Sakura Sakura in Vancouver! (Part 2) ... The tea service!

As mentioned in the previous post, while on vacation in Vancouver during Cherry Blossom Festival time, I invited my friend Drew to The Urban Tea Merchant for their special Sakura Westcoast Tea service. 

The Urban Tea Merchant only carries 100% natural luxury TWG Teas.

Tea Sommelier, Reza Nasooti, will do tastings to help you decide which tea to have with your tea service or purchase for home.

Reza brought several tins of their special teas us to sample:

 

 - Sakura! Sakura!
 - Paris Breakfast
 - 1837 Black

Sakura Sakura!

 

Drew smelling the tea

Paris Breakfast

Tasting Sakura! Sakura!  I enjoyed it!  Aromatic, sweet, refreshing

Paris Breakfast

And with the tastings all done, time to decide which tea to have with our 

Sakura Westcoast Tea Service...

Our server comes to get us and we are led to the dining area.  We pass a beautiful teapot waterfall. 

 We are told that our service will start with the sommelier's choice of chilled tea in a champagne flute glass.  Today's was the Sakura! Sakura! green tea, how fitting.  I wanted to try another tea, so  I selected the Brother's Club.  It was very nice, a little nutty, a bit sweet, reminded me of a fine smooth whisky.  Drew selected the very pleasant 1837 Black which is TWG's signature tea.

(Photo:Drew Taylor)

The Sakura Westcoast Tea Service!   (Photo: Drew Taylor)

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Spring rice roll with honey & balsamic, shitake mushroom and crisp vegetables

Miso-maple glazed sable fish wrapped in butter lettuce - so delicious!

Smoked salmon and wasabi aioli with in-house ponzu jelly with flicks of lemon zest was yummy.  Definitely a nice yummy twist to the usual smoked salmon tea sandwich.                                  (Photo: Drew Taylor)

Japanese fish crackers, crisp soba noodles with tangy seaweed salad and sesame crumble - chewy, interesting

lovely tea-infused macaroons, chocolate truffles, fresh fruits, and edible flowers

Tea-infused jelly - light pear sweet taste.  The edible flower was fun to eat.  This went really well with a sip of the chilled Sakura! Sakura! tea.

Chevron strawberry - strawberry was perfectly ripe with the chocolate... mmm...

Both teas paired nicely with our food, but I preferred the Brother's Club.  I thought it was able to round out some of the flavours slightly better.  We saved the chocolate truffle (with a brandy-like tasting centre) for close to the end.  It was mmm, wow! oh my goodness good!  

A final piece of watermelon waited for a last sip of chilled Sakura! Sakura! tea to make the perfect well-balanced refreshing ending of a marvelous tea service.

I would definitely go back to The Urban Tea Merchant next time I'm back in Vancouver.  Try another tea service and some more of the fine TWG teas.  Unfortunately, since it's past Cherry Blossom season, the Sakura Westcoast Tea Service will have to wait for next year.  

But I'm sure they've got something special planned for Mother's Day!  

And Drew... how successful was I in making a new tea convert?  Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, have a look and you tell me...

Drew is also a local actor, will be performing in "Farragut North" at the Havana Theatre in Vancouver from May 15-26.  You can catch him there, enjoy a good play, support the local art scene ... and ask him yourself...

Sakura Sakura in Vancouver!

Just came back from holidays in Vancouver, British Columbia.  This Canadian West Coast city, known for its gloomy rainy winters...how gloomy?  Imagine, the heavens open up and just poured for days and days on end.

Days become weeks... and weeks become months, until suddenly the torrential downpour finally subsides and becomes a gentle pitter patter, the clouds soon start to part and warm golden beams of sunlight flood in to signal Spring.  It is about this time that you will notice little tufts of white and pale pink fluff start to cover the trees all around the city.

There are many flowering trees that start to wake up around this time in Vancouver, such as plum, magnolia trees, but the star attraction, without a doubt are their famous cherry trees!  Oh, the beautiful Sakura in Vancouver!

