Rocky Mountain Tea Festival

What a great festival this past weekend!! We're so fortunate the Rocky Mountain Tea Festival is held locally in Boulder every year. We had a great spot in the shade down by the creek where we set up a booth with lots of free tea to sample and products to sell. People seemed to go crazy for all the deals we had going on and so many people went gaagaa for our iced Red Rocks, a rooibos tea blended with vanilla & almonds. One little girl in particular, probably around 8 years old, really freaked out after tasting a sample, "Oh my god! This is the best tea I've ever tasted!!" And this tea had no sugar, just the natural sweetness of the rooibos! So of course her mom bought her some - a healthy drink without sugar that her kid loved?! No brainer... Another group of friends in their early 20's who were waiting to eat at the restaurant bought us clean out of the rest of our Red Rocks tea after trying samples.

We had fun chatting with the tea festival participants as well as the people waiting for a table to eat at the Dushanbe Teahouse and random passerbys from Boulder's Farmer's Market on Saturday. We also got the chance to talk to other vendors and reconnect with friends in the tea industry. The hosts of the festival, the Dushanbe Teahouse, were so helpful and generously fed us from their delicious brunch menu each day. Such great hosts! and a gorgeous building... if you've never been, it's a Boulder must-see and good eats!

At the close of the festival on Sunday, I got a chance to attend a pu'erh tea class taught by David Lee Hoffman... pu'erh tea connoisseur and star of Les Blank's documentary All in This Tea (a great flick for tea geeks). My favorite tea we sampled was a phoenix dragon oolong - so complex with fragrant floral notes in the beginning with a roasted finish. I sat with great company during the class, and got to chat some more with Elise of Pearl Fine Teas - such a sweet gal! I snagged this photo from her Twitter account. Check out her other photos from the festival, like this Tibetan pu'erh mushroom tea. We tried roughly 10 different teas in all, steeping them each multiple times, gung fu style. So... I drank waaaay too much tea within a 2 hour window, after not eating for a few hours, and left the seminar amped up and spinning (even though this photo looks like I'm about to fall asleep while sipping tea.)

In any case, I highly recommend attending the festival next year to any one remotely interested in tea. There's so much to learn and so many good teas to try!

Spring Cleaning

For me "Spring Cleaning" is a dreaded deed tied to the season, reminding us at least once a year that our houses (and warehouses) deserve some TLC. And today was the day in our warehouse.

We just launched 22 new loose teas sold in bulk online earlier this week. So today we sorted, organized, labeled, shelved, arranged, and rearranged our warehouse to make room. The upside, beyond having an organized warehouse, is trying all the teas that we hadn't had a chance to try yet.

For me, this included Cocoa Mate - a really smooth & roasty cup, not the usual grassy mate I'm used to. And the subtle chocolaty flavor (given off by actual chocolate chips!) blends well with the flavor of the roasted mate - the super dark leaves of yerba mate pictured to the left - yumm!!

Curiosity finally got the best of me, and I also tried a Chrysanthemum Green Pu'erh Tea Brick (aka tuo chas). This is a cool looking and unique tasting brew that comes all balled up in compact little brick (perfect for tossing in your purse for taking tea on the go) . Just be forewarned that when you bust one of these guys out to steep on the road, you'll look nothing short of a tea geek. So be prepared to explain what the hell you're drinking. The history of tea bricks is as old as the history of tea, tied to the Silk Road and the spice trade between India & China. Here's a list of our other pu'erhs - some aged green & some aged black, however, this is our only one in brick form. Here's some more background info on pu'erh, so that your tea geek knowledge can be up to par with your tea geek tea selection. Drink up, and enjoy!

The Triple-Threat Position with your Whole Leaf Tea

Rinsing or washing your tealeaves doesn’t have to be an exact science but I do think that it’s an important process that’s worth taking. The rinsing technique is most commonly used in gongfu tea preparation as a means to cleanse and purify the steeping vessel as well as the leaf before starting the actual infusion of the leaf itself. Here’s a great guideline that you can use thanks to our friends at Imperial Tea Court if you’re wanting to learn more about the intricacies of gongfu tea preparation. http://www.imperialtea.com/classroom/GongfuPrep.htm

For those of you that don’t use traditional Chinese tea ware to prepare your loose tea, however, you can still easily employ this method with your tea.

