Morning Glory Chai (From Zoka Coffee)

Once again I found myself on my way into a coffee shop. I anticipated ordering another standard chai, but this time was different. I scanned the menu and I was surprised to see that there were three different types of chai latte offered. Could it be that this was a place where chai is able to stand its ground? I feel like a lot of coffee shops offer chai because it is the cool coffee shop thing to do, but they have little regard for the actual tea. Yet on that day I found something different. I feel like Zoka actually presented their own take on chai, it was refreshing in more ways than one. Its flavor was more spicy than sweet and with each sip I continued to explore the rich blend of spices that made up the chai. It was an all together pleasant experience.

I drank this fabulous beverage in part to give me some semblance of energy on my way to a graveyard picnic. It was successful although I was still not awake enough or possibly I was too exited about the graveyard to remember to document it with a photo. Fortunately, I was able to solicit more representative tea art from my talented sister.

My Collection

In a few weeks time I shall be moving and when that time comes all my beautiful teas will have to find new homes, at least until I permanently relocate next fall. I will attempt to bring as much tea as possible with me on my adventures over the next couple months but the sad truth is thus: much of this fine tea that I have had the honor and the privilege to own will soon be lining the bottom of a box in some garage. I just wanted to document it in all its glory before that day comes. In addition I would like to make a commitment to throw more tea parties. I have more tea than I can drink alone and I want to share that bounty with others.

Risheehat Estate Organic Darjeeling (Teahouse Kuan Yin)

 
The person behind the counter asks me what I'm looking for. "I'm not really sure," I say as I scan a very impressive list of teas. I've been standing there too long so I make a choice. "Can I get a pot of the Darjeeling?" "We actually have a separate Darjeeling Menu." I think this means I made a good choice. I am informed that the Risheehat Estate Organic Darjeeling is the most popular so I decide to give that a go. I don't know that much about darjeeling thusly I'm willing to put my trust in popular opinion at this point. I chose the cheaper second flush because I just bought expensive socks so first flush feels a bit too extravagant.

The tea is good. It has some almost jasmine like undertones. It took a while to steep so I forgot about it momentarily and let it steep a bit too much. Yet, it is still an all together pleasant darjeeling. I let myself go. I loose myself into the tea, the soothingly friendly environment of Teahouse Kuan Yin, and finally into my homework.

Miscellaneous Tea Photos

Over the past year I have taken a lot of photos of tea and myself with tea with the intention of posting about them. However as time passed I forgot what many of these photos were supposed to commemorate. The only one of the following that I clearly remember is the top left which is me being pleased because one of my friends made fan art for this blog. I am still very pleased about that.

Matcha (From The Spice Tea Exchange)

I know that I've expressed this before but it still astounds me how good matcha is in everything. Seriously everything. Just now I was eating some plain yogurt and I wanted to put something in the yogurt but I was all out of jam. I looked through my cabinets for anything that would make my yogurt better and I realized that I had a new bag of matcha that I yet to utilize. It took several teaspoons of matcha powder before the yogurt was adequately flavored but the result was marvelous. I also added a bit of strawberry enhanced agave which added to the delightfulness.

The matcha I have now is from The Spice Tea Exchange. It is combined with milled cane sugar which is not that noticeable but is generally pleasant. I've been very pleased with all the teas I've gotten from The Spice Tea Exchange so far including a Coconut Oolong and a Pear Carmel Black Tea that are both a constant force for good in my life.

Tea Juice? (Giant Peach From Tazo)

Recently I have become aware of a lot of teas that walk a fine line between tea and juice. There comes a point when a tea is made out of so many fruits that I almost question whether I am still drinking tea. I have been exploring this realm of fruity tea/ tea enhanced juices in ernest of late since I've been going through a bit of a juice faze. Today I found a tea/juice combination that I found particularly pleasing: Tazo's Giant Peach. I was fascinated by it because instead of just adding fruit to tea it adds actually juice. It combines green tea with peach juice, peach flavor, apple juice and ginger juice, all of which seem to harmonize together to create a soothing beverage that satisfies both my tea an juice cravings.

I was planning on taking another library picture with my Giant Peach tea but I found a friend on the way there so I took a picture of her with the tea in a different part of the library.

Hairy Crab Oolong (From Pied Cow Coffeehouse)

This tea was really marvelous. I ordered it because I don't currently own any oolong teas but I would really like to change that in the near future. In addition I had not heard of Hairy Crab Oolong before and the name intrigued me. I was not disappointed. The tea had a subtle springy flavor that tasted fresh like the color green. It was a bit like grass, but even richer and earthier. I am rather partial to the taste of grass so that was a pleasant surprise. Drinking my Hairy Crab Oolong was all the more pleasant because the Pied Cow Coffeehouse is located in a charming victorian house that has been repurposed to serve its current ambitions. For instance a set of stairs that were adjacent my table have been turned into an alter with the aid of many dolls, fabrics and lamps.