Today’s cup is an Orange Spice black tea from Stash Tea.

Citrus and spice have been paired together in a lot of teas. It’s because of this that this tea was so comfortable to try. But be careful when you brew it.

Perhaps the astringency and lack of subtlety are due to the tea bag quality of the leaf fannings, but while the citrus certainly came through, this tea needed to be toned down a bit from the recommended steep settings from Stash’s website.

Morning Cup #29

What’s in your cup?

Today’s cup is an herbal from Stash Tea called Sandman PM.

Until recently I haven’t  normally been drinking an herbal tea first thing in the morning. I often need more of a pick-me-up. However, this Sandman PM has been eying me for a while. At least I sure feel like I could use a visit from the sandman today.

The brew is rather light. The most dominant aroma and flavor is chamomile. The liquor is a pleasant golden color.

Morning Cup #20

What’s in your cup?

Check out my coverage of both Day 1 and Day 2 of the 2011 World Tea Expo.

The World Tea Expo is such a fantastic event that even after only a few times through I can’t imagine not attending every year. I spark wonderful conversations with people, make new friends and contacts and come out knowing more than ever about tea in all its forms. This year really was no different in this respect. From a Tea Anthropologist I met at breakfast on Day 2 to time spent hanging out with my new buddy Ankit Lochan of Lochan Tea (we went to the Hoover Dam) I really had a great time this year.

But, without further ado…

Day 2

I spent some quality time with a few of the larger brands on Sunday. A wonderful but short visit over to the Harney & Sons booth showed Michael Harney’s lighter side and let me reconnect with the brand which first exposed me to loose tea. I always enjoy speaking with the Harney’s. They have great business sense to be sure, and they know their teas but they’re also great to talk with and learn from. You should drop in on their SoHo store if you’re in Manhattan.

Michael Harney & I

Michael Harney's Lighter Side

Moving along, I spent some time with some new friends with World Tea Media, purveyors of the World Tea News (WTN) industry publication and the World Tea and World Tea East expos. George and Kim Jage started the expo some number of years ago and it’s really grown into something wonderful! Dan Bolton, editor of the WTN articles and I had a nice long chat as well. It was a pretty awesome chance to connect with some of the larger names in the industry at the moment.

Some Tea from Rishi Tea

International Tea Importers is one of the larger wholesale groups around and they have some mighty fine product. They had a couple of the more unique items I was able to check out this year. Amongst my favorite activities at the expo are speaking with ITI’s purveyor, Mr. Devan Shah as well as venerable Tea Luminary Mr. James Norwood Pratt (to whom I always wish to bestow the title of Sir.) I hope next year I’ll have the opportunity to share a meal with these gentlemen.

Sir James Norwood Pratt and I

A stop over to Teas Etc yielded a great opportunity to chat up Beth Johnston and new friend Sherri Miller of Moonrise Tea Garden out of Hawaii. I reviewed Sherri’s crop from last year if you care to check it out. I also had a chance to speak with Newman Johnston and am always super excited after talking tea, business and happy things with these folks. There’s so much to go over and one expo isn’t nearly enough time, let alone a short conversation within an expo!

Beth Johnston, Myself and Sherri Miller

Newman Johnston and I

Another group from Hawaii whom I didn’t get the chance to review but did say hi to last year was Naliko Tea Gerden, now known as Tea Hawaii. It seems like Liam Ball of Naliko hooked up with a neat crowd. Tea Hawaii offers some neat products, an interesting brewing method where water is poured over the leaves and sifted into a drinking vessel. They also offer custom made tea cups made of clay which are all unique. The uniqueness is by virtue of a ‘slap’ to the clay as the potter is finishing spinning it which gives the cup its unique ‘wobble.’

Tea Hawaii Brewing to a Vessel

Another stop was made to a standby of mine. You can find Stash Tea products in nearly every grocery store in the United States. They’re a HUGE brand. However, they’re mostly known for their bagged teas. This is mighty unfortunate because their loose tea quality is actually pretty high. I always enjoy good conversation with Stash. I hope to cover more of their loose teas soon.

Stash Tea Products

I did also run into Wendy Weir of Libre Tea whose brewing vessel I reviewed some time ago and pit against other tea mugs in a showdown last year. This was her first World Tea Expo exhibiting. Honorable mention to my friends at Honey Stix whose products I hope to review soon. A shout to my buddies at Eastrise Trading who handle distribution for Foojoy in North America. Another honorable mention for the folks at Nucha, and David over at Gorreana Portuguese Teas.

I was disappointed not to see some of my favorite exhibitors from the past two years. Notable absences included Puripan Tea Garden, TeaGschwendner, PeLi Teas, Tavalon Tea, Village Tea Company, SAFA Himalaya and Catalyst Tea Enhancers. I missed you guys!

That’s pretty much it for Day 3. Feel free to go back and check out Day 1 and Day 2 of my 2011 World Tea Expo coverage.

Eastrise Trading Company

The dry loose leaves for this tea are wonderful to look at. Some leaves are forest green, others appear nearly white and there are some kind of seed looking things mixed in as well.

The dry aroma is grassy with notes of spinach and what I think are hints of squash. Once brewed the liquor becomes a very nice light yellow-gold. The aroma remains grassy but sweetens a bit.

There’s some palate pleasing dryness to this tea, though the palate and tongue don’t dry out. A grassy and vegetal freshness come out in the flavor profile. This tea reminds me of a shade grown Fukamushi style sencha from Japan. It’s flavors of spinach and arugula lighten the grassy bitterness.

While not Japanese, this tea certainly tastes like one. Its flavor profile, astringency and vegetal qualities are all very similar to a Gyokuro or other shade grown tea the Japanese are so fond of.

I would recommend this tea to fans of senchas and other Japanese green teas.

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As it happens, there are roughly three million (with an M) tea farmers in Kenya. But they each have only a few acres of farmland on average, making quality control notoriously difficult.

Kenya is not alone. Most of the African tea producing nations seem to struggle with this. From Rwanda and Tanzania to Kenya and Somalia African nations just aren’t known for high quality teas.

It’s mostly from these countries we find most black teas in tea bags. Classic Lipton and Twinings mostly come from Kenya and Tanzania. And while these are some of the most widely consumed teas, they’re not what the industry would consider ‘premium quality’ and very few of them are offered loose.

I have been on a quest for a while now to find truly outstanding orthodox teas from Africa, and Kenya in particular. I have some friends who do humanitarian work over there and wanted to give them something they could enjoy and identify with.

That’s why I was so surprised this Kenyan tea from Stash Tea was orthodox. Even modern and inspirational young brands from Kenya such as Ajiri Tea don’t do orthodox teas. The quality is just too difficult to control. I’m not sure how they did it, but this tea is fantastic!

The leaves are short and slender twists of a grey-black color and have a mild dry aroma which reminds me of a block of hay or straw. Oddly relaxing in its own way.

Once steeped, the liquor brews a nice amber color and shares a warm slightly spiced, slightly fired aroma which is equal parts comforting and enticing.

This Kenya Black from Stash Tea is soft on the palate. Unlike similar teas from Africa, it doesn’t seem to dry out the mouth. The finish is ever so lightly astringent and provides just the right pucker.

If you like milk and/or sugar in your tea, this Kenya Black becomes ultra smooth. I admit I enjoyed a cup or two that way myself. But for the purists, this Kenyan is equally good.

I recommend this tea for fans of Darjeelings, Ceylon (Sri Lankan) and Nepalese and Bangladeshi teas. Orthodox Assams, while even more difficult to find, are also a good barometer for whether you’ll like this brew. And I think you will.

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