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| Bai Mu Dan White Tea Leaves |
In June, Tao Tea Leaf hosted 3 tea tastings showcasing his new Spring teas. It was definitely an event where you‘ll get your fill of good quality tea! We sampled 12 different teas, yes twelve, ranging from white to green to yellow to oolong to black and puer in 2 hours. Several teas were quite popular, including a rare Silver Needle white tea that is grown at over 1000m above sea level and a purple bud puer picked from ancient tea trees. The Silver Needle white tea that had lots of people ooohing and ahhhing over was definitely a nice and smooth tea, refined and sweet.
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| Silver Needle |
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| The set up |
Everything was set up very well with each tea label and a sample of the dry tea leaves were on display.
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| Huang Shan Mao Feng - a green tea from yellow mountain in China |
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| Golden Needle Black Tea |
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| Wild Purple Bud Puer |
These wild purple buds are very different looking and I was very intrigued. The taste is also unlike the earthy puer tea that I‘m accustomed to drinking. The aroma has a hint of earthiness but when you taste it, it‘s quite mild and light with maybe notes of apricots. There is a slight earthiness to the taste but very subtle and if you let it steep longer than expected, it doesn‘t become too strong which is great.
Tao notes that these buds are from ancient tea trees that require climbing to pick. As well, these trees are located on mountainous terrain.
It seems there‘s always a new tea to discover! As one of my
new favorite bloggers has posted,
學無止境, there is always something new to learn.
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| Wild Purple Bud Tea |
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| At home, infused wild purple bud puer tea buds |
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| Snacks while sampling the tea, I believe they were purple yam cookies and pumpkin seed cookies. |
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| One side of the wall, Tao carries quite a selection of teas. |
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| Exterior of the shop (they were undergoing renovations inside) |
I also picked up a green tea called An Ji Bai Cha. It‘s name includes the characters "white tea" but that is because the tea leaves are whitish in colour before harvest and not a reference to the type of tea. I'll likely be doing a separate post on that as it's also one I've never come across before and need to learn more.
Definitely check out Tao Tea Leaf if you want to pick up some good quality tea. They specialize in Chinese teas but do offer other teas, blends, and tissanes. Tao is also great at allowing you to sample a tea in the store and they are happy to answer any questions.
Tao Tea Leaf
934 Yonge St., Toronto ON, M4W 2J2
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