Tea

Aah, Bliss! After some truly murderously hot days, the wind came up, the rain came down and it has been raining off and on for 3 days. We really needed both the cool and the rain. I don't think our cats would agree with either statement, so they go out and come in soaked, to drag their cold, wet tails across my ankles.Back when it was hot, I had some of the Kangaita tea left over and so I iced it. It was a bit strong for me, so I diluted it a little. I don't think it does very well as ice tea - it loses all it's lovely nuances and becomes just "tea, tea", which is the family designation for ordinary tea. It is much too nice a tea to do that with it. I actually prefer green ice tea. It seems to hold on to nuance, delicacy and flavor better than many black teas.There are at least three ways to make ice tea. My favorite is to put a somewhat strong amount of tea in a tea sock, in a jug, fill the jug with cold water, cover with plastic wrap and bung it into the fridge. For green tea, I let it go 5-6 hours, for black tea, it can go overnight. There is the sun tea method, where you put your tea in a glass container and set it in the sun all day. I have done this many times, with no ill effects, but I know we are warned not to, lest bacteria invade it and make us sick. I have not personally heard of this happening. I don't usually do it because my cats would knock it over.Last, but not least is the old brew a pot of strong tea method. This is good when you want some ice tea right away. I just make a regular pot, because I like my ice tea weak. There are also a multitude of ice tea makers on the market and I confess to being attracted to them. However, they are relatively expensive and refrigerator space and sunshine are not, so I will content myself with what I have.I take part in a tea swap and I got the cutest tea gadget, ideal for gardeners - a potted plant tea infuser. The plant part comes out of the pot and has an infuser attached. When you are done brewing your tea, you put it back in the pot. It is made from food grade silicone rubber. I am going to try it right now and see how it affects the taste. I am going to use my SD Bell tea, as I know what that tastes like. Well, I think there is a faint, very faint taste of something like rubber and I think the tea is a bit weak. But I am unused to making tea by the cup and if I do, I usually use a tea sock, so the tea has lots of room to open up. But it is cute.Yay, that blasted bully-boy blue jay got his comeuppance this morning! He was trying his usual land on another bird trick, which he uses to intimidate smaller birds at the feeders, but the hairy woodpecker, though smaller, has a fierce, long, sharp beak,and he just pecked him several times and that ended that. Ha ha, bully bird!

Milk and tea seem to be a topic that is popping up on this blog quite a bit lately. From exploring the correct way to add milk to A Tea Drinker’s Experiment with Milk to my own toe-dipping into the whole issue of whether milk should be put in the cup first or not, the […]

I’ve written about that elusive creature known as the perfect cup of tea on a number of occasions now. My most recent thoughts are here. I’m still not convinced that such an item exists. But I guess all we can do is to try our best to get as close as we can to that […]

At Bigelow Tea we are grinning from ear to ear during National Smile Month. We couldn’t be happier to tell you that smiles can make you happy! Yes, smiling begets more smiling, and it has been shown that when you smile more, you are happier.  Some recent studies have suggested that our emotions are reinforced—maybe even determined—by their equivalent facial expressions. That happens to us all the time: drinking our tea puts a smile on our face and instantly we feel happy and content. Or maybe it’s the other way around, indulging in our favorite tea flavors make us cheery, and then we smile more. Whichever the case, we are beaming with joy just because of our tea! On top of that happy news, green tea studies have shown that drinking tea may be one of the best (and simplest) things you can do to protect your teeth!  Tea is a natural source of fluoride, which is known to protect against tooth decay. In addition, Green tea has been shown via many studies to inhibit the growth of many of the bacteria that cause bad breath. A double bonus when we flash our pearly whites! So, whether you grab a delicate cup of Green Tea or a fabulous, hearty Black Tea like our aristocratic Earl Grey, you’ll be doing yourself a favor. It will put a stunning smile on your face and just might elevate your mood. We couldn’t ask for much more from a little cup of tea!  Image via, Flickr