I find that our Steepin’ Cup is a really easy vessel that you can use to employ this method. Here are the quick steps that I take prior to infusing my leaf…

Simply portion your whole leaf tea into the infuser, drop the infuser into the cup, pour your hot water to a level where it just starts to cover the leaf, and cover with lid. I sometimes utilize a swirling method at this point but you can also just let the leaf soak for 10-15 seconds. After that time period simply invert the lid, remove the infuser with leaf and place on inverted lid. Dump the rinse water from your cup.

As my old friend John Moreau used to say when I squared up to shoot a jump shot at Camp Virginia, “Now YOU ready!”

That’s right! Exposing your leaf for 10-15 seconds prior to your infusion means that you’ll have the following benefits to work with: a preheated vessel, a clean leaf, and a leaf that’s already warmed to a temperature close to the tea that you’ll consume.

It’s almost akin to the triple-threat position in basketball… Kobe Bryant demonstrates nicely here. But instead of being in a position to pass, shoot, or dribble the basketball you’re now in a position to steep, drink, and be merry with your tea! How’s that for a stretchable (but still ballpark) analogy!

photo from http://lakers.topbuzz.com/gallery/v/kobe-bryant/kobe-bryant-triple-threat-position-fullj_getty-71797704jb008_lakers_clips_2_41_03_am.jpg.html

You should know that the rinsing technique is most commonly used with Oolong and Pu’er teas but I find that it works well with all of the teas that I drink. In fact, it’s become my little pre-ritual technique for almost every cup or pot that I make now. Besides… it’s all about putting yourself in a position that produces the best tasting and most enjoyable cup. Take note Kobe.

So try these simple steps before you start your infusion and put yourself in the triple-threat position with your whole leaf tea every time!

What is this "Pu-erh" You Speak Of?

Pu-erh trees. Image courtesy of rishi.com .

You may or may not have already heard about "Puerh" tea, an ancient form of Chinese tea that is carefully aged and fermented over time. "Puerh" is the name for the tea in Mandarin, and "Bolay" or "Polay" is it's name in Cantonese. The tea itself is named after the Pu'er province in Yunnan, China. The best and true Puerh teas come from extremely old, wild tea trees. These teas are highly sought after and valuable, due to the increasing scarcity of these trees as well as an increase of faux puerh production utilizing other types of tea leaves. The tea plant itself, if left to its own devices, will indeed grow into a large tree. However, since plucking tea leaves off of anything that is higher than your own body is extremely difficult, the tea plants are kept pruned to a more managable height.

Puerh has long been considered a healthy tea by the Chinese, and medicinally, is believed to invigorate the spleen, relieve dampness, counteract alcohol toxins (ie, hangover cure), release stomach heat, and descend stomach qi (or chi). Puerh has also been considered a weight loss supplement due to its ability to aid in fat metabolism. So next time you roll through the line at McD's, do yourself a favor and wash it down with some puerh!

There are two types of processed Puerhs: Raw (aka green), and ripened or (aka cooked). Raw puerh is converted into "maocha," which means "rough tea." This is done by spreading the leaves in the sun to remove some of the water content and to wilt the leaves a bit. After that, the leaves are pan-fried in a wok to arrest all enzymatic activity and stop further fermentation. The leaves can then be rolled and shaped, and are given another sun bath. Once it is dry then voilá, you've got your green puerh.

Ripened puerhs undergo an additional process that imitates bacterial and fungal fermentation by controlling humidity, temperature, and the aging process. The process itself is very similar to composting. (Think hot, humid foodstuffs churning in the sun. Yum!) This takes 6 months to a year (and up, sort of like wine), and if it isn't carefully overseen, then you could end up with a not-so-pleasant tasting tea. The older the puerh, generally the more revered it is.

After the fermentation, some puerhs go on to be compressed into small cakes or bricks called "touchas," typically using a hydraulic or lever press.

Hey Beavis, this looks like a cow-pie, but really it's a Puerh brick.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Puerh is certainly an adventure for your taste buds if you have never tried it before. The first time I tasted Puerh, I thought it tasted like garden dirt in hot water, and I vowed never to drink it again. However, after continuing to hear about its many health benefits (mostly when I would explain them to customers) I figured I would give it another go. While traditional puerh certainly has an extremely earthy flavor, it is a flavor that grows on you, much like beer and mustard do after the age of 12. ish.

MA! This dirt tastes like puerh!
Image courtesy of onlysometimesclever.wordpress.com.

Green puerh, according to TeaSpot founder Maria Uspenski, tastes like "bacon and eggs."
"Most green puerhs are smoky," she says, in comparison to black puerhs. And I will have to take her word for it because I am certainly green myself when it comes to tasting these teas.

