Special Winter Menu: Wuyi Oolongs

Greetings, patient readers! I've had precious little tea news to report for a long stretch; unfortunately, managing day-to-day store operations takes precedence over fun blogging projects, and we've been quite busy in the store preparing for the holidays and attending to our loyal customers. This news, though, is too tasty to keep under wraps: With the help of Seven Cups we've recently acquired a selection of five top-quality Chinese Wuyi oolongs, which we are now featuring in a special seasonal menu in the store--and just in time for this spate of extremely cold days!

High-quality and authentic Wuyi oolongs can be difficult to come by, which is why Seven Cups' sourcing skills (they literally personally source all of the teas they carry, traveling to each province of origin and purchasing teas from the tea masters who produce them) are much appreciated--these are great teas.

If you're not familiar with Wuyi oolongs, here's a brief introduction from way-back. Generally, these are stripe-rolled, roasted Chinese oolongs. Most are named after the cultivar, or genetic "type" of tea plant that they come from. My goals with bringing our customers these teas are first to replace our out-of-stock Wuyi offerings, and second to offer a broad range of teas that exhibit the potential quality Wuyi oolongs can aspire to, as well as the differences between different tea cultivars and processing, with special emphasis on roast level. So, without further ado, here are some brief impressions on our new teas.

Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe)
The most widely-acclaimed Wuyi oolong is also the most often-faked. Because of its international popularity, authentic Da Hong Pao is almost always one of the most expensive Wuyi teas, but its popularity is earned. This Da Hong Pao blends the tea's unique acidity with a really smooth body, making it a little less bright but more balanced than some other examples. The roasting is on the lighter side of medium, with plenty of room for the tea's floral and buttery aspects to shine, and the rich mouthfeel marches along nicely through the infusions. Da Hong Pao is the standard by which all other Wuyi oolongs are measured, so trying a good one like this is "required tasting," both so you can understand the ideal characteristics of these teas, but also so you can understand what makes the other cultivars different. Most importantly, though, if your only Wuyi experience has been low-grade, over-roasted generic Wuyi oolong with the words "Da Hong Pao" slapped on the box for the purposes of extra profit, get ready to have your eyes opened!

Lao Cong Shui Xian (Old Bush Water Sprite)
Shui Xian is the most widely-cultivated Wuyi oolong (not sure why, but I assume it's because of the plant's hardiness and yield); it's even popular enough that it's also cultivated in Taiwan and Feng Huang in Guangdong province. This particular Shui Xian is grown toward the center of the Wuyi reserve and it comes from plants that are over 30 years old. This means the roots have had plenty of time to penetrate the rich soil and receive a well-rounded nutrient supply. This tea offers one of the higher roast levels of the five, but I'd still say it occupies the "medium" range of the spectrum. Shui Xian offers a really balanced flavor with equal measures of flowers, fruits and a wee bit of spice. On first tasting, this is near the top of my list for favorites, and it's one of the better values of the five. I really enjoyed the thick mouthfeel, and there were some interesting changes from infusion to infusion.

Rou Gui (Cinnamon/Cassia Aroma)
Rou Gui is another very popular cultivar, and one of the most distinct-tasting ones at that. Like the name implies, this tea tends to be spicy. I was really impressed by this tea's medium roasting; many Rou Gui I've tried tend to be heavily roasted. To my tastes, a medium roast compliments the dark spice notes more elegantly, although I do have to say I'd prefer heavy roasting to a light roast. This tea has a good, strong tea base, and is honestly probably my favorite Rou Gui I've ever tried.

Shui Jin Gui (Golden Marine Turtle)
Shui Jin Gui is one of my favorite Wuyi cultivars; in my experience it tends to be medium-light roasted, silky smooth, with a pure flavor that makes me want to keep drinking and drinking. In the past week, this tea has already become a favorite with some of our regulars--it's complex, mellow, and the lightly toasty aroma is remarkably chocolatey. In the cup, it's one of the lighter of the teas, but I think a lighter roasting is appropriate for a tea with such a nice, darkly floral character.

Tie Luo Han (Iron Warrior Monk)
Finally, we have this light-roast Tie Luo Han. Although the roasting level is denoted as "light," after tasting this tea a few times I'd place it more on the medium level, although it's certainly not as heavy a roast as this tea traditionally receives. I've been really surprised by this tea's flavor, which strongly reminds me of the sort of spiced apple desserts that are a hallmark of fall and winter American cuisine. The lighter roasting really showcases this fruitiness, whereas a high roasting would probably obscure this element and completely alter the character of the tea. This tea might win the award for most complex of the selection as well.

I hope you'll take the opportunity to stop in and try a few of these teas--In China, winter is traditionally viewed as the best time to drink these warming, roasty teas, and I find myself agreeing more and more with every sip!

Live Music: Brian Sterkovsky 10/10 7pm

Tomorrow night we're hosting a very special guest for the October Artwalk: Brian Sterkovsky.

