A friend brought me two black teas from Tanzania. Wanting to compare them with other black teas, I suggested a tea soiree. Actually, almost any excuse will work for a tea party which involves snacketto’s, conversation, and friends. Think of it as High Tea without the hotel. 

We started with Glenburn Estate’s Autumn Oolong, a very light, mellow tea, resembling the subtle flavors and appearance of a white tea. Produced in small batches towards the end of the tea picking season, it makes a seasonal treat.

In between snacketto’s, we moved on to Snow Lotus: Darjeeling, First Flush. It was light, with a flowery aroma and taste. It exhibits a little more flavor, a light color, but still subtle, with a good mouth feel. 

We talked about flavored teas, and someone mentioned coconut flavoring in tea. You either like it or you don’t. I like coconut added to tea (or food or anything), and I had some on hand, purchased from The Tea Lady in Olympia, Wa, so we sampled it. The smell of the leaves of Golden Moon Coconut Pouchong reminds me of somewhere tropical. 

Coconut Pouchong, from Taiwan, is an Oolong; however, the oxidation level is so low that it borders between a green tea and an Oolong.

It has smell, taste, nice color, and memories. Whatever it is, it’s delightful. 

The stars of the tea soiree were two black teas from Tanzania: Tanzania Tea Kilimanjaro, and African Pride Tea. Don’t you just love that name: African Pride Tea. It is my understanding that both teas are grown in Tanzania, and come from either the Lupembe Tea Estates, or the Mponde Tea Estates. Both teas have a similar taste, although the Kilimanjaro is a bit more astringent. The teas are bold, full bodied with a beautiful reddish color, and different as night and day from the three teas already sampled. 

They are cut and blended teas, unlike the loose leaf, single origin of the previous teas. Cutting and blending means that the quality isn’t the same, nor is the price. It isn’t unpleasant tea; it’s just different. 

As a tea to drink all day, I wouldn’t drink either of these teas. However, as a morning tea, the two Tanzanian teas are perfect with which to start the morning. 

And, I am fascinated that Africa is producing tea. 

It really is an international commodity. 

www.tanzaniateablenders.com

www.snowlotusteas.com

www.tea-lady.com

I met Lavina Rao at the NW Tea Festival a couple of years ago, just after she started her online tea business, Snow Lotus fine Teas, here in the Northwest. This past November, she again had a booth at the Festival. An engaging woman, the name of her tea company rolls off the tongue, comfortable. The snow lotus is a flower of adversity, from the Himalayas. The flower struggles to grow, but is beautiful in bloom. Just like life. 

Snow Lotus teas are pure leaf teas, no additives. Smooth, they possess good mouthfeel and beautiful color, and are grown in high altitude and clean, crisp air. Though the selection is smaller rather than bigger, it is cohesive and complete. Lavina’s passion with her company is to bring quality tea to mainstream America. It’s an educational process.

Opportunity knocked, and I was able to share some time, as well as tea, with Lavina. She takes her time to brew Golden Monkey, a legendary black tea from Fujian Province, China. Originating during the Song Dynasty, with golden-tipped black leaves, Golden Monkey (don’t you love tea names?) is ultra smooth, able to be steeped several times, and low in tannins. An astringent black tea, it will mellow with age, like fine wine. 

We shared another tea: Tibetan Mushroom Pu-erh, which is a raw pu-erh, shaped in the form of, guess what, a mushroom. The oxidization process is stopped early; hence the tea is considered raw. 

The Tibetan Mushroom Pu-erh comes from one factory in Dali, Yunnan Province, China. The province is wild, and sits between the borders of Vietnam and China, in a tropical area. Pu-erh’s were how tea was transported for centuries. No one is going to drag huge bags of tea thousands of miles, but they will carry compacted tea leaves in the saddlebags of animals. 

Lavina brews her tea at 190 degrees, instead of the usual 212 degrees. I notice how flavorful her teas taste, and when I return home, I try tea at both temperatures. Sure enough, there is a noticeable difference in taste, and with the lower temperature, my tongue isn’t it’s usual scalded, and the tea has more flavor.

The pu-erh was fine for the first steeping, but the following steepings began to pick up astringency, and became too bitter for me. 

