My First Tea Tasting

Yesterday it was beastly hot here.  I mean, oppressive.  And what did I do?  I went to a local tea house for a tea tasting!  Nothing like a few cups of hot tea on an already steamy day!

This was my first tea tasting, and it was very informal and pleasant because we each got to pick a few tea blends to sample.  After smelling several tins and choosing our two favorites, the hostess prepared small pots for us.  The tea house I visited has 100+ blends of loose tea, including: black, white, red (roobios), green, oolong, and pu-erh varieties and blends of mate (see below), so it was a bit tough to choose.

I ultimately selected a white tea and a green tea: the first was a blend called White Christmas that smelled of orange and cloves, and a fruity green tea called Caribbean Breeze Sencha.  My companion selected a white Jasmine Rose and an Almond Roobios.  Frequent visitors to the blog may know that I’m a big fan of black teas — especially Earl Grey varieties, but I attended the tea tasting to broaden my palette.

The hostess also prepared three different iced teas for us: a pungent roobios, a white Mango blend, and an iced green tea latte made with Matcha powder and vanilla soy milk.  Since our area has been experiencing record-breaking heat, the iced teas were wonderful.  As we sipped the teas, we enjoyed a chocolate flourless cake á la mode.

Finally, she prepared two lattes: a warm, milky roobios, and a frothy black Chocolate Strawberry to end our tasting.

My favorite hot teas were the White Christmas blend, the white Jasmine Rose, and the black Chocolate Strawberry.  I also liked the iced green tea latte made with Matcha powder.

During the tea tasting, I learned that I don’t care for roobios tea (the scent of the leaves or the tea itself).

Our hostess also shared these fun facts with me:

♦  The scent of a tea often determines whether or not you will enjoy it.  Ask to smell a loose tea before choosing it.

♦  Keep teas in sealed tins for longer shelf life (a year or so, for maximum freshness).

♦  Black teas have the most caffeine, then roobios (red) teas, then green, and finally white.

♦  Mate refers to the leaves and twigs of the yerba mate plant, it does not refer to a tea.

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