Big Thanks to Steven Knoerr of 39 Steeps

Tea enthusiast Steven Knoerr recently reviewed our Green Twisted Spears on his tea blog 39 Steeps. This particular tea is an Organic & Fair Trade certified loose green tea from Sri Lanka - a region that has traditionally produced black teas, black ceylons.

He discusses the leaves, the tea, the preparation, the cup, and his overall impressions. We're pleased that he seemed to enjoy the tea overall and noticed the unique notes of the Sri Lankan terroir,

"I like how the Sri Lankan terroir affected the flavor of the green, because it was like finding a friendly acquaintance in an unusual place: say, a friend from church, greeting me when I'm climbing up a mountain slope in Colorado."

He also commented on the unique new taste of green tea from Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon),

"I've never had a green Ceylon before, and I'm pleased with the beautiful handcrafting of the leaf, which was sufficiently interesting to merit an experiment with the tea, all by itself. While this tea isn't as nuanced or bold as the Chinese greens I am more accustomed to, when taken on its own merit, it's pleasant. I'd be interested to see what kind of tea the Ceylon producers will be producing in a hundred years, after much practice and developing cultivars specifically for the green tea style."

You can read the full tea review here. Be sure to check out the comments section where an interesting discussion takes place about green teas from Sri Lanka - a relatively recent endeavor in this nation.

Thanks, Steven, for checking us out and for the feedback!

Simply Green: Focusing on Local, Organic, and Fair Trade- How one coffee shop makes the switch!

Happy Earth Day!

In my travels and conversations, particularly because I live in Colorado, there are many people, stores, restaurants, etc. who live a very green lifestyle and make a conscious effort to do so. Living green can me lots of things. It can mean composting all of your food. It can be recycling all plastics, paper, glass. It can be riding your bike to work, or eating locally grown and organic foods. There are copious ways in which one can be green and one coffee shop in Fort Collins is going for them all.

The coffee shop is called MUGS Coffee Lounge and it's located in the old town Fort Collins on College St. The owners have made a very big move this past March to ramp up their already green efforts, to be a Conscious Consumer is the main focus of their business.

According to MUGS a Conscious Consumer "considers what the environment, social and economic impacts his or her purchases make. Quite simply, the conscious consumer considers the options available, and chooses the most responsible, sustainable, and least harmful option" .

MUGS has become a Conscious Consumer themselves by focusing on organic, fair trade, local, homegrown, reusing, reducing, recycling and composting. By doing so they are not only making an effort to be more green and help the environment, but to pass on this education to their customers. Their menu board indicates when something is Local (l), Fair Trade (ft),Organic (o) and Homegrown (h) which compliments and holds them accountable to the focus and mission of their store and at the same time demonstrates their sustainable efforts to the customers.

There are many ways in which we can be green this Earth Day, one way is to support businesses like MUGS who focuses on their green efforts EVERYDAY! It can be done and as long as each of us are taking some part, some small steps towards being more green, more sustainable, we will be helping towards the greater cause!

Image from: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1539915/earth_day_2009_events_in_the_detroit.html?cat=8

Earth Day: Why Organic, Local, Wild Fish and Loose Leaf Tea...

A glance in my refrigerator revealed a few veggies I bought at the farmer’s market this weekend. After much consideration, I finally convinced myself to sauté the kale that was threatening to wilt with mushrooms in jeopardy of getting old and serve it with the wild fresh cod I just bought. Dinner, a Coconut Curried Cod Infused with MONKEY-PICKED WHITE TEA served with Kale & Mushrooms sautéed in a sweet and spicy MONKEY-PICKED WHITE TEA-sauce, turned out simply tea-licious but what really made me appreciate the meal on a higher level was honoring the way all the ingredients made their way into my tummy. With Earth Day right around the corner, I decided to reassess the fundamental reasons why, for the past couple of years, my husband and I decided to make it point to wild fish, buy local and organic veggies and loose leaf tea.

Coconut Curried Cod Infused with MONKEY-PICKED WHITE TEA served with Kale & Mushrooms sautéed in a sweet and spicy MONKEY-PICKED WHITE TEA-sauce...

Ingredients: Coconut Curried Cod Infused with MONKEY-PICKED WHITE TEA
• 1 ½ lb cod, wild
• 2 stalks lemon grass
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp green curry paste
• 1 tsp ginger, peeled & minced
• 1 TBS fish sauce
• 2 TBS mirin
• 1-2 TBS crushed red pepper, depending on how spicy you want
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 1 ½ TBS brown sugar
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 3 TBS Organic & Fair Trade MONKEY-PICKED WHITE TEA loose tea, yielding 2 cups of *white tea concentrate*, divided (1 cup for fish and 1 cup for kale)
*How to make White Tea Concentrate: Bring 5 oz water to a boil and let cool for 4 minutes, which will bring water to 160°, a good temperature to steep white tea. Place 3 heaping TBS of tea in a 16 oz measuring cup. Pour 8 oz hot water over tea leaves and steep for 3 minutes. Strain tea leaves.*
**Optional: Reserve tea leaves to make iced or hot tea.**

Preparation: Fish
1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. In a mixing bowl, place coconut milk, curry paste, ginger, fish sauce, mirin, red pepper, nutmeg, brown sugar, cornstarch and 1 cup white tea concentrate. Whisk to evenly combine.
3. Place the cod and lemon grass in a 9 X 11 pan; season both sides of fish with salt and pepper. Pour coconut curried tea mixture over fish and cover with tin foil. Place in over and cook for 10-15 minutes. Take out of oven and keep tin foil on for another 5 minutes.

