Seven Cups, 100 Teas

Arizona Daily Star:

Banging his head and knees in a tiny clown car bouncing along a potholed Chinese mountain road, Tucsonan Austin Hodge seeks out artisan teas — the kind of stuff that will absolutely ruin you for Lipton’s and Earl Grey.

The world’s best teas, and China’s worst roads, are on those mountainsides, says Hodge, co-owner of Seven Cups Tea House, 2516 E. Sixth St.

So go there he must, Hodge says, because the same species of tea plant will produce a different-tasting tea on the east side than on the west side of the very same mountain.

As with wine grapes, the “terroir” — the French term for the effect of a locale’s soil, water and air on the taste of a grape — makes a huge difference in the taste of leaves from the same species of tea plant.

There are tastes and smells from the artisanal teas Hodge hunts down in China that are every bit as wild and varied as a buttery New Zealand chardonnay is from a Northern California zinfandel.

“Wine is a good metaphor for tea, but tea is a lot broader,” says Hodge, a tall, 60-year-old convert to the wonders of the world’s second-most-consumed drink. Read more.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *