17th Tea Party 

This tea party comes with a special thanks to the ever-awesome Joslyn Hamilton. She introduced us to one of her favourite tea Shops in San Francisco, Samovar Life. We got one of their talented staff on the phone and within a few days we had five tea samples at our door. And they were awesome. Their teas took us in a new flavour direction that wowed the team.

1. The first round of the day nearly brought the house down. We brewed Samovar Life’s Tumeric Spice, Moorish Mint and Cali Persian Black.

2. Cali Persian Black hit the mark, as in “Bull’s Eye.” It was rose heaven on the Caspian sea. Brew it strong, brew it light, make it iced; simply fantastic. Moorish Mint had a wonderful floral scent that complemented the mint wonderfully. With a touch of honey it all came together for us.

3. Now this tea had personality. Like it or not you will never forget it. It brought in some great scores across the board. As a winter tea it was a warming, instant pick-me-up. The colour was gorgeous and the sediment at the bottom inspired its own photo.

4. Welcome Tea Sparrow member Dave to his first tea party. If you haven’t figured it out by the photo, Dave brought the excitement. This man is a mobile party, which was perfect for this Mad Hatter’s tea party.

5. Round two was brewing. We had Florapharm’s Milk Oolong, Numi’s Spring White and also Numi’s Iron Goddess of Mercy.

6. After such an awesome first round the team stepped in a bit weary. I mean, what could bring joy after Cali Persian Black? Milk Oolong stepped up and slammed the crowd. It almost got 10’s from every tea taster! Not only did the team finish the pot, after the party everyone stuck around for another brew. Never has that happened at a tea party before, and we have sampled hundreds of tea at this point. Wow!

7. Dave was bewildered by the Milk Oolong. He had always felt green teas were not for him, until today.

8. Round three we had Cocoa Pu-erh, Emperor’s Pu-erh and Ocean of Wisdom brewing.

9. They were great teas, but what can I say? The first two rounds crushed it. We liked them but nothing scored high enough to make it into a Tea Box. We’re going to have to table this set again for another party.

10. The cheese plate came out and Dave couldn’t wait for the photo to be taken. The cheese plate is a traditional closer at our tea parties.