Thursday, January 21, 2010

Tingly Mint Tisane

One of my favourite tea empires (or is it empiresses), Madame Flavour has released some delicious organic tisanes.  For the uninitiated, a tisane is a herbal tea.  Since herbal teas don't actually include tea leaves in the brew, they aren't strictly tea at all.  Hence, tisanes.

I had the pleasure of trying the new Organic Mint Tisane.  Unlike many teas, even the organic mint tea bags are tasty looking.  Bright green mint leaves and tiny blue flower petals (cornflower petals I expect) jumble randomly in the cute cornsilk bag.  Even the smell is quite amazing.  I opened the packet to be greeted by the most intense scent.  Like inhaling a packet of Mint Slice biscuits.  Yum!

The brewed tisane looks like liquid gold.  It is a beautiful yellow with a less intense minty smell.  More like a vintage mint, but still fresh enough for a big sniff to clear the nose.

The taste is really beautiful.  It starts in the mouth as a slight minty taste almost like mint on a green tea base but without any of the astringency that marks green tea.  Then it develops after swallowed into a tingly minty taste all over your mouth.  I've very invigorating without being overpowering.  Each sip is a little warm zing of freshness!

Such a lovely way to start a summer's day or even for an afternoon pep up!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Madame Flavour does Pear

Green tea now comes in so many flavours it can be a minefield to work out what you like.

One I tried some time ago now is the Green, Jasmine and Pear from that divine teahouse, Madame Flavour.

I first got into Madame Flavour teas about a year ago.  I was wandering along George Street near Martin Place in Sydney when I had thrust into my hands by some marketing people three tiny boxes.  Each contained a beautifully presented cornsilk teabag with each of English Breakfast, Sultry Chai and Green,  Jasmine and Pear.  I headed back to work and immediately tried out the tea.  It was lovely!  The taste aided by the beautiful presentation: each in a tiny cardboard box with a silver lining and containing a little note explaining how to enjoy the tea.  It was so beautiful, I immediately hunted down Madame Flavour online (http://www.madameflavour.com.au/) and ordered a box of the English Breakfast.  A few days later it arrived with a handwritten note from Madame Flavour herself thanking me for my kind words and including a huge box of all different types of individually boxed teas!!!

The combination of the quality of the tea, the presentation and the generousity of the owner mean that I simply cannot say how much a love Madame Flavour!

Anyway, she does a mean Green, Jasmine and Pear.

It smells fruity and very strongly of jasmine.

The taste is of a traditional jasmine green tea however it has a mellow sweetness which introduces the pear.  It is more an aftertaste than the main fanfare but I rather like it.

It is a strong tea so those that find green teas a little too strong or astringent would probably prefer a lighter green tea flavour.

I, for one, am a fan.  So Green, Jasmine and Pear has been featuring as the green of choice in my tea box for the last twelve months and it has been very well received by my tea guests.

I would highly recommend checking out Madame Flavour's website.  Even if you don't particularly care for tea, you will still enjoy the beautiful graphics and words.  For the standard tea lover, I highly recommend the English Breakfast.  For the herbal tea lover, I recommend the White Tea with Rose (I know it is still a real tea but it is so light and sweet that you would never know).  She has also recently introduced some real tisanes to the mix.  I have not yet tried them but I be sure to report once I have!


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Oooooo-long!

I have only recently been treated to my first cup of oolong tea.

I have to admit, I wasn't even sure what oolong tea was but I now regret the many years I spent bypassing it in favour of other teas.

Oolong is not a mix of green and black tea or something else altogether.  It is in fact somewhere between green and black tea.  Confused?

What makes the difference between green, black and oolong teas is purely oxidisation.  Green tea is only oxidised very slightly whereas black tea is left to oxidise for a long time, hence it ends up black.  So all tea starts off green and then it is how long it oxidises that determines its type.  Oolong tea is oxidised longer than green tea but not as long as black tea.

So that's the science bit, now for the taste and smell.

I tried the Formosa Dung Ti Oolong from The Tea Centre.  It smelled smokey and chocolatey, rich and deep.

The taste was very different to the smell.  It was soft and tasted subtly of fruit and grass.

The smell was reminiscent of black tea but the taste more like green tea.  It was perfectly balanced and deliciously different.

The look of the tea was also different.  Each tiny tea leaf was carefully rolled up so that it unfurled in the hot water.  Not just a delicious taste, but also a relaxing sight to watch as it brews.

In future I won't wait s-oolong to try out new teas!

Formosa Dung Ti:



Silver Needles

Do you want all the fantastic health benefits of a cup of tea but find black tea too strong and green tea to bitter?

China Silver Needles Yin Zhen from The Tea Centre ("Silver Needles"), is an extremely delicate white tea.  It is the tiny ends of the new tea leaves very gently plucked off the plants (usually by women as they have a softer touch).  It is a rather exclusive tea but for an even more exclusive version, try the China Silver Needles Jun Shan from The Tea Centre.  It is the finest quality and most delicate white tea on the planet. Only picked on two days each year, it is often called the Emperor's Tea.

As I'm too poor to justify the China Silver Needles Jun Shan, I have tried the Yin Zhen version. 

Silver Needles barely colours the water but the smell is beautifully fresh and very subtle.  Rather like the fresh smell after rain when the earth steps, thoroughly washed clean, out of the shower.

It tastes very slightly of green tea but is exceptionally smooth.  Not a hint of bitterness or acid.  It is extremely refreshing and I imagine it would be a fantasic drink for summer, either hot or iced.  Everything about this tea is calming but bright.

I highly recommend a good quality white tea.  It is so different from black, green and oolong teas that even those that don't care for the taste of tea will find it to their liking.  My own mother who would like to drink tea for the health benefits but cannot stand the taste of traditional teas, loves white tea, particularly when it is flavoured with fruit.

China Silver Needles Yin Zhen:









China Silver Needles Jun Shan: