It’s not yellow. Let’s get that out of the way first. The leaves are as green as Act One in Sonic. And the drink; well, green tea makes a pale yellow drink anyway, so there’s no room for differentiation there. It all reminds me of that ad for Canada’s Red Rock cider; “It’s not red and there are no rocks in it”. But, for Westerners like me, there’s perhaps always been a need for “Yellow Tea” to exist.  Fascinated by the variety of Camellia Sinensis; from oxidised to unoxidised, with additional parameters like...

I am a contrarian. All of this unpopular opining of mine may look like critical thinking, heroic truth-seeking.  But don’t be fooled; it’s just knee-jerk doggerel.  My world-view is permanently controlled by the assumption that “those millions of people talking around me can’t possibly be right”. My brain rails against whatever prevails. Remember that, especially when you catch me writing about Chinese medicine.  Remember where I am writing from. Here or there. Remember whose those surrounding millions of voices are.  If I am in my native UK, stifled by familiarity, you will find me warmly...

Tea is supposed to be zero calories. So what is this shiny slick on the surface of yesterday’s drink? It’s like the blue-brown façades of blocks in China’s fourth tier. It’s like a rolled scarab carapace. It’s like the squeezed temple of a liquid crystal. Shake it and the metallic tectons quite collapse, broad shards collecting into one bronze rim-stain.  Perhaps this is why we are frequently warned not to drink tea that’s been left overnight. Well, if there is a swollen cigarette-butt floating on top, let me concur; that cup may...

It’s teenagers who enjoy it the most. It’s there in so many of the snacks they eat. It is a horrifying rottenness. They love it. They are wrong to love it. Of course, many of these snacks of rottenness contain chilli; that fresh adventure for the young person. With alcohol, even coffee, still far on the horizon, the enjoyment of chilli carries an illicit charge and bragging rights. And, of course, these snacks are heavily freighted with umami, the protein decoy. While adults somehow remain wary of this big-FMCG alchemy, the...