Saturday, May 9, 2009

tea party

Yesterday, I had a chance to host a tea party at Thai Fresh. It was just an informal gathering that Nathan does at his house every Friday and he thought he would bring it to Thai Fresh. Of course, I said yes to the opportunity to learn more about tea. Suhan (I think I got the spelling right) from Jade Leaves Tea House was here along with a few other tea enthusiasts. We tried about 5 teas.
We tried Pu-erh aged tea. It was from 2007. The first brew was a little bitter but the later brews got better and better. Then we tried White Jade Rabbit tea.

It was a spring pick from last year. This tea was so delicate. Suhan said this is the best pick he tasted for this tea. I absolutely loved it. We then tried some Oolong that Nathan got from Taiwan when he visited.

My favorites were Jin Xuan and Gaba tea. I like the Jin Xuan because it reminds me of Japanese Sencha tea that I love. It has a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of savory side to it. That was my most favorite. The Gaba was a nice finish because of the calming effect it has as you drink it. You can just tell by the first sample cup of Gaba that it relaxes you. Although it was just too much tea in one sitting and I stayed up all night last night, it was so worth it. It was my first experience so I went all the way. We spent three hours just drinking tea and learning about it.



Brewing tea is an art. Water is very important. Good spring water will bring out the flavors of the tea, or in other words, it will not affect the flavors of tea. The temperature of the water also plays an important role in brewing tea. If you are brewing green tea or oolong, too hot water can burn your tea leaves.

These teas were hand picked and the leaves are so full. As we finished brewing each tea, we poured the leaves out from the tea pot and those leaves are just fully open.



You can chew tea leaves just like you chew tobacco. Not that everybody would know how to chew tobacco, but just chew them slowly and enjoy the taste of the tea leaves.
We are hoping that we will have this gathering as somewhat regular event and invite more tea enthusiasts around town to join us. Of course, we will definitely invite our very own Dr. Oolong, Jeffrey Lorien from Zhi Tea.

If you have a chance to stop by on Friday afternoons, join us for a cup of tea.

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