You can find Snow Lotus fine Teas at the NW Tea Festival, later this year, or check out her website and order online. 

www.snowlotusteas.com

A friend wanted to share some tea that she was given. I said I would host a tea party. In our house, any excuse will work for a tea party. I invited some friends over. They brought snacks: cucumber sandwiches, lemon bars, scones and clotted cream. We never decline snacketto’s. 

In attendance to this soiree was a certified Tea Master, Nicole Armstrong. If you don’t know Nicole, you should. She knows tea, and loves to share that knowledge. We were enchanted by her enthusiastic manner and knowledge of these particular teas.

In Pursuit of Tea is a tea business out of Watertown, MA, with pure, full leaf and organic teas, when possible. I love the way that rolls off the tongue……Watertown. I think there’s a Frank Sinatra song by that name as well. Even Frank liked the sound of Watertown. 

Nothing is needed to brew In Pursuit of Tea, therefore, nothing is added. No flavorings, no inferior quality lots of tea mixed in. We first sampled White Peony, or Bai Mudan, from Fujian, China. It’s a white tea: delicate, subtle, with a nice mouthfeel. The aroma of the initial steeping was sweet, like honey and melon. The taste matched. I love White Peony, which by the way, has nothing to do with the flower. The Chinese just like the sound of peony in a tea name. Maybe they like how it rolls off their tongue. We steeped this tea four times, and each time, the flavor was subtly stronger, and still eminently drinkable. 

Second tea brewed was Tieguanyin 16-Year Aged, also from Fujian, China. Ok, I love Oolongs as well, and this tea had a wonderful roasty smell that was an indication of the taste to come. No disappointment there, but by the third steeping, I was beginning to taste the tannin in the tea. 

Third tea was a Darjeeling First Flush, from the Steinthal Estate, in West Bengal, India. A black tea, it has floral overtones, and the passionfruit taste slurps around in your mouth. Darjeelings are a wonderful introduction to black teas. It spoils you right away.

Experimenting with loose teas is a different adventure than bagged tea, not that there’s anything wrong with bagged tea. I grab a bag of tea when I am running out the door, or in a hurry, or want a particular blend (and there are several that I like) but if I have more time than usual, I choose loose leaf. It’s a signal to my brain to slow down, put my feet up, and take some time to relax.

www.InPursuitofTea.com

Sometimes tea, like everything else, is purchased because of the packaging. In this case, I wasn’t sure of a “tonic herbal”, but the packaging of Wild Sage Organic Tonic Herbals was creative, so I tried two herbal/tea blends. From the ingredients, it didn’t look like it was going to be too tonic-y, which a lot of healthy teas seem to be. I don’t mind healing teas if the taste is palatable. Otherwise, I am not so inclined. 

In this case, both of the teas I tried were enjoyable. The first tea, TAI CHI, contains peppermint, spearmint, and licorice, mixed among the medicinal herbals. Mint blends nicely with nettles (the herbal), which by itself, is an acquired taste. I have not yet acquired any taste for nettles, healthy as it is. The wet leaves are a beautiful bright green, and the smell is minty with a little earthiness. Probably the nettles. TAI CHI is a rejuvenating tea, a pick-me-up for clarity of thinking. I liked the taste.

The other herbal tea, CELEBRITEA, contains spearmint, lavender, lemongrass, lemon balm, and medicinal herbals. Not so much mint, a little lemon, lavender, and healthy herbals. The taste was a little more medicinal, not quite so minty, but still very drinkable. 

Wild Sage has found a way to blend healthy medicinal herbals with pleasing, aromatic, non-caffeinated herbal teas. If you are looking for teas to address a specific health issue, these teas are just the ticket, and the information on their website is comprehensive. If you are searching for delightful tasting herbal teas incorporating health benefits beyond traditional teas, these teas are perfect. Smelling fragrant both dry and wet, they appeal on a wet, winter day.   

Wild Sage Tea resides in Port Townsend, WA, but you can experience them for yourself at the Kuan Yin Teahouse and the East West Bookshop, both in Seattle. More sites are listed on their website.

Discover new teas. They probably will not hurt you and, in this case, they will definitely help you. 

www.WildSageTeas.com

photo courtesy of Wild Sage