Tea Presentation at NW Tea Festival

This year at the NW Tea Festival, I will be presenting a tea talk about major tea regions in Taiwan with professional photographer Jennifer Sauer. She will show her photos and videos that she took in Taiwan as well. Participants will get to taste the teas that I'll talk about, accompanied by some interesting photos of the land, tea farms and farmers that we met in Taiwan. The presentation is from 2pm to 3pm on Saturday, October 2nd. Hope you will be able to join us!

Later on that day from 4pm to 5pm, I will be doing a tea tasting that is limited to 10 people. I will talk about how an oolong should be aged and give some basic tips for a quality aged oolong. If you are interested in this one, you will need to sign up when you are at the tea festival (first-come, first-serve). Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

Tea and Cooking

If you have been coming to the shop often enough, you have probably noticed that I love to drink and talk about tea all day long. Then the conversation will switch back and forth between food and tea.

It's been a while since I have had the idea to put two of my favorite things together and to share my experiences. But can I cook? Not really. Two years ago, however, I was lucky to meet Maggie Blake. Maggie was born in Taiwan and trained as a chef in California. We hit it off right away. Over time, we talked about our love of tea and cooking and talked about collaborating on a project related to both of our passions.

It is our new adventure to work together and share my love of tea and her love of cooking.
We will explore Taiwanese Oolongs region by region, and also post our delicious recipes for cooking with tea. Enjoy!

The first Taiwanese tea we will use is a Baozhong tea from Pinglin. In my next post, I will be covering my tea experiences in Pinglin and the basic historical facts for this tea. But first, I wanted to share a recipe with you while I still have it fresh in my memory. Please give us feedback to let us know how this turns out for you when you have the chance to try it out.

Cod with 13 year old aged Baozhong(serving two people):

Sauce:
-1 small onion, sliced
-2 cloves of garlic, chopped
-1 stick of celery, sliced
-1 cup of stock (chicken or vegetable)
-1 Tb of aged Baozhong

Steps:
-Saute onion for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high heat.

-Add garlic and celery; saute until all the aroma comes out and the onion is translucent.

-Add the stock and tea. Let it boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes.

-Drain the sauce, discard the vegetables and tea, and set the sauce aside.

Fish:
You can use Black Cod, Halibut or Sea Bass (8oz to 10oz fillet). Season the fish with salt and pepper. Sear and cook until the fish is done.

Side Dish:
-One package of Udon noodles
-10 to 15 sweet peas (split them into half lengthwise)
-2 green onions, bias cut
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-5 shitake mushrooms, sliced
-1 Tb of soy sauce
-1/2 Ts of sesame oil
- Salt and Pepper

Steps:
-Bring a pot of water to a boil.

-In a pan, saute the shitake mushrooms for a couple of seconds.

-Add garlic, then the peas.

-Put the package of udon noodles in the pot of boiling water and cook for a minute. Remove the noodles and put them into the pan.

-Add soy sauce and mix it into the vegetables. Add additional seasonings if desired. Add the green onions and sesame oil. Mix and toss all of the ingredients well.

Before serving the dish, put the sauce back into the small sauce pan and heat it up. Adjust seasoning if desired. Thicken the sauce with butter (cut into small pieces, add them slowly to the sauce and whisk constantly to emulsify the sauce).

To serve:
Place the noodles and fish nicely on the plate, drizzle some sauce on the them and place the sauce on the side. We finished the dinner with a cup of Jin Xuan Oolong and some green salad. It was very satisfying.

Floating Leaves Tea New Business Hours

Floating Leaves Tea shop will have new business hours starting September 19th because my son is going to be starting school!

You can also purchase our tea online: www.floatingleaves.com. Not all of our products appear on the website, so please feel free to contact me by phone or email with any of your questions.

New Business Hours:

Wednesdays to Sundays: 11am to 6pm
Mondays and Tuesdays: Closed

Thank you for your continued support. The extra time I have off will also allow me to source more unique products, and more tasty Taiwanese oolongs!

Baozhong and High Mountain Tea

I would like to thank all of you for supporting Floating Leaves Tea. Many of our 2010 Spring Oolongs are already sold out! This is beyond my expectations.

My inventory of Farmer's Choice Baozhong sold out quickly, but luckily, I was able to get a new batch from the same farmer. It tastes fresh and has his characteristic taste and scent. I will be putting this on the website pretty soon.

All of our High Mountain Oolongs are sold out, too. I am contacting some tea friends in Taiwan to see if I can get some more delicious high mountain tea in. When I receive news about getting more of these teas, I will post an update on the blog.

Meanwhile, come in to taste our Dong Dings, Jin Xuan, a new batch of Oriental Beauty, or come and taste what I have been roasting!

I also want to let you know that Floating Leaves Tea will be closed for the Labor Day weekend, September 5th and September 6th. Whatever you will be doing and wherever you may be, please stay safe and remember to find time for a good cup of tea! Happy Labor Day!