Eco-Cha Club Membership (September) - My First Shipment!

I finally received my first batch of tea from Eco-Cha!  It actually took almost 4 weeks to arrive but sometimes that can happen if it gets stuck at customs.  And, I also have received the October package recently so this post is coming a bit late.  Eco-Cha is a tea company based in Taiwan that sources tea from family run farms that use sustainable methods.  I joined their tea club recently as I thought that this was something different and what is sent out to tea club members is not sold on their website.  I'm really excited as I've never joined anything like it despite there being other tea subscription clubs.

This month's tea is an Organic Wuyi Hong Shui Oolong tea 有機武夷紅水烏龍茶.

There is 75g of tea per month and it seems like every month they send a little something with the tea; September's was a metal tea strainer.  I already have the exact same one, but it was a nice extra.

Hong Shui Oolong 紅水烏龍茶 has actually been on my radar for over 5 years now but the reason it's been something I've been searching for info about is because I bought some Hong Shui Oolong from a wholesaler in Taiwan five years ago which was very different from the Hong Shui Oolong I could find online.  Hong Shui Oolong is supposed to be a tea in Taiwan that is similar to Dong Ding Oolong 凍頂烏龍 in the processing and rolled into ball shape, but I believe it is slightly more oxidized and does not come from Dong Ding mountain.  The Hong Shui I bought was  rolled into strip-form like Wuyi style oolong and like the product sent this month by Eco-Cha.  Looking back, the wholesaler said it was grown in Miaoli at 400m and the cultivar is qing xin da pang or da pa (青心大冇?); this cultivar is usually used to make Oriental Beauty Oolong (or Bai Hao Oolong).

I do have book on oolong tea and it describes Hong Shui Oolong 紅水烏龍 and how it used to be produced many years ago as a 'foreigner's tea' but is enjoyed by the locals now.  The one I have already, is not roasted and seems to bear the same tea "soup" colour of a red tea rather than the lighter orange-brown that is more common for the Hong Shui Oolong described in everything I could find about it.

I'm inclined to think my initial batch of Hong Shui Oolong from five years ago may actually be something different (it does taste good though!).  The tea from Eco-cha although rolled into strips (Wuyi style), does bear little other resemblance to the tea I have; it has the roasted quality and the tea soup is also not as "red" as the name would imply, more similar to Dong Ding Oolong and fits with all the other descriptions of Hong Shui Oolong except for the rolling style.

I brewed the tea using their specifications, 9 grams per 175 ml with boiling water for 50 seconds.  I have to say though, I thought it was too much leaves because the flavour seemed muddled, tangy, and there was moderate astringency.  When I used less leaves (5-6 grams), more of the baked fruit flavour came out and no astringency.  The leaves will open up more and I think that makes a difference.  I brewed this tea three times in each instance and the it didn't appear to be watered down, just liked the outcome using less leaves.

It's a nice tea for the autumn but I think I'm still going to experiment with leaf to water ratio, water temperature and steep time.  I think there is definitely more potential for this tea.

However, I did notice that there were a number of sticks/stems in the batch where the leaves were not attached which is a little disappointing.

Nonetheless, this is still an interesting tea though; more so for the organic growing method used which is somewhat a new concept.  It is one of the reasons that I joined, to try new teas either grown differently or processed differently from what you could find on the general market.  I also love getting packages!

Looking forward to more tea from Eco-cha!

Saturday Dinette on a Sunday and a Dried Date Tasting

An extended breakfast or brunch with one (or a number) of close friends is one of life's little pleasures.  It's definitely important once people settle down and have children.  One of my friends commented that after people start to have children, the likelihood that you'll see your closest friends may be once every 2 months.  I kinda didn't think that was true, but when I really start to think about it, it is not too far off sadly.  Of course there are times where it's once a month, but that means only 6-12 times a year! Anyway, makes getting together with close friends even more of a treasured moment.

This past Sunday, we got together for breakfast at Saturday Dinette and I was really impressed.  Got there just after they opened at 9 am and was greeted warmly.  Space is small and tables near the front are for parties of two, but there were slightly larger tables at the back.  Decor was comfortable and some might say a little retro, but I think it's like walking into a friend's kitchen who likes to cook and has a casual and cool style.  They describe themselves as a modern diner which is a very good description.

