Zhu Qu Cha

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


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Mar 1st, '08, 18:54
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Zhu Qu Cha

by twistedinside » Mar 1st, '08, 18:54

Anybody know anything about this tea?! A friend of mine gave me some. It's little balls of tea. Very handy for at work! *laughs* I think it's a green tea. At least, that's what it tastes like. I could be very very wrong. But I know someone here will know all about it, right?!

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Mar 2nd, '08, 05:36
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by MoGa » Mar 2nd, '08, 05:36

I hope you do find that someone.

If you run a search through Google the only result that comes up for "Zhu Qu Cha" is your post.

Do you have any more information that would help someone knowledgeable about tea identify yours, or at least the region it comes from and/or tea type and give a meaningful opinion?

I was once able to identify a tea from Taiwan by describing the package and the characters to someone using the Western alphabet (it was a high mountain Oolong from Mount Ali). This tea was also made up of little balls that opened up to resemble green tea. The resulting brew (made quite differently to sencha) was straw coloured, 'bright' tasting with elements of cinnamon. I knew very little about Oolong and I initially thought it was green tea too.

I'm not sure why the tea being 'little balls' will make it handy for work though.

What sort of size are these 'little balls'? Are they small pellets, each consisting of a single tea leaf? Or are they larger? Some teas come as 'balls' which you only need to drop one of into a cup to brew. These really are handy for work!

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Mar 2nd, '08, 12:34
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by ABx » Mar 2nd, '08, 12:34

I suspect it's zhu lu, which is commonly called gunpowder green or Chinese gunpowder. Gunpowder was historically tightly rolled like that to help preserve freshness on the long trip to the west. Some customs fellow remarked that it looked like gunpowder and the name stuck.

Gunpowder isn't something that gets a lot of fans around here, but I've found some that's pretty decent. If you like it then that's all that matters. You might try to find out where it came from if you want to get more, however, as gunpowder can range from smoky to peachy to thick, sweet, and mild. I'm sure there are gunpowders with different profiles as well.

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Mar 2nd, '08, 16:03
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by twistedinside » Mar 2nd, '08, 16:03

It's several leaves rolled into a nice ball that I can just drop in the water. The friend that gave it to me says he bought in in China. And he had written on the side of the orange containter it came in 'Zhu Qu Cha'.

And, you know...looking at the leaves, it does look more like the oolong I have experienced. And that would make sense, since I like oolong, and have not yet become a fan of green tea. *laughs*

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Mar 2nd, '08, 21:07
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by andy825 » Mar 2nd, '08, 21:07

Could you post a picture of it? Now that we are all so very curious about your mysterious tea balls?

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Mar 3rd, '08, 21:16
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by twistedinside » Mar 3rd, '08, 21:16

Hm...I will try to find a way to get a picture. Guess I can use my cell phone. It will be crappy quality, but it will give you an idea. Will use a quarter for size comparison. Hopefully will have that later tonight.

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Mar 5th, '08, 00:16
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by twistedinside » Mar 5th, '08, 00:16

Well. I took pictures with my cell phone. And now can't send a picture message because I'm outside of my calling area. Guess that's what happens when I move to Alaska. Hm. So, I need to figure out a way to get the pictures from my cell to my email. Or somebody's computer.

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Mar 5th, '08, 09:09
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by MoGa » Mar 5th, '08, 09:09

Thanks for trying, twistedinside.

There's no hurry, but if you can remember to post it when you find a convenient way to do so I'll certainly be much obliged.

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Mar 8th, '08, 15:56
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by twistedinside » Mar 8th, '08, 15:56

No luck so far. I think I'll be better off to just take new pictures with someone's actual camera, instead of using my cell phone. *laughs*

Mar 11th, '08, 17:26
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by Aspen » Mar 11th, '08, 17:26

I just recently bought a Moroccan Mint gunpowder green tea from Republic of Tea. It is a Formosan gunpowder with peppermint leaves. I like it but then I like mint. It is interesting to see the pellets/balls swell up and expand out to leaves.

But if I were to photograph this one, it would do better to use a dime for comparison than a quarter. Some of the pellets are small and tightly balled up.

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