Shop Ms. Zhang's tea collection HERE.

I don’t think of myself as a tea master, I’m just a long-time student of tea. But I get to hang out with tea masters. For three days this month I got to be with Ms. Zhang Liumie, who is a co-founder of Yiqingyuan Tea LTD, Changsha China, and a tea scientist respected throughout China.   Ms. Zhang and her daughter (aka charming translator) were in the Twin Cities for three days this month to share some new teas, talk opportunities, and teach about Dark Tea. We had a great visit and had a chance to taste a bunch of new teas and show Ms Z and Joy what tea stores in the U.S. are like. We started by visiting the TeaSource in Eden Prairie, MN and Ms. Z asked if she could try something she had never had before. To me this is a sign of a really smart person, someone who looks to experience something new and unfamiliar.   So we shared a pot of Ceylon Burning Sun from the Lumbini Estate. Ms Z and Joy were very impressed. The next day we talked a lot about Dark Tea. Then I invited Ms Z and Joy to help us evaluate about 30 Indian teas we had just received from this year’s harvest. This was kind of fun because, despite her brilliance Ms Z. wasn’t that familiar with Indian teas.   But it was still a learning experience, cupping teas with her. Ms Z and I getting ready to cup and evaluate around 30 very fresh Indian teas. She really makes me think I have to re-evalutate the TeaSource dress code A whole lot of slurping going on; with Michael and Joy in the background.[/caption]   The real highlight of their visit was a 30 minute Livestream broadcast by Ms. Z and Joy, talking about Dark Tea. How often do folks get the chance to listen, learn, and interact with the person who actually made the tea they are drinking? We opened this presentation to folks in the Twin Cities region to participate; so folks could actually listen to a tea master, they could taste (real-time) some very cool unique dark teas, and also so Ms. Z had someone to talk to (Livestreaming by yourself is not as easy as it seems).

Getting ready to do the Livestream; Ms Z, Joy, Sarah C, and me. I had only given Ms Z about 2 days notice she was doing this presentation. Talk about grace under pressure

Here we go !!![/caption]   Just a reminder to everyone; this Livestream broadcast should be available in the Livestream archives through mid-August 2014. And please remember we try to do at least one of these Livestream events every month, and they’re interactive.

Ms Z tearing into a log of 100 Taels tea. This is a compressed tea that is hand-wrapped with bamboo and then left to age.

Everyone was learning a lot and tasting a lot of teas. I’ve known Ms Z and Joy for around six years. Joy has spent Christmas with my family. Lovely, kind, and smart people. Ms Z reminds of Michelle Yeoh (the female lead in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-with a dash of Margaret Thatcher thrown in). I am very glad to have her as a friend and teacher.

And we were having, maybe, too much fun.

I guess you call this a mother-daughter routine. Everyone was really having a good time; it’s so much fun to learn from people who really know what they are talking about.

A couple of the teas we tasted, 100 Taels tea (in the background) and our Fu cha brick (in the foreground).

This is our Hei Cha dark tea cubes, from 2011 (remember all Dark teas get better as they age), and this really impressed Ms Z. The golden flowers were very prominent and the flavor was very smooth and meadow-y. Ms. Z commented that it was better than the Hei Cha she had back in China, which is ironic since I had bought this from her in 2011. So I sent her home with some. That felt good.

Joy, me, Ms Z, and Michael  

A lot of people assume the coolest part of my job is playing with tea all day (and that is definitely very cool). But the absolute best part of my job is all the people I’ve met along the tea road. -Bill

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Dark tea is unique because it is the only deliberately aged tea that undergoes a secondary fermentation process. Because of this additional step, it contains an active micro-organism called Golden Flowers (Eurotium Cristatum). This micro-organism is present specifically in Dark tea made in Anhua County, Hunan Province, China. Golden Flowers is actually visible in some Dark teas and looks like tiny yellow flecks. If you want to experience Golden Flowers up close and personal, check out our Fu Cha brick.