I’m always on the lookout for new tea blends – encountering a new tea blend piques my curiosity.  A few months ago, when I was in San Francisco attending the Fancy Food Show, I visited a mall and noticed a small demo stand providing samples of David’s Tea.  From its bright turquoise logo to its young, chipper demo girls, I knew that this was going to be interesting.  Based on the long line of eager consumers waiting for a taste, it was clear others were just as interested.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that they also had a retail store in the mall.   I’m not the biggest fan of flavored tea, but when I looked through David’s Tea’s extensive list of tea blends, I realized that was their specialty.  They have the typical classics, like Earl Grey and English Breakfast, but they also carry some concoctions that makes one wonder, “Where is the actual tea?”  One “blend” even included popcorn.  Then it became clear to me.  Looking around their clean, somewhat minimalist store design, their bright colors and cheerful and calming ambiance, and especially their way of presenting teas, it was obvious that this brand was trying to be the next Starbucks.  Oh, and did I mention that their teas are all loose leaf?  With beautiful, almost artistic images of their teas that have names like “Fantasy Island,” “Bamboozled,” and “Countess of Seville,” David’s Tea is marketing to a new niche market of tea drinkers.  Just as Starbucks changed how people view and are willing to pay for coffee, David’s Tea seems to be attempting the same model.  And it looks to be working.   David’s Tea is barely five years old and it’s taking the U.S. by storm.  The company was founded in 2008 by a young, 30-something Canadian, David Segal, and his cousin, Herschel Segal.  They realized a new shift toward and “awakening” to tea.  According to David, “Tea had a stodgy reputation.  It was either very British or Asian. We made it North American and Modern.”  The result is very similar to Starbucks.  In New York City alone, there are four retail stores and I expect to see more by the end of the year.  It’s even becoming somewhat of a tourist attraction for bloggers like this Massachusetts student, who states, “If you are an extreme tea-lover who wants high-quality tea for a reasonable price, David’s is the place to be.” While I am not a fan of their teas (maybe it’s my English side that prefers regular ol’ Earl Grey), I can appreciate what they are doing for the tea industry.  They are bringing a new energy to tea and most specifically to loose-leaf tea.   However, could they disrupt the industry to where the younger/next generation of tea drinkers prefers a “Copabanana” to a nice cuppa Darjeeling?  I’m very curious to see how the brand will expand and what its impact will be on next generation of tea drinkers.  Seeing as how T Ching is a community of tea lovers and experts, what are your thoughts on David’s Tea? The post David’s Tea: The new “Starbucks” of tea? appeared first on T Ching.

Tea Type: Black Tea Where To Buy: Whittard of Chelsea 1886 Product Description: Darjeeling Happy Valley 2nd Flush  SFTGFOP1 Loose Tea. Darjeeling 2nd flush teas have a more developed slightly nutty taste than 1st flush teas and are more full-bodied. Happy Valley is a famous Darjeeling garden with an reputation for producing top quality teas. This is a rich cup with a beautiful flavor and a touch of the “muscatel” Darjeeling tea is renowned for. Tasters Review: Recently I received a sample of this Single Estate Black Tea from Whittard of Chelsea.  As many of you know I start each day with at least 1 Black Tea and then move on to other tea bases throughout the day. This was a delightful Darjeeling.  A nice 2nd Flush. This has a gentle sweet-woodsy flavor with a bit of nuttiness to it as well.  It’s rich and pleasing in every way.  It’s a more pronounced flavor that many of the Darjeelings I have been sipping on lately.  I can vouch for the ‘muscatel’ flavor they refer to in the product description – especially on the end of the sip on to the aftertaste which lingers admirably. The post Darjeeling Happy Valley 2nd Flush from Whittard of Chelsea appeared first on SororiTea Sisters.