Menu is not too large, but there are enough choices and it has a very good mix of options, several jumped out at me.

I finally decided on the "Shrooms on Toast" and my friend ordered the "Herbed Poached Eggs".  They do have items that are more "meaty" and several add-on options, but we were happy with our choices.

I ordered an Apple on the Green tea and here they use Pluck Teas.  As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a local tea company and I've been seeing this brand in a lot of places I have recently gone to. Loved the little tea cup!!  I don't have tea cups like these but I'm tempted to start collecting a mismatch of these English style tea cups.  The french press idea is nice, but the only thing about that is that the tea leaves end up sitting in water still.  So in the end, I tasted green tea but not much apple.

Now onto the food.  First off, I must say presentation was great!

Herbed Poached Eggs

'Shrooms on Toast

The egg was perfectly done, whites were cooked well and egg yolk oozed out once you poked at it.  The mushrooms were aplenty and I liked the addition of ricotta cheese which was hidden under the egg.

Here's look at the inside, bar counter...

Besides having great food, the owner/chef Suzanne Barr has also established a social program called the Dinettes to train and employ young women from the YWCA which you can read about here. Definitely recommend this place not only for the food quality and service, but this initiative that gives back to the community!

After our breakfast, we still had time and lots to chat about so went for a coffee a few doors down.  It seemed like it was a new-ish coffee place to the area, called Hailed Coffee.  Decor was minimalistic and staff were friendly.

My Americano was pretty good, medium-thick mouthfeel and flavour was okay.  I can't really comment since I don't drink much coffee these days and was having decaf.  But they do offer the basics at decent prices and an interesting add-on called their "hailed syrup" which is cardamom flavoured.  But, my mind was on something else, the dried dates display.

They had a range of different types of dates (7 in total) and we decided to try them all.  It's too bad that after ordering I realized that by ordering them all, we weren't certain which one was which and had to go by picture as I took some closer pics with my phone and referred to them while we ate.

The dates paired really well with coffee! I think they would be a great alternative to a baked treat.  We liked (I think) the SAFAWI date because it was a chewier and denser date, kinda like a caramel.  The Saggie was the lightest coloured one and tasted okay but probably my least favourite since the texture of half the date was a bit like crystalized honey.

Besides coffee and dates, they offer a number of croissants, cookies, and biscottis...and Pluck Teas.  Would recommend trying this place out as it seems like it would be welcome in the neighborhood.

The inside...

A wonderful morning!!


Saturday Dinette

807 Gerrard Street E
Toronto, ON M4M 1Y6

http://www.saturdaydinette.com/

T: 416-465-5959

Hailed Coffee

801 Gerrard St. E

Toronto, ON M4M 1Y5

http://www.hailed.ca/#our-story

T: 647-352-4040

September: I'm Dreaming of...

Figs have been more readily available this September so one early morning I made a fig/honey white bean mochi.

Ahhh, September...the transitional month from summer to autumn.  Again, I'm late with this post.  I started writing on the first of September but didn't finish it until now.

For some people I know autumn is their favourite time of year, but I love the early sun of summer, the sky on warm summer evenings and everything in-between that it's hard to say "til next year' - but I know we must.  Autumn is upon us tomorrow!

So, this September I've been Dreaming of...

Getting up early to brew tea - quality me time...
the last few months I've been pretty sporatic with my tea drinking and brewing habits 

Making mochi...
I've been experimenting with different methods and hopefully I'll be able to post on what I've experienced soon

and 

Baking with chocolate...

A while ago I picked up the Mast Brothers Chocolate Cookbook but only had time to flip through it.  Most of the pictures are brown and shadow-y because, well, chocolate is brown.  Anyway, nothing really caught my eye at the time so I left it for another time to read through.  Well, earlier this month I read through the cookbook and part of it is a baking/cookbook and part of it tells their story; the story of how they started their bean-to-bar business and their ethos.  It was quite interesting.  I knew part of their story from reading the book Small Batch but there is much more detail and I'm in awe of the drive and determination.

So, I baked a chocolate cupcake.  It was good but because I was serving it to my toddler, I cut the sugar just a bit and didn't make the ganache that topped it.  So, if I did as the recipe instructed, I think it would have been an awesome cupcake.

