Eco-Cha Club Membership (October and November)

I've received my October and November Eco-cha tea club teas a while ago but have been too preoccupied to post a review so here is a combined post.  Again, 75g of tea is provided in the monthly subscription and it comes nicely package with an info card.

October (the club's 11th tea since it's start) was an heirloom small leaf black tea.  These were tightly rolled in strip form.

I brewed using their guidelines, 9 grams per 175ml with boiling water for 50 seconds.  This is definitely more than I usually use for black tea.  Tea soup was a nice reddish brown...

Taste was malty and there was a dried fruit taste to it, dried plum maybe (?) but the info card suggested dried apricot and papaya.  Still honing my tasting skills so will have to keep tasting this tea, maybe modifying the amount and steep times.  Not very astringent but I did feel like there was too much leaf in the cup though.   Again, maybe that is because I often use less per 175ml and not because I thought it was too strong. In terms of overall appeal, it was average for me. Only steeped 3 times as I didn't have the time for a long tea session.  Leaves look quite nice after the session.

The November tea (the club's 12th tea since it's start) was a Tieguanyin hand picked from a small farm in Muzha (Taipei).

This tea is processed in the traditional style where it is oxidized and roasted more heavily than the lighter Tieguanyin teas in recent years.  The batch is 50/50 of tieguanyin leaves and jin xuan leaves since there is such small quantity of original tieguanyin tea trees.

Brewed using their parameters, 10g per 175ml with boiling water for 50 secs.  Very strong roasted aroma and the tea soup brews up quite a dark orange brown.

Nice strong roasted flavour and I also want to say there was a slight creaminess to it on the 2nd brew.  It definitely is more of a fall/winter type of tea.  I've never been too fond of traditionally processed tieguanyins but maybe I haven't had top quality either.  I definitely lean more towards lighter tieguanyins.

Paired really nicely with a chocolate cupcake I made...

And, just because I was testing out a piping tip...here is pic of a cupcake topped with green tea whipped cream.

And just because it was my first time piping petals with whipped cream, I had to take a close-up...

Don't have a pic of the wet leaves as I only infused 3 times and leaves were not quite unraveled yet so I think it could have still had lots of flavour potential. Tieguanyins although very popular haven't really been a tea I drink too often so it was great to receive this tea.  I'll have a chance to get more experience brewing this tea and it definitely has a warming quality to it, great for the winter!

As I write this, one thing about the tea club I have to mention is that if you're in Canada, the box can take 3 weeks or more to receive.  I have yet to receive my December box (I'm sure this is partially due to Christmas volume).  It's slightly disappointing that it does take so long to get here especially when they put up info on their website about the tea soon after shipment so it's less of a surprise in terms of what tea will be in the box.  Anyway, hopefully the January one is faster.

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/

BB Cafe - Pomegranate Cake and Persian tea

BB Cafe is a Persian cafe offering Persian desserts and teas as well as light lunch options like salads, crepes, and stuffed waffles.  It definitely has that 'home-y' kind of feel to it.  With two locations, both along Yonge St., the original in North York and their second in Richmond Hill, this place has been on my radar for quite some time and finally I decided to check them out...in February (yes, it's long overdue!).  Updating this blog hasn't really been a priority but I thought this place deserved a mention.

We checked out the Richmond Hill cafe and grabbed a table on the second floor, pretty nice.

I ordered the traditional Persian black tea and a slice of pomegranate cake.  The tea was nicely presented and was a light black tea, similar tasting to a Ceylon (Sri Lankan) tea.  You drop a sugar cube into your cup and it slowly dissolves providing a nice level of sweetness, even as you pour more tea into your cup.  The pomegranate cake was a huge slice!  The flavours were mild but you could taste the tart taste of pomegranate and there were pomegranate seeds within the cake.  The glaze on top of the cake was a little too thick though.

My partner had an iced tea and house-made pistachio ice cream.

Just a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.  I think I would come back to try their crepes or stuffed waffles if I was in the area again. 如果我們再來這區, 我會試試他們的可麗餅或鬆餅(窩夫).

Main floor seating

Upper level seating

BB Cafe 

10067 Yonge Street
Richmond Hill, ON L4C 1T9

905-237-6565
http://bbcafe.ca/

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!

a warm cup - rose black tea latte

Rose black tea latte...great for a late afternoon on a cold wintery day.
玫瑰紅茶拿鐵...下午時光冷天氣的朋友

 

5g loose leaf black tea

2 rose buds

175ml boiling water

(if using delicate black tea, use 90-95 °C hot water)

steeped for 5 mins

 

2 tsp sugar

175ml milk

(warmed and frothed)

 

Inspired to make this as I was listening to a podcast from Jess Lively, she mentioned this black rose latte from The Rose Establishment in Salt Lake City.  I checked out their website and their menu sounded great for a brunch or a light meal. But, what was interesting was they use bitters in their lattes...something I've never tried in tea.
 

