Tea Briefings at the Tea Embassy

Many people are looking for a “wake-me-up” drink in the morning and choose to drink Coffee or Tea. The unique characteristics of a breakfast tea are usually the STRENGTH and the CAFFEINE. Strong black teas, like Assam teas, Kenyan teas, Ceylon teas, Keemun teas and Yunnan teas could all be breakfast teas because of their strong flavor and high caffeine content. These teas offer a bold taste and help “wake-you-up” in the morning during breakfast, making them ideal “breakfast teas.”

Here are some recommendations of more breakfast teas that we sell in our store:

CS Lewis Blend (Irish Breakfast Tea), Grand English Breakfast Tea, East Frisian Blend, Golden Yunnan Supreme, Canadian Breakfast, Palm Court Blend, Jaimisi Tea, Ceylon Dawn, Korakundah (Organic Nilgiri tea), Kwazulu Tea, Scottish Breakfast, Capital Blend, Breakfast Treasure, Vintage Ceylon, Golden Pearls, Zhen Qu, Golden Monkey, Emperor Red, Royal Earl Grey, Cream Earl Grey, Snow Flake and many more!

Moroccan Mint Green Tea

Many people don’t like the taste of green tea. I was one of those several years ago. I had heard about the health benefits of green tea and how it has all those great antioxidants that are so good for us.  I found out that the reason I didn’t like the taste of green tea is because I wasn’t making it properly. Here are some simple tips on how to make a good cup of green tea.

Water Temperature

Green tea has a higher moisture content compared to other teas so water temperature makes a big difference in the taste. Green tea needs cooler water compared to black tea, about 180°F. If you are not using a thermometer to measure the water temperature, bring your water to a boil and let it stand off the heat for about 2 minutes. The water cools about 10-15 degrees for each minute that passes by, so after about two minutes, the water is ready for you to pour over your green tea leaves. TIP: The Digital Kettle Pro allows you to set the water temperature and boil it quickly!

Time

Tea Timer

Time is an important part of preparing all loose teas, but especially green tea. Green tea is best prepared by steeping the loose tea for only 2 minutes. Use a strainer, infuser basket, paper filters or something that allows you to remove the loose tea from your mug or teapot so that the leaves don’t keep steeping and thus make the tea bitter or astringent.

Summary: Wait two minutes for boiling water to cool, pour water over your green tea leaves, remove the leaves after 2 minutes and enjoy!

Tea & Chocolate Tasting, Feb. 13 & 14, 2009

We are celebrating tea, chocolate and Valentine’s Day by offering free tastings of our chocolates and teas that pair well with chocolate. Come in and try it out and you just might get to taste our own creation, an inventive hot chocolate drink with Matcha green tea powder: MATCHACOLATE

Come taste these teas that pair well with chocolate:

Golden Buds - this incredible black tea from Yunnan, China is made of just the buds and its creamy, slightly earthy and chocolaty taste pairs well with chocolate.

Gyokuro - this shade grown Japanese green tea has a wonderful buttery and grassy taste and pairs really well with dark chocolate.

Honeybush - this herbal, caffeine free tisane has a woody, almost earthy taste with a note of honey that pairs very nicely with milk or dark chocolate.

Fancy Formosa Oolong - this Taiwanese oolong that is highly oxidized for an oolong, has a wonderful honey note to it that pairs well with milk and dark chocolate.

Natela’s Gold - this is a handmade, artisan tea from the country Georgia and has a smooth, fruit and wood sweetness to it that pairs nicely with milk or dark chocolate.

Love Story - this tea is a beautiful blend of black tea with chocolate and rose flavors…no need to have chocolate with it, but, you might as well make it more fun because more chocolate is always good!

Chocolates We Are Sampling:

TAZA Stone Ground 70% Chocolate Bar

TAZA Mexicano Chocolate Disks

TAZA Cocoa Nibs (chocolate covered)

KAKAWA Cocoa Beans - cocoa beans with three layers of chocolate, sprinkled with cocoa powder…amazing! Locally made here in Austin by Tom Pedersen.

Choclatea Bars: Herbal Chai, & Coconut Green Tea

What is the best way to store loose tea? We get this question all the time here at Tea Embassy, for good reason! Storing your tea is an important part of preserving it. Our black, foil, zip-lock, stand-up pouches are great for storing tea. You can keep the air out, light out, and preserve your tea.

Here are the main things you need to know about storing your tea: COOL, DRY, NO LIGHT, AIR TIGHT:

COOL: Keep your tea in a location away from heat. If you keep your tea in a cabinet near your oven or another heat source, we recommend finding another location. Heat damages tea. We do not recommend storing your tea in the refrigerator because of odors that could contaminate the tea.

DRY: Moisture is not good for dry tea leaves and can damage them and cause them to spoil.

NO LIGHT: LIght damages tea, so you need to keep your loose tea stored in an opaque container.

AIR TIGHT: Tea is extremely absorbant, so it will take on odors, aromas, and scents from whereever it is being stored. If you are keeping tea near coffee and it is not in an air tight container, the coffee aroma will contaminate the tea flavor. This is also true of the refrigerator; all of the odors and scents in your fridge can diffuse into your loose tea if you store it in an open container.

How long does tea stay fresh? What is the shelf life of loose tea?

Different teas have different shelf lives. Here’s a quick breakdown of how long loose tea lasts:

Black Tea: Unflavored black tea is the most oxidized tea and will keep for up to 2 years if stored properly.

Green Tea: Green tea is more perishable because it has a higher moisture content, especially Japanese green teas. Green tea will keep for about 1 year if store properly, but some are more delicate and only last about 6 months, so it depends on the tea.

Oolong Tea: Oolong teas are partially-oxidized, so they will keep for over one year if stored properly. Some oolongs are more green than others and others get better with age, but in general, Two years would be the maximum shelf life of an average oolong.

White Tea: White tea is the most delicate, least processed of all teas. It is more perishable than other teas and should be drunk within the year that it was harvested, unless stored in special conditions that preserve its freshness.

Flavored Teas: Flavored and scented teas will last for about one year. The flavors tend to dissipate after about 12 months, so enjoy your flavored blends within the year you buy it.