Tracy’s story is a tough one. While going through a particularly difficult period in her life, Tea brought her comfort, focus and solidarity. It was something she could pour her heart into, and something she fell headfirst in love with.

Essencha Tea House

Soon, Tracy opened Essencha, a boutique contemporary tea house in the trendy Cincinnati neighborhood of Oakley. When the shop first opened, Tracy concentrated on running it herself. She hand selected the teas and worked hard to build her business organically.

As the shop grew, so did the selection and the offerings. Essencha now offers more than seventy teas and a seasonal list of comfort choices.The food is often prepared with tea and served in correctly sized portions.

I’ve done a great deal of traveling the past three years, but I haven’t returned to Essencha for another review. Until today.

On my last trip, back in 2009, Essencha fared well, but lost a few points on value. Namely the food seemed more expensive than I felt was worth it. Let’s see how Tracy’s shop does this time around.

When entering the shop the first thing I noticed was that the shop was notably busier than it was a couple years back. Nearly every table was open. People were eating, drinking, working, dating, playing and conversational. It’s relaxed, but not the quiet atmosphere which was almost too quiet last time.

Essencha Tea House

The tea menu was up to date as well. Recent high quality offerings from Kenya I reported on in my coverage of the 2011 World Tea Expo are now offered on the menu and as part of an upcoming tasting event.

The staff remain knowledgeable on their teas and informed of recent changes. Something other shops often seem to lack at times.

Some bubble teas are now offered on the menu with some notable popularity. This may have been to compete with a new bubble tea specialty shop near the University of Cincinnati. Or it could simply be because Tracy found product of high enough quality to offer it in her shop.

Some new food offerings for the day seemed like interesting options. A new Lapsang Souchong infused tomato soup in particular seemed appealing.

Kenyan Tajiri Black Tea

Kenyan Royal Tajiri Tea

The infusion was aromatic and clean. The bold copper color of the liquor was inviting and full of energy.

The aroma contained some sweetness with honeysuckle and notes of cocoa and a stone fruit such as apricot or peach.

On the tongue the Kenyan plays with some astringency. It’s not overly bold, but comfortably puckery would by the description I would give.

Lapsang Souchong Tomato Soup

After the description from my server, this soup sounded fantastic. Of course, that could be simply because I am a huge fan of lapsang souchong in general.

The soup is served warm. Its aroma is heavy with roasted tomato. There’s only a slight hint of the camp-firey-ness of the lapsang souchong.

On the palate though, this soup has some spiciness. There’s clear notes of the camp-firey goodness of the lapsang once it hits your tongue. There were a few flavors I was unable to identify.

In short, the lapsang makes an already comforting soup into something I would make a trip back to Essencha for.

Ceylon Wijaya Estate Black Tea

Ceylon Wijaya Estate Tea

This Wijaya is a darker infusion than the Kenyan. The liquor brews the color of a nice dark cherry wood. Inviting and sensual.

The aroma contains leafy notes. Hints of hay and nuttiness. Some hints at a muscatel texture in the aroma are intriguing and exciting.

Once on the palate the Wijaya is lighter and thinner than the Kenyan. It’s softness and lack of astringency is calming. There is a slight drying of the tip of the tongue, but it seems to entice to drink more and not turn you away.

Yunnan Goldtips Supreme Black Tea

Yunnan Goldtips Tea

Yunnan teas are often some of my favorites. The subtleties hidden in the flavor and aroma take you through the bottom of every cup still following the trail of adventure.

Ever so slightly lighter than the Wijaya, but still darker than the Tajiri. The color reminds me of a nice spiced apple cider. Perfect for a chilly Autumn day.

The aroma of this Yunnan Goldtips is meaty and roasty. There are hints of grilled beef with notes of charcoal and autumnal rain (don’t ask me how I caught that one).

The flavor profile is nice and varied. Notes similar to a lapsang roastiness with the more earthy texture of a Pu’erh are front and center. Hints of cocoa and fig are notable with a fresh floral tone in the finish.

Organic Keemun Breakfast Black Tea

Keemun Breakfast Tea

Keemun’s are some of the the more nuanced Chinese black teas. There’s a lot to love about Keemun’s, and this one didn’t disappoint.

