#loosetea

Hojicha Mojito Mocktail 🌿

This aromatic virgin mojito is a refreshing summer drink with the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness.

Wow – it’s been a while hasn’t it!

I think the last time I was active on my blog was around October of last year. I stopped posting for a time after I got Covid and lost my sense of taste and smell. I’m happy to report that it has since returned and I am back to normal. I lost my senses for almost a month give or a take. However, by the time I had regained my senses the Christmas season was beginning to get in gear which ended up taking up a lot of mine time. Little known fact about me is that during the Christmas season, which in our house starts the first weekend after Halloween because we love Christmas, I stop drinking all tea except for my special Twinings Christmas Blend. No gongfu sessions, no Puerh, no Oolongs, just Twinings Christmas Blend. I fell in love with that blend years ago. It’s the most perfectly warm and bold black tea with just the right amount of spice. I drink it all the way through to new year’s. Then once the new year starts I switch back to my normal tea routine. I find it really helps my taste buds settle down and take a break from vigorous tastings in preparation for the countless number of new teas to come in the new year.

With that being said, I have indeed begun tastings again. In fact, I have tasted 30 new teas this year already! I’ve been working away at the batch I got from Yunnan Sourcing last fall before I got Covid. The batch has had a few real winners so far and I will likely mainly blog about them in the near future. For the new year though I really want to be a bit more adventurous and dive into teas from other parts of the world that you don’t commonly hear about. Right now I have a few baskets lined up from online retailers for teas grown in Thailand and Vietnam, which I’m really excited for. I’ll also be posting a bit on some new Dark teas I got from the Vancouver based O5 Tea Bar. I recently discovered their shop and it’s on my hit list of tea shops to stop in and visit when I get around to traveling around Canada a bit more.

Try our June monthly brew sampler for just $7.24, featuring three tea samples and tasting notes; price includes shipping when ordered now through June 7, 2020!*

CLICK HERE TO ORDER!

(*Please note: Free shipping is valid for one online purchase—through June 7—of this $7.24 sampler collection only; if additional products are ordered, shipping charges will be added; free shipping within the continental U.S. only.)

Although people have been drinking hot tea for centuries, iced tea, obviously, requires ice. Enter refrigeration in the 1800s, and refreshing (and often potent!) punches of cold green tea and alcohol grew popular. Commercialization of the drink solidified during the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis—where the weather was hot and iced tea was a smash! This month our Collection comprises three classic teas that are stellar both hot and iced. And in case you're wondering, at TeaHaus we brew the tea double strength, then pour the hot tea into a cup filled with ice, diluting the tea to the perfect strength.

#430 Ceylon OP Nuwara Eliya (black classic) (pictured below)

PREPARATION: 3 g tea leaves (1 heaping teaspoon) per 8 oz cup of filtered boiling water; allow to brew 2 min; also excellent iced

INGREDIENTS: At over 6000 feet, the high plateau of Nuwara Eliya has some of the finest tea gardens in Sri Lanka

LEAF: Dark brown with a subtle hint of red

INFUSION: Reddish brown; slightly lighter than other black teas

AROMA: Classic black tea

LIQUOR: The most “classic” of our classics. Its smooth subtle flavor has a hint of citrus, perfect for anyone looking for a really good “normal” iced tea.

PAIRING: Anything summer! Great with a slice of lemon.

#701 Japan Bancha (green classic) (pictured below)

PREPARATION: 3 g tea leaves (1 heaping teaspoon) per 8 oz cup of filtered water, boiled and cooled to 80°C/176°F; allow to brew 1 min; also excellent iced

INGREDIENTS: Second flush; bancha means “coarse tea,” meaning larger (coarser) leaf

LEAF: Light green with a slighty toasted appearance

INFUSION: Translucent pale beige-yellow, with a hint of green

AROMA: Softer seaweed than the aroma of sencha, slightly more nutty or “ripe”

LIQUOR: Less grassy than its first-flush relative, with a lingering vegetal aftertaste that is highlighted when iced

PAIRING: Salads, chicken, light summer meals

#527 Nepal Shangri La (premium white classic) (pictured below)

PREPARATION: 3 g tea leaves (1 heaping teaspoon) per 8 oz cup of filtered water, boiled and cooled to 80°C/176°F; allow to brew 2–3 min; also excellent iced

INGREDIENTS: Cultivated in Nepal at altitudes of 1200–2100 meters, this superb tea is produced by hand

LEAF: Rolled dark gray to brown leaf, with several silver tips

INFUSION: Very pale pinkish-beige

AROMA: Delicate and floral

LIQUOR: True to its aroma, with a sweet finish. When iced, the floral is more pronounced.

PAIRING: Because of its delicacy, the Shangri La is a tea to be enjoyed on its own