I think, next to wine, coffee has always been the preferred beverage for pleasure. Like it has always been the cooler drink to consume, dissect, and craft. But after meeting David De DaCandia, an international tea ambassador and master blender for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, about teas and its many intricacies, I think drinking tea is an equally sophisticated ritual with an exacting science to note.
David is an international tea ambassador who has gained several titles under his name. He is The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s master buyer and blender who constantly travels the world in search for the highest quality teas and has immersed himself in the tea cultures of several countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, China, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, and Vietnam. Together with several chefs in the country, he’s currently developing a new line of tea blends that are infused with the local flavors of the Philippines. The special collection of blends will be offered exclusively by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
I’ll share you what I’ve learned from our brief but enlightening talk.
Q: So what exactly is a tea master?
A: That’s a good question, probably one that takes a while to answer. I think a tea master has a different meaning to each person that you might ask. When I see “tea master”, I like to look at it as a person who has allowed tea to become a bigger part of my life. It’s not just a job to create tea for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which all those I’ve created. It’s more of connecting the product, the tea leaves, to my well-being.
Q: It reminds me of a perfumery where they make scents.
A: It’s funny you say that because I know a few of them and whenever I’m travelling and I buy perfume for my wife, I can clock hours because they have the same thought process. If I say “I’m looking for something fruity.” Or something like that, they’ll present a scent to me. If I ask for something with different notes, then they’ll give me another perfume. So there are some commonalities with those people who have been doing it for a lot of years.
Q: Have you tried Filipino tea like salabat, which is ginger tea? Actually what they do is they brew ginger in a pot for hours.
A: I haven’t really tried it here yet. I have been here before so maybe I have tried it in the past. However, ginger tea is not a tea. It’s an herb, so a lot of the countries that I go to have their own herb blends that are unique to their country of origin.
Q: So when you say it’s not a tea, it’s an herb, what makes it tea? Is it the leaves?
A: The product has to come from what’s called the Camellia sinensis bush. That’s the actual scientific name of the tea bush. So if the product doesn’t come from the bush then it isn’t tea.
Q: Countries have different rituals on how they take their tea. In Manila, do you see any? I think it’s a new concept as compared to other things.
A: I don’t know, but I’ll bet you that people go to the grocery store and there’s boxed Lipton and they must be buying those. So they buy tea, they go home and they probably use water that’s been sitting on the stove and been reheated over and over again-water that is pretty much tasteless at that point. So they probably have been drinking tea for years, but they probably don’t think of the benefits. A lot of what I’m hearing is that Filipinos don’t drink a lot of tea, but I’ll bet you they probably do at home. In the morning maybe when they’re not feeling well.
Q: No, It’s true. I was going to say that, for me, I find tea to be more medicinal.
A: Try a tea latte. It’s not medicinal, it has powder and it has tea. So tea can be very sexy, it doesn’t have to be this grandma kind of beverage that people associate it with. It has iced tea, blended drinks, lattes, so tea is very versatile.
Q: What would you advise me to buy for my house? What are the three variants that I should have and how do I offer it properly to my guests? I’m sure lunch tea is different from dinner tea.
A: We have a Lemon Chamomile that is good for the evening because it doesn’t have caffeine. English Breakfast would be great in the morning with a little milk and sugar. You can also do Longjing, which is a green tea, in midday for the health benefits. You have a multitude of teas that you can drink throughout the day at different times.
HIGH TEAS
There’s a perfect blend to match your needs
All types of tea come from the camellia sinensis bush. While the type of tea—green, black, white, and oolong—is determined by the length of time the leaves undergo oxidation, much of the tea’s flavor depends on the quality of the plant that is used. This involves factors such as the climate conditions in which it is planted, the health of the soil upon which it is grown, and even the time of the day at which it is harvested. All of these elements and more contribute to the enjoyment that one can get from every cup of tea.
In the case of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, they ensure that each harvest is limited to just the most flavorful parts of the bush—this means that only the the top two leaves and the bud of every plant are plucked to guarantee supreme quality. Whole leaf teas provide a more balanced cup of flavor, color, and aroma, and come in a variety of flavors—from the rich black teas to the more refreshing green teas.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf ’s Chai tea is a blend of black tea, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and other spices that lend it a spicy aroma and taste. On the other hand, their Genmaicha green tea is a mix of Sencha tea, toasted rice, and puffed rice, with the Sencha leaves providing subtle flavor and the toasted rice adding some sweetness to this blend.
Aside from the classic black and green teas, they also offer flavored black teas, flavored green teas, and herbal infusions. Their Tropical Passion is a combination of Ceylon black tea, passion fruit, guava fruit flavoring, and marigold flowers, and can be served either steeped or as a tea latte. Their Strawberry Cream variant meanwhile is a combination of Chinese pan-fired green tea, strawberries, and vanilla, resulting in a well-balanced and creamy drink. For those wanting to cut down on caffeine, the coffee shop’s herbal infusions are the best alternative. One of them is the Ginseng Peppermint, a fusion of ginseng, eleuthero root, peppermint, and other herbs that increase stamina, reduce stress, and boost the immune system.
With these different blends, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is able to offer premium whole leaf teas that are harvested from the world’s most exclusive tea growing estates and steeped in a variety of tea cultures.
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