Ingredients: Kale & Mushrooms sautéed in a sweet and spicy MONKEY-PICKED WHITE TEA-sauce
• 1 cup reserved white tea concentrate, see cod recipe
• 1-2 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on how spicy you want
• 1 ½ TBS agave
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 TBS coconut oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 pablano pepper, chopped
• 1 lb any type mushrooms, sliced
• 1 bunch kale, roughly chopped

Preparation: Kale & Mushrooms
1. In a mixing bowl, whisk white tea concentrate, cayenne pepper, agave, lemon (zest and juice), salt and pepper. Reserve.
2. In a large wok, melt coconut oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and sauté until translucent and releasing sensational aromas, about 3-4 minutes. Add pablanos and let cook until soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add kale and mushrooms to top, without mixing coat kale and mushrooms with white tea-sauce and cover to allow steam to occur, about 5 minutes. Uncover and mix kale and mushrooms with onions and pablanos. Cook, tossing often, until kale and mushrooms soften, another 3-4 minutes.

Although I might have spend a little more money to buy local, organic, wild and loose, nothing can compare to the feeling knowing that I am healthier, happier and eco-friendlier…priceless…

How are you doing your part to vote with your dollars & sense?

Organic Green Twisted Spears

I've been looking forward to tasting this tea for quite some time now--it's been waiting patiently in my cupboard for its turn in the trusty Steepin' Mug. Alas! Its time has come!

It might sound silly, but half the reason I was so excited to try the Green Twisted Spears is due to its shape. The leaves are like mini-jousting lances or swords—long, thin, and pointy. A deep whiff of these dry scimitar-ish twists imparts a noseful of the scent of sweet apricots. After steeping the leaves for three minutes with water as close to 175-degrees as I could get (I measure the temp with my finger, which is surprisingly accurate. But keep in mind I did nothing but drink and serve tea at our now-closed retail location for over a year, so my finger is somewhat skilled at this task). The leaves had only slightly un-spiraled, making it clear to me that this is definitely a tea that needs to be re-steeped many times—as are most green teas.

In any case, the first go of it resulted in a light, floral-smelling liquor, with no astringency whatsoever. Pardon the wax poetic, but the mild, well-rounded flavor reminded me of the way it smells after rain—clean and fresh, with wafts of green vegetation. Much like wine grapes, tea plants tend to exude subtle flavors based on the soil and climate they grow in--so perhaps it’s no surprise then that these delicate spikes come from Sri Lanka--an island with a tropical climate that includes intense heat, heavy monsoons, and lots of subtropical evergreen forests. I swear I can taste all of those things. Round two, which I steeped for an extra 30 seconds, holds up strong to round one. It appears that I will get as many delicately flavored cups as I care to imbibe, as the spirals still have some unwinding to do. This works out perfectly for me, because I do too.

I see your Green Twisted Spear is as big as mine!

What is Fair Trade & why buy Fair Trade Certified™ products?

In short, “Fair Trade guarantees livable wages for farmers and their families, improving their opportunities for better healthcare, housing and education. By choosing this Fair Trade Certified™ tea, you are directly contributing to the livelihood of tea growing communities.” www.fairtradecertified.org

We are excited to now offer a selection of Fair Trade Certified™ teas, which are also 100% Organic:
Green Twisted Spears
New Moon Darjeeling
Blue Mountain Nilgiri
Monkey-Picked White

Look for this label to the right in our loose leaf tea selection...
The Fair Trade Certified™ label allows you to know that these products were produced under socially, economically and environmentally sustainable conditions.

How it works
Farms apply to be certified as Fair Trade suppliers through a third party certifier. To qualify, they are required to pay their workers living wages, provide a safe and healthy working environment, prohibit forced child labor, and offer transparency in their books which are reviewed in annual audits. Tea vendors, such as ourselves, can then choose to buy their tea at a fair price which includes an additional fixed "social premium". The "social premium" goes back to the farming community to be invested in the social, environmental, or economic programs created to benefit the specific needs of that community. An additional fixed "administrative premium" gets paid to the 3rd party certifier, such as TransFair USA, to cover their costs of certifying and monitoring the tea farms & vendors to ensure that their standards are met.

Here is an example of how the Fair Trade program has benefited the community of the Seeyok Tea Estate, located in the Mirik Valley of Darjeeling... our New Moon Darjeeling tea. The Fair Trade price has enabled the workers at Seeyok Tea Estate, numbering over 480, to establish various social and productive programs.

