Taiwan GABA Black Tea

I recently received some wonderful GABA Black Tea produced in Taiwan. GABA tea is not well known in North America but was first produced by the Japanese about 20 plus years ago. GABA or gamma-aminobutyric acid is an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and has been studied for it's effects on lowering blood pressure and as an anti-stress or relaxing agent. GABA is also naturally present in tea and some other foods but the amount is enhanced when the tea is grown in a nitrogen rich environment.

Taiwan has been producing GABA tea for the Japanese and local market for many years. Here are some pics the GABA Black Tea, picked from Alishan mountain:

The leaves are a bit bulky, not all tightly rolled, black with some golden buds.

Amber/caramel liquor.
Aroma was sweet, like stone-fruit and also notes of longan fruit.
Taste was very nice, full body, a caramel like sweetness, notes of cinnamon, lingering aftertaste.

After 2 steeps, the leaves were still pretty tightly rolled.

I pulled some leaves out and most are a bud and 2 leaves and very long stems. They were quite beautiful and thick.

This tea delivered on taste and a nice relaxing feeling. But, I wasn't able to access many studies on GABA tea and health, so for now, I'll just enjoy the taste!

Sunday Afternoon Tea Series - #1

I love afternoon tea!

Last Sunday I hosted a Sunday Afternoon Tea event, focusing on green tea. It was a great way to share with my friends a little bit about green tea and have afternoon tea.

I showcased 5 green teas. As you can see, I used a glass tea pot to showcase the tea leaves while they brewed. To brew green tea, the most important thing to remember is to use water that is around 70-80 degrees Celcius or 160 - 175 degrees Fahrenheit. There are some green teas that may be best brewed outside this range but this is a general range for most. If you don't have a thermometer, I usually let the water sit for 4-5 mins, pour it into another vessel before pouring onto the tea, or adding a little bit of cold water to the tea leaves before pouring in the water.

So, onto the teas!

Tea #1: Japanese Sencha

Sencha is Japanese green tea which is steamed after harvesting giving it a grassy and slightly sweet taste to it. Some were able to taste a "umami" flavour (savory-like brothiness) to the tea. I had some feta cheese and crackers that really went well with the tea.

Tea #2: Chinese Longjing Dragonwell

Longjing or dragonwell green tea is a famous Chinese tea and was once known as a "tribute" tea, specially made for the imperial palace. Today it can be enjoyed by many. My friends thought it was quite interesting how the shape was flat and that it is made by pan-frying on a wok by hand. This is what I especially appreciate about this tea, that there is a level of skill required to processing this tea and that it is hand-processed, requiring a sensory knowledge to achieve the final product. The tea gives a vegetal yet slightly buttery taste which is nice.

weighing out 3g of tea (my pot was just under a cup in volume)

dry dragon well tea leaves

I had some fresh strawberries, dried pineapple slices, cashews, and salted edamame as snacks that might go well with the tea. Cashews went well with the tea and unfortunately I should have realized to provide a little more tea for my friends so they can sample more of the pairings!

Tea #3: Japanese Gyokuro

My friend had given me some dark emerald green Gyokuro tea. This tea is special in that it is grown under shade, possibly 14-30 days before harvesting. This results in a larger number of chlorophyll production by the leaves and thus a unique flavour profile. This tea tastes grassy and has strong notes of seaweed flavour to it.

To go with this tea, I made some tuna, fish roe, and cucumber sandwich rolls. I must say that I found the bread to be a little on the moist side. When making sandwiches I would recommend letting the bread dry out more before making.

Tea #4: Jasmine Tea Shaped into a Star

These tea leaves are wrapped by hand into a star shape with large buds. A beautiful jasmine aroma as expected was enjoyed; the taste was light, sweet and delicious. Traditionally, jasmine flowers are used to scent the leaves, done in multiple layers and over a series of drying periods. As the leaves dry, it picks up the aroma of the jasmine flower. High quality jasmine tea undergoes this lengthy processing and thus it is unlikely to find much of this kind due to the effort that goes into making this tea. In most cases, you won't see actual jasmine petals mixed in with the tea leaves because all the aroma has already gone into the leaves.

beautiful

Tea #5: Chinese Xin Yang Mao Jian "Hairy Tips" Green Tea

These tea leaves were very fine needle-like dark green leaves. If you look closely, you can see the small "hairy" white tips of the buds. The dry leaves had a strong aroma, somewhat salty and seaweed like. However, when brewed this tea had quite a strong vegetal taste to it, some bitterness to the tea also was apparent, but there was a lingering aftertaste. The liquor was also a cloudy yellow-green colour - similar to Sencha in the cloudiness but unlike the bright green of Sencha, it was duller.