Green Puerh. So, so good. And good for you!

Whether you are new to puerh or not, the best way to learn what you like most is to get out there and try them. Our downtown store carries two varieties: a black, 7-8 year Aged Puerh that is very lovely and smooth, as well as a Green Puerh Chrysanthemum Toucha, which is, now that I think about it, rather smoky. Another great thing about puerh is you can re-steep it many times and still have a great cuppa. Our Bolder Breakfast Blend also incorporates pu'erh in the mix - inspiring its "Bolder" name!

So get thee out there and drink puerh! Immediately!

Kickin' that coffee habit to the curb...

When I’m out in front of customers at a tasting, teaching a class, or just geeking out about tea in our downtown Boulder location, I inevitably get that familiar question, "what's the best tea for me to drink if I am trying to eliminate coffee from my morning routine?"

Well, as many folks might know, kickin' coffee ain't the easiest thing in the world. I myself love a rich and robust cup of Joe every now and then. And then as I’m five minutes into my afternoon stress reaction with nothing in my stomach I quickly remember why I no longer drink coffee. Nonetheless, I readily admit that I was a coffee drinker long before I re-invented myself as a “tea snob”. Not to worry though… you won’t find me tipping my pinky finger or wearing a funny red hat as I enjoy my tea.

I digress...

So what I really try to emphasize with folks looking to wean their coffee habits are two things...

First and foremost, if you are going to start drinking tea as a replacement to coffee than I would highly suggest starting with whole leaf teas in loose form. The vast majority of tea bags simply will not yield the same flavor or taste as whole leaf teas. With that being said, a good majority of wanna-be converts express to me that "tea just doesn't have enough flavor" or "enough body" to replace their morning cup of coffee.

"Well, young grasshopper," I exclaim, "that's because you need to experience tea in its true form! Try keepin’ loose and see what happens!" Okay… maybe a similar message but in not so many words.

But the important thing to consider is that whole leaf teas in loose form inherently yield a tastier experience than the broken leaves, dust, and fannings found in the majority of tea bags. Why? Because whole leaf teas retain their essential oils and those oils are the precursors to great flavor and taste in ANY cup of tea... and Lord knows that we all could use a little additional “flava” in our daily routines! Tea bags consist primarily of the smallest parts of the tea plant (dust & fannings) that are typically left over after tea has been processed. In addition, tea bags can contain other parts of the tea plant (twigs, stems, etc.) that are often ground up and milled with the leaves during processing. I mean, truly... do you honestly think that you can get flavor that even comes close to that of coffee out of a tea bag containing broken leaves, dust, fannings, twigs, etc?

I didn’t think so.

So, first recommendation is always, always start with tea in it’s loose and whole leaf form. Ultimatley, the additional flavor and taste that you gain from whole leaf teas will give you a bit of a head start in that struggle with your coffee habit.

And the second recommendation that I always make to those coffee drinkers trying to kick their daily cup(s) with the aide of tea is to start with a rich, robust, and full-bodied blend of black tea. Typically a blend like English or Irish Breakfast that uses Assam as the base tea will produce good solid results. Assam teas are grown in the Northeastern region of India and are primarily known for their full body, brisk flavor, malty aromas, and strong, bright colors.

For my own experience, that Assam based tea became our own Bolder Breakfast Blend. This particular tea is a blend of six different black teas including Assam and Pu erh. Some earthy, some chocolatey (I think that I just invented a word), and some malty in their aroma and taste. But what I found is that a cup of Bolder Breakfast Blend (or BBB as we sometimes affectionately refer to it) provided me with enough body, plenty of flavor and taste, and sufficient caffeine (50 – 60 mg per 8 oz. cup) to eventually kick my own coffee habit. Oh… and did I mention that this tea is also the first thing that I reach for after a long night of ummmmm let’s just call them “shenanigans” on the town? Yep… BBB is quite the hangover cure too. I hope that all of you CU students are reading this and taking notes.

Finally, I think that it’s worth noting that I also credit this tea with one other thing. Now, I know what you’re thinking but the truth of the matter is that BBB had nothing to do whatsoever with introducing me to my current girlfriend. Oh wait… I’m daydreaming… again.

But in all honesty Bolder Breakfast was my first true introduction to a number of different black teas including Assams, Ceylons, and my all-time favorite “comfort tea”, Pu erh. And for that, as well as its integral role in curing my coffee cravings, I am forever grateful.