Credit Program:
Seeyok Estate runs credit programs for members to fund expenses such as weddings and death ceremonies. Additionally, members began a cow loan and floriculture program, enabling additional household income.
Health:
Members have access to midwives and a pharmacist who provide care on the estate. Ambulance service to an off-site government hospital is also in place, and a program to distribute vaccines to children was enacted.
Home Improvements:
With Fair Trade revenue, gas connections, ovens, and pressure cookers were made available to households.

We're really looking forward to contributing to these types of social development projects enabled through the Fair Trade programs. Stay tuned to hear more...

You can take a look at all of our loose leaf teas here.

Organic Blue Mountain Nilgiri

This Saturday was definitely tea party material. It was a lovely week; the sun was out, and it reached nearly 60 degrees on Friday--a spring boon in frigid Boston. And, of course, two days later, as the steady supply of dirty snowpack melted almost completely, the snow falls yet again--a fresh 8 to 12-inch supply on the way.

I suppose I shouldn't moan too much, I certainly have my fair share of tasks to undertake, and a snowy day only makes it easier to sit still in front of a laptop computer and whisk up journalistic moments of ingenuity as well as masterfully crafted graphic design projects, courtesy of Adobe's Creative Suite 3. However, I'm definitely going to need some caffeine to make the magic happen.

Enter TeaSpot's organic, fair trade Blue Mountain Nilgiri. These deep black-brown leaves hail from the Nilgiri Mountains of India. The dry leaves have aromatic overtones of apricots and berries.

I steep my Blue Mountain goodness with boiling water for three minutes--I'm a wimpy black tea drinker, and any hints of bitterness (which usually come with a longer steep time) leave me nonplussed. The leaves, after being steeped, smell not unlike a freshly kicked-over pile of wet fall foliage. Earthy, subtle, releasing memories of fall days in fleece jackets, riding on the leaf sweeper.

The tea tastes steamy, if that's even possible. A light sweetness lingers on the front of the tongue, which is also reminiscent of its scent--apricots and berries. It's very smooth, and only lightly tannic. I am fairly positive that this tea will be the bridge builder between me and the black tea world that I have always been too timid to jump into. I'm an oolong girl, through and through. But Blue Mountain Nilgiri, I raise my cup to your subtle deliciousness. 

Organic Monkey Picked White

Greetings, fair TeaSpot blog followers.

While graduate school and a move across the country to Boston has taken me away from the warm clutches of the TeaSpot’s arms, I have been fortunate enough to convince the powers that be that I’ll never turn down an opportunity to blog for tea.

So, without further ado, welcome to my next blog installment. It’s good to be back, in a fashion.

Tea Tasting: Organic Monkey Picked White

Round One: 3-minute steep, approx. 190°, ‘round about 5:30 p.m., Saturday, February 7, 2009

My day was spent writing, homeworking, going to the gym, and observing a rather dramatic incident with a crazy man on the train—an incident that caused tears for a fellow female passenger, and a rather saddening but justified throwdown on the perpetrator. Needless to say, I was more than happy to have myself a wee tea party after the lactic acid abated and the sun went down. I recruited my roommate Tony to participate, who was more than happy to oblige.

The first thing that surprised me about the leaves was how brown they were--I was definitely expecting your typical downy white tea leaves a la Snowflakes. In any case, this tea is the essence of lightness; smooth, with a subtle and sweet aftertaste. Tony’s word was “silky,” which is probably better than any of the other word combos I will come up with. This tea was confusing to me at first, because I couldn’t detect a noticeable smell, which caused me a bit of worry because it has also recently come to my attention that I seem to be losing my sense of hearing (too many rock shows) as well as memory (I swear, I forget everything. I blame it on my urban environment and constant media exposure). However, I think this had more to do with the water temperature, as I noticed the tea increased in flavor and scent as the temperature of the water cooled.

Round One Steepage: Buttery Golden Liquor

Round Two: 4-minute steep, approx 180°, 11:45 p.m., Saturday, February 7, 2009

After indulging in an amazing and completely unexpected “dessert” of cheese fondue, red wine, and great company (my roommates so awesome you don’t even know), I gave the tea leaves a bit of a sniff, and they were surprisingly fragrant. I convinced my second roommate and former TeaSpot employee Mr. Ross Wrangham to get in on a late-night re-steep with me. The leaves, as well as the re-steeped tea had an amazingly light floral taste and smell. I can’t for the life of me pinpoint what flower it is…something like orchids, but not quite. Light, honeyed, refreshing, with no trace of tannins whatsoever (as one would expect). I have to say, I much prefer the second steep to the first. I was also happy that the low-caffeine content (especially after a second steeping) didn't keep me awake--keep in mind it was almost midnight--I can barely drink a cup of brewed coffee without getting twitchy, and if anything this tea helped me relax before hopping aboard the S.S. La La Land.

Overall, this tea is extremely rewarding in its subtlety and flavor, and of course I must also appreciate its intrinsic ability to keep me healthy and chock full of antioxidants--an absolute must for my current commuter situation, which requires that I share public bus and train space with hundreds of strangers nearly every day. Thank you, TeaSpot!

I heart my Steeping Mug