Not only does Brian play and build harps, he also plays electric banjo and writes and sings his own words and poetry. Not only does he do all this, he's one of our favorite regular customers at Miro Tea! Tomorrow night at 7pm Brian will be performing on harp as well as doing some spoken word performance for the Artwalk opening of Maryam Tohidi. For a taste of Brian's work, you can visit his MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/briansterkovsky)--you'll get a sampling of his eerie harp originals, as well as his spoken word and gitjo songs. He's also got two albums worth of material (one of harp and one of gitjo/singing) available for purchase digitally or on CD.

Brian is extremely talented and a great friend of Miro Tea, so come on down tomorrow night, grab a roasted apple fig and walnut crepe (with ice cream) and a cup of Irish Breakfast tea, and show your support!

Guardian Ear - Live Music Saturday 9-19

As some of you out there know, we occasionally have live music at Miro Tea. Tomorrow (Saturday) at 8 pm we'll be hosting Guardian Ear, a local Seattle band. They play a pretty interesting blend of experimental acoustic chamber music--guitar, oboe, percussion and cello--definitely different from your average coffee house strummers, and it should be a great energy and fit for Miro's space. See you tomorrow night...

http://www.myspace.com/guardianear

July Artwalk: Aba Diallo

The busy summer months haven't left much time for blogging here at Miro Tea, so I'm here to quickly introduce this month's artist and mention that this hot (for Seattle) weather is perfect for enjoying iced tea...feel free to stop by, check out Aba's art, and try one of our Green Tea Mojitos or an iced tea latté or chai!


Aba Diallo was born in Dakar, Senegal, a busy, international port on
the Atlantic Coast of Africa. In school he studied philosophy and
literature as well as the French language. After high school, he
moved to Goree Island (World Heritage Site), a tourist and historic
destination 20 minutes west of downtown Dakar. There he bagan to work
for his uncle who owns an art gallery selling sculptures, paintings,
jewelery and other handicrafts made by local artists. After a year of
this type of work he soon took interest in the origins of the art
pieces at the boutique. He became friends with veteran painters on
the island and began an apprenticeship, learning many things about the
art scene and business on the island. He started to create his own
style of painting using collage and a technique of sewing canvases
together to make “patch-work” paintings. This type of work is truly
his passion in life, second only to God, it is a way to express
himself and show the way of life he has grown up with, while
supporting himself and his family.

It's been a great pleasure looking at Aba's art for the last few weeks. Not only do the bright colors fill our space with energy, the tapestry-style hangings really make the works stand out and grab attention in a really unique way! He's already sold several pieces, so stop by and check them out before they're all gone! The art will be up for a couple more weeks, but you can check it out on Aba's website any time: http://www.abadiallo.com


Happy summer!

Elliot

June Artwalk: Courtney Morgan...Music by Elliot Knapp

June is already upon us, which means we're showing new art! It's a real pleasure for me to introduce our June artist because she's a close personal friend. Courtney Morgan is a Walla Walla native. She majored in art at Whitman College and recently received an MA in design studies at Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design in London. Her show, titled "Please Clap Your Hands," is a collection of oil paintings inspired by a visit to a friend's farm house in Denmark, the colors in a display case at a Florence gelateria, and song lyrics. She describes her paintings as clean, bright, hopeful and poignant. The bright, lively colors are looking great in Miro Tea's space, and I'd add that Courtney's inimitable sense of humor is also evident in spades.

As usual, the Artwalk event opens the second Saturday of the month--many Ballard businesses will be showing art as well. In celebration of Courtney's opening, we'll also be featuring some live music at the event. Performing this Saturday night will be...well, er, me. Since my lyrics are integrated into some of Courtney's paintings, I agreed to emerge from self-imposed exile to perform. I'll be joined on"stage" for a few songs by another Miro employee, Nick Arthur. I hate to have to describe my own music, so I'll say that I write and sing songs, accompanying myself on acoustic guitar. The songs I write are sometimes difficult to box into tidy genre categories, but things that are important to me as a songwriter are lyrics, interesting guitar parts, and experimentation. I've been making music for about 8 years and performed quite a bit in college but have lately been sidelined due to some health issues with my vocal cords.

Courtney's opening is a special event for me, though, so I'm ecstatic to be able to participate. I've got a song sample on my Myspace for anyone interested. The art opening and music will go from 7-9 pm and should be a really fun time.

Courtney's paintings will be up all month--please feel free to stop by for a look if you can't make it to the opening! I'll be back soon to discuss some tea news...

Elliot

May's Artwalk: Winston Haycock

For any readers out there who aren't already aware, many businesses in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood participate in a monthly event called "Artwalk." Basically, businesses host local artists and display their art on a monthly basis, and the second Saturday of each month is the official "opening," during which most businesses host receptions and the artists are usually there to represent their work. Miro Tea has been hosting art every month since we opened, and our blog is an excellent way to get a little bit more information about our artists to the public.