Here are some other foods served at my afternoon tea. In some cases, if the tea is quite strong or bitter, the sweetness of the dessert balanced the flavour of the tea. In other cases where the taste of the tea was a little more mild, the sweetness of the dessert over-powered the tea.

Daifuku mochi (or mochi filled with red bean and strawberry)

Chestnut cream tart

Dark chocolate tart (on the right)

So, some additional notes about having a tea tasting that I think worked well:

1. Offer 5 different teas. I found this to be a good number that also gives a good variety without overwhelming.
2. Re-steep the tea or increase volume of tea made to allow your friends to have at 2-3 small cups of tea or one regular sized tea cup. Especially when food is served. This also allows for examining the taste of the teas more.
3. If offering food, offer savory and sweet snacks - 5 different snacks is also a good number.
4. Showing the leaf before and after the steep was appreciated.
5. If doing a tea tasting for those that are unfamiliar with tea, providing helpful hints on how to make the tea (especially loose leaf teas) is important.
6. Most importantly, enjoy the experience!!

Chrysanthemum Tea Jelly

Yesterday was an extremely hot and humid day in Toronto! I decided to make a chrysanthemum tea jelly with goji berries (also called wolfberries) since one, I was on vacation, and two, chrysanthemum tea is supposed to be "cooling" which makes it perfect for such a day. This is a traditional Chinese dessert where chrysanthemum and goji berries are often brewed into a tea.

Goji berries are also used in traditional soups but they have become popular because of the purposed health benefits associated with the antioxidants. But, the amount I used here won't supply very much. One interesting fact I found out about the goji berry is that the propagation of the plant in Ningxia, China (this area has been growing the plant for over 600 years) helps to turn desert areas into arable land and prevent the spread of desertification that would make the land useless. Check out this article in the Beijing Review.

Set in a jelly mold with different flower and leaf shapes.

You'll notice the chrysanthemum flowers in the picture are very small. You may also find larger blossoms sold in an Asian supermarket (I actually used larger yellow ones in the recipe as they are less expensive). Chrysanthemums were first cultivated in China and have been prized for their beauty since ancient times. There are many varieties of Chrysanthemum flowers, but the ones used in making tea are usually white or yellow blossoms.

Enjoy the jelly alone or with some Long Jing Dragonwell green tea. The chrysanthemum taste went well with the green tea grassy taste but the sweetness of the jelly also accented the slight bitterness in the tea.

For those interested in the recipe:

Ingredients:
5g agar-agar (strips)
20g dried chrysanthemum flowers (i like my flavour to be strong so you can use less if you prefer a more mild taste)
1.5 cups boiling water
700ml of water
1/2c of granulated sugar

Instructions:
1. Soak the agar-agar strips in water for 1 hour and cut into tiny pieces.
2. Steep the chrysanthemum flowers in the boiling water for 30 mins. (Steep time may be reduced as desired.)
3. Bring the 700ml of water to a boil and add the agar-agar. Reduce the heat to medium, put the lid back on but slightly ajar, ensure the water is still lightly boiling.
4. Dissolve the agar-agar in the water mixture, stirring occasionally. It will take 10-15 mins to dissolve.
5. Add the sugar to the agar-agar water. You can adjust the sugar amount to your liking. I have made this with just under a 1/2 cup of sugar and it still tastes great.
6. Turn off the heat. Drain the chrysanthemum flowers, add the resulting tea to the agar-agar water.
7. Pour the liquid into a pan or mold and let sit. The jelly will set at room temperature but you can put into the fridge once cooled.

