Star Trek and Tea

I was a bit of a Trekie as I kid so I was excited to find that there are quite a few tea references on the show. Sip some “Earl Grey, Hot” and enjoy :).

Steepster Ultimate Holiday Tea Contest

Steepster recently announced one of the most awesome tea contests that I have ever heard of. The grand prize is a tea bundle worth more than $800, including an über cool Sorapot. To enter you can tweet about which tea in the bundle you would make first if you won or you can post on the discussion board topic. The contest ends at 8:00pm EST on December 18th so get a move on it!

Tea Palace Sencha Aloe Vera

Sencha has become one of my favorite green teas because I love the delicate flavor. This blend sounded really interesting as I had never seen aloe vera in a tea ingredient list before. The dry leaves were deep green with visible pieces of pineapple. They smelled very fruity and slightly vegetal. I brewed this tea using my Zarafina tea maker set on strong green. The tea was a deep gold color and retained the same sweet aroma that the leaves had.

This tea was much better balanced than I was expecting. It was sweet and fruity but the sencha still shone through in the background. It also stood up well to resteeping. However, midway through my second cup I started getting a strange aftertaste that was almost medicinal. I believe this is from the aloe vera. My boyfriend had some sweetened with stevia and really liked it that way. I might not buy this tea but I certainly wouldn’t turn down a cup if it were offered.

Upcoming Reviews and a Giveaway

I am running a little behind in my tea reviewing duties but soon I’ll be posting five reviews of offerings from Golden Moon Tea. Their sugar caramel oolong tea is one of my all time favorites. I’m not a huge fan of flavored teas but Golden Moon is one of the few companies that know how to do them right. You can search their catalog based on the country of origin, time of day, type of cuisine and even your mood. Keep an eye out for these posts because commenting on each of them will enter you in a drawing to win some samples for yourself.

I have decided that from now on I will bite the bullet and pay extra for EMS shipping. I shipped my last TeaChat special order SAL and it still hasn’t gotten here yet, the suspense is killing me. Lu Yu has not made his appearance yet either.

California Tea House Organic Darjeeling

Darjeeling teas have always fascinated me. While grown in India, the variety of tea is actually a China or China-hybrid rather than the native Assam. This was the first offering I have tried from California Tea House. It is a second flush tea, which means it was harvested in June. The leaves were partially broken and had an sweet, earthy aroma. I followed the manufacturer’s directions; using boiling water and steeped it for three minutes. The resulting brew had a bright amber color.

This tea had the typical fruity “muscatel” flavor profile of a Darjeeling but with an additional peppery element more common in Yunnan teas. A second infusion yielded a cup that was just as enjoyable as the first. I think steeping any longer than three minutes would make it too bitter. This tea truly hit the spot on a cold and rainy day like this. I would definitely recommend it. As always, I love an organic tea. I think behooves us as tea drinkers to consider the consequences that our purchases have for tea growing regions. Why drink pesticides when you can go without?

Lu Yu

For some time I’ve been searching for a figurine of Lu Yu to join me during my tea sessions. He is the author of “The Classic of Tea” and greatly revered in China for his contributions to tea culture. The only one I have been able to find locally is a gigantic and expensive bronze version that Teavana had. I found this neat little gem on ebay today. It’s made out of yixing clay too. Wouldn’t it make a great tea pot holder during gong fu sessions?  I cannot wait to take it for a test drive. Pictures will follow shortly.  Now to find the room to store it…

Tea Rap

I love watching the videos from the Calm-A-Sutra competition. I thought this one was cute :). I'm anxiously awaiting yet another package from Japan. This time it contains a seigan blue sencha cup. I am also making time payments on a mythical ice split hagi. Once they both arrive, I may just officially be out of room on my teaware shelves.