This May's artist is Winston Haycock. I had the pleasure of meeting Winston yesterday when he came in to hang his art. He's got a great energy and it really translates well to his art--our walls are looking fantastic with lots of bright, stimulating color. Included here are some samples of Winston's pieces that are currently hanging at Miro, as well as a few pics of some "pop nostalgia" pieces Winston also wanted the public to see, along with Winston's bio. Please feel free to stop by and meet Winston at this Saturday's opening--the Artwalk event officially lasts from 6-9 pm, and Winston's art will be up all month!

Winston Haycock has been creating multimedia paintings since 2000 when he discovered the fun of seeing different paints react to one another, changing their original form into something quite different with each experimentation. He has made over 1,000 of these paintings and can't wait to get to the next body of work after a series has been finished. He is getting quite known in the Pacific Northwest for this style and also enjoys painting pop style oils based in the nostalgic vein, which he calls his ongoing Sinatra Series, a style inspired by his landscape-painting mother, Velma Young, who brought him up with classic movies from a very early age . She taught him the landscape and how to use a palette knife, and he eventually learned (he is a self - taught artist) photo realism in pencil and graduated to brushes and oils.

Winston focused on the portrait from the urging of his father, Dave, and eventually was painting famous people in surreal group landscape settings, some in a sort of a children's storybook fantasy land, and others from real movie still photos . He made his first abstract multimedia piece in 1999 using coffee beans encased in wax, and found the mixed media a welcome break from the very crisp, tight lined nostalgic oil work, so he started having shows mixing the two styles together. He now keeps each style separate when having a show, and the current opening he is having on May 9th is no exception. This will be Winston's 33rd artist reception and the show is indeed whimsical, focusing on his new Hidden Poem series, he includes his new flat oil abstract series and new patina copper series, all together a very highly textural and colorful show. The flat oil abstracts were inspired by a recent commission from a family member, and the copper patina color ties the whole body of work together and makes the show complete. Encompassing the full spectrum of color and playing with '' text''(ing), Winston gives the public a very childlike but sincerely thoughtful show of decorative fun pieces, which have been doing very well in the Ballard area. His media include common table salt, wood stain, aluminum foil tape, caramel colored hide glue, roof tar patch, drywall cement patch, oil bar, airplane enamel, ground marble and glass, encaustic beeswax/oil bonding and many other mixtures of interesting paint, including Japan paint and acrylic gel. Winston's work is reasonably priced ($80-$120) because he can make about 20-40 pieces each month. The work is often 3 feet in length enough room on the wood panels he uses to show what different paints do when mixed in unorthodox ways, but not too big to find a spot above your piano or sofa! Winston is currently illustrating a children's book about his cat Francis Mcoullagh for Random House, and also paints wine labels for wineries in eastern Washington, where he has a permanent show of ongoing work at the 6th Street Gift & Art Gallery in Prosser, WA (509-786-3088). He can be reached at home in his studio at 206-588-0222 or by email at winstonhaycock@gmail.com.

An interesting news article

Tea drinkers who get their news online may have already seen this recent article, which describes a scientific study that linked regular steaming hot tea drinking with an increase of esophageal cancer. The study took place in Iran, where black tea drinking is widespread in its popularity. Interestingly, the study found that drinking tea at 'steaming hot' temperature (between 149º and 159º F) doubles the risk of cancer, and drinking tea at temperatures above 159º F increases the risk eightfold!

Of course, once I read this, I broke out the thermometer and quickly started experimenting with drinking water at different temperatures. Personally, I find that the temperature at which I like to drink tea is generally below 150º; I tried 160º water and, not surprisingly (I don't have an especially high tolerance for hot drinks) it was a little too hot for my tastes. The study also notes that most cultures that prefer to add milk to their tea don't have an especially high instance of esophageal cancer, most likely because the milk cools the tea to a lower temperature. Of course, this is only one study, so we should probably wait for more evidence before taking it as scientific law, but it does raise a few interesting points.

I think it's a good reminder that, ideally, tea can be an opportunity to relax and make a concentrated effort to take a short break in the day to sit and enjoy the intricacies of a delicious beverage--waiting a couple of extra minutes for your tea to cool can be an opportunity to get your thoughts together and focus on what you need to get done for the day, or it could just be a chance to anticipate the tea you're about to experience. I know some people feel like "the hotter the better," but I find that a really complex tea's flavor is usually much easier to appreciate if it's had a chance to cool down a little. Finally, I think this study exhibits one of the most difficult aspects of scientific tea studies--the tea drinkers in the study all consumed black tea. It seems to me that with the effects that different processing techniques have on the composition of tea leaves, combined with the different methods used to prepare the teas, it must be a bit difficult to generalize anything about tea without meticulously including all different tea types in a study. That is to say, for example, does drinking steaming hot oolong affect cancer risk in the same way? Studies that focus on the health benefits of tea have returned some pretty solid evidence that the different tea types at least have different strengths when it comes to health benefits, so I think it stands to reason that they might show slight physiological differences in other studies. Reading tea studies is always exciting, since each study is another link in a growing chain of evidence that helps us make more confident claims about how tea affects the human body. Unfortunately, because of the variables involved, tea is such a complicated, multifaceted subject that it will probably be quite a while before we've mastered it as a subject.

Elliot