The Teaguy

10,000 hrs

2012-02-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

Neil Diamond is singing away in the back...
....song, sung blue,
weeping like a willow..
internet 70's radio - you gotta love it

So on to my post and the reason why I am here tonight - a saturday night by the way.
My friend Azita is have her birthday party in Yaletown tonight. I plan on joining them later as I can only handle YT in teensy doses.

I am currently working on a plan to open a blending facility. While delving into the R&D and the feasibility of such an operation I realized that I was well into what Mr. Gladwell calls "expert" territory on my chosen niche. I have indeed been heavily involved in loose tea for the necessary 10,000 hrs Gladwell says it takes to know ones vocation to the point where you are reaping its rewards ($$) because you've figured it out.

I really must be a late bloomer then.
I am in the 11-12k territory in tea since I first sat down in November of 1998 to write my first business plan related to tea. It was for the creation of Steeps-the urban teahouse located at 12411 Stony Plain Rd in Edmonton.

and here I am moving into another aspect of the loose leaf industry, that is,

Can we blend tea as well as the Germans here in Canada? Most tea people I speak to about this seem to think that it will never happen. They (the Germans) just have too many years experience head start on us and any attempt to compete would be futile at best.

I challenge this notion, and now that the line has been drawn in the sand so to speak , I am up for the challenge.
I have a innate sense that because of where we are geographically we can match and surpass the tea blending know-how of the Europeans in short order.

Maybe I'll have it all figured out before just before I reach my 12,000th hour....better late then never i guess.
Maybe Malcolm will hear about it and make a notation in his book that in the tea trade, it may very well take a lifetime, especially for those dedicated to a quality offering.

Stay tuned for my new Western Black Maple. I am bringing it all back home friends, just wait and see.

off I go then

searching for Steeps notebooks

2012-02-08T13:04:00.000-08:00

~
When I opened Steeps in 1999, I made a point of putting a rustic notebook with a pen in an end table drawer that used to sit between the two comfy chairs in the front of the teahouse.
I left it there for a few months, and simply had forgotten about it when one day while cleaning the area, I opened the drawer to see if anyone had discovered the book and was kind enough to scratch down a few thoughts. I was surprised and delighted to see that the book was filling up with, comments, musings, notes back and forth between unknown customers, improv poetry and even a bit of haiku. It was great stuff. So, as the books filled, I replaced them with new ones, and they too filled with customers musings.

Now over a decade later, I have almost the entire collection - 7 books filled with the scribblings and drawings from those early days at Steeps. But the collection is missing a few of the early editions.
The first 2 were taken from the drawer by someone and a later edition (maybe the 5th one) was also removed and taken by someone.

I would like to ask (plead, implore) for the person(s) to, out of the kindness of their heart to consider returning the missing notebooks to the current owner at Steeps - and that would be Sarah right now, so that I can compile a memoir of all the writings and thoughts of the thousands of customers who have frequented the Old Glenora location over the past 12 years.

So if you are reading this and were a customer of Steeps Old Glenora in Edmonton in the early 2000's and you may know where a few of the notebooks ended up, I would love to find out. There will be no hard feelings, no questions asked. In fact, if you do return them, or can convince someone who has one to return them, then I will give you enough free tea for your personal consumption for a whole year.

There is a lot of history in those books and I would like to compile the best of them and publish it in a Steeps memoir.

Any help you can provide would be more appreciated.

with gratitude,

Brendan

latte art & tipus chai

2011-10-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

I just needed to show you how easy it is to make a chai that is -

simply out of this world

now go chill,

BJW

Tipus chai and Almond Breeze

2011-10-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

It was just this past Sept, when I discovered almond breeze as a viable alternative to organic dairy. I had seen it at Queensdale Market a few times, but had taken a pass on it because it was in a tetra pack - I try to never buy anything in those containers, as they are incredible costly to make and and very difficult to dispose of. In food service, we have moved to a throw away tetra everything. It is shameful and abhorrently wasteful.

What is a tetra pack you ask? - 6-7 layers of foil and plastic laminated together. There is nothing you can do with this other than incinerate it or stuff it into the ground.

