Dark Tea on the Splendid Table tomorrow

Just discovered? Makes it sound like when Columbus “discovered” America… and found lots of people living there already. It might be new for us, but it’s certainly not new to the people who’ve been making it and drinking it their whole lives.

Hei cha (literally black tea.. translated as dark tea often here) is like pu’er, but it has mold cultures actually in it. Sort of like the difference between cheddar and blue cheese. Except where blue cheese is generally too much for the uninitiated, dark tea is really yummy! It’s got this tangy-ness to it, like the smell of play-doh.

Do you have a link? Even though the topic makes it sound like it’ll be leaning too heavily on the “exotic” and “oriental” side of things, I’m still curious to hear what they’ll talk about. It’s a really interesting kind of tea that deserves to be recognized and enjoyed by folks outside China.

I agree that the title is misleading. It is more likely that Americans are just coming to notice that this tea exists, and it is growing in popularity.

Here is the index for the shows:
http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/listings/
or you could listen on your local NPR station when it airs. It airs at 2:00 Saturday.

There were a few discussions on “dark tea” and “hei cha” in teachat.
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14772
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=13146

And when I searched on teachat, actually there were dozens of relevant discussions. I would also like to see more feedbacks on this survey – will you drink a tea with “golden flower” on it? :-p
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=14692

Not all hei cha has mold on it, but I’m interested in seeing what people think of drinking a tea with (supposedly healthy) visible mold on it :-D

I am all for probiotics. I can be a little apprehensive, but then I think about yogurt.

I just listened to the story. I enjoyed the way the tea expert explained why most U.S. merchants have not been in contact with dark tea. He explained that the tea had been around for a loooong time, but we are just learning more about it. He also explained that PU is a sub subset of dark teas. Pretty cool. Have a listen, it is interesting.
http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/listings/
March 31st.