 

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!

Black Tea from Taiwan - Golden Dragon Red Jade Black Tea

Leaves after the 2nd steep...love to look at these after they've all opened!

Gosh, as much as I tell people about the good oolong teas from Taiwan, Taiwan black teas are really good too!  Here are my tasting notes for the Golden Dragon Red Jade Black Tea from Taiwan Tea Crafts.  Again, this tea was part of my gift set that I got for Christmas.

I have several black teas from Taiwan, but I don't have this varietal.  It's made from the T-18 cultivar or some know it as Ruby 18 which was developed by the Taiwan Research and Extension Station (TRES) by combining an Assamica leaf variatal with a native Taiwan wild leaf varietal.  I had read how popular it was so I was eager to try too, but the price was so high or supply just went quickly. So I'm so happy to have it and have tried it now!

我有幾種台灣紅茶, 但是沒有這一種.  這個 Golden Dragon Red Jade Black Tea 栽培品種叫紅玉十八號 (T-18).  是台灣自製的.  前幾年, 我聽說很好喝, 所以我也要試試看, 可是 那年價錢很貴也貨量快就賣完了. 現在我很高興可以品嘗這個茶!

Anyway, enjoyed it very much!  我很希歡!

1st steep

Vessel...175 ml/6 oz gaiwan
Wt...approx. 3g tea leaves
Temperature...95°C

Infusion time...1 min

Aroma...
Very nice and strong!  Notes of cinnamon and I was thinking camphor but I wasn't too sure.

Taste...
I tasted dried fruit, more specifically I think dried longan taste with notes of cinnamon and what I think was camphor or mint like.  Luckily the description of the tea made me feel a little more confident (there was camphor in the taste profile).  I know tea taste profiles can be subjective and it should be more about what you yourself experience, but sometimes it's nice when you and someone else can taste the same thing.

This tea was not astringent at all, very smooth so this tea definitely does not need milk or sugar.

Steeped two times and the tastes were very similar except the first infusion carried more aroma.  My third steep was actually several hours later.  I left the house and came back and decide to refresh the tea with some near boiling water and then brew my third cup (2 min infusion time).  Surprisingly, the flavour was still fairly strong but the camphor was missing and there was maybe a hint of bitterness.  Not sure if it's because I over steeped it or if it's a result of the time between steeps.

It was picked in 2014 but still is quite fresh.  I've found vacuum packed teas can last quite a number of years.  This tea is also grown in their own tea garden where they had to tear down an old one and start anew.  I always thought tea gardens lasted and lasted but I guess they don't...they need to be revitalized in some way or in their case replanted from scratch.  As the tea tree matures, I'm sure it will produce very good tea!

I'd definitely recommend this tea for those interested in a black tea with strong dried fruit and spice notes and no astringency.

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!

Neo Coffee Bar - Japanese Roll Cakes

Neo Coffee Bar
161 Frederick Street, Unit 100
Toronto, ON M5A 4P3
http://www.neocoffeebar.com

Japanese roll cakes are the newest Japanese inspired desserts available on the Toronto cafe scene.  Opened a week ago, Neo Coffee Bar specializes in coffee as their name would imply, but for me, the sweet treats make this coffee bar a draw.  I was happily rewarded for my lunchtime trek with a deliciously light and well flavoured roll cake. 

What I had:  Shingen: roasted soybean cream, organic red beans, and gyuhi rice cake (softer kind of mochi).

Shingen Roll Cake

Although they had a matcha roll and a matcha cookie, which were hard to pass up, roasted soybean is not often found in dessert shops and I really like the taste of kinako (roasted soybean flour).  Their website lists a host of other flavours that weren't on dispaly so I assume not all flavours are available daily.  The Shingen roll was really good!  Luv! Cake was light and moist, the roasted soybean cream had just the right amount of roasted sweetness and the rice cakes were soft and although not as chewy as the usual mochi, I still enjoyed the texture contrast. Often kinako is used to coat mochi so I can see the connection.

Aside from coffee, Neo also offers tea.  Two speciality teas and basic teas from Sloane Teas which I've noticed on many of the menus of cafes I've visited recently.  Sloane Teas have been around for a number of years (and it appears they are doing quite well) but I've only had a taste of their tea at a food show many years ago and don't remember much about that experience except the beautiful tea cannisters.  So, I decided to try it out and paired my cake with the Sloane Signature Black Tea - a blend of Darjeeling and Assam leaves and it went quite well with the cake.  I preferred no milk or sugar in my tea, but do take the tea bag out after a few minutes.

