Tea Review - Festive garden by Palais des Thés

Sensitive to caffeine in the evenings, I'm always on the lookout for a delicious herbal tea. Thanks to Palais des Thés, I have been enjoying Festive garden.

Festive garden is one of three seasonal garden blends. The other two garden blends are Forest garden (primary notes of elderberry and raspberry) and Queen's garden (primary notes of caramelize almond and cinnamon.

You can see the ingredients in Festive garden. There are seven fruits and plants: grapes, citrus, apple, cocoa kernels, hibiscus flowers, rose hip, and sunflower petals.

The liquor is almost candy pink. The company's tasting notes say the herbal "tastes like a candy store at Christmas," but that to me means peppermint. I taste candied orange peel followed by semi-sweet chocolate. The combination is like a chocolate dipped orange peel! The smell of the dry herbal is delightful too. I'm reminded of a specific confectionary shop in Massachusetts which exudes aromas of chocolate bark, caramel turtles, fudge, and yes, chocolate dipped citrus and gingers.

Festive garden tea courtesy of Palais des Thés.

P.S. The garden teas will be available for purchase beginning November 5th.

Favorite Tea Ware - Mervyn Clarke aka Murphcha

As a tea drinker, and I am sure this is true for you, I adore teaware, from bombillas to matcha whisks. Everyone has their favorites! This series showcases the favorite teaware of folks in the tea blogging community. Today's faves are from Mervyn Clarke. Mervyn is a trained accountant but was the Director of Tea House Operations at the Tea Institute at Penn State from 2013 to 2014. His Instagram handle is @murphcha.

"The gaiwan is the ultimate tool for learning about tea and for this reason alone the gaiwan is my favorite tea ware.

This is undoubtedly my favorite gaiwan that I own. I picked this gaiwan out while browsing through the tea districts in Kunming, China. My buddies and I were looking through this huge tea ware shop when I saw this out the corner of my eye. This gaiwan has an all-white matte finish with a dark brown rim. The thinness of this ware was really something that stood out, I could hold it up to the light and see right through it. With this type of thinness I do not have to worry about over brewing delicate teas or burning my hands. The wide base of this gaiwan makes it very practical for brewing a wide range of teas.

A lot of my friends really seem to like this gaiwan and I do too! This gaiwan was the first gaiwan I bought from Yunnan Sourcing a few years back. It’s made out of clay, which means that this gaiwan may be seasoned to a particular type of tea. My tea of choice is sheng puer. My favorite memory of with this ware is trying to season it by boiling a full sample of sheng puer in a pot and leaving the gaiwan to sit inside for a few hours. I learned later that the only way to truly season a ware is to use it continuously with the same type of tea.

This cup is my next favorite ware. I literally put this cup in my pocket and take it everywhere. I picked this cup up at a small antique shop in Taipei, Taiwan. While my friends were talking to the shop owner and trying to spend big money on a teapot. I saw this little cup in a small box off to the side of the counter and decided to buy it. It was inexpensive so I just wrapped in a small cloth and threw it in my bag. Since then its been with me for some incredible shots. Below is a small college with some of the pictures I have taken with this cup."

Thank you, murphcha! From your Instagram feed I learned about Penn State's Tea Institute. I think a lot of tea folks wouldn't mind such as institution at their alma mater, or local university.

Book Review - The Matcha Miracle (& Recipe Excerpt)

My family and friends have been taste testers for several recipes from The Matcha Miracle, a new cookbook written by Dr. Mariza Snyder, Dr. Lauren Clum, and Anna V. Zulaica and published by Ulysses Press. Dr. Snyder is a wellness practitioner, Dr Clum is a chiropractor, and Anna Zulaica is a nutrition consultant.  All three authors have been co-authors on other cookbooks. Lasheeda Perry, the fourth contributor to the book, is not listed on the cover. Lasheeda has an undergraduate degree from Johnson & Wales and has worked on the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts culinary team.

There are four chapters in the book. The first three focus on the history, benefits, and use of matcha. The fourth chapter is composed of recipes and is subdivided into five sections: Tea, Smoothies and Adult Beverages, Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks, and Dessert. A strong feature of this cookbook is the range of recipes. Matcha is used beyond drinks and desserts. In the Lunch and Snacks section, matcha is treated as a spice, and a savory one at that.