Despite what the name might suggest, Punjana is not an Indian tea company, but rather is based in Ireland. More about them here. A tip of the hat to teadog.com, where I first ran across this one. Cuisinart TEA-100 PerfecTemp Programmable Tea Steeper

  Eat tea. Yes, that’s right. We love eating tea, when it comes to matcha that is. Matcha is the only tea we actually eat. The finely milled powder from shade grown organic Japanese green tea whips up into a … Continue reading →

This tea comes to us from a small farm located on the slopes of Mt. Wudong, in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The leaves can be harvested only once per year in the spring, from 40-60 year old Jiang Hua Xiang trees. They are then withered, rolled and cooled just the right amount of times to produce buttery ginger flower notes. My sample is from the Spring of 2012. The leaves are impressively long and loosely twisted – I can tell right away that I’ll need a scale to measure them. Their aroma is softly floral, reminiscent of lilac, lily of the valley and narcissus. I decided that such a special leaf deserved a gongfu treatment. I followed Canton’s suggestion, brewing 4 grams of leaf in 200ml of water heated to 95 degrees Celsius for 5 seconds. The cup is buttery and grassy with a hint of honey to the finish. There is also a sizable peppery yet mineral element to it that, in combination with the finish, is reminiscent of fresh ginger root. I don’t know if I would have made that association on my own though. The power of suggestion is most possibly at play here. According to Canton the leaves can be brewed up to 12 times. I managed to pull 10 steeps in total. I might have been able to get a few more with longer infusion times. I re-steeped the tea adding 5 seconds each time, except for the last 3 steeps, where I added 10. My second try was similar to first cup, with it’s buttery top notes. However it presented a more pronounced ginger ale flavoured finish, especially as the tea cooled. My favourite of all was the third brew, with it’s more potent and well-developed ginger ale taste. The sweet finish is long lasting and leaves a slightly spicy aftertaste.The background flip flops between hearty buttery greens such as kale and Swiss chard, springtime bulbs and mineral notes. All and all this makes for a complex yet easy to drink cup. The following four steeps are quite sweet and more intensely floral. The ginger taste recedes slowly, leaving a slightly drying mineral finish in it’s place. My last three cups were pleasant enough but not outstanding in any way. By the 10th, the tea is vaguely sweet, smooth, but not much more flavourful than hot water. I found this dancong to have quite a unique flavour profile. The words “ginger flower” do describe the flavour perfectly. While I also brewed some leaves the lazy, Western way with good results, it’s worth infusing this tea gongfu style to get the most out of the leaves. It’s quite pricey, but worth a splurge, especially since it’s available in a variety of formats and currently on sale. Definitely a masterfully produced artisanal dancong!

Tea Information: Leaf Type:  Oolong Where to Buy:  T-Oolong Tea Tea Description: This quality Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty Oolong (#3) is from a very experienced tea farmer. This tea is all natural, handpicked, handcrafted and produced from Qingxin Dapa varietal grown in Hsin Chu county in Taiwan. The aroma and taste of this tea is very fruity, rich, complex and satisfying, and the aftertaste is fruity, sweet and long lasting. It is a very enjoyable Oriental Beauty we recommend. Learn more about this tea here. Taster’s Review: While Ali Shan tends to be my favorite type of Oolong tea, I’m still rather fond of Oriental Beauty Oolong teas, and I’m really enjoying this Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty Oolong #3 from T-Oolong Tea.  I love the fruity quality of this Oriental Beauty!  So sweet and delicious! It is a delightfully complex Oriental Beauty, with delectable fruit overtones that are reminiscent of a sweet, tree-ripened plum, bursting with juicy flavor.  There are very subtle hints of earth and wood to this cup as well, and I like the way these notes add to the depth of the overall cup.  My first few sips, I could have sworn I tasted a vague smokiness to the tea as well, but, now that I’ve finished my first cup (infusions 1 and 2) and working on my second cup (infusions 3 and 4) I find that the smokiness has disappeared, and it makes me question whether or not I actually tasted a smoky tone or if it was just my imagination. I love how the flavors develop with this tea.  The first cup was light and smooth, and the second cup seems to be richer in flavor.  It is still remarkably smooth though.  It has a silky mouthfeel.  The aftertaste is sweet and lingers.  The third cup (infusions 5 and 6) is smoother than either the first or second cup, and the flavors seem to have married into a more seamless kind of taste. Each new infusion brings a new adventure, and that is why I love Oolong teas.  This one is definitely worth trying – and it is one I’d recommend to those that tend to shy away from Oolong teas because of their strong floral notes.  This one is much more fruit-like than floral.  It’s a beautiful, contemplative cup. The post Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty Oolong #3 from T-Oolong Tea appeared first on SororiTea Sisters.