It all started with a gift of 500 cherry trees from Japan in the early 1930s to honour the soldiers who died in WWI.  Over the years, many more were planted, now with approximately 37,000 trees that line the city's public and private parks, streets and laneways, the cherry blossoms act as a symbol of Spring that greets Vancouverites and visitors, like me, each year.

Following the Japanese tradition of Hanami, cherry blossom viewing, became so popular that each year Vancouver holds a Cherry Blossom Festival.  I got into town mid-April, so missed alot of the organized festivities.  So I went about town in search for cherry trees and the perfect place to have a picnic under the blossoms.  And when I read that The Urban Tea Merchant was offering a special "Sakura Westcoast Tea Service", it fit the bill perfectly.

On West Georgia Street, just outside The Urban Tea Merchant

 

Look up...aaahhh...

Front entrance

Courtyard and side entrance

Upon entering The Urban Tea Merchant, your eyes will feast on a roomy, beautiful and luxurious tea lounge...no, tea lifestyle store!  with all sort of tea ware, tea linens, books, decorations, treats, and of course, TEA!  

The Urban Tea Merchant only carries the high quality, luxury TWG Tea line from Singapore.

Look at that huge wall of tea!  (that's on my wish list)

 

I met their resident Tea Sommelier, Reza Nasooti, when I first visited the teashop last December.

Reza is also one of the two instructors for the Certified Tea Sommelier program at the Vancouver Community College.  When I made my reservation for tea, I also made a reservation for a quick tea tasting with Reza to help my guest and me in selecting the tea we'll be enjoying at our tea service.

Reza ponders which teas to select from their extensive wall of teas

I had invited my friend, Drew, to join me on my Sakura tea adventure.  Drew is more of a coffee drinker, and very occasional tea drinker.  I thought this would be a fun way to introduce him to more teas, some tea infused food, and traditions...and who know, maybe leave as a new tea convert!?

Stay tuned for Part Two for our tea tasting with Reza and the Sakura West Coast Tea Service at The Urban Tea Merchant.  And see if there may be a new tea convert in our mist...

Tea at the CRFA show...and Getting Told Off by Georg Riedel

After the long, busy work season (aka Canada's RRSP season), last week I slowly crawled my way out of the office in search of some fun tea adventures.  I heard the CRFA show was on at the Direct Energy Centre.  Taste some food, wine, and of course, tea!  I'm in!

So I hop on the Bathurst 511 streetcar that'll take me to CNE grounds along the lake shore of Lake Ontario.

The event was huge!  Everything related to food services industry could be found!  All sorts of food, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcohol), equipment, glassware, dishes, even cooking demos by celebrity chefs Anna Olson and David Adjey!

I found out that The Tea Association of Canada had a Tea Pavilion with short talks on teas and its use in cooking, so that was a must to check out.  En route to the Tea Pavilion, met up with the very enthusiastic John Palacios of UrbanZen Tea and his partner, Alice Yu.  UrbanZen tea is real, freshly brewed from whole leaf green tea with various juices and sweetened with cane sugar.  Their tea is sourced from the high mountain tea plantations of Taiwan and bottled in Canada.

As John explained to me, the "zen" part of the company's name comes from the peaceful, zen-like state one can experience from drinking high quality Taiwanese tea.  They wanted to introduce that "zen" to us city folks, hence the "Urban" part of the name.

Alice Yu and John Palacios

I tried a sample of their honey jasmine tea and quickly knew this ain't no Nestea... the tea was pleasant, tasted of infused green tea, and a faint jasmine scent. It wasn't overly sweet like some other big name iced tea brands in the market, it was quite enjoyable.  I can see myself drinking this on a hot, summer day.  I would have liked to stay longer and sip some more samples, but was rushing to catch a tea chat at the tea pavilion a few aisles over, so off I went...

