Tea Briefings at the Tea Embassy

Today at Tea Embassy we’re sampling a couple of favorites as well as a new herbal that we have just added to our stockroom.  As always, you can come into our historic structure at 9^th & Rio Grande and sample three of our teas for FREE.

Natela’s Gold:  Handmade in the peak of the spring season, Natela brings this treasured tea to you from the Caucasus Mountains in the country Georgia. This black tea has sweetness with hints of pine and cedar, making it a wonderful tea for afternoon or evening. Enjoy it while supplies last! This tea is similar to the Georgian Beauty tea we also sell, so if you like the Georgian Beauty you’ll also enjoy this one!

Strawberry Cream:  Aromatic green tea blend of organic sencha, Fog tea, Pai Mu Tan, Lung Ching, Genmaicha, strawberry bits, sunflower blossoms and flavoring.

Hydrangea:  This herbal tisane is a new addition to our inventory.  It is so versatile, and has so many uses, you can practically spend the day with this one.  Use #1:  Wake up in the morning, steep and drink it with breakfast.  Use #2:  Get home from work, wrap it around the chicken breast that you’re throwing on the grill.  Use #3:  After dinner, rinse it off, then use it as a facial scrub to remove the day’s toxins from your skin. 

 When I first started learning about tea over ten years ago, I was overwhelmed. Where do I start? I had borrowed my parent’s copy of James Norwood Pratt’s New Tea Lover’s Treasury. I was excited to learn all about tea, but the information seemed out of reach at the time. How do we taste and experience all these teas? Where can we find them? So, my dad and I made a visit to one of the Asian grocery stores in town on a mission to find these legendary teas. We were so pleased to find tins of Ti Kwan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy) oolong and Lung Jing (Dragon Well) green tea, and yet, we had no idea what we were doing or what they were. We probably prepared them completely different from how they are meant to be steeped, but we started our tea adventure.

Through this tea journey, I’ve realized that the best education is to experience tea by tasting. When I taste a tea, I can see what the dry tea leaves look like, smell the aroma of the steeped tea leaves and experience the bold tastes or subtle hints of flavors. I encourage you to come and experience a tea tasting. We sample 16 different teas from all over the world to give you an introduction to the major types of teas and how to identify them. We offer monthly tea tastings the last Saturday of each month. Our next one is this Saturday, from 10am-Noon. Please, call us, (512) 330-9991, to buy a ticket or come by and purchase one in our store. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday! - Jonathan

I’m always telling people as they choose a tea and learn how to steep it, that there’s not a “tea policeman” out there who is going to arrest them or scold them for choosing a particular tea or steeping it the way they like it. In America we have freedom to make choices, including what tea we drink and how we prepare it. That is such a relief.

At the Tea Embassy, we give advice to help people steep tea and get the most out of a particular blend. We especially encourage people to experiment, making new discoveries about what they like and how much flavor they can experience from a tea leaf. Don’t be intimidated by others who “might not drink flavored teas,” “drink only organic,” “no milk and sugar,” “only green tea,” etc. Some people purchase different teas and mix them all together. When you get down to it, when you’re in your own home, you’re going to prepare the tea exactly how you like it, (not necessarily like your parents, roommate or spouse) but whatever gives you comfort, good health, peace of mind, and enjoyment. 

Everything about tea is right, not wrong. No Gestapo needed. You might say tea represents freedom. Think about that with your next cup.

Q: Why did the oolong go to prison?  A: Because he was always in hot water!  But seriously, folks, if you’re a fan of oolong teas, come in to Tea Embassy today and try a free sample of our Jade Oolong.

Nutcracker:  This tasteful Nutcracker blend is a black tea blended with apple bits, orange peels, currants, cinnamon, almond flakes, cloves, safflowers, and flavoring.

Kyoto Cherry Rose Sencha:  Green tea with rose petals and cherry flavoring. Very fragrant and refreshing!

Jade Oolong:  Most delightful high elevation Oolong from Taiwan.  This unique form of rolling traps the delicate flavor and releases it very slowly.  Yields three good infusions.  Beautiful tea to steep in glass teapot to view the unfurling of the leaves.  When the leaves reach the bottom of the pot, the tea is ready to drink.

Attention, artists of Austin! Musicians, writers, stand-up comics—need some inspiration? The herbal tisane that we are sampling today is Creativity Rooibos, and whether you drink it in a tumbler or a mug, it’s sure to help you finish that song, poem, or painting that’s been keeping you up at night. Come in today and try a cup for free!

Winter Dreams: A Chocolate Mint Treat! This blend includes black tea, peppermint leaves, cacao bits, nut crunch, flavoring, red pepper, and wheat crisps. Great with a little milk and sugar. Not just for the winter season.

Seven Wonders: Exotic blend of Chinese green tea, green Darjeeling tea, green Mate, green Rooibos, papaya, pineapple, and lemongrass. Flavors from around the world make this green tea blend an exciting and fruity tea.

