Tea Menu
CHINESE GREEN TEAS
China is the birthplace of tea cultivation and one of the world's largest tea producers. A wide variety of teas, many known as the finest in the world, are cultivated and processed in China: unoxidized green teas, semi-oxidized oolongs and white teas, oxidized black teas and fermented pu-er teas, even the rare yellow teas. In China, tea drinking and tea production are woven into innumerable legends and countless traditions. This is why so much of our menu is devoted to China.
BLOOMING TEA FLOWERS
Select Jasmine Green Tea Varieties. A tea novelty of art and beauty. Hand crafted tea leaves sewn together and wrapped inside oh the beautiful flowers…
JAPANESE GREEN TEAS
Japanese green teas are processed using a different method than in China. After the leaves have been picked and allowed to wither and curl, they are put through hot steam and only then rolled and dried. This gives them their unique and inimitable properties, including the exquisite aroma and fresh green color of the infusion. We receive them directly from Uji and Ureshino from our humble tea master and friend, Mr. Takada.
There are typically two varieties of Matcha style teas, Koicha (thick tea) and Ususha (thin tea). Koicha is generally prepared in the winter months, using more tea and less water for a thicker, rich and almost past like infusion. This tea is cultivated from tea plants that are at least thirty years old. Usucha matcha, is the most commonly enjoyed matcha, thin style in the spring and summer months. It is cultivated from younger tea bushes that are no older then thirty years.
Matcha is traditionally prepared using Japanese tea wares and tools all made by hand. The chawan, bowl is a form of the artists expression that sets the mood and . experience of the ceremony and enjoying the frothy magic of Matcha. The chasen is the hand carved whisk made of bamboo that is used to froth or whip the powdered tea, dissolving the infusion and making it become frothy for the drinking experience. The hishaku is the bamboo scoop, or ladle used to carefully select the amount of water used in the chawan to make a fine, concentrated bowl of tea.
Koicha “Thick Tea” supreme grade
We also serve a bowl of Matcha Kyoto with a mochi daifuku sweet
VIETNAMESE GREEN TEA
KOREAN GREEN TEA
AFRICAN WHITE TEA
Organic and Fair Trade
Sourced by our friends Tima Tea in Asheville! From the Sorwathe Tea Company in the Kigali mountain region, The first tea bushes were planted in Rwanda in the 1950s. The camellia sinensis Assamica cultivar was found to be suitable for this climate region. In 1958, the crop was 60 tons, increasing to 1,900 tons by 1990. The devastation of the 1994 Genocide affected tea as much as the rest of the economy, but by the late nineties yields had recovered and reached 14,500 tons by 2000. Around 97 percent of the crop is exported, providing essential foreign currency for the country. The tea is generally picked by women, and the year-round harvest allows them to earn a regular cash income.
YELLOW TEA
The term "yellow tea" has two meanings in China. It can refer to a tea produced using a different method – slight oxidation – or it can refer to a carefully selected tea that a province used to send as a tribute to the Emperor – yellow was the Emperor's color.
CHINESE OOLONG TEAS
FROM THE ROCK GARDENS OF WUYISHAN…
TAIWANESE OOLONG TEAS
Taiwan's island population includes many who fled from mainland China in 1949, bringing with them family belongings, souvenirs of the glorious days under Chiang Kai-Shek, and often the knowledge of their native province's tea-processing techniques. Their ideals of motivation and meticulousness produce the flavors that make us proud to offer the following exceptional Taiwanese teas.
THAI OOLONG TEAS
Fully oxidized. Fresh leaves are gently rolled and placed on flat screens to wither. A deep enzymatic oxidation of the freed polyphenols brings out caramel and tannic flavors. The leaves are then quickly dried at high heat. The Chinese refer to them as red (hong) teas.