In the past I've stayed away from baking many chocolate things because usually it doesn't go well and secondly, I actually just like eating chocolate on it's own more than in a baked good.  But chocolate baked goods are usually crowd pleasers so it's good to know a few good chocolate recipes.

After I finished reading about Mast Brothers, I came across a post about Dandelion Chocolate in Japan.  Dandelion Chocolate is another American bean-to-bar chocolate brand that had expanded to Japan.  The post mentions a flight of brownies that you can purchase, each using a specific single-origin chocolate.  Definitely would love to try these out (but, actually my partner already makes the best brownies I've ever had) or attempt making various chocolate desserts using various single origin chocolates, but the cost would be quite prohibitive!

Enjoy the rest of September!

Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea: Select vs Superior Grade

Tiny bud and leaves (My hand model did a great job!)

I haven't reviewed tea in a while, but I had this post since the start of the year and thought I'd revisit it.  In my Christmas tea gift set, I received 2 different grades of Oriental Beauty tea (also known as Dong Fang Mei Ren 東方美人or Bai Hao Oolong 白毫烏龍茶): Select and Superior grade from Taiwan Tea Crafts.  Love the taste of this tea as it has a strong natural sweetness to it!

Oriental Beauty is a high oxidized oolong tea.  They often get a section all to themselves because of the unique way in which the flavour is produced.  Jassids or little leaf hoppers bite the leaves and stems (while the plant is still in the field) starting a chemical process that results in a nice honey flavour profile.  This is something that was discovered by accident as these jassids were thought to have been a pest, ruining the crop.  But, upon one farmer harvesting and brewing the leaves, this oolong tea was conceived; and it is believed the Queen of England had a taste of it and named it "Oriental Beauty".

The Select grade is not from the original terroir in which this tea became known (Hsinchu, Taiwan), but the Superior grade is from the original terroir.

Could I tell the difference?

I wish I did a blind taste test, but my first tastings were done on individual days.  From my recollection, I think the superior grade was slightly more flavourful, but not by a huge difference; I definitely enjoyed both teas.  Most oolongs require near boiling water to brew but this one is unique in that it requires a much lower temperature, approximately 85 degrees C.  As you can see, it is very delicate and the whole experience from smelling the dry leaves, to brewing, to smelling and tasting the tea (also known as tea 'soup') and finally, admiring the open tea leaves.  I love looking at tea leaves once they have opened!  If you let the leaves cool, there is also a wonderful sweet smell to the leaves....would love to bottle that smell!

Select grade

Superior grade

Superior grade - wet leaves

This is definitely a nice drinking tea alone or with a light cake like chiffon so you can truly enjoy the natural flavour of this tea!  For those that also look for tea that doesn't use pesticides in it's farming practice, this tea can only develop where there is NO pesticide use.  Otherwise the jassids would not be able munch on the leaves so it's a good choice for those concerned with pesticide use.  I had to update this post as I just read an article that says it is possible that tea farmers may still use pesticides on tea plants that eventually will become Oriental Beauty Oolong tea.  They can still get these leaf-hoppers to munch on the leaves as some pesticides may prevent other pests but do nothing to hinder the leaf-hoppers.  Always good to be learning!  The article is very informative and provides more in-depth info on this teas production if you're interested.              

In terms of re-steeping, it doesn't re-steep all that well in that the first cup is quite the flavourful cup already and I think by the 3rd steep, it loses quite a bit of flavour.  However, both these grades are not too expensive so that's the trade off, and besides, I rarely get to the point where I'm re-steeping tea leaves 5 or 6 times these days.

Although this tea can be drunk any time of the year, I'm looking forward to drinking this more in the autumn when the weather gets colder (I know, for summer lovers like myself, hard to be reminded that summer is ending soon!).

Light Cafe - Offering Light Meals, Desserts and Coffee/Tea on Baldwin St.

A clean and modern space, Light Cafe 路燈咖啡 will appeal to those looking for a light meal or leisure chat with friends over waffles and coffee or tea.  Light Cafe is originally from Taiwan and I believe this is their first branch outside of Taiwan.  Gosh, how I miss cafes in Taiwan!!

You'll notice quite a bit of detail went towards the atmosphere, menu, and food presentation.  Especially important in this age of social media, pictures are worth a thousand words.  Typically, cafes like these have average food (of course there are some exceptions that also have stellar food) but the draw for people is the food presentation and the space is usually a haven for a girls get-together. Not to say guys don't go, but walk into a cafe like this in Taiwan and the majority of patrons are groups of females.  However, if it's near a university than there will be a more balanced ratio, but I would say girls still out number guys.