Torta Frangipane with Fujian BaiLin Black Tea

I recently came across this Italian cookbook titled "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well" by Pellegrino Artusi. It was first published in 1891 in Italian and later translated into English. As I looked through the books at a used book store, this book caught my interest as it was an old cookbook and focused on Italian cooking and baking. I was looking for some desserts that are not too sweet (like a number of Asian desserts) that would pair with tea and not overpower it. Desserts that were light on sweetness but still very satisfying.

As I flipped through the dessert section, I realized that it was very bare on instructions. No mention of how long it would take to bake or temperature of the oven. Sometimes ingredients would also be missing. But, despite this, I decided to go with a "Torta Frangipane" recipe that was also missing the quantity of butter that is required in the recipe. I also later found out that most "frangipane" recipes include ground almonds or almond meal.

It turned out to be a dense cake and somewhat like a cheesecake without the cheese. Not too sweet but I think I may just add a bit more butter the next time. The recipe also called for potato flour but I used regular all purpose flour as potato flour isn't very common. I'm going to try the recipe again with a few more modifications.

I added lemon curd to it for added flavour.

I paired this cake with a Fujian Bai Lin Black Tea. This black tea did not have many golden tips that are characteristic of a higher grade Bai Lin, it was more basic for everyday. The flavour of the tea was still quite nice, a delicate tea with some maltiness and sweet fruit and caramel notes to it. It went well with the "Torta" as it wasn't too sweet so the flavours of the tea were still noticeable. Also, the hint of lemon could still be tasted in the cake as the tea wasn't too strong as to overpower it which makes for a great pairing!


Higher quality Bai Lin tea is usually called Bai Lin Gong Fu Black Tea which indicates that it is well made or made with much effort. It is made from a white tea varietal and is hand processed. Besides caramel notes, I have read that hints of dark chocolate could also be present.

Iced Baozhong/Pouchong Tea

After living in Taiwan for a year and having easy access to really flavourful iced teas, I find myself trying to make them often.

One of my favourite iced teas is using Baozhong or Pouchong Tea. It is light, floral, and sweet. I used almost 8g of tea for about 1 cup of iced tea as I was going to add ice which would dilute the tea. However, it can be brewed a few times to yield more cups of tea.

The tea leaves, these were machine reaped from the Wenshan area in Taiwan.

I also made some basil syrup water. Dissolved equal parts water with sugar and infused fresh basil leaves approximately 3 stems in 1/2cup (125ml) of sugar water.

Brewed the tea hot, then added ice to cool it down (3 cubes), added the syrup, and shook it in a cocktail shaker.

Halfway through drinking, I thought it needed something else. Decided to added sliced strawberries which really went well with the basil and tea. Refreshing and more balanced. Next time I'll add at the start!

Tie Guan Yin Tea and Mochi Brownies

I made some mochi brownies over the weekend and they turned out okay. But, I have to modify the recipe a bit to make it a little more thicker and chewier, as I like chewy brownies.


What turned out to be really nice about them is that they paired well with some Tie Guan Yin oolong tea. This Tie Guan Yin tea from Ten Ren's Tea was more of a traditional style produced tea in that it is more heavily oxidized than the greener ones that are popular right now. My mom had this in her cupboard of tea for a number of years, unopened.

The dry leaves are semi-rolled into balls and were brown in color.

At first, I thought it might not be good to drink as it could be quite old, but I was pleasantly surprised. It had a deep roasted aroma, somewhat woodsy and pu-erh like. The flavour of the tea had notes of caramel to it so the cocoa in the brownies complemented it. The tea was a good everyday drinking tea and would go well with other foods. Not complex but flavourful. The aftertaste was not as strong but still sweet. Reading about more traditional style TieGuanYin oolong, the more oxidized and deeper roasted teas will keep longer and are actually better if not brewed soon after it is made to allow the tea to mellow or rest. It is also more easy to brew the tea apparently, which I think makes it a nice everyday tea.

Here is a pic of the amber tea paired with mochi brownies!

Beautiful Ceramics by Roos Van de Velde

Came across these wonderful tea cups in a magazine and had to look up the designer, Roos Van de Velde! Check out her website.

Her ceramics are very delicate and natural, very beautiful. I especially like that each piece is handcrafted as well!

Reposted from: Melanie Degrave Interior Designer blog

Reposted from: amanda briggs at dear ada

Reposted from: Le guide de la deco