This Keemun Breakfast is clearer than the previous three teas. A nice red amber to pull you into the experience.

The aroma contains notes of chocolate with a very light roasted scent and a smooth impression of nuttiness. There’s a hint of baked apples.

The mouth feel is smooth. There’s the slightest of astringency in the finish. The same notes of chocolate and roasted flavors come through in each sip. The hint of baked apple recedes as the liquor lingers in the mouth.

Organic Pu’erh Preferred

Pu'erh Preferred Tea

With this Organic Pu’erh the server brought out a nice gaiwan set with a pitcher of water, a sand timer (three minutes) and an assortment of other tools.

Pu’erhs are always interesting to have while out at a tea house because the preparation can be so diverse. Some pu’erh fans prefer shorter steep times. 15 to 30 seconds per round perhaps. Essencha’s house recommended timing is three to five minutes, which is what I went with for this review.

Pu'erh Preferred Tea

The loose aroma from the pre-steep (ten seconds for wash) was deep and earthy. Hints of a fish scent on the top with a mossy finish were intriguing.

The liquor was prototypical pu’erh. Nice and deep. Near opaque.

The brewed aroma was very smooth. A touch of chocolate, hints of a deep mossy fragrance and just a touch of floral undertones were a few things I caught.

The mouth feel has a smooth finish with some initial astringency. The flavors range from a grilled fish to a smooth mossy flavor. There’s a touch of chocolate in the finish.

Conclusion

The service, atmosphere and product remain high quality at Essencha. The staff remains very knowledgeable on their offerings and enthusiastic as they go about their business, and it shows.

The food shows marked improvement. The portion sizes seem a bit more appropriate than a few years ago and the quality remains high.

With this updated review Essencha is one of the best tea experiences I have had anywhere in the country to date. Congrats to Tracy on the fantastic shop she has going here in our home town.

And here are a couple Instagram shots.

Essencha Tea House

Essencha Tea House

This is coverage of Day 1 of the 2011 World Tea Expo. Please also check out coverage of Day 2 and Day 3.

While the World Tea Expo remains an industry only event, there’s much going on here which is indicative of progress and growth beyond the tea industry itself. My trip out this year was for more than just keeping you and I up to date on the happenings within the tea industry.

From news and concern of radiation seepage in Japanese teas to judging the quality of this year’s first flush Darjeeling’s after a labor crises led to later than normal picks, there’s much to understand for this year’s crop. Floods AND droughts in China have impacted crops there as well.

Mix in a little business with my blogging pleasure. I’m working on a tea related startup I’ve been needing to drum up some support for. I’m very excited for its future and overwhelmingly positive feedback from the market I feel will continue to lead to great things to share with you in the future.

But enough about me, let’s move on to Day 1 of the 2011 World Tea Expo!

Day 1

A trip down Aisle 1 instantly yielded a chat with the girls from The Tea Spot. Last year they’d provided me with a sample unit of a little steeping tool called a Tuffy Steeper. This year they’ve a little gadget called Brewlux which is supposed to be used for brewing loose leaves in a cardboard/paper cup you may get from a coffee shop or some such. This little item is actually really neat. Biodegradable and compostable it reacts to bacteria or chemical breakdown assistants. Without those assistants though, this item can be used, reused, re-reused, placed in a dishwasher for cleaning (top rack only) and used again. If you drink loose on the go and often find yourself in need of a method to keep the loose leave separated from the water while drinking on the go from an average vessel… this little diddy is for you!

The Tea Spot

A trip slightly further down the aisle led me to an interesting booth from… Portugal? Gorreana has grown tea for mass consumption in Portugal for more than a century. Now they’re looking to expand into the US market. The tea provided appears primarily CTC style black in different grades of fineness. The flavor is there, but seems like it doesn’t quite match with what I’ve come to expect from more notable growers.

Further down Aisle 1 I paid a visit to my buddy Ankit Lochan from Lochan Tea Estates. Ankit is from Darjeeling India and produces some very wonderful teas. You won’t find Ankit’s teas on the shelves though, he sells to companies and wholesalers, not to retailers. Look for products from Teas Etc., Tea Source, Adagio and others to try teas produced by the Lochan plantations.

