A Warm Welcome to the World of Tea
Imagine walking into a Chinese restaurant, where the aroma of delicious dishes mingles with the soothing scent of tea. It’s not just any hot tea; it’s a warm welcome, a tradition, and an integral part of your dining experience. Today, we’re diving into the most popular teas served in Chinese restaurants, and I’ll share some of my tea-tasting adventures.
Whether it’s having brunch, dim sum (yum cha), lunch, or dinner with family and friends, it’s a story worth savoring. So, grab your favorite mug, and let’s dive in!
The Cultural Significance of Tea in Chinese Dining
In Chinese culture, tea is more than a hot water beverage; it’s a medium of hospitality, a digestive aid, and a focal point for social gatherings. Each pour and sip is steeped in history and every cup is a testament to tradition. You won’t find a single Chinese restaurant where tea isn’t served. It’s a staple, like serving water, and it’s brought to your table as soon as you sit down.
My parents owned a Chinese restaurant in Honduras and they never served tea because they thought the locals wouldn’t appreciate it. Now that I’m older, I see it as a missed opportunity to introduce and educate people on tea and our Chinese culture.
We’d have tea in our household after dinner time, not before because my parents thought drinking water or tea would ruin our appetites. I remember it like yesterday when my mom would boil water and bring out her teapot and tea cups. Then spoon loose leaves into the pot and we’d all wait in anticipation to drink it.
Nowadays, I drink 4 cups of tea throughout the day. Tea isn’t just a drink; it’s a celebration of life. It’s that warm hug in a cup that says, “Welcome, sit down, let’s talk.” And honestly, is there anything better than that?
Common Teas & Food Pairings
Let’s go through the most common teas served in Chinese restaurants and dim sum restaurants. Dim Sum, or Yum Cha (Cantonese), is a meal of small plates served with teas. It’s usually a morning-to-lunch service (like brunch) best enjoyed with family and friends. Depending on the restaurant, the servers push carts around each table, serving steaming hot food. In some restaurants, you order it from a menu and it’s brought to you.
I will describe each tea’s color, flavor, smell, and best food pairing so you can choose the best type of tea for you and engage your senses in the process.
Jasmine Green Tea: The Fragrant Favorite
Let’s start with a classic and one of my favorites: Jasmine Green Tea. Its delicate balance of sweet floral aromas with a light, refreshing taste makes it a go-to choice. This tea brews jasmine flowers with black or green tea leaves, infusing floral hints into the tea.
I like the green tea version better because the flavor is mellow and easier to drink. You can differentiate because the jasmine green tea is a cup of pale gold goodness, compared to the darker black tea. Because it’s a light and refreshing tea, it pairs well with dim-sum dishes, especially lighter fare like shrimp dumplings (har gow) or steamed buns.
Jasmine tea also pairs well with lightly seasoned steamed white fish and crispy vegetarian stir-fries.
Green Tea: Refreshing Staple
Chinese green tea is famous for its flavor and health benefits and its flavor profile ranges from grassy and sweet to robust and toasted. It has a spectrum of green colors, from greenish yellow to deeply green.
It has a lightness and subtle bitter flavor making it an excellent choice for any meal. I like to drink hot green tea in the afternoon because it gives me energy after the lunch slump and has a calming effect when I’m ready to wind down my work day. When it’s hot outside, I like iced green tea and mix it with different fruit syrups. I love getting Green Tea Cheese Foam from Boba shops.
Its subtle flavor pairs well with different foods including seafood, sushi, sashimi, vegetable tempura, and chicken. This is why it’s so popular in Japanese restaurants too. Green tea’s versatility makes it a fantastic choice for a wide range of dishes, from the light and delicate to those that are more flavorful and robust.
Oolong Tea: The Versatile Virtuoso
Next up is Oolong Tea, the chameleon of Chinese teas. It runs the flavor gamet, from light and floral to dark and toasty. It has a roasted, woody, earthy aroma and an amber hue.
This is a popular tea, especially in dim sum places, Chinese diners, and Korean diners. You know the lightly colored tea that tastes like roasted rice water? Yes, that’s Oolong tea. Since it’s oxidized between green and black tea, it can be a light or dark oolong and pairs well with many foods such as:
- Roast Duck: The darker, more robust oolongs can stand up to the rich flavors of roast duck, cutting through the fat and balancing the dish.
