Tea Tasting - Capital Teas' Mosaic District Teabar & Boutique

A photo posted by Notes on Tea (@notesontea_) on Nov 5, 2015 at 9:50am PST

Are you wondering about the whereabouts of the Mosaic District? It's in Merrifield, VA. I'm living in the DMV this year. DMV stands for the District (aka DC) - Maryland - Virginia. I haven't been invited to afternoon tea at the White House but if Michelle Obama reads this blog, I am available to join you for tea!

I had been in touch with Capital Teas earlier in the year precipitated by a press release about the tea company carrying Tea-rrific Ice Cream in its shops. I don't know the current status of this collaboration but when Capital Teas offered a tea tasting at a location in the DMV, I accepted.

A few Sundays ago I visited the Mosaic District shop where I was met by James, the store's manager, who had selected six teas for me to taste. In order, starting with the top row, I drank Irish Breakfast, Milk Oolong, and Green Menthos followed by Chicory Chai Puerh, Yoga Tea, and Green Gojiberry in the bottom row. My favorites were Milk Oolong and Green Menthos. The latter is like a Moroccan Mint. A shou puerh was used for the Chicory Chai making it my least favorite. I prefer sheng puerhs.

James is a great conversationalist so the tasting was lively. He told me that the store carries 60 teas and his favorite is a self-designed blend of Caramel Toffee Puerh and Vanilla Creme, which he has named the Santiago Blend. Santiago is James in Spanish. I was able to observe staff interaction with customers as well as to see customer engagement with the displays. Capital Teas offers samples of two teas each week at its stores. I tried the Pumpkin Rooibos Chai and liked it.

There a couple of other teas I'd like to try. I noticed Darjeeling 2nd Flush Margaret's Hope which I enjoyed drinking at afternoon tea at the Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel. I'm also curious about Assam Bukkial. Have you drank either of these two teas?

Tasting Endangered Species Chocolate

It's fair to say that I really like chocolate. What you may not know about me is that my undergraduate major was biology with an emphasis on evolution, ecology, and conservation biology. Given these two facts, you could probably guess that I was enthusiastic when asked to review several bars from Endangered Species Chocolate. The company uses not only uses "ethically traded, shade grown cacao and natural ingredients" in its chocolate bars but 10% of its net profits donated to wildlife conservation projects. The current project partners are African Wildlife Foundation and The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. The AWF has many projects; as a fan of giraffes, it was bittersweet to read about the organization's conservation strategy for the endangered West African Giraffe. One of the main foci of The Xerces Society is pollinator conservation, think bees and butterflies.

I tasted three chocolate bars, all dark at 72%. They are (in order of tasting): the Wolf (properly the Gray Wolf), dark chocolate with cranberries & almonds; the Bat (the Marianas flying fox or fruit bat), dark chocolate with cacao nibs; and the Owl (the Eurasian eagle owl), dark chocolate with sea salt & almonds.

My favorite is The Owl. The chocolate itself is smooth with bright fruit notes and is well complemented by the salt and crunch of the almonds.

The Bat surprised me. Typically I experience chocolate bars blended with cacao nibs as gritty and bitter. The presence of the nibs in this bar did not negatively affect the texture and imparted a dark fruit flavor to the bar.

I've gone back and forth on the Wolf. I didn't taste any of the cranberry tartness I was expecting. This bar was the driest of the bars; it had the least creamy mouthfeel. I think I would use the Wolf in a recipe but eat the Owl and the Bat on their own (or paired with tea!).

Do you consider the environmental and labor stances of a company when purchasing chocolate or other foods (and beverages)?

Chocolate bars provided for review.

P.S. Two of my favorite articles for pairing chocolate and tea are were written by Jee of Oh, How Civilized and Rachel at Buddhists Who Shop.

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.