Puer, which is a sub-category of Dark tea, contains a different micro-organism called Asper Nigellus. This is due to variation in growing conditions, soil, and geography. Golden Flowers is a relatively new discovery, having just been identified in the last 30 years. To this day, the process of making Dark tea is a closely guarded secret. Here are some quick facts about Anhua Dark tea for all you biochemistry buffs out there:

• Significant polyphenol content
• Significant L-Theanine content
• Significant thearubigin & theaflavin content
• Significant polysaccharide compounds

Dark tea is a critical source of minerals and nutrients to people in many areas of China. Over the past several years TeaSource has had the opportunity to work with Ms. Zhang Liumei, tea scientist and co-founder of Yiqingyuan Tea company in Hunan Province. Ms. Zhang created one of our most popular and unique teas, Dark Rose, which is pressed into a small heart shape. She describes it as “a spa in a cup” and she’s right. It’s a perfect introduction to this fascinating category of tea.

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CON was very fun this year, lots of good costumes, theme rooms, and theme cocktails! TeaSource provided tea for the convention and I gave a Geek Tea Presentation. We had 100 people in the room, but there were another 50+ outside that wanted to get in. (We brought them tea samples!) People asked lots of great questions, took home some fantastic prizes, and sipped some great classic British-style blends.

Geek Tea Presentation and Tasting

Here is a list of the teas we tried and the ones we gave away loose leaf samples of.  

Teas we sipped:
East India Blend- For Arthur Dent From Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (because he references the E. India Co.)
Scottish Breakfast- For the 10^th Doctor from Doctor Who  (because David Tenant is Scottish and also the best Dr.)
Lapsang Souchong- For Sherlock Holmes (because it’s the best tea for Brilliant deductions)  

Teas we gave out samples of:
TeaSource Spice- For Jessica from Dune (The Spice must flow!) (P.S. I am named after this character and will probably dress up as her for next year’s CON! Does anyone have a stillsuit I can borrow?)
Pi Lo Chun, Supreme- For Princess Leia from Star Wars (because the leaf is curled up into a little ball- like her hair)
Milk Oolong- For Princess Buttercup from the Princess Bride (Milk…butter…yup)
Green Dragon Oolong- For Danerys Targarian from Game of Thrones (She has Dragons and one is green)
Strong Assam- For Professor Snape from Harry Potter (because Prof. Snape is awesome…assam)
Earl Grey White Tip- For Captain Jean luc Picard from Star Trek (Earl Grey, Hot…tea of the 24^th century)
White Tip Silver Needles- For Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings (elegant, floral, silver, just like a she-elf)

Me and a loyal TeaSource customer, Nick

Can't wait for next year's event!

Until then,
Jess Hanley
TeaSource Manager

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Iced tea is the stuff of summer. Everybody knows that. Sweet tea, tea cocktails, tea infused beer, and even tea with ice cream all come to mind as tasty ways to beat the heat. We have regular customers who drink gallon upon GALLON of iced TeaSource Gold in our stores each week, and personally, I don’t know where I’d be without my daily dose of cold brewed Green Mango. I would be hard pressed to find a drink that tastes as good, is actually good for you, and has stood the test of time as well as iced tea. It's almost as American as baseball and apple pie, don't you think?

 
There are so many creative ways to enjoy cold tea that it’s hard to choose just one angle. Here are a few of our favorite recipes to give you some ideas for your next family gathering or get together. Summer is too short to sweat the small stuff, so slow down and enjoy it with a cup of iced tea.

-Sarah Cedergren
TeaSource Manager  

 

Spiced Ice Kick
6 cups chilled Montana Gold
3/4 cup orange liqueur or 3 tsp. of orange syrup (Torani or Monin works well)

Mix and serve over ice. Garnish with orange slices.

 

Champagne Oolong
Dry Champagne (or sparkling water)
4 tablespoons of dry oolong tea (we recommend Green Dragon)

Steep 4 tablespoons of dry oolong tea in 4 cups of cold water in fridge for 6 hours. Strain, cover, and refrigerate for an hour. Pour half a glass of chilled oolong tea, fill the remainder of the glass with champagne.      