Ankit Lochan of Lochan Tea and I.

The back end of Aisle 1 was primarily filled with companies producing products used to manufacture tea bags )not the tea inside). I skipped this part because I didn’t see it as added value for the blog coverage. (If you’d like me to cover these companies and their equipment next year, let me know.

Aisle 2 held a collection of Sri Lankan and Indian tea growers. A number of American firms too. Some of my usual friends weren’t present this year which I found unfortunate, but new companies took their place nonetheless as the expo expanded its exhibitor list.

The heart of Aisle 2 held Adagio Teas. Adagio remains one of the best selling online tea brands in the United States. During the past year though, they’ve opened two brand new sparkling pretty new stores I hope to drop in on one of these days. Ilya, Cynthia and Charles have all become great contacts these past few tea filled years! I remain excited to see what Adagio has in store!

Ilya, Cynthia and Charles of Adagio Teas posing for a shot with me.

Day 1 coverage was fairly light. I have much more for Day 2 and Day 3. Come back tomorrow for more!

A pretty tea display.

A pretty tea display from QTrade Teas & Herbs.

Last week I wrote my second installment, preceeded by the first installment in this three part series relating my experiences on a trip to Boulder and Denver back in March of 2010. This is the second of three parts.

There’s something intrinsically wondrous about the Denver and Boulder area in Colorado. The air is clean and clear. The wildlife diverse, and the nature beautiful in so many ways.

There’s another side to this metro area in the mountains though. An extreme diversity of tea and tea companies makes this area one of several real escapes for passionate tea drinkers in the US.

As a self-proclaimed avid tea drinker I have to say I was impressed by my trip.

This is a three part series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Sunday started out wonderfully. It only got better from there!

After eating a light breakfast we headed back to Boulder. We had been invited to a gong-fu style tea tasting ceremony at the home of one of the employees over at PekOe. We steeped a simple Bi Lo Chun, and Ti Kuan Yin and a more reserved Mao Feng. During this time (which I unfortunately don’t have photos of – DOH!) I taught the attendees about leaf eating, the process of eating used tea leaves.

Next we bypassed the university, PekOe and lots of other interesting sites in order to take a tour of the Celestial Seasonings plant.

At Celestial Seasonings

I know a lot of us tea drinkers don’t put much stock in Celestial Seasonings. They’re almost completely lower quality fannings placed in bags with lots of added flavors and herbal stuff. But to be honest, I do like some of their products. Perhaps it’s because their Raspberry Zinger is what I drank growing up. Perhaps it’s because I’m crazy. I don’t know.

But even if you don’t like thier products, visiting their facility if you’re in the area is a quick and easy way to understand the packing, processing and bagging side of the tea industry. The tour is free of charge and definitely worth it!

The first thing they do is brainwash you with a great video on the company’s origins and histroy. It gets kind of old halfway through, but it’s a great way to connect with the company if you do enjoy their stuff. I have not been able to locate this video on their website. It may not be there. If they read this, I recommend putting the video on their site. It’s interesting and link-worthy.

The brainwash room

After the video there’s supposed to be something else. But because it was Sunday we went straight to the olfactory test. Here, there were three bowls on the wall where scoops held some of their herbal concoctions. After passing them around we moved on to the primary storage room.

In this room were hundreds of large plastic containiners marked with their contents. BOP this and herbal item that. It was really quite impressive to behold.

Those who’ve taken the tour will recall the tea and mint rooms. A wall a foot thick separates the tea room (housing actual camelia product) from the main warehouse. Make that two feet between it and the mint room next door. And for good reason. Those smells would infect the tea under normal circumstances, and the mint smell is said to be so strong that if they leave the garage door to it open for just fifteen minutes you can smell the mint up to five miles away! It makes most people’s eyes water… but I was hardcore and didn’t weep a bit.

Moving along we got to see the automated side of things. Here in the packing center the tea material is automatically weighed, wrapped into tea bags, sealed in packets and boxed. A robotic arm stacks the boxes on a palette. Presumably to employ people, the palette of boxes needs to be manually moved with a forklift.