I made three beverages (Classic Matcha Tea, Homemade Matcha Nut Milk, Chocolate Matcha Shake), one breakfast item (Breakfast Toast), and one dessert (Dark Chocolate Matcha Truffles). To prepare a bowl of thin matcha,  I added two (not heaping) chashaku of matcha to my chasen, poured a small amount of hot (not boiling) water and whisked in a "m" motion, then thinned out the tea with more water, again whisking in a "m" motion. Since I was using culinary grade matcha, I added a bit of raw honey to sweeten the  tea.

The Dark Chocolate Matcha Truffles was our favorite of the five recipes I made.  I served the truffles at a weekend block party and they received rave reviews.  Thanks to Ulysses Press the entire recipe is excerpted below. A couple things to note before preparing these tasty truffles. At room temperature, the ganache was not firm enough to scoop into neat balls. [My recommendation: chill the ganache in the bowl then scoop balls onto parchment paper and then chill them the balls.] Also, at some point, the chilled ganache balls will warm up while they wait their turn to be rolled into uniform truffles and dipped in matcha. [My recommendation: roll them in batches.  Also, sprinkle matcha over the entire parchment sheet and then roll the truffles in the matcha.]

Dark Chocolate Matcha Truffles
Makes 24 Truffles

Ingredients:
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
⅔ cup chopped semisweet chocolate *I used semisweet chocolate chips*
¼ cup matcha green tea powder *I used Mizuba Culinary Grade Matcha*

Directions:
In a small saucepan, combine the heavy cream and butter over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add the chopped chocolate to the scalded cream and whisk until smooth. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Cover the bowl very well with plastic wrap and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once the ganache is cooled and set, using a small scoop, scoop balls of the ganache onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.
Roll the balls with your hands into smooth, uniform balls. Dip each ganache ball into the matcha and shake off the excess. Serve at room temperature.

The Breakfast Toast was the runner-up recipe.  The combination of sprouted bread, whole milk ricotta, matcha, raw honey, and sea salt hit all the right notes, and in a balanced way.

There are several more recipes I'd like to make from the book, mostly in the lunch and snacks and desserts sections. I think the proportions in the beverage section need some tweaking. The nut milk and chocolate shake were not as flavorful as we expected.  The flavor of the cashews was not pronounced in nut milk even before adding the matcha. With 1.5 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, the chocolate shake was barely chocolatey. I compensated by adding more cocoa powder but that only overpowered the matcha flavor.  It would be great to see photographs and coated pages in a second edition of this cookbook.

Thank you to Ulysses Press for the review copy. Also, I am grateful to Mizuba Tea Company for providing the culinary grade matcha used in the preparation of these recipes.  I would recommend their cooking matcha.

Tea Review - New York Breakfast by TWG Tea

When I've been nostalgic for New York this fall, I've made myself a cup or two of New York Breakfast by TWG Tea. The tea is courtesy of The Urban Tea Merchant. Have you read my review of the traditional tea set at The Urban Tea Merchant?

The blend has an Assam base with cocoa. The chocolate pieces are significant enough in size and amount to scent the dry tea as well as to flavor the liquor. I steep a heaping teaspoon for 3-5 minutes.

The liquor is gorgeous. The steeped tea looks different depending on whether you serve it in a (white) ceramic cup or a glass vessel. The cup on the left is from my tasting tea set while the glass on the right is an Ora tea cup. New York is brisk and sweet!  You can purchase your New York Breakfast Tea directly from TWG Tea or from The Urban Tea Merchant.

Tea Review - White Nixon by Bellocq Tea Atelier

Do you remember the Tea Leaves Up Close post I wrote with Bellocq's White Nixon as the subject? Not only did I photograph the tea (with my Photojojo Macro Lens), I've also drunk the tea, many times. Here's another plug: I got my White Nixon at the Bellocq Tea and Cheeses of Europe pairing at the French Cheese Board.

White Nixon is Bellocq's tea No. 29. It is a white blend with a White Peony (Pai Mu Tan, Bai Mu Dan) as the base with lavender and cornflowers. You notice the hairy buds of a classic Bai Mu Dan. The flavor of the liquor has classic White Peony notes, too, plus lavender. Don't think of a perfume shop. Instead, recall brushing past a lavender plant in summer and the release of the oils which almost imitate a juniper or pine. I'm not sure I taste the cornflower but it is pretty to look at.