March Steepster and Chrysanthemum Flower Tea

My Steepster Select package arrived in the mail yesterday!

It was the first one that I've recived since I signed up.  I'm pretty excited about what they sent.

An organic Dragon Well: This is one that my new-ish tea knowledge is familiar with.  We sell a Dragon Well at the shop and the shop's owner treated us to some that she bought when she visited Longjing.  I'm excited to try this one against the one we sell and see how they compare.

An organic Wuyi Oolong:  I've heard of Wuyi teas before.  I believe we have a Wuyi Clound and Mist at the shop but I haven't tried an oolong yet.

Dai Bai Cha Jasmine:  I'm not at all familar with this tea.  This one will require some more research.  

Jade Cloud:  This is another one that I'm unfamiar with.

Wild Chrysanthemum Flower:  This one came as quite the surprise.  I didn't realized they'd be sending herbals.

Since I opened my package when I got home at about 10pm, I decided to try the herbal first.  I was very surprised!  We have quite a few single herbs at the shop but I haven't tried a lot of them unblended.  The ones I have were generally on the mild or simple side and tasted like they smelled.  

This was not the case with the chrysanthemum.  The dried flowers had an interesting blend of savory and floral smells.  

Looks like mush, lol.

The liquor smelled quite different, with a distinctly herbal smell.  Brewed up a super pretty yellow color.

The taste was another sensation altogether.  At first it's a nice and deep kind of earthy.  I hate to use that word since it's also a pu'er trait and it's a very different kind of earthy.  Not vegetal like a green tea, something between earthy and vegetal.  After that inital herb taste it turns into a pleasant mild spicy.

I'm surprised that I didn't taste a lot of floral notes in it.  But overall I actually really enjoyed it.  It was very interesting and complex.

Chrysanthemum Flowers

4 grams in roughly 8-10 oz of water

Time: 4 min

Temp: 212 degrees

Tea Shop - Trailhead Tea

I've mentioned before that the tea scene in the greater Phoenix area is a little bit scarce.  As such, when an opportunity presents itself to get out of the city I immediately hunt down any tea shops in the area.

Sedona, Arizona is located about 2 hours north and slightly east of Phoenix.  It's a thriving tourist town that draws hiking and new age enthusiasts alike.  It's home to some famous red sandstone formations like: Slide Rock, Chapel of the Holy Cross, and Cathedral Rock.  It's also renowned for it's mysterious energy votices, that can be found in various places around the town like behind the airport (sound like Welcome to Nightvale to anyone else?).

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Source: Wikipedia

Cathedral Rock

Source: Wikipedia

I was lured up there to visit the tea shop attend a very dear friend's wedding.  The wedding started at 9:26am and since it's a 2 hour drive I chose the safe route and stayed up there Friday night.  My first stop when I arrived was Trailhead Tea.

Located right off the SR179, Trailhead Tea is situated in a big, multilevel shopping plaza.  Parking was a slight hassle but well worth it in the end.  When you walk in you're greeted with a wall of tea in front of you, lots of teaware to the right, and a long inviting bar to the left.  The teaware drew me first, it's hard to find non-Teavana teaware in Phoenix.  They had SO much cool stuff.  I think I squealed when I saw Yixing pots and gongfu sets of various sizes.

When I finally ambled over to the bar I saw that they do tastings!  3 cups of tea; premiums teas $15, and reagular teas $10.  YAY!  After much deliberation I went with a Huo Shan yellow bud, black dragon pearls, and a 2012 DaDuGang Sheng Pu'er.

By this point I'd discovered that the two people in the shop were in fact the owners, Eileen and Dan.  They were amazingly friendly and very knowledgable, especially about where their specific teas come from.  They steeped my teas twice each (THANKS!) and helped me out when I struggled with my tasting words.

I think I was in their store for at least 2 hours and they didn't bat an eye or get impatient once.  It was an absolutely amazing experience.

As for my tea flight: I ened up buying the Huo Shan because it was an interesting mix of white and green qualities.  The black dragon pearls were very strong and bold and would probably convince my coffee-drinking mom to switch to tea.  The DaDuGang was smooth and had the perfect amount of earthy.  I ended up going home with some of that also, along with....*drumroll* my very first Yixing pot!!!!  (Sterilizing, seasoning, and brewing posts to follow).

I stopped in the next day, to get a quick iced tea for the road, decided on white grape, and it too was awesome.  Light and fruity and perfect for a trek in the desert.  If you're a traveler in the area, or a Phoenix local willing to make a (beautiful) drive, Trailhead Tea is definitely worth a visit!  

Himalayan Honey Green - Souvia Tea

I've been drinking flavored teas for quite a few years now, but it's only recently that I've begun to appreciate the orthodox teas. I think a big contributing factor to that was my recent employment by a local tea shop. It's hard to talk about a tea that you've never tried.  

Sine my appreciation is so new sometimes I feel a bit silly trying to talk about tea tastes when I consider myself, and my palate, to be such an amateur. But, I think that's a big part of the beauty of tea: it tastes different to everyone. Its what makes tea so universal. I completely believe there is a tea out there for everyone.

I think the point of my rant was: my appreciation isn't quite there yet for green tea. To me they are just a bit too vegetal and astringent. However, this Himalayan Honey Green totally rocks my green tea paradigm.

Origin: Nepal
Type: Green (20% oxidized but it seems most vendors still sell it as a Neapalese green tea)
Steep time: 2 min 30 sec
Water temp: 175°
Method: porcelain cupping set

Dry, this tea smells rich and sweet like dates/raisins.  The leaves are long, a bit curled, and just georgous shades of green.  The grassy green smell really comes out once they're steeped and the liquor comes out a very pale green.
It's a very well balanced combination of vegetal, astringent, and a mellow honey sweetness.  Since it isn't overy grassy, I think it would be a good introductory green.

Tea Shop - Duck and Decanter

The tea scene in the greater Phoenix area is sadly like it's landscape: desolate.  With a combined population of just over 4 million you would probably expect a bit more from this growing metropolis than our meager, albeit awesome, offerings.  But, like the beauty of the desert, you can find some amazing tea shops if you look hard enough.

Today I finally got around to checking out Duck and Decanter which is mainly a deli.  I was actually very surprised to learn they carried loose leaf tea; and apparently coffee beans and a crazy ton of wine/beer.  Pretty much a Phoenix landmark since it opened in 1972, they were definitely a pioneer in the coffe/tea bar operations.  Today they carry about 50 loose leaf teas and will custom brew anything for about $3.00 (sorry couldn't find my receipt).

They're kind of a jack of all trades store.  You're greeted with a beautiful patio area with lots of seating to enjoy this amazing (80 degree) weather.  There are two entrances, the left leads to their wine bar, and the right leads to the main shop/deli portion.  They had quite a few brewed tea options, 5 I believe, for deli patrons getting iced tea with their meals.  None of those options really grabbed me but I did notice they carry a Prickly Pear black.

Is prickly pear a common flavoring outside the desert?  I love it!  It makes great margaritas and martinis.  Intrigued, I got that iced.  They also had an oolong I'd never heard of called Sechung.  The label said that it was a partially fermented tea so I couldn't pass it up.  Most of their offerings were flavored but they did have a pu'er and a lapsang and even a Darjeeling so it's a great little shop for the budding tea enthusiast.

Prickly Pear Black

Brewed: At the shop in a gravity infuser

Steep Time: Was real short, don't think the barrista had a timer, just kind of winged it.

Taste: Very smooth.  Not a very bold black as the prickly pear was definitely the most prominent charicteristic which is kind of a mellow tartness.

A refreshing tea, great for a "spring" desert day!