Service was nice and the room is quite spacious with individual seating at the front and larger tables at the back.  Quite minimalistic, but the warm cognac colour of the leather seating making it quite inviting - loved it.  In terms of atmosphere, the only thing I think they still need to establish is their own cafe vibe...they just opened so it will take time to develop.

Would definitely say it could be rated 5/5 based on the roll cake alone but I'm always hesitant to give perfect until I've tried a bit more of their offerings.  An additional note, they have a stamp card, buy 9 drinks and the 10th is free.

  

Ten Ren's Tea Class - Sign up if you're a tea fan!

I usually take any chance I get to learn more about tea, so when Ten Ren's Tea began offering a tea class, I immediately signed up.  Even though I got my tea sommelier certification from George Brown College, I don't mind hearing information again and sometimes there may be small pieces of info that might be new.  Tea is also a very vast topic and even brewing methods can be different.  Offered in English and in Mandarin/Cantonese, I took the English class.

What you'll get...

• basic introduction to tea production and brewing
• some info on the company and products
• Gong fu cha presentation
• chance to brew your own tea gong fu style

Who this is for...

• Interest in tea but you have very little knowledge
• Interest in trying to brew tea gong fu style

Not for you...

• If you have advanced/expert knowledge on tea (unless you're like me and love to soak up any info)

Cost:  FREE



If you're interested in a little more detail...

We got to sample Jin Xuan oolong or what some call "milky" oolong and it was smooth and quite nice. This tea naturally has a subtle "milky" flavour and fragrance to it but contains no milk additives.  The "milky" flavour is a natural characteristic for this cultivar but I believe the environmental conditions aid in whether it is stronger one year versus the next.  I've heard that there must be a temperature drop during the growing period before it is picked to ensure this characteristic is there.  Often, high mountain oolong gets this temperature drop.  But, I've also read that it has to do with the processing as well but this is an area I'm not too sure about the details.  (Be aware that there are milky oolong teas that have been processed with milk essence or additives to give the tea a strong milk fragrance and they are not the same.)

Tea master brewing tea

We got to brew two types of tea.  Both were okay, not extraordinary but one was a bit nostalgic for me.  We weren't told what kind of oolong tea at first but upon first taste I noticed something familiar about it.  I couldn't pinpoint it...something about the flavour?  Mouthfeel?  When I was told it was Dong Ding oolong I immediately went "ahhh" (in my head of course).

Dong Ding Oolong tea is actually one of the first oolong teas I started drinking.  When the Ten Ren's Tea on Highway 7 first opened, I had ordered a pot of Dong Ding Oolong tea.  Not knowing much about tea at the time I still experienced something different, a type of "cooling" sensation after I drank the tea and then a slight sweetness.  Not like menthol cooling but a very natural feeling and it was subtle but I was intrigued and loved it.  But, on a subsequent visit I ordered the tea again and unfortunately didn't really get the same feeling.  I remember that year Ten Ren's carried 2 grades of Dong Ding; one was approximately $20 for a cannister and the other >$100 so I purchased the lower grade because I just couldn't bring myself to buy the higher grade.  It wasn't the same but still was okay.  In some ways, I think that first experience was the higher grade tea and was served in error.  Now I always wonder...was it the grade of tea, the temperature of the water, or just my imagination...

Anyway, back to the class.  I think I enjoyed the class because I got to just relax and think only about tea and tea brewing.  Sometimes brewing tea is a very thoughtful process and drinking tea can take you to a very calming place and I miss that aspect during my regular day of chores and responsibilities.  Definitely a good 2 hours in my opinion.

Aside from the presentation and drinking tea, we also got some tea treats which were quite nice.

L: Green tea tea cookies, Middle: Candied Guava with Green Tea, R: Sun Moon Lake Black Tea with Walnut

All were actually better than I expected for different reasons.  The tea cookie had green tea flavour but also the hint of seaweed gave it a twist.  The cookie also had the taste of "HK style waffle".  The candied guava didn't have much tea flavour, but what I liked about it was the softness of the dried fruit and it wasn't overly sweet.  You'll also notice they have bits of green tea in the package.  The sun moon lake walnut candy was soft and chewy with some tea flavour, not too sweet and the walnut was a good accompaniment.

Overall, a nice experience (thanks Ten Ren's)!  Definitely renewed my interest in the brand.  And, I got to ask why the tea drinks at the flagship location on Highway 7 were not offered at the other locations.  The response: it was a new concept at the time to have tea centred food and drinks made with fresh fruits and increased tea flavour.  Now they are slowly going to roll it out to other locations.  My response, yay!!