Anyway back to my meal.  I was by myself on a Monday and ordered the smoked duck salad and an iced Southbrook berry herbal tea. Although I thought about ordering one of their sandwiches, the smoked duck is not too common in a salad and I had quite a bit of bread for breakfast so a salad it was.  The salad was very fresh and paired with their yuzu salad dressing, it added just the right amount of zing.  But, I would have liked a little more butternut squash or tomatoes or both to make it a little more like an entree salad.  Overall, a good salad.  But to be honest, I was still hungry afterwards...I think I would have even settled for just a slice of buttered toast with my salad.

The berry tea was also very nice; both in taste and presentation.  A nice berry taste, not too sweet, no artificial aftertaste and quite refreshing. I also liked how they presented the tea with frozen berries and apple slices...makes the price of the tea a little more worth it.  If I were to say anything negative, it would be that there was a ton of ice in the drink!

It's interesting that the cafe decided to use Pluck Teas which is a local purveyor of tea rather than Taiwanese tea.  I've heard about Pluck Teas, but have not purchased or tried any of their teas until now.  Pluck Teas tries to separate themselves by stating that they use local ingredients in their tea blends.  Of course the tea leaves are from overseas, but the added ingredients could be local depending on the blend.  On their website, they list whether they use local product or not however in a blend with 6 ingredients, I'm not sure if all are local when they say local.  I've noticed Pluck Teas showing up in a lot of places now and I think it definitely owes to the personal touch of the founder...definitely look out for this tea company!

Quite spacious

Looking out through their front window.

In terms of value, I would say that is where the salad was lacking.  It was over $10 and in a city like Toronto where you have lots of great options for salads (e.g. IQ foods for a quick lunch option), it's a bit steep for what you get.  Especially when most of the salad is actually spinach and mixed greens. Despite this, Light Cafe is definitely worth a second visit to try their sandwiches which looked very appetizing, and their waffles and ice cream!  Oh, and bring CASH, they don't accept anything else.

Also, if you're a coffee fan, they also have some interesting coffee options.  Their Light Cafe Special coffee and the cotton candy coffee (the online menu offers a picture of these items) are definitely worth a look!

Light Cafe 路燈咖啡
23 Baldwin St.
Toronto, ON M5T 1L1
647-347-3883
http://lightcafe.ca/

August: I'm Dreaming of...

Hello August.  Ok, mid-August.

I can't really say there is anything that I'm particularly dreaming about these days.

I've been reading again.  Finished 2 books in just over 2 weeks, Pen and Palate and The Elephant Vanishes, if you're interested.  Both books I'd recommend, but Pen and Palate is a biography geared at 20-somethings and The Elephant Vanishes is considered modern literature so may not be suitable for everyone.

I've baked some really simple things like the above butter cake dotted with sour cherries or a peach bread pudding because the peaches were bruising and I had a little leftover bread.

But really, I'm just trying to enjoy August (with a glass of iced tea).

However, I have been thinking more about that cafe.  I know, strange for August when most people think about the outdoors and sun, but here I am thinking about cafes.  I'm always on the look-out for that cafe though.  That cafe that has everything you want in a cafe.  Now, everyone has their different take on what their perfect cafe is or truthfully, I don't know if there truly is a perfect cafe.  I just like to think that there is one and that one day I'll find it in Toronto and love going with friends or alone.  I would prefer to say that tea room, but in all honesty, when I say tea room, the vision of bubble tea places pop up.  Not that they're bad (I have my favourites), and I probably frequent more bubble tea places than cafes, but tea rooms overseas are just different from bubble tea places here.  Also, the word cafe is just more encompassing.

Anyway, if you love "looking" at cafes, here is a blog that has many, many posts on cafes in Taiwan (and Japan); I was inspired to write this post after seeing the pics on this particular post as the place gives off such a mood!

I haven't come across too many blogs that focus on cafes in Toronto but I had started to like this one called Latte with Me but it looks like they have stopped posting.

Enjoy the rest of August!

