A Sommelier's Guide to Tea - All Comments

RE: Elevating Tea in the Restaurant Setting

Arvid Rosengren — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 12:45:17 GMT

Good initial post. I have put some thought into the matter before, but have unfortunately not followed through.

I would like to see recommendations for gear, water boilers, cups and trolleys (a well-designed trolley with the functions of an old-school gung fu tray makes a lot of sense to me - it becomes a show which will turn heads). And how important you think differing mineral levels of waters are? Do you use mineral water for better teas?

RE: Elevating Tea in the Restaurant Setting

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:10:31 GMT

For further information on difference between Shaqing and steaming.

www.peonyts.com/how-is-green-tea-produced

RE: Elevating Tea in the Restaurant Setting

Chris Lindemann — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 21:29:35 GMT

Thanks, much Peter. For those who want even more information here is a link to some avid tea/orchid specialists in South Florida.

www.pineridgeorchids.com/tea.htm

RE: Elevating Tea in the Restaurant Setting

Barrett Crandall — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 06:57:02 GMT

What is the name of the restaurant, would love to come in and have some tea paired with a meal.

RE: Elevating Tea in the Restaurant Setting

Peter Weltman — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 21:57:23 GMT

Ronald,

Love that you are using tea for tasting menus. Do you do multiple steepings with any of your offerings? And, pu-erh and duck makes sense given that pickled plum and even apricot note that sheng (raw) pu-erh can have when young.

Also, to slightly amend my comment to Stevie, the Tibetan Yak Butter tea is usually made with lesser grade pu-erh or other post fermented teas (aka made in the style of pu-erh).

RE: Elevating Tea in the Restaurant Setting

Peter Weltman — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 19:24:56 GMT

Stevie,

As you know, restaurants are beholden to the guests desires. So, honey, milk, sugar will always be part of standard tea service. It is safe to make suggestions--gracefully--toward at least tasting tea before anything is added. If you want to push the envelope, it would be really fun to do a modern take on Tibetan Yak Butter Tea--which has a base of pu-erh.

In a perfect world, tea pitchers and cups would be reserved for one kind of tea. Of course, that being impossible, it is important to have clean porcelain or well glazed stone ware (to make it more vitreous) and not allow tea to become trapped in the objects pores. There are certain glazes that can be created to help aid the properties of the tea that is brewed in it--some that heighten the bright flavors of green tea, and others that help thicken water for darker oolongs, black, and puerh teas. Back to classic clay tea ware, like famous regional pots from China, those should never be used for different teas. They are purposefully porous, and after aging (yes, again!) they allow minuscule amongst of the tea to leach into the structure.

I met a progressive and very small batch tea importer from London (Lalani and Co.) who started working with Riedel. They believe the curved glassware that most would consider for wine (though they like stemless) is the best vehicle for appreciating teas' specific aromas.

I will cover some of these topics more in depth as this is just the first post of my series devoted to tea.

RE: Elevating Tea in the Restaurant Setting

Stevie Stacionis — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 19:10:48 GMT

Are there appropriate (and inappropriate) "accoutrements" for each tea? What about special tea cups appropriate for different types?

RE: Elevating Tea in the Restaurant Setting

Ronald Plunkett — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 19:51:46 GMT

Great post! I work at a high end Chinese restaurant in San Francisco and have a large assortment of teas available from light white teas to rich and full bodied pu-erhs. I find they are very similar to pairing wine. During lunch service at the restaurant we serve more tea than wine and find tea to be very versatile, with heavier dishes such as beef or duck I find a rich tea like a pu-erh with its earthy mushroom qualities, has the tannin and the weight to pair with those dishes. With more delicate dishes such as light fish I find white teas work quite well and for desserts I like using infusions. I am currently working on a pairing menu that will use wine, spirits and tea.