- Spicy Szechuan Dishes: Medium-bodied oolongs can help soothe the palate between bites of spicy food, making them a great choice for Szechuan meals.
- Sweet and Sour Pork: The slight sweetness and complexity of oolong can complement the sweet and tart flavors of the dish beautifully.
Black Tea: The Least Common
Its deep reddish-brown color, rich, malty flavors, and robust taste. The least common tea you’ll find at restaurants. Instead, it’s blended with other teas (such as Oolong and Jasmine) or added to lemon iced tea. It pairs well with milk, so often used in milk teas. If a restaurant has black tea, it’s usually to satisfy more Western palates.
Because this tea has strong flavors, I recommend pairing it with equally strong flavors in food such as Barbecue Pork (Char Siu) to counterbalance the sweet and savory. Chocolates also pair well with malty Black tea, enhancing the richness of the chocolate. Side note: you won’t find any chocolate desserts at Chinese food restaurants, we aren’t big on desserts!
Chrysanthemum Tea: The Cooling Counterpart
For something entirely different, there’s Chrysanthemum Tea. It’s not a tea but an herbal infusion of chrysanthemum flowers with water. Its light, slightly sweet taste, and golden color offer a cooling respite from spicy dishes. It’s my favorite tea to order at dim sum because it’s so easy to drink and relaxes the body. It’s a floral tea almost like Chamomille but sweeter and less grassier taste.
There’s also an iced Chrysanthemum tea version sweetened with rock sugar that I like to order for lunch or dinner. My mom would make this herbal tea at home whenever we ate fried food. It helps avoid heat and inflammation so it pairs well with:
- Spicy Hot Pot: Chrysanthemum tea’s cooling and slightly sweet nature can provide a refreshing contrast to a spicy hot pot.
- Fried Foods: Balance out the greasy dishes like spring rolls or fried chicken with the light and floral notes of chrysanthemum tea.
- Nutty Desserts: The subtle sweetness of chrysanthemum tea goes well with desserts with a nutty component, like almond cookies.
Pu-erh Tea: The Aged Artisan
Pu-erh Tea is an experience. With its deep, earthy taste and dark color, this aged tea is like a fine wine of the tea world. That’s why you’d find this tea in fine Chinese restaurants.
This tea is a type of black tea originating from the Yunnan Province of China. It’s also a really good tea with sweet dishes like dessert and sweet and sour dishes. I like to order a blend of Pu-erh and Chrysanthemum tea at dim sum restaurants to complement the dishes featuring mushrooms and heavier, meatier dishes.
Beyond the Basics: Not-So-Common Teas
And then there are the teas you might not find everywhere—specialties like the ones mentioned below offer glimpses into the vast and varied world of Chinese tea. I always appreciate it when a restaurant has a variety of teas to choose from.
And bonus points if there is an English menu of the teas. Here is a list of the not-so-common teas I’ve seen at Chinese restaurants:
- Tieguanyin, sometimes spelled Tie Guan Yin, is a premium variety of Oolong tea with a slightly roasted and rich flavor. It’s a nostalgic tea for me because it’s my dad’s favorite and whenever I have it, it reminds me of him. It comes from the Fujian Province.
- Dahongpao, also known as “Big Red Robe” is one of the most famous Chinese Oolong tea. It has a rich, smoky flavor and originates from the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian Province.
- Shoumei is a type of white tea that sits at a more mature oxidation stage in the spectrum of white teas. This kind of tea is oxidized less than green tea. Shoumei has a rich and fruity flavor. I’ve only seen this tea at the Lunasia Dim Sum restaurant chains.
If you want to read more, I found this great Reddit Channel about Teas.
Tea in a Chinese restaurant is more than just a beverage; it’s part of the experience. It’s about the stories shared, the meals celebrated, and the moments cherished. Whether it’s the comforting Jasmine, the delicate Oolong, or the intriguing Pu-erh, each cup is a new memory in the making.
Let’s Chat Over a Cup of Tea!
I’d love to hear about your tea discoveries in Chinese restaurants! Have you ever been surprised by a new flavor? Drop your tea tales in the comments below and let’s keep this tea party going!
If you’re curious to learn more about the world of tea, send me a message! I respond to every email.