... And here is the Tea pavilion,

Tea and cooking chat

Tea Association of Canada's Riley Richman and President, Louise Roberge

with President, Louise Roberge

 

Certified Tea Sommelier, Raelene Gannon of Tea and all its Splendour spoke about ways to add tea into cooking.  Examples were adding the steeped liquor to sauce, grinding up tea leaves, smoking food with tea.  Her company launched a new product called "essence du thé" that can make cooking with tea even easier.  The name says it all; there are six essences of the tea made from a variety of tea leaves steeped in alcohol ... who needs vanilla anymore?!!  You basically use it the same way you would use vanilla.  Instead of regular shortbread cookies, use the essence du thé creme earl grey, and you've got earl grey shortbread cookies!

I tried all six and really liked the essence du thé acerola cherry & fig and the essence du thé pumpkin creme rooibos.

with Raelene Gannon of Tea and all its Splendour

A couple of new tea companies were also at the Tea Pavilion:

 

There was Sukash Teas, launched in November 2011.  Sukash Teas currently offers organic tea bags, their loose leaf and organic tea lines are geared for launch in May.  The president, Shankar Muthusamy, informed me that they are the first to use the Tea Association of Canada's new "anTEAoxidants" symbol on their packaging.

Also Certified Tea Sommelier, Linda Budd's Tealchemy.  Her line of products will be coming soon online in April 2012. 

Linda Budd (right)

There were more tea companies to be found once I left the Tea Pavilion, such as Tetley, Mighty Leaf tea Co., The Metropolitan Tea Company,

and Toronto's own The Tea Emporium.  Sabnam and Frank Weber's tea company has been offering quality loose leaf tea for many years.  Last November, they opened a new location inside the Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens , which is on my list of places I have to go visit real soon!

Frank Weber and helper at The Tea Emporium's booth

"Oh my!  So pretty, felt like we stepped into Paris!"  Sloane Tea Company, is definitely among the finest loose leave tea companies around.  Their tea is sourced and blended by Tea Sommeliers; with Certified Tea Sommelier, Hoda Paripoush, at the helm. 

Hoda Paripoush of Sloane Tea Company

Hoda was one of my classmates at George Brown College and we graduated from the Certified Tea Sommelier program together in 2009.  She has also studied perfumery and applied some of its theories to blending her teas.  Perfumes have top, middle, and base notes, so too do her teas.

I've had the pleasure of tasting quite a few of her teas and they are fine indeed.  Exquisite.  Available online, at selected retailers, and from April on, at Indigo too!  Do try the "Heavenly Cream" blend, mmm!


As a Certified Tea Sommelier, I am constantly in the process of learning new things and training my palate. So, when I found out that Georg Riedel, president of Riedel Glassworks (world renowned wine glass maker), would be doing a special seminar on wine tasting and his wine glasses, I was in!  I thought that could be very educational to see how different glasses can affect the taste of different wines.

Coincidentally, The World Tea Expo in Las Vegas will be offering a "Focused tasting" course called "Taste the Difference - Different Cups for Different Teas".  I can check out how different glasses effect the taste of wine today, and then check out its effect on tea in June?  What an idea! 

So after the visit through the Tea Pavilion, it was time to head over for the seminar.  With the long line up, I was happy I stopped by the Mighty Leaf Tea booth to grab a cup of tea.  Soon, the door opened, I walked into the big hall, and found a seat at one of the long tables.

I put down the paper cup of tea, and took off my puffy winter coat... when I noticed a finger pointing at my tea and this man in the stern, but polite, voice said to me, "This is competition, you have to take it out of here".

"What?  Excuse me?" I thought to myself, not fully registering what just happened.  I automatically started to apologize to the man.  I grabbed my still hot tea, and started walking towards the exit to get rid of the "contraband" liquid.

