Seattle Tea Society

One of Grey's co-worker observed him drinking tea during breaks and gifted him with a package of looseleaf Tan Cuong Hoang Binh tea. Googling this, I find it to be a large company processing much of Vietnam's tea exports.

I brewed it as I do all my looseleaf teas, in a stainless-steel infuser basket and a large green ceramic pot. I brought the water to the boil, waited a moment for it to cool from a rolling boil as this appeared to be green tea, and poured it over. Steeping time of five minutes yielded a golden liquor which looked fine in the cup.

Unfortunately, on taking a first sip I very nearly spat it out. The flavor was redolent of fish, somehow, and Grey and I exchanged some disbelieving speculation about whether the traditional seasoning of Vietnam, nuoc mam (fish sauce), was somehow involved.

Yuck. This stuff is perfectly dreadful and will be composted. I sincerely hope this was an accidentally picked-up flavor from shipping or packing and not the way it's supposed to taste.

An order of Irish Breakfast and Boston teas are on their way from Harney & Sons. What a delightful way to start off the morning.

This is the shelf where I keep most of my tea. There is a cupboard where more is shoved, mostly boxes of bagged tea that I don't use often.


I would love to see other people's tea collections.

In case you haven't heard of this (I hadn't) the first Annual Northwest Tea Festival will occur October 4-5th, 2008, at the Seattle Center. I think it has the potential to be a very fun and exciting event and plan to go.

Website: http://www.nwteafestival.com/

Per the homepage:

There is perhaps no other single plant that generates so many different products, has influenced history, and is tied to so much culture, than the tea plant. Join us in Seattle, the beverage capital of North America, for the Northwest Tea Festival.

• Sample teas from around the world
• Participate in cooking-with-tea demonstrations
• Watch films and view art inspired by tea
• Take hands-on classes about brewing, tasting, and selecting teas, as well as choosing the right tea for every meal
• Hear tea authors read from their books and sign copies
• Learn about how tea has influenced almost 5,000 years of human history, and about the diversity of tea cultures in the world
• Dine at local restaurants that have specially prepared tea dinners.
• There will even be a "Find Your Tea" room, where tea experts will help you uncover your tea personality and help you find the right tea for you.

I don't know if this post is allowed here. If not, moderators, please, remove it If anyone wishes to receive $5 coupon to Apollo Tea, please, either write here or to sales@apollotea.com and I will e-mail you the coupon.

I am embarking on a four day camping trip tomorrow morning at Lena Lakes in the Olympics. I don't think it really counts as backpacking, since we're only hiking in three miles and staying the whole time in a single camp by the lower lake. However, planning and packing for the trip involved tea (like most things for me) and I thought I'd bring you a backpacking/camping tea poll.

I would like to draw your attention to my new online tea shop: Apollo Tea. I don't want to write a long praise here. See for yourselves.

I cleaned out a lot of tea that I never drink from one of my tea shelves and am willing to mail it to whomever would be up for the risk. Some good teas that just weren't to my taste, some questionable teas, some a complete mystery as to what they are and where/when they came from...

All yours for the asking.

Hi,

I've just been searching around looking for tea communities to join. I love tea of all kinds.

I'd also like to promote a great community for Exchanging tea through the mail with other tea freaks.


Hope to chat with some of you.

Also, I'm going to buy a few boxes of tea this morning, any suggestions would be great!

When you are serving a tea for vegetarian friends, what are your favorite tea sandwiches? Cucumber is an easy one for this. I also like:

* Raisin-walnut bread with cream cheese, dates, and blue cheese
* Rosemary Crostini with goat cheese, dried cranberries, and orange zest
* Peanut butter and homemde jam
* Cherry chutney and sharp white cheddar

These are mostly cheese-centric. What does anyone else like?