Sadly, the assembly line wasn’t running while I was there, so I didn’t get to check out how it actually worked. But, I’m told it pretty neat.

The Dushanbe Teahouse

After Celestial Seasonings we headed downtown Boulder to check out the Dushanbe Teahouse donated to Boulder by the people of Tajikistan in exchange for the Internet Cafe we gave them. Not quite a fair trade in my opinion. I think Boulder got the betetr end of the deal.

Left with some time before we could be seated we walked over to the nearby VG Burgers for a vegan smoothie and returned to await our seating assignment. While waiting, we snapped some pictures to pass the time.

Outside the Dushanbe Teahouse

Finally time for us to make it inside, we were presented with an extensive menu of teas, a beautiful interior to the building, a semi-knowledgeable staff and some very tasty tea!

I ordered n Imperial Pu’erh and some spicy Udon noodles with tofu. The noodles were pretty good. Just the right amount of spiciness, but a little overcooked and the tofu was extra soft instead of firm – making it difficult to eat properly.

The Pu’erh was of decent quality. It seemed to noticeably lose flavor after only six infusions which surprised me given the flavorful description relayed to me by our server. The flavor came out less mossy and more like compost but the texture was smooth and affable.

The Dushanbe Teahouse

The Dushanbe Teahouse

The Dushanbe Teahouse

The Dushanbe Teahouse

The Dushanbe Teahouse

My companion ordered the Good Morning Sunshine herbal blend. This blend was light and flavorful. It lasted a good three brews before losing most of its flavor which is about average for an herbal blend.

After Dushanbe we spent some time wandering downtown Boulder. We did some shopping here for a few hours, stopping into bookstores, watching street performers, and grabbing a couple drinks.

As time passed, and sunset grew closer we made our way back to the car and on towards a beautiful mountain lookout spot. I can’t express how beautiful it was, so here’s some photos to illustrate the point.

Boulder Sunset

Once back, we hit a couple bars for good measure, having a couple drinks, chatting about oddities, listening to some local groups perform and having a helluva time.

That’s almost all of my trip in a nutshell. I passed over a few details for expediency including dinner at a Sushi place, a trip to the first hotel in Boulder, a great local bread and sandwich place and more. If it sounds like a busy weekend, you’re right! It was non-stop, action-packed awesomeness in just three days!

I’ll be taking other tea tours later this year in Portland, New York City, San Diego, Chicago and an undecided mystery location! Stay tuned for future tea tours!

Last week I wrote my first installment in this three part series relating my experiences on a trip to Boulder and Denver back in March of 2010. This is the second of three parts.

There’s something intrinsically wondrous about the Denver and Boulder area in Colorado. The air is clean and clear. The wildlife diverse, and the nature beautiful in so many ways.

There’s another side to this metro area in the mountains though. An extreme diversity of tea and tea companies makes this area one of several real escapes for passionate tea drinkers in the US.

As a self-proclaimed avid tea drinker I have to say I was impressed by my trip.

This is a three part series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

The first stop Saturday morning was to The Tattered Cover located in downtown Denver. About a ten minute bus ride from the Capitol Hill neighborhood I was staying in. This bookstore quickly made me feel at home. With three floors of awesome, plenty of comfortable and relaxing seating and one helluva food bar I was one happy visitor!

One of the first things I looked for was whether this bookstore served teas in addition to the now traditional coffee (quixotically a flip-flop from the old tradition of tea). They did! Not only that, but they had a comfortably varied selection.

I chose to have both a hot chai and a rather ripe lapsang souchong. The chai was sadly distilled not fresh brewed – but it almost never is when you’re out & about, so no complaints there. It was a pretty decent chai, though I think the brew could have used more milk and less chai mix.

Embrace Tea

The lapsang souchong on the other hand was perfect!  brisk and ripe with the pungent aroma of tobacco or smoke given the best of these teas with the deep smoked flavors I’ve come to expect from this staple of strong Chinese teas. I was pleasantly surprised by my experience here!

Leaving The Tattered Cover our adventure took us to the Capitol building where Colorado’s legislature meets to pound the paper into supposedly meaningful law. Whatever your opinion on that may be, the view of mountains beyond is quite breathtaking.