Creativity Rooibos: This flavored Rooibos blends lemon flavors with a touch of spiciness. This naturally caffeine free herbal tisane is great hot or iced. The blend contains rooibos, lemongrass, apple bits, lemon peels, ginger bits, orange peels, basil, red pepper, cardamom, natural flavoring and rosemary leaves.

If you’re on the lookout for something to drink after dinner, as a dessert, then come in today and try a free sample of our Chocolate Mint Rooibos. This caffeine-free blend is great for right before bed, and it’s sweet enough to not require any sugar or honey added to it. It is a favorite of both Carol and myself.

Wedding Chai:  Assam with vanilla & cardamom.  If you like cardamom, you’ll love this chai blend.  The robust Assam tea gives it a bold, full-bodied flavor accented by the smooth cardamom and sweet vanilla flavors.

Silver Needles Bai Hao:  Organic Chinese white tea from Hunan with a smooth, sweet, and extremely elegant taste. Rare and extraordinary! This is a true connoisseur’s tea.

Chocolate Mint Rooibos:  Rooibos flavored with chocolate bits and peppermint leaves.

You’re a guy.  You work hard and play hard, and you have no time for tea.  We at the Tea Embassy would like to dissuade you from that line of thinking, and encourage you to come in today for a free sample of our “Men’s Tea”.  This herbal tisane, developed especially for those of us with a Y chromosome, has ginseng for your mental alertness, St. John’s Wort to combat depression, and eryngo to promote healthy kidneys.  So visit us today, men!  Whassa matter?  Are you chicken?

Margarita:  Taste this “tex-mex” blended tea! Black tea blended with margarita flavors and a little bit of salt to accentuate the taste. This is a great tea hot or iced.  To serve as a refreshing iced tea, brew as a hot tea and add sweetener while still hot. Let cool and refrigerate. Once chilled, serve over ice with fresh lime wedges. It makes a great summer beverage and tastes just like a margarita.

Fancy Formosa:  Delightful premium oolong.

Men’s Tea:  Ayurvedic blend of herbs and spices, including apple bits, cinnamon, bean peels, ginger, mistletoe, perforated St. John’s Wort, lemongrass, field eryngo, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, lemon peels, ginseng roots, and flavoring. This herbal tisane is very soothing and a great caffeine free infusion for the evening or night.

With the exception of southern China, the Assam region of India is the only place in the world where tea plants grow natively.  The black tea we are sampling today is an Assam, and we cordially invite you to come in and try a cup.

Masala Chai:  Assam with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, & vanilla. A wonderful north India chai spice blend, with the strong Assam base, making this a wonderful classic chai tea.

Lemon Ice:  Green tea with lemon peel, apple bits, ginger, orange peel and lemon vanilla flavoring.

Christmas Rooibos:  This tasty blend of rooibos is flavored with candied pineapple bits, candied mango bits, candied papaya bits, candied almond bits, coconut chips, walnut bits, peanut bits, hazelnut bits and flavoring. Goes great with a touch of apple cider to sweeten it!

If you have yet to give white tea a try, today may be a good day.  That’s because the white tea we are sampling today at Tea Embassy is fairly sweet and flavorful for a white.  The health benefits of drinking white tea are many, because of its high concentration of antioxidants.  Come on downtown and try a cup!

East Frisian:  Bold and full-bodied black tea blend of Assam, Java, and Ceylon teas. Dark copper in the cup with malty and spicy notes. Takes milk and sugar well, just like the East Frisians would make it.

Sterling Silver Needles:  Beautiful, authentic silver needles white tea from Fujian, China. These fresh leaf buds have the “bai hao” or “white down” that gives it more of its sweet flavor. White tea is unprocessed, so these buds have been plucked and dried, a rare and light tea for you to enjoy anytime of day. As a white tea, you can re-steep these leaf buds several times to continue to get the smooth taste of the white tea. Spring 2008 harvest.

Pumpkin Rooibos:  Rooibos flavored with pumpkin spices.

Today we’re sampling a black tea, a green tea, and a white tea.  Come in and taste the difference between unprocessed (white) tea, slightly oxidized (green) tea, and oxidized (black) tea.  Black tea generally has more caffeine than green, but white tea is more caffeinated than either.

Emperor Red:  This is a rare, sought-after, organic Chinese black tea that is hand-made in the Fujian Province. It has intense, naturally sweet chocolate notes. This tea can be prepared light or strong and remain smooth to the taste.

Moroccan Mint:  Gunpowder green tea blended with mint leaves, tastes like you’re in Morocco. Add lots of sugar to drink it like the Moroccans do. Also tastes nice with honey.

Pomegranate White:  Beautiful white tea leaves with a wonderful pomegranate taste. (White tea consists of unprocessed tea leaves, making the flavor delicate and subtle compared to black tea.)