Recently, because of my diminishing need for dairy, Almond Breeze has found a way into my fridge door. I am addicted to the way it tastes with the Tipus micro-ground. So I buy the biggest box I can, which is a 2 litre size. I figure this is half as bad as buying the 1's, which means that every week in my recycling, there is 1 - 2 litre Breeze box in the blue box.

I do plan to implore the company to switch to better, less ridiculous & wasteful packaging.

That being said, I have fallen deeply in love with almond breeze. Moving away from dairy for my chai and morning cereal routine seems to have made me less sluggish in the mornings. I also have discovered it's amazing ability to hold perfect micro-foam for latte art, and as well the taste with the spices requires no added sugar.

I have stated in past posts that some of the pizzaz Barista's have introduced to an art form we see so successfully occurring in specialty coffee needs to cross over into specialty tea shops. Our tea lattes should be works of finesse and skill - wowing the customer with style, quality and flavour.

With this in mind, I set out on a mission to become much better at tea latte art, so I can explain to you how to do it as well. In this progression, you'll see how my rosetta's become more refined over the weeks. The final one is from this morning and I think it is the most refined of them all. Keep in mind, I drink a chai latte about 4 times a week, so in a month I will pour 16 lattes. This is essentially what that progression looks like after roughly 20 lattes with Tipus micro-ground and Almond Breeze original.

This was not the first attempt creating art, but it was the first with almond breeze.

Its flavour profile with Bipin's chai is out of this freakin world folks!

Here was my first maccha latte with the breeze - it was fantastic.

-sooo much better then dairy

Last week, after reviewing a few more video's on youtube about pouring latte art, I had a breakthrough. As you can see, the last three are starting to look much more professional

And this was this morning - Oct 19, 2011 at 10:30 am.I am pretty happy with the evenness, and this is about 20 lattes later since the first picture.

Each time I sip one of these, I marvel in the exquisite lingering profile, which for a long time chai lover like myself is totally transcendent.

Go grab a litre of breeze (or a 2l), get some chai from Tipus and go make complete bliss in a cup.

I challenge you NOT to levitate.

yum yum and yum again people.

Apres Midi & the Chaiwallah

2011-07-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

It was just about a year ago when I met Pio & Kim and they shared with me their goal of opening a teahouse somewhere in Vancouver. It was a project that I gladly welcomed and just a few weeks ago, the hip newly refurbished Gastown become the lucky recipient of our collaboration.

Apres Midi in Goelers Mews is doing to tea what Cafe Artigiano did for coffee more then a decade ago. Bring it to the masses in the most superior way possible.
The building that Apres Midi calls home just happens to be one of the 2 or 3 oldest structures in Vancouver - built as a jail in the late 1800's. A drunken sailor or two has spent many a night in the confines of the historic brick structure. If you listen carefully at night you may still hear wailing emanating from the red brick walls.
The outcome of extensive interior renovation is a warm and inviting space, resonant with depth and history and an evocative ambiance, rich in texture and aroma. It is as it proposes to be - a premium tea experience.

Ordering a cup of tea and watching it prepared to perfection on the chaiwallah is a conversation stopper - then a starter, as people excitedly inquire as to how the system works and where did it come from. Where is that magic button that opens up the bottom and dispenses the tea into the cup or pot? and.. how do I get one of these for myself?

This is my second-generation model - a slimmed down, 3 station version of the initial prototype. I listened to suggestions from coffee experts in the field and incorporated what was feasible. With beefy, clear-plexi bookends and 8 stainless sex-bolts (yes, that is what they are called) the unit can accommodate the entire Hario line of drippers as well as ALL the bottom dispensing tea infusers on the market today.

It's short history in 2 other cafes and from the response in the opening weeks at Apres Midi, the Chaiwallah is doing pretty much what I thought it would do - that being, driving your tea sales way beyond anything you have yet to experience. I would surmise that is a good thing, considering the margin with loose tea.

How does it achieve such a feat? - Telling you would not be sufficient.
What I suggest is you go put on your raincoat and make your way down to Apres Midi and try a pot of tea for yourself.
Then let me know if it is not the best, or at least one of the best cups of tea you have ever had.

Keep me posted

meet your new friend - the chaiwallah

2010-12-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

You stare at it and go - what is that thing? - it's kind of interesting looking. I wonder what it does?

In it's simplicity I would describe it as tea servery. A crafted piece of stainless that helps you make tea quicker, better and in one consolidated location.

