Lounge
Teas loved by crazy rich Asians
Summary
Dive into the luxurious world of tea as depicted in novelist Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians trilogy
It was a tea-loving author who started off my dalliance with cosy crimes that transformed into a 20-year affair before gently fizzling out. My current infatuation is also set off by a tea-loving author, Kevin Kwan, and his Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. With his latest book, Lies and Weddings, I made plans for an indulgent weekend, eagerly seeking the tea bits and trivia. Alas, the tea nerdery was completely missing. Not even a detour in Morocco for a proper lesson on mint tea traditions.
Even as I googled for possible reasons why (Has he defected to the more caffeinated daily drink? Does his editor not like tea?), I couldn’t help but recall and revisit Kwan’s earlier books such as Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems for their outpouring of tea love.
Looking at this trilogy from a tea lens, all I see is tea and—liberally sprinkled lessons: “don’t call it high tea, it’s afternoon tea" (China Rich Girlfriend); an explanation of Singapore’s afternoon tea customs; or references to uber luxe teaware and tea stores. What I loved most was the matching of the right tea with the right character. The beautiful Astrid “loves" smoked lychee tea—one that inspires poetry—made by smoking fresh and dried lychee on low heat for a long time, during which black tea is added so that it picks up the aroma and the sweetness from the fruit. The combination of black tea and lychee is thought to be the world’s first fruit-scented tea, a chance pairing but one that found fans everywhere.
Also read: Cocktails inspired by Bengaluru's scents
The Da Hong Pao is the matriarch’s choice (in Rich People Problems). This Wuyi rock tea is one of the most prized teas in the world and costs an arm and leg, which Su Yi, the matriarch, can obviously afford. Her daughter, Victoria prefers a GFBOP (Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe) grade tea from a Tanzanian estate. The estate remains a mystery but a single estate import still carries sufficient heft. The housekeeper Ah Ling, who has long left her home in China, still receives tea from her brother, a ying de hong cha (a newer category of black tea from Guandong) grown in her village “with an earthy musky scent".
One of our teas makes its entrance quietly, a Nilgiri from the Dunsandle Tea Estate, which the cousins Astrid and Nicholas enjoy, the latter “savouring its delicate smokiness".
In Rich People Problems, a whole page is devoted to the Longjing tea and how it must be brewed. This “imperial tea" is one of China’s famous greens. Also known as the Dragonwell tea, it comes from the Zhejiang province and is a sweet and mellow tea. In the book, Dr Gu, a minor character, leaves his mark thanks to his expertise in gong fu brewing. We get a lesson from him on how the first rinse is a high pour, followed by a second pour from a lower height. Peik Lin, the protagonist’s friend, watches the ritual and describes the tea as “bracingly bitter". Before the visit ends, she has grown to “appreciate its silky bitterness more and more with each sip". In China Rich Girlfriend the Bird’s Tongue, a top-grade Longjing finds mention. It’s demanded by the spoilt heiress from the mainland for her mother and grandmother. But for herself, “I’ll have the Darjeeling," she says, “that’s always the best." Hard to top that!
Tea Nanny is a fortnightly series on the world of tea. Aravinda Anantharaman is a Bengaluru-based tea blogger and writer who reports on the tea industry. She posts @AravindaAnanth1.
