Floating Leaves Tea Home ---Shiuwen's Blog!

Friday, August 08, 2014

Floating Leaves Tea Is 9 Years Old!

I know it sounds cliche, but time does fly! I feel like I was just celebrating our 8-year anniversary last month.

It has been a good year. Thank you all for the support! It's great to serve those of you who have been loyal to Floating Leaves Tea for so many years and I will continue to source delicious tea to share with you. It's also wonderful to meet new tea drinkers!

During this past year, I have had a great time teaching tea classes. This is an excellent way for me to share my passion and to grow my tea knowledge with those who have attended my classes. I also had a fun time connecting with some of you through my online tea classes. Thank you for connecting and thank you for all of the great feedback you gave me! The store and online classes will return soon (with my son's summer schedule, my schedule has been a bit hectic).

Cliff Tea Tasting at Floating Leaves Tea, . Photo provided by Douglas King.


I also very much enjoyed my time in Portland this past up year, doing tea tastings for a fabulous group of tea lovers there. Biggest thanks to Jan Ellis for hosting these events and thank you, all the great WuWo people in Portland, for making these tastings possible!


At a Portland Tea Tasting. Photo provided by Stephanie Wilson.

I want to thank Rob and Mr. Tsai for sourcing tea for me whenever I can't make it back to Taiwan (I do miss being in Taiwan and plan to be there this December!).

Thank you, Ninja R, for editing my blog and all of the advice (yes, you will receive traditional Dong Ding and Tieguanyin for life). Thank you, Doug, for all of the beautiful tea photos you have taken and shared with me. Thank you, Michael, Xenia, Lee, Jason, and Alice for tech support. Thank you, Yossarian, for funding and building the beautiful tea table in the shop. And thank you, many of you, for giving me suggestions, advice and help to make Floating Leaves Tea better!

There are so many people and things I feel grateful for!

I almost forgot to mention the Anniversary Sale begins on August 8th and goes through the 16th. ALL of the tea will be 20% off. For in-store customers, I will be brewing tea from noon to 3 on Saturday the 9th. It's a free event. Come taste some tea with me! For online customers, you will receive 2 free half-ounce tea samples with your order. Please just let me know which two teas you would like in the comment box.

Thank you all! Here's to another great year with more cups of delicious tea!

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Japanese Green Tea

A couple of weeks ago, my tea friend, Tatsuo from Charaku Tea taught a very interesting Japanese Tea Class.




He presented 9 teas: 3 Senchas; one Gyokuro; and one each of Kukicha, Genmaicha, Houjicha, and Matcha with Wagashi!









I was very intrigued with the Senchas he presented: they are all delicious, yet different. Tatsuo said, "For most of the Sencha, I usually use around 170 to 175 degree water for the first infusion, and look for umami (sweetness) notes. For later infusions, I go up 180 - 190 and this normally brings out more shibumi (astringency). Of course it all depends on the tea....and my mood."



I have been learning Taiwanese tea for years now. I feel that in Taiwan tea drinkers are looking for specific things from tea, too, but they "allow it to happen." From what Tatsuo presented, he "makes it happen." I find both ways have a tremendous amount of beauty.

Tatsuo offered a lot of information  (and a lot of tea!) in this class. In the end, he whisked everyone a bowl of matcha. We gave the participants a piece of Wagashi that was made that morning from Tokara. It was a wonderful way to end the class. I felt like I was eating and drinking a perfect piece of art, crafted by people who really care.






I feel very fortunate to have Tatsuo at Floating Leaves Tea to share his expertise in Japanese Tea. I am certain I will invite him back again soon!

*photos provided by Douglas King.