Ten Commandments

View from Colorado Capitol Building

My companion and I moved on to the Denver Art Museum where we met an exhibiting artist, constructed our own contributions to his piece and toured the museum to find some truly beautiful displays. I can’t relay how excited I was for this. I should show you instead! Here’s some pictures:

Blue Art

Share Tea

Share Tea

For lunch we headed off to City-O-City, a Cafe in Capitol Hill. Here I had a delicious salad, some Oogave soda and some Kombucha. The Oogave was suprisingly pleasant. I’d not had Oogave prior to this and wasn’t sure what to expect… but obviously I liked it!

Kombucha is a fermented tea created by adding sugars and cultures to a black or green tea. In this case it was a black tea. This was another first try for me. One I did not like. Don’t get me wrong, I know this brew has its fans, some of whome homebrew… I’m just apparently not one of them. It tasted and smelled of rancid, bitter vinegar. Blech!

From City-O-City we made our way to Dazzle, a Jazz club a couple blocks away. Here we enjoyed a couple daytime cocktails while listening to rather adequate Jazz. The Jazz may not have been great… but the company, conversation and drinks were.

Once out of Dazzle we needed a little down time. For most this would already have been a long day. For us we were just getting toward the halfway point! After some music based R&R, a walk to a nearby park where everything appeared to be under construction my companion proposed a trip to a Kadampa Buddhist facility two blocks up.

Here we ended up in a post-prayer mingling session with local practitioners and other interesting people. Much talk of tea abounded and I was gifted a sizeable bottle of Tejava iced tea which I will review in the future. All in all I’d say I had a positive experience here and learned a bit about the Kadampa Buddhist way of life.

Tejava

Post meditation we met one of my companion’s friends and headed out to My Brother’s Bar. I have to admit… this has nothing to do with tea. However the bison burger I had was stellar with add-it-yourself toppings and condiments. What I liked best, besides the company and nervousness caused by a table of three Police officers drinking it up in uniform, was the establishment’s keystone feature. The music. All classical all the time. No words, never overly loud and wonderfully conducive to talking with friends! Beautiful!

That’s it for Part 2. Feel free to go back and read Part 1, or visit next week for Part 3.

There’s something intrinsically wondrous about the Denver and Boulder area in Colorado. The air is clean and clear. The wildlife diverse, and the nature beautiful in so many ways.

There’s another side to this metro area in the mountains though. An extreme diversity of tea and tea companies makes this area one of several real escapes for passionate tea drinkers in the US.

As a self-proclaimed avid tea drinker I have to say I was impressed by my trip.

This is a three part series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Upon arriving in the area on a Friday morning, and after having been disappointed by the Peet’s Tea I’d been left to drink before takeoff in Cincinnati, I immediately went to PekOe Sip House. PekOe is a nice, modernist take on a simple tea house. It’s clean and bright inside with nearly 100 teas to select from.

I chose a simple Yunnan Pu’erh and did enjoy it. I savoured it’s mossy flavours and rough textures. There’s something about Pu’erhs which comforts me, and this was a mighty fine example of this type of tea. I did not ask, but I presumed it to be artificially aged.

My friend Susan in front of the PekOe Sip House

While at PekOe my companion and I shared tea and conversation with a number of locals. There was a father and his young boy whom we had a great time speaking to. I had overheard the father ordering something not on the menu and was curious about this “Uncle Andrew’s Wellness Blend.”

On my way out I bought some of this blend and will have a review of it at some point in the future. I was also invited to a tea tasting ceremony on Sunday by one of the staffers!

Me sipping some tea inside the PekOe Sip House

After PekOe Sip House a few things about Boulder were apparent to me. The local culture is fantastic! The mountain views were stunning! And the tea was good!

Stop back next week for my Saturday recap, including The Tattered Cover Bookstore, The Denver Art Museum, City-O-City Cafe, My Brother’s Bar and more!

A third instalment will cover the happenings on Sunday, including the tea ceremony, a visit to the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House (a gift from the nation of Tajikistan), the mountain sunset views and more!