Dessert Week 2 :: Almond Cake and Ruby Black Tea

One of my goals for this year is to bake regularly (but I'm a little late posting) so I decided to make this Almond Cake from the book Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich.  Because I have limited time and my focus is sometimes split, I wanted something quick and included ingredients I had already.

The recipe calls for an 8"x 2" cake pan but I had 9" pans or a 7" springform pan so I reduced the recipe by a third and used the 7" pan.

Definitely easy!  All ingredients went into the food processor and in 10 mins I had batter, the hardest part was making the conversions.

Results....

Super moist, good almond flavour (despite not using almond extract which was part of the recipe) and great with tea!  I think I might scale the sugar down a bit as I don't like my desserts too sweet but if I'm making it for others, it would be well received.  Overall, a great little dessert to whip up for afternoon tea.

L: The middle seemed like it erupted, R: After sprinkling with icing sugar

Paired with a Taiwanese black tea called Ruby Black that I had received several years ago as a sample.  Surprisingly, the sample was still fresh! Ruby black tea (or Taiwan tea no. 18) is actually a tea cultivar that was developed in Taiwan by cultivating a Taiwan wild black tea with an Assam cultivar from Myanmar.  Strong notes of cinnamon can be found upon first sip, followed by a sweet, malty aftertaste.  Also, I think there were hints of dried fruit.  It might not be for everyone but I thought it really went nicely with the almond flavour and the light astringency also balanced out the sweetness of the cake.  Pairing with green tea could also be nice.

L: Dry Taiwan Ruby Black Tea leaves, Middle: Infused tea leaves, R: Taiwan Ruby Black Tea

I would definitely make again and would probably experiment with different pan sizes and serve with a fruit compote or fresh fruits.

Drive-Thru Bubble Tea??

Would drive-thru bubble tea be a hit in Toronto?

I recently went to Green Grotto Tea Room at Warden and Steeles to check out their new(ish) location.  They moved to the old Wendy's spot in the same plaza almost a year ago.  And since Wendy's had drive-thru, they kept the window and now have the option to offer drive-thru bubble tea!

I personally think the idea would fly but maybe because I've had moments where I didn't want to park, take the baby out, then line up for a bubble tea.  My personal reasons aside, given the number of people that line-up for bubble tea, I still think it can be a viable option.

In Taipei where you can walk just a bit and hit one or scooter up to a shop, they don't have drive-thrus.  In Toronto, unless you are in specific parts of the city, you're not often walking.  North of the city or Scarborough is where many of those that frequent bubble tea shops reside or hangout.  So, driving is common.

So, again...would drive-thru bubble tea be a hit?  

It definitely got me thinking.  For Green Grotto, I can see it increasing their sales because of higher turnover and sometimes people want something quick.  They would be offering something that no other tea shop can in the GTA.  So, the first of it's kind.  Come to think of it, I think they were also the first Taiwanese bubble tea place in Toronto (since 1993, that's over 20 years!!)

For the consumer there is potential for faster service, you don't have to find parking, and in the winter we don't have to step out of the car.

But, demand is questionable and hiring extra staff is a must.  If the drive-thru is slow because of the variety of offerings or the amount of time it takes to make a drink, this could potentially be irritating to customers.  The other thing is loss of ambience.  Going to a tea room is an experience so would drive-thru be beneficial for the brand image?  Some might argue that if you're already getting take-out, there isn't a difference.  You're just ordering it slightly different.

In some ways, maybe not a full drive-thru is possible right now given the number of unknowns..., so maybe they should do a trial.  (I'd LOVE to see a trial.)

• Drive thru available FRI/SAT/SUN when it's the busiest.
• Condensed drive-thru menu may be needed?  In Taiwan, bubble teas are fast because a lot of what is offered is really simple drinks.  There are usually more varietals of brewed and it just needs to be sweetened and iced.

Well, those are my thoughts anyway.  Let me know what you think!

I asked staff about the drive through and they said potentially next year but no guarantees.  Aside from the drive-thru, I went inside Green Grottos newish (well new for me since it's been 9 months since the last time I visited) digs and it looks great.  Like a college cafe now matured.  Although I loved the atmosphere of their previous place, the new space is a little more modern and grown up but still with a relaxing feel.  Love the tree and bird cages!

Lots more seating and natural light

Several bird cages ^-^

The magazines!  (There's more shelving to the right)

Front area

 New items, drinks and food have been added to the menu.  And their awesome collection of magazines remains!  I'm definitely coming back to try some new items.  Staff are also very friendly and accommodating.

Back patio