CHINESE BLACK TEAS
KOREAN BLACK TEAS
BURMESE BLACK TEAS
FRUITY/FLOWERY BLACK TEAS
INDIAN BLACK TEAS
Wherever you are in India, if you ask for tea you will be served either tea with very sweet milk or a common black tea. But the tea gardens of this magical land offer some real treasures to the world at several specific times during the year. Indian black tea is known mainly for the products of the famous regions of Darjeeling and Assam, where local tea planters cultivate refined varieties of the Chinese and Assam tea plants known for their high quality. The tea plant is also cultivated in other regions of India such as Nilgiri and Sikkim.
SRI LANKAN BLACK TEAS (CEYLON)
In late 19th Century Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, robust varieties of tea plants brought from India began to thrive on the ruins of Ceylon's coffee plantations, which had been destroyed by a coffee plant disease. Regardless of the height at which the plantations were established, they produced rich, full-value crops that soon found their way to a market that had previously been controlled by China and India. The names of the Kandy, Uva, Matale, Dimbula and Nuwara Eliya districts represent tea gardens at all levels, from the feet of the mountains to 2,000 feet above sea level to high-mountain teas that grow in the highest tea gardens of the world at heights of 7,500 feet above sea level. Our Menu includes two of Ceylon's finest teas, which we discovered when we visited the island for the first time in 1996.
NEPALESE BLACK TEAS
Sourced from Illam and or Kuwapani tea regions, "just over the hill" from the famous Darjeeling region, enterprising Nepalese planters have managed without British interference to bring a full-value, high-mountain black tea to the tea world. The brown-green uniformly rolled leaves with a high content of silver tips are full of aroma and have an unobtrusively astringent, captivatingly flowery taste. SFTGFOP; Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe “the best grade”
AFRICAN BLACK TEAS
Teas which have undergone a complete oxidation and fermentation through a centuries-old, secret process. These teas come from the Xishuangbanna region in Yunnan province, close to the border with Laos and Burma. They are enjoyed mostly in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It took several journeys to the region to uncover some of the secrets of their production. Pu-erh teas come in many shapes and forms, such as cakes, bricks and "nests" in addition to loose leaves. Enjoy tasting pu erh cha the traditional way, served in a gaiwan with a glass pitcher and bamboo brewing tray for all day tasting and enjoyment!
SHENG PU ERH (raw)
Sheng Pu-erh has an incredibly delicious, clean and earthy flavor. Processing sheng pu-erh involves plucking the leaves, drying them briefly in the sun and aging them either loose or compressed. If stored properly, raw pu-erh can age indefinitely and be worth hundreds of dollars. Tea connoisseurs highly value the complexity and unique flavor of aged raw pu-erh.
SHOU PU ERH (ripe)
Shou pu-erh is a ripe, black variation that was developed in the 1970s as the demand increased for pu-erh that could be consumed without aging. The tea leaves go through an accelerated fermentation process similar to composting. In turn, compressed tea leaf cakes are steam heated to speed up the aging. This “cooking” creates a darker amber color and deep, earthy taste.
TURKISH BLACK TEA
LATIN AMERICA
It is good for late nights of study, reading, when the day's mood needs an upward lift, or for animated conversation with friends. We do not recommend mate for children or anyone highly sensitive to caffeine.
Traditionally, this type of mate ritual is shared in a circle with friends, one sipping the tea, and then filling the gourd with water before passing affectionately to the next friend. Feel free to enjoy on your own, or to have a devotee demonstrate the ritual!
ENJOY A TEA SAMPLING
THE MYSTERY OF THE THREE TREASURE TROVES
Three aromas, three tastes and three colors from a single tea bush in the Chinese province of Yunnan! Three representatives of the world of Chinese tea meet on a single wooden tray at Dobrá Tea. We serve these three teas in the same tea sets used by professional tea tasters all over the world!
DECAF HERBAL TISANES
Herbal Tea Blends
CREATE YOUR OWN BLEND OF 2 HERBS
YERBA MATE with MILK
BUBBLE TEA
Pearl Milk tea originated in the tea shops of Taichung city in Taiwan. This delicious cold beverage is infused with Dobra’s fine choice of tea, your choice of milk, organic cane sugar and contains chewy tapioca pearls. This drink is popular in gaming cafes and teahouses the world over. It is also perfect for a relaxing walk through town.
DECAF ICED TEAS