Pinestone Tea Review

Tea drinking culture in China is not only a key part of people’s social and leisure time but also an important aspect of any mealtime. Astonishingly, tea is also a cooking ingredient in China. Back in the Tang Dynasty, the tea people drunk was ground and flavoured with salt and herbs. This form of tea is still available in many parts of China today, and in some cases, roasted rice and beans are added to make the tea drink more like a soup.

I love drinking tea and there’s nothing better than great quality loose leaf tea. Luckily I’ve been able to discover Pinestone Tea. The name Pinestone recalls its founder’s name 松岩 (Pine on a Rock) as well as a celebrated line by Tang dynasty poet Wang Wei: “明月松間照，清泉石上流” translated as “Through pines, the bright moon glows, upon rocks, the clear spring flows”. 

We were sent the Pinestone Tea Luxury Green Tea Gift Set to review and couldn’t have been more impressed. It comes beautifully packaged and it was almost too good to open. The gift set contains 100g Lung Ching, 100g Jasmine, and 100g Chun Mee loose-leaf tea. Our favourite was the Lung Ching, delicate, all-round tea, but this was a hard choice to make as the Jasmine and the Chun Mee were just as perfect. My house mate particularly liked the Jasmine Tea.

To brew the perfect tea, follow these simple steps below:

Step 1
The optimum water temperature for green tea is 80-90 degree Celsius: You can achieve this by leaving boiling water to stand for 5 minutes before use
Step 2
Depending on how strong you prefer it, 1-2 teaspoons should be added to a cup or teapot (about 300ml in size or capacity)
Step 3
Rinse the tea leaves briefly with hot water in a cup or teapot (filled roughly a third of the way) and drain after 30 seconds.
Step 4
Add hot water to full and brew the rinsed leaves for 2-3 minutes, enjoy!