Thursday, December 31, 2015

What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

Happy New Years Everyone!
Here's a little New Years tune I sang with my ukulele.



Wednesday, December 30, 2015

A New Chapter

Hi Friends! After 14 wonderful years as a tea seller and tea educator, I've decided to retire from the industry. I'm so happy that Phoenix Tea's owner and founder Cinnabar will continue operating the business. As long as she is the proprietress I will proudly buy most of my tea from Phoenix Tea!

Besides continuing my part-time cooking job at Redwing Cafe, here are a few of my plans for the new year: 

Spend more time with my family. 

Work on my house and garden. 

Make music.
                  
Drink lots of great tea!

Post whatever random crazy stuff I feel like on this blog.


Thursday, April 30, 2015

Mauna Kea Tea's 2015 Green Tea

Last week I received a half ounce of fresh green tea from Mauna Kea Tea Company on the big island of Hawaii! Since my first post about this wonderful family farm five years ago, I've only tasted their teas a couple times, but I often think about them and enjoy following them on facebook and reading about Hawaiian tea production on their blog. Today I will share my review of their new 2015 Premium First Flush Green Tea.

The dry leaf of this green tea is really beautiful. It is made up entirely of long, twisted, leaf-and-bud sets with flecks of jade green, forest green, and silver. It smells fresh and sweet. A nice toasty aroma remains from the pan firing. 


For this cupping I used a large pinch of dry leaf, 165º F spring water, and a 1 minute steep in my glass gaiwan (steep time increased slightly with later infusions). The tea liquor is pineapple-yellow with a thick body and grassy fragrance.


I poured eight awesome infusions of this green tea. My notes bounced all around including herbaceous, floral, buttery and vegetal notes. This is my kind of green tea, it's complex and refreshing with a smooth and substantial mouth-feel. If you've never tasted Hawaiian grown tea I can think of no better place to start than this green from Mauna Kea Tea company.   

Monday, April 6, 2015

Tea Catering Revisited

Hi Tea Friends!

Wow... nine whole months have past without a single post here on my tea blog. It's not like my life has been any less tea-focused than usual, it's just that all facets of life seems to be online more and more. Everyday I have emails, texts, and comments to reply to from wonderful customers and friends around the world. These communications keep me busy and fulfilled but sometimes lessen my desire to blog. I'm not going to be too hard on myself though. The blog is here when I need it and I'll post when I feel like it. And today I have something to say!

I love to serve tea for people. That has always been my favorite part of the tea industry and it is how I've met most of my friends and built my brand as a tea-seller and tea-educator. This past weekend I got a chance to do some tea catering. On a beautiful morning in Normandy Park, Washington, I put hot, delicious tea samples into the hands of nearly 100 people at a high school art festival. It was a lot of fun and will no doubt lead to a few new customers for Phoenix Tea.

Setting up.

My station after set up.

Ready for Action!

A display of the five teas I offered.  From left to right:

I am always excited to represent Phoenix Tea by catering events. If you are interested in having me at your event please email me at brett[at]phoenix-teashop[dot]com. The cost varies depending on the nature of your event and the convenience of the time and venue required.