This is essentially the first 'pour-over' tea bar that I know of. It's a bit of a wild idea of mine, and I don't see myself as much of an inventor, but this seems just so darn practical in a busy loose tea environment - especially when the bulk of your loose tea service is to-go.

I have watched diligently how so many local great cafes sell their loose leaf. At best it is mediocre and at it's worse, it's pitiful. Cafes & Coffee Houses that serve a good loose tea in a overstuffed t-sac are simply wasting tea and serving a terrible cup to boot.

So, because there is a successful, widespread and trendy coffee brewing system called a 'pour-over', I thought that applying this same system to tea would help improve how these shops sell their loose leaf to us - the discerning (but not snobbish) tea enthusiast.

With a Chaiwallah, they can do it with ease & form in front of our eyes, delivering an absolutely astounding cup of tea.

I thought that the cafes who are now not serving coffee in a pour-over system, would like to have the option to do tea and coffee. With this in mind I designed the chaiwallah to also accommodate the popular Hario V60 filter cones. You can see one on the far right up there, and this one below is the glass version:

The other two devices are bottom dispensing tea steepers. I have found them to be the absolute best way for cafes to serve loose leaf. Reduce your tea costs and serve an altogether remarkable cup of tea. How great is that?

Rooibos Vanilla Latte

2010-11-21T22:39:00.000-08:00

She took a first sip and went dead quiet. I looked on....she said nothing. Her eyes had rolled back in her head slightly.
So, I inquired again - how is the latte?
"Unbelievable" she said..... then - "excuse me while I go have a cold shower"

I took that as a positive endorsement for my new rooibos vanilla latte blend. This is the ultimate desert replacement - the low cal, after dinner, wind me down, settle your stomach, latte that will have you salivating when you think about it after you consume your first.

The recipe is confidential - nonetheless it does contain fine cut organic rooibos and madagascar vanilla bean extract. I will tell you one thing though, it is real and contains no preservatives, no chemicals and is the reason why there is so much body to this blend and why your latte actually tastes like something other then steamed milk and sugar.
What a novel idea eh? - a tea latte that you can actually taste tea in? How could I be so darn intuitive?
(yes...if only)
Once my new site is up I encourage you to order some and give it a whirl yourself.

It's pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

be well and happy sipping,

The London Fog Latte

2010-08-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

Aside from the ubiquitous chai latte, there are very few tea based lattes that have taken firm hold in the cafe sector. There is though, a new beverage on the horizon, which is making a dent in chai's dominance. This creamy, earl grey based latte is simply know around north America as the 'London Fog".
Starbucks calls it an Earl Grey Latte, others name it after the region they are doing business in i.e: the LA latte.
The gist of the drink is simple, steep earl grey tea to make a strong concentrate, add a shot of vanilla syrup and top up with steamed milk. Sounds pretty straightforward right?
Well, it is not for most cafes, because the majority do a terrible job creating a truly great london fog latte. Here is what seems to be the norm in the cafe sector: grab a stale, cheap Twinnings earl grey tea bag, drop it into the bottom of a 16 oz mug, pump a few shots of vanilla syrup in there, top up with steamed milk. In writing, it sounds decent right? Try tasting it though. What you get is essentially vanilla flavoured milk with a slight hint of something else. The actual tea is almost undetectable. This is supposed to be a TEA latte right? So where is the TEA TASTE??? It's like that old commercial from yesteryear - "Where's the Beef?'
Essentially what you are paying is $4.00 for a milk steamer, which is usually offered at around $2.50. You are being ripped off folks! If you ordered a coffee latte and could hardly detect the coffee, would you feel you got your money's worth? I would suggest not.

So what is the solution?

The earl grey tea shot should be strong and robust - like a coffee shot. So you need to use a good amount of tea - to produce at least 5 ounces of liquid that is too strong to drink on its own. Do you add vanilla? What if the customer want it san sugar? How do you get the vanilla in there without the sugar?
Fortunately I have the solution. I have created a strong organic assam based, heavily scented, cream earl grey for the ultimate tea latte. This product will allow you to serve incredible London Fogs without any added sugar. The customer can sweeten to taste on their own.

If you would like to try some of this London Fog Blend I have created, drop me a line. It is truly to die for.

