
A tea lover's guide to shows, podcasts and documentaries

Summary
Explore the captivating world of tea through a curated list of shows, podcasts and documentaries that dive into its rich history and cultureThere’s a new documentary on tea, released in November, made by filmmaker Christy Hui. Titled Tea: The Drink that Changed the World (not related to the book by the same name by Laura C. Martin), it packs a 5,000-year history into one and a half hours rather well. But it’s without question a film that focuses on China, placing tea firmly in its origins, and inviting the viewer to enter this “fairyland of tea".
Tea enthusiasts will like it—the parts I enjoyed most were those set in China. After all it’s here where tea’s secrets abound. Here’s where all the major styles of tea making—black, green, white, yellow, oolong and pu-erh—were created. To be able to see the great rocks of Wuyi, where the famous Da Hong Pao is grown and made, and to see tea masters at work (one said that 24 generations of his family had been in the business of tea making, another was the 12th generation) was quite incredible. Of all the teas, the oolong must be the most elevated of teas because the hand of man plays as much a part as the hand of nature, far more than with any other tea style. To watch father and son further an old tradition and see how it will continue on was a treat. Equally incredible was to hear a tea master speak of an ancestor who inadvertently created the lapsang souchong, setting off a series of events that eventually led to tea’s global popularity.
Also read: Lapsang souchong is smoke in a teacup
Chinese tea stories are heavily skewed towards mysticism/ mythology with seemingly implausible stories giving their legendary teas an even more elevated status. And this film takes the same tone too, which I think is unnecessary. I find the craftsmanship and the millennia and some worth of tea knowledge far more interesting. Beginning in China, the film makes its way out, to show how tea travelled to Europe, to North America, to India and the subcontinent, touching upon key moments before returning to China. What was also interesting to see is how tea in China has evolved—transformed even—over time into today’s refined culture. From being drunk as a soup—chatang—boiled with scallions and ginger and citrus peels to powdered tea and tea bricks to loose leaves that produces versatile flavours... there could have been a whole documentary only about Chinese tea makers and their teas. I caught myself wishing the makers had included the grand teas of Yunnan and Sichuan, of Anhui and Hainan, and Taiwan too, where the oolong craftsmanship has flourished.
TEA TAKES
Tea Soup is a podcast series hosted by a Chinese tea brand, One River Tea. San Bao, An Oolong Story is a short documentary by Adam Chin Sakoonserksadee who travels to Taiwan and introduces the oolong. An unmissable one is Jeff Fuchs’ Travelling the World to Find the Perfect Cup of Tea. The hour-long documentary was made 10 years ago and last year, went up on YouTube and retraces the old tea trade and caravan routes in Tibet and Yunnan. And lastly, my current watchlist—Tea: The Story of a Leaf, a six-episode series by tea aficionado and director Chongxiao Wang, also available on You Tube.
Tea Nanny is a fortnightly series on the world of tea. Aravinda Anantharaman is a tea drinker, writer and editor. She posts @AravindaAnanth1 on Twitter.