Instinctively, I looked back to have a better look at who that guy was... he was a distinguished looking, older gentleman in a very nice suit... hmm, he looks familiar... I walked some more and kept looking back at him... Oh my gosh!  It finally dawned on me... that was Georg Riedel!!  Umm, I just got told off by the head of Riedel Glassworks?!

Georg Riedel

Riedel wine tasting set, wine, and chocolates

Wow, it's not every day one gets told off by the 10th generation head of a 250 year old company!

Imagine that, tea's the competition...?!!

Movie time: Tea Culture in the Wuyi Mountains

Hey all, hope you're doing well and enjoying a good cup of tea.

I just saw this great documentary posted on Camellia Sinensis' Facebook page!  It's about the Tea Culture of the Wuyi Mountains that I wanted to share with you.

This CCTV documentary takes the viewer through the history, making of the Rock Oolong tea, and the tea culture of the Wuyi Mountains of China.

Please click here to watch this beautifully filmed documentary and journey into the tea land of China!
Documentary 2009-09-04 Tea Culture in The Wuyi Mountains - 1 CCTV-International

Shhh, quiet... film's rolling...hey, pass the matcha green tea popcorn...

DTL & Aroma's Adventures in the Land of Tea

Happily sipping hojicha as a digestif after a yummy Thanksgiving weekend feast of turkey, pot roast, all sort of veggies, and Gordon Ramsay's Leek Risotto, I settled in to relax and let my tummy digest.

As I slowly sipped the warm toasty, well-rounded flavours of my Japanese roasted green tea, noticing the slight caramel finish on my tongue, I read news on the Internet.

Hojicha leaves

go ahead, have a sip

Flipping from page to page on some of my favourite tea sites, I found something for kids to learn about tea! 

Well, really kids of all ages... I stumbled upon ' new website for tea kids!   I had met one of the owners of Dilmah Tea, Dilhan Fernando and tasted many of Dilmah's wonderful teas at the Art of Tea event back in June, so was very curious to check out the site some more.

In DTL & Aroma's Adventures in the Land of Tea, I followed the cartoon characters named  DTL and Aroma on their journey into the land of tea, their visit to Dilmah Tea Gardens in Sri Lanka, meeting the owners, learning the process of making tea, and of course, enjoying tea.

There are quizzes and games to test your tea knowledge, or if you are new to tea, a great way to start your education of the second most popular drink in the world, after water!

So, go ahead, and check out Dilmah Teakids' site!  Read a comic so you can follow DTL and Aroma's journeys, play a game, or give yourself a pop quiz... and have fun on your journey into tealand...

http://teakids.mydilmah.com/

The Art of Tea

On a sunny day, back in June, I joined a group of Certified Tea Sommeliers, Jane Pettigrew, the famous tea expert from U.K., and Dilhan Fernando of Dilmah Tea Estate , plus many others at Toronto's historic St. Lawrence Hall for "The Art of Tea", organized by Carol Mark in memory of her dear friend, Hema Abeygunawardena.

Through tales of her childhood in Sri Lanka, where tea ran deep in its people's lives, Hema would unknowingly ignite a new meaning of tea in her friend, Carol Mark.  Hema recalled how as a little girl on the first day of school, being among strangers was a little scary...until a family member would bring her a cup of tea.  Ah, the comforting smell and taste of tea... of home.  Tea...such a seemingly simple thing...yet it can bring great comfort.

When Hema died of cancer, Carol had promised to help fulfill her friend's wish to help give back to those less fortunate in her home country.  Carol wanted to honour her friend's memory through tea, since tea was such a constant throughout her friend's life, and thus "The Art of Tea" Event was created. All proceeds of the event were donated to the MJF Charitable Foundation.
 
It was a most fun and informative day, starting with a master class for Certified Tea Sommeliers and Tea Sommelier students before the event. 

Feel free to grab a cup of tea and enjoy, as you follow this link to my summary of the day's events (posted on the Tea Guild of Canada's website), http://teaguildofcanada.ca/news/pettigrew-in-toronto/the-art-of-tea