Spirited tea

A spirits distillery was the last place I expected to find tea. A group of us ate a picnic lunch on the grounds of St. George Spirits in Albany Alameda, CA and followed our meal with a tasting. We sampled several vodkas and whiskeys (one glass to four people) as well as Qi Spirits (which is produced by Qi Spirits in San Francisco the same company). We tasted Qi Black and White Tea Liqueurs, neat. The white spirit was dry, astringent and slightly fruity while the black liqueur was smoky and smooth, reminiscent of lapsang.


left, white liqueur
black liqueur

A week before the tasting, I read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle's "The Coctailian" column about a white nectar cocktail made with Numi White Nectar organic tea (Numi is located in Oakland, Ca). A web search on tea and cocktails yielded sites devoted to the Zen Green Tea Liqueur and an article on tea-based cocktails. I think I will remain focused on the numerous teas and steeping techniques I have not tasted and tried before I add the tea-cocktail to my repertoire.

Tea maker reviews

Both Tea on Tap and Gongfu Girl have written reviews of tea makers. Jaime of Tea on Tap compared the TriniTEA Electric Maker (Adagio Teas, $99) to the Zarafina Tea Maker Suite ($149.99). Jaime prepared black, green, and a Rooibos tea and rated the resulting brews from each tea maker according to seven categories: heating time, steeping time, taste, quantity, ease of use, ease of cleaning, and cost. The TriniTEA outscored the Zarafina 7 to 4. Gongfu Girl Cinnabar recommends the Zarafina (she did not review the TriniTEA tea maker).

I have not tried either tea maker, though the TriniTEA remains on my wish list. Both Jaime and Cinnabar were approached by Zarafina. If only the company would offer me a sample. In the meantime, I prepare my tea the old-fashioned way with a kettle. Sometimes I buy my tea, like this cup of spicy mint from Mokka in Berkeley. The spice flavor was cinnamon.

Herbal tea with a chocolate nose

Post Alley Cappuccino steeped on July 7

As I type this post, a cup of Post Alley Cappuccino is steeping. The tea is listed as a herb tisane - it has Rooibos, toffee, and flowers - but my hands smell like chocolate; like a really good hot chocolate with marshmallows. I dug in the bag to add another toffee bit to my steeping spoon. The toffee bits are an excellent ingredient!



I purchased the tea from the Perennial Tea Room in Seattle, near the Public Market. (Read the crumpet post to learn about another good tea experience near the Public Market.) The minimum purchase at Perennial is 2 oz but the nice tea lady sold me 1 oz. Tonight I realized that I had been using a teaspoon too many. The directions state 1 tsp/cup, but I have been using closer to 2 tsp per steep. Oh well...more chocolate flavor for me!

Tasting notes
Nose: chocolate; some caramel
Body: rich
Caffeine: none (Rooibos base)
Water temperature: full boil
Steep time: 5 minutes

Garden to glass: Making sun tea and Arnold Palmer

1 teaspoon of Puer


Add mint and lavender flowers (both from my garden)


Add cold water and place the jar in the sun


left: After 2 hours
After 3 1/2 hours


left: Sun tea
Arnold Palmer (add 1/2 lemonade)

Notes
If refrigerated over-night, the tea will gain a greater mint flavor.
This recipe is a modification of care2's lavender-mint tea recipe.

Crumpets and (bailin gong fu) tea

Seattle is known for its coffee (Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee), but I was more excited by the city's tea offerings. A friend and I had crumpets and tea one afternoon at The Crumpet Shop located near the Public Market.



For my first crumpet experience, I ordered the nutella crumpet (recommended by my friend, S, and the server). The Crumpet Shop had a good selection of teas. I ordered a cup of Bailin Gongfu (another first) which was served in a large glass mug with a plastic steeping cup. BG is not "English Teatime." I like the Bigelow tea, but BG was a great complement to my crumpet. The leaves were even and large providing lots of full, smooth flavour.




I do not know the provenance of the Bailin Gongfu I drank in Seattle, but The Half-Dipper wrote a comparison of the 2007 and 2000 BG.