Gaiwan shares the science of tea

Let it go; you’re in Idaho.

That’s Matt Kaufmann’s philosophy, and it’s palpable walking into Gaiwan Tea House at 901 N. Fourth St. in Coeur d’Alene. Just exhale.

Relaxing (but not sleepy) music, comfortable chairs in eclectic twosomes, and an Asian-style, floor-cushioned corner room complete a relaxed-yet-awake feel to this new addition. The Kaufmann family opened Gaiwan in late October but have lived and worked here since 2004. Coeur d’Alene needed a tea house, and this family of four needed a different kind of life.

Soft-spoken Snowy Kaufmann takes the science of tea quite seriously. Carefully guiding me amid her cornucopia of aromatic choices, she said yes, there is a science to tea.

Let’s begin with the name. A “gaiwan” is a Chinese cup-sized, lidded bowl used for the infusion of tea leaves. That’s leaves; no tea bags here, and the difference is clear. When Snowy rinsed — yes, rinsing is advised — my “Oriental Beauty” oolong leaves, then when she gave me the first pour, then a second, both odor and taste changed.

China was the birthplace of tea during the Ming dynasty, and remains the only place in the world which produces all its forms: black, green, white, and yellow (rarely sold in the U.S.). All those other words, such as oolong, red, jasmine and so on, describe varieties of and additions to those four kinds of tea.

That’s not the same as the misnomer “herbal tea”; herbs such as chamomile, peppermint, and roibus are not actually teas, but “herbal infusions.” True tea leaves, Snowy explained, come from a pretty, flowering tea plant called camellia sinensis. The variations are not in the plant, but in the way tea is processed.

The least processed is white tea. It’s picked and dried; end of story. White tea has good detoxifying properties because it is steeped at lower temperatures for a shorter period. It’s therefore the least caffeinated and used especially for relaxation.

Yes, teas have caffeine (but many herbal infusions don’t). All tea leaves have the same amount of caffeine; it’s how they’re made that determines how caffeinated the resulting drink. Keep in mind that when comparing tea to coffee, “caffeinated” is a relative term, and tea has other health benefits coffee lacks.

Black is the opposite of white tea. Steeped for a longer period and at higher temperature — at Gaiwan, a high-tech machine sets the heat — more caffeine is extracted from the leaves. Snowy, a registered nurse, explained that in all teas, caffeine acts differently in the body than does coffee, because tea is connected to a calming amino acid. She calls the result a “gentle arc” as opposed to coffee’s “spike.”

Green tea is more processed from the start; heat is applied to the leaves, either with steam or pan-firing. This stops oxidation by destroying the enzymes that cause it (oxidation otherwise turns the leaf brown, just like a banana). Green tea’s high concentration of antioxidants has also been linked to prevention of diabetes, gingivitis, and cancer.

If your digestion is off, try puerh — a type of fermented, aged green tea, and lovely with steamed milk. Puerh has been linked to cholesterol-lowering statins. While not sold here, yellow tea is between white and green, aged in moisture to mellow it.

The partially oxidized Oolong (think spotted, but not brown, banana), a variety of black, is considered the tea-lover’s tea. It’s the most time-consuming and difficult to process, a specialized skill honed through the ages in China. Oolong teas often come from centuries-old generations of processors who can glean detailed information from just one whiff of a leaf.

Oolong tea especially must be rinsed, and that’s an interesting note to end this story. Grasshoppers attack tea plants; little critters must eat. The enzyme is the plant’s defense mechanism to deter them and protect the plant. It’s also older tea; a warm rinse before steeping changes the taste by reducing those impacts.

A little twist on one of the numerous choices of tea tins along the wall will release the aroma, so if you go, take a few minutes to see what appeals. Gaiwan Tea House is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

When you enter, leave the rest outside. Just sip and “let it go.”

Sholeh Patrick is a lifelong tea-lover who has now been ruined for mere teabags. Contact her at [email protected].