Cafe Fiorentina - Low Key Brunch on the Danforth

Brunch is one of those meals that you can spend hours chatting and whiling away the time with your close friends or significant other (which I love); unfortunately quite a luxury these days.  However, the thing I dislike about brunch is the long wait if you don't get up early enough to snag a table.  So, I set out to find a place that offered great food, takes reservations, and also is convenient to get to.

Cafe Fiorentina popped up.  Now, convenience is subject to where you live, but for me it was a lot more convenient to get here than to Queen West where a lot of the popular brunch places are located.  It's close to the DVP if driving and right near Broadview Station if taking public transportation (but recently they posted that they are moving more east, closer to Chester Station).  Reservations are only taken for their first seating at 10am.

Another thing worth noting is that they aim to create and cook food that uses local produce, humanly raised animals, sustainable seafood and heritage eggs.  I'm not too concerned with these things when choosing a place to eat, but I do think it's important to think about these things and while they aim to maintain these values, their menu is simple with unique touches and quite reasonably priced.

One of my friends ordered the french toast (decadent, the toast tastes like creamy custard)...

Another, the quiche (which was very light and fluffy!)...

And the duck eggs benedict which was served with tuna instead of the usual peameal bacon.

I had the Croque Madame which was very delicious; bread was nice, thick and crispy with ham and Gruyere cheese and sunny-side up eggs.

We all chose salad as our side but they also offer potatoes.

At the back there is a table of baked goods but they were selling fast throughout the morning so I would advise going early!

They have a small display of pastries which I considered but then I saw...

...these beignets and couldn't resist.  Essentially they are like donuts, but I was just drawn to them for some reason.  Also picked up a croissant which was well made too, buttery and flaky and a very good size!

At home, I enjoyed the light fluffy dough filled with a rhubarb strawberry filling.

Loved this place for the food and the comfortable feel of the place and staff.  I also hear that they do a wonderful prix-fix dinner.  Hoping to check out their new location in the fall and hope they maintain the cozy feel!
很愛這個餐廳/咖啡店 的餐和舒服的感覺.  聽說他們也有很棒的 prix-fix 晚餐.  希望秋天可以到訪他們的新店, 也他們能保持舒適的feel!

Cafe Fiorentina

new location to be open in the Fall of 2016

463 Danforth Ave.

Toronto, ON

http://cafefiorentina.com/

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!

Laveanne - Enjoying the Lavender Fields

Last weekend I was adamant about going to a lavender field and only the rain was going to stop me.  I don't know why I was so preoccupied with the thought of visiting a lavender farm since I don't use anything lavender, but I came across an ad for one in Milton and was surprised that I could drive there is less than an hour and wouldn't have to go to France or Quebec to see a field of lavender.  Plus, I was hoping to pick up some culinary lavender.  However, the lavender season actually ends at the end of July and may go into August depending on what type of lavender the farm grows as different types have different growing periods.

After some research, I found more lavender farms in Ontario and decided to head to Laveanne, which was east of Toronto and just a bit further than the Milton one, but one thing they mention on their website was that you are welcome to bring a picnic and sit in the fields which I loved the idea!!  Off we drove and unfortunately it took twice as long to get there because of traffic out of the city! We finally arrived at Laveanne in the afternoon with picnic in tow.

Packed a simple picnic of smoked salmon, cream cheese, baguette, cheese, and strawberries.

The place is not too big but we walked around taking pics and there is a labyrinth there made of lavender plants (not very tall) but you can try walking it.  Unfortunately the sun was so strong that afternoon we didn't try it out.

This was their last weekend (last weekend in July) before they do a big harvest and start distilling the lavender to make essential lavender oil. They had a demonstration set up and were there to explain the process and answer questions which was so nice of them!  We also got to smell the difference between English lavender and French lavender.

They also do a number of special events there like yoga in the fields (love this idea even though I don't do yoga, lol!) or there is a pop-up restaurant on the weekend.

The terrace where the pop-up restaurant would be held

The gift shop was small but carried a number of different lavender products and baked goods made with lavender. They sold out of culinary lavender so I just ended up buying some lavender shortbread cookies which were tasty but you do have to like the taste of lavender.

at home with my cookies...

They don't charge an entrance fee but there is a donations box.  A very lovely place to visit during lavender season or to stop by while travelling east of Toronto.


Laveanne
8667 Gilmour Rd.
Campbellcroft, ON L0A 1B0
http://laveanne.ca/index.html