Harmony is now importing traditional, artisan Chinese organic teas to Costa Rica. These high quality handmade teas are made of whole leaves and have exquisite smell and flavor. We have a wide selection including: white, green, jasmine scented, green puer, and rock Wulong teas. One of the chief characteristics of a fine tea is that one serving will yield several infusions. That means that they last longer. A regular serving of one of our teas will give you from 5-7 infusions, compare that to bagged tea that would give you one or maximum two infusions. That means that a 20-bag box of bagged tea will give you from 20-40 infusions, while one of our 25g bags will yield over 100 infusions. The 50g bags will yield over 200 infusions. The differences between loose leaf and bagged tea go way beyond the amount of servings they yield. The leaves used in most bagged teas are actually the "dust and fannings" from broken tea leaves, usually the stuff that is left from handling whole leaf tea. This is a huge compromise in quality. Bagged, finely broken tea leaves have lost most of their essential oils and aroma, and when steeped they release more tannins than whole leaf tea, resulting in bitter astringent brews. Our mission is to import artisan high quality organic teas, the stuff that only connoisseurs drink, at an affordable price. Swing by and find out why our teas are so famous.
How to prepare your tea properly: Green and white tea: It’s important to know that different teas will use different water temperatures. It’s an easy rule though, white and green tea need water around 190-195˚F. You don’t really need a thermometer to measure the water temperature, just pour the water when it’s about to boil and you see little bubbles starting to appear. Do this for the first 2 infusions. From the 3rd infusion and up you can use boiling water. Use this method with our Buddha’s Eyebrow green tea, White Cloud Jasmine Green scented tea, and Shou Mei white tea. Puer and rock Wulong tea: Green Puer, Black Puer and Rock Wulong Teas need boiling water. Make sure to pour some boiling water in the cup or teapot for a few seconds to warm the cup itself. Then throw that water and make your tea. This is important because a cold cup/teapot will lower the temperature of the water when poured. Use boiling water for all the infusions. Use this method with our White Moonlight green puer tea, Sweet Rice Fragrance green puer tea, Water Turtle Rock Wulong Tea. The size of the serving and the length of infusion depend on the size of the leave and the strength of the tea. If you are getting bitter or astringent infusions, that means that you are leaving it steeping too long. On the other hand, if you don’t get enough flavor that means that you need to steep it longer. If you want several infusions add a bigger serving, while if you want only a few infusions use less tea. Finally, a note about cups and strainers. I personally like making my tea in a white porcelain cup with its own strainer. The reason for the white cup is so I can see the color of the tea. I recommend you get an open strainer and not a ball strainer. Those balls compact the tea and don’t let the leaves expand and release its full flavor. Another option is to buy a Chinese style tea cup, they come with their own porcelain strainer and even a little cap so you can cover your tea when you are steeping late infusions.
