter and fresh new year are hours away.

We look back before ushering the new year in thankfulness and gratefulness for having survived it.

We are thankful for our health, a place to live, food, tea, new friends, old friends, family and relationships.

Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity to be thankful while in the midst of getting to the feasting table that as soon as the linens are washed and the turkey carcass is in the soup pot we forget, as we drift into the Christmas season.

But new year's eve gives us another opportunity to put right our thoughts, deeds and attitudes that may have slipped away in the hustle and bustle of preparing for the joyous Christmas season.

We are looking forward to putting the old for the new.

On this eve, we have much to be thankful for. 

We are thankful for having had the time to write on the blog and to continue to correspond to many regarding tea.

Thankful that having the interest in tea has gotten us through some tough situations and moments when the only cure for the ills are the things that can refocus your mind.

We are also thankful to the new readers and look forward to newer encounters.

We thank all those who have taken the time to read the blog and follow it.

We are currently, re-doing the online store and hope to have it up and running again with fresh and new inventory the latest by Spring 2014.

We hope that our readers and visitors will continue to follow the blog.

We render our best wishes to all and that you will take time, perhaps over a cup of tea to look back, to be thankful for and make peace with the past before ushering the New Year 2014.

Wishing all warm cups of tea throughout the New Year.

A Very Blessed and Joyous Christmas

Wishing all my readers and passerby a very Merry and Happy Christmas to you and yours.

A Very Grand and Joyous Thanksgiving

A blessed and fulfilling Thanksgiving to all.

Osmanthus Tisanes

Health Benefits:
•    Moisturize Skin
•    Reduce Bad Breath
•    Remove Phlegm from Throats
•    Improve Digestion
•    Improve Lung Health
•    Treat Intestinal Diseases
•    Enhance Eyesight
•    Quench Thirst
•    Relieve Stomach Pain
•    Remove Body Toxins
•    Quench Thirst
•    Reduce Stomach & Intestinal Gas

 

Preparation:
•    Bring water to a boil.

•    Use 1/2 tsp per 8oz. of water

•    Pour boiling water over the flowers
•    Steep 3 minutes

•    1oz tea makes approx 75 cups (Chinese style teacups)
May be used to blend with teas and other tisanes
•    Or use in cooking

Non - Caffeinated

Ingredient: Osmanthus Flower

Taste: A full-body tea, mildly sweet, delicate in flavor. 

This rare flower from Asia gives a mildly rich taste while finishing with a lightly sweetened floral flavor.

Tea - Yunnan Province

Yunnan province is located in the Southwestern corner of China. 

It shares borders with Tibet, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. 

The province is crossed by the Tropic of Cancer. 

Its elevation ranges from the Honghe River valley at 76 meters to Kawagebo Peak which has an elevation of 6,700 meters.

Tea gardens are at elevations between 1,200 to 2,000 meters.

 The average temperature in this region is between 12 and 23 degrees Celsius.

 Annual rainfall in the area is between 1,000 and 2,000 mm.

Such conditions are ideal for tea trees for which the province is famous. 

There are 200 species of such trees found in Yunnan province. 

They are known as Yunnan large leaf tea. 

They are Pu-erh tea and black tea producers.

The Yunnan Province China's oldest tea growing culture.
The possible dates may go back at least as far as the Three Kingdoms Period in the 3rd century.
Tea in this province is grown at altitudes as low as around 400 meters in Xigui and as high as 3200 meters in Lincang.
 Xishuangbanna is in the south of Yunnan, this is the lower growing areas for Puer production and are mostly above 1000 meters.

This natural beverage has been grown in Yunnan for at least 2,100 years when the first wild tea trees were domesticated. 

There are still three ancient trees alive: 

• the Bada wild tree(1,700 years old)
• the Nannou Mountain cultivated tree(800 years old) 
•  the transitional Bangwei ancient tree(1,000 years old)

 These three trees are known as the Three Ancient Tea Tree Kings.

The two largest producing areas are Fengqing and Menghai counties. 

Green, black and pressed tea is planted.

 Yunnan black tea is one of China's most important exports. 

The famous aged Pu-erh tea is produced in Pu-erh county. 

Xiaguan Tuo tea is mainly produced in Dali. 

Xiaguan Tuo is pressed into ball shape and has a pleasant flavor and color.

Other brands produced in Yunnan include jade green, Xuanchun, Hongbao, Yinzhen as well as scented varieties such as smoked products, white orchid and the popular jasmine tea.

 Yunnan's trade routes includes the the ancient tea horse road being the most famous.
 The fact is there were many trade caravans that ran throughout the province and beyond.
 Ther ran in Guizhou and Guangxi to the east, south into Burma, Laos and Thailand, north into Sichuan, west into Tibet and from there on into Sikkim.
Tea, salt, opium, wax, iron-ware, felt and silk were Chinese exports.
 Muleteers returned with stick lac, woods for dyeing, tobacco and most raw cotton.

Hui people, thought to be decendents of traders from the Middle East and Central Europe, often dominated these trade routes. From as early as the 8th Century, they ran mule caravans throughout the province and beyond. Porters also carried tea on the route into Tibet as late as the mid 20th Century.