 

Strawberry Arnold Palmer
Take 1 can of frozen lemonade concentrate.
Blend into 1 gallon of cold water.
Cold brew one ounce of Strawberry Oolong in the watered down lemonade overnight. Remove tea leaves.
Serve over ice. 

 

 

Ohau Iced Tea
8 cups brewed TeaSource Classic Iced Tea (black tea), at room temperature
1  cup cranberry juice cocktail
2/3 cup frozen passion fruit juice concentrate, thawed.

Use frozen passion-fruit puree (available at Latino grocery stores), could also substitute passion-fruit juice. 1 cup white cane sugar (if using passion fruit puree only)

Optional: a couple of shots of dark rum. Combine all ingredients, stir, and serve over ice.  

 

Click here for easy directions on how to make iced tea.Save

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We, at TeaSource, are thrilled to have Ms. Zhang Liumei, one of the founders of Yiqingyuan and one of our great resources in China, in Minneapolis this week.  Ms. Zhang is a tea scientist and is known for her botanical expertise. She personally creates new teas and is an expert in the area of Dark Tea, some of which we carry at TeaSource.  We are honored to have this close relationship and are excited to learn more about Dark Tea from her.

She will be doing a Livestream demonstration and talk on Dark Tea on Thursday, July 10^th at Noon. You will not want to miss this opportunity to listen, learn, and ask questions. We will be doing a short Q&A after the talk. There will be limited seating available at our St. Anthony location during the demonstration.  We hope you tune in!

To watch online, go to TeaSource's Livestream Talk with a Tea Master event page and log in (or create a new account). 

Enjoy!

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The Gateway Arch as seen across a downtown traffic jam

Over the last weekend of May, the World Tea and Coffee Fest descended on Long Beach, CA and St. Louis, MO respectively. TeaSource exhibited at both, an exhausting but thrilling experience that we’re still recovering from. Bill, Michael, and warehouse specialist Ryan were in Long Beach while manager Sarah and I went to St. Louis.

Our pallet of supplies and samples arriving at our booth in St. Louis (in this photo, the bottom of the pallet is about 10’ off the ground)

Coffee Fest is a fun show to be at, especially as a tea person. I learned a ton about coffee, especially coffee importing, and got to spread the word about how easy it is to make a quality cup of loose tea. I even got to teach a class on the subject on the very first day of the show.

Our booth, moments before the show opened

Over the course of the weekend we met with dozens of people in the coffee industry, from people opening new shops to people who have been importing and roasting for a decade or more. While talking with everyone was great, my favorite conversations were the ones that started with someone saying they didn’t like tea and ended with them taking samples because they loved our tea. 

Far and away the most popular tea was Iced Red Berries. People were glad of a refreshing, caffeine-free option after all of the coffee samples! Iced Green Tea Mango was another one that people couldn’t stop raving about. The weather was hot and muggy while we were in St. Louis, so people gravitated toward cold teas. Even though iced teas were popular, we got many questions about how we make our house chai. Making a fresh and delicious chai is an easy way to impress your customers (or your friends!) and can be very easy to do! You can find our recipe here.

Prohibition began in 1920 and ended in 1933. The Thaxton Speakeasy was established in 1927.

Being in St. Louis wasn’t all work, however. Sarah and I got a chance to sample beverages of another kind, including sake, and drinks at a real, password protected speakeasy founded a few years before Prohibition ended in the U.S. Trade shows are an opportunity for us to learn from other in the beverage industry and bring our passion and knowledge to new people who are thinking about taking the plunge and opening their own tea or coffee shop.  All the work of planning a trip of this kind leads up to being able to do one thing: have conversations with others about how great tea is.  It's challenging, but handing a sample to a new tea drinker makes it all worthwhile.

-Timothy Otte
Wholesale Manager

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