To Tea or Not to Tea: Not Your Grandmother's Tea: An Evening at Samovar

Last night was the big Teacal field trip! About twenty of us ventured into San Francisco to Samovar's Zen Valley Tea Lounge for a tasting with Samovar's owner, Jesse Jacobs.

We tasted six wonderful teas, beginning with a Bai Mudan White Tea. We liked how it was light and floral, with notes of honeysuckle. Next was the Kukicha Japanese Green. We learned that through its processing, Kukicha contains a chemical that is otherwise only manifested during meditation.

Jessica and Richard observing the wet Kukicha leaves.

Next on the menu was Maiden's Ecstasy Pu-erh, a favorite of many at the table. Pu-erh is a specialty tea that is usually compressed into a cake or brick and fermented for years underground. Samovar's Maiden's Ecstasy is from the Yunnan province in China. Its name refers to its tradition: Women climb up into the trees to pick the tea leaves and the men do the processing down below. It is a very special tea in China - the highest grade of leaf, which people give as wedding presents. This batch is from 2008, and satisfied out palates with creamy hints of espresso and bittersweet chocolate.

Damp leaves

Bai Hao, an Oolong from Taiwan was our next tea. It is a twisted oolong, and had a delicious roasty flavor. We also had an herbal hibiscus tea called Wei Chi Cha. It is sweetened with stevia, and has lemongrass and blood orange peel. The flavor was very intense, with a nice kick near the end.

We Chi Cha leaves

Lastly, we had an herbal tea called Mt. Olympus. It contains only one flower, but has complex flavors of chamomile and mint. Personally, I found it so pleasantly satisfying, and I'd like to have it again.