The Teaguy: Making fresh Iced Tea

2010-06-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

Watch my new video on turning fresh leaves into amazing iced tea in just a few minutes.

Making fresh Iced Tea

2010-06-11T00:24:00.000-07:00

Turn leaves ice cold

As summer approaches ever so slowly it seems this year, and the mercury rises bit by bit, customers everywhere are looking for cold beverages that will quench the thirst and provide a welcome energy boost.

Over the years, I have experimented with numerous ways to make fresh brewed iced teas and as well, to come up with new drink concoctions that incorporate the hottest and trendiest teas on the market.
In today's tea culture, iced tea is way more then just black orange pekoe with a slice of lemon.

Fresh Brewing Method

Without any machinery, other then a french press, I have been making fresh brewed iced teas for patrons for almost a 9+ years with very high levels of satisfaction. You make the tea extra strong, use much less water (about 1/2 the press), agitate the leaves often and the pour over a glass or pitcher of fresh cubes. viola! - fresh brewed iced tea on the spot and... unsweetened, which is how I am finding more people want it served to them. They can add sweetener if they want, as we make a simple syrup from organic unrefined cane sugar available at the to-go station.

The Liquid Vegetable

2010-05-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

I have to be completely honest here and admit that I did not and could not drink yerba mate for the first 7 years I was in the tea business. I could not wrap my palate around that smokey, earthy bitterness. My brother on the other hand liked it from the very first sip.

I tried my fair share of brands & varieties & flavors - roasted & unroasted, with herbs, without herbs, scented, flavored, latte’d and everything in between. The dense, thick, herbaceous and intense flavor of yerba was something that I thought I would never really like.

I knew though it was good for me - all my research on the leaf pointed to a beverage unlike any other for it’s healthful and medicinal benefits. I didn't know quite what it was about the flavor profile that I didn't like, but needless to say, I would sell it, espouse its benefits, sample it and give it away to all my friends but wouldn’t indulge myself.

Then one day a bearded gentleman entered my shop clutching a big green foil bag close to his chest. It was a brand of yerba from a company called Mate Factor. It was bright green, organic and the freshest yerba I had ever smelled. He wanted me to make us some, as he pointed out that my yerba was way to refined, somewhat stale and smoke dried. I did mention that I did not like the taste of green yerba.

Needless to say, I was blown away by the smoothness of Mate Factors yerba. It was flavorful, clean, lacking the smokey harshness of other yerba’s I had tried and was very green. Finally, after almost 7 years, I stumbled upon a yerba mate that worked for my palate.

So I needed to find out why this particular yerba tasted so different from all the rest I had sampled over the years. As it turns out, Mate Factor's yerba is indeed not smoke dried - and believe it or not, this makes ALL the difference (at least it did to me). I find that smoke drying the leaves was not a favorable addition to the taste profile of yerba (unlike Lapsang - which I truly love as well).

I now drink copious amounts of yerba and I am more then feeling the health benefits of this 3 year addiction. The smokes dried versions - which pretty much make up all of the other varieties, have a much harsher, more astringent taste and are definitely harder to acquire a palate for. The freshness of a regular air-dried yerba mate is a tantalizing and somewhat intoxicating beverage. In South America, they call it the liquid vegetable. Its nutritional profile goes unmatched by any other tea-like beverage. It packs 15 essential amino acids and tons of nutrients. Yerba Mate is high in antioxidants, plus it’s generous supply of vitamins and minerals (including chlorophyll, vitamins A, B, C, E, magnesium, potassium, iron, pantothenic acid, and much more) make a cup of Yerba Mate an excellent immune-system booster.

When I am assisting women & men who come into our stores looking for "diet teas" and 'weight loss teas" I always recommend yerba - because it is also regarded as one of nature’s weight loss secrets by speeding up the metabolism, curbing the appetite and helping the body to release excess calories rather than storing them as fat. It has been said that yerba mate has enough nutrients, vitamins and amino acids that if one were to consume nothing but mate (say if you were stranded on a deserted Island with no food) you would live indefinitely. Yes, you would be skinny as a rake, but you would survive.

Finally, lets talk a little about the energy boost.

Every now and then I drink the odd espresso, of course lots of tea, and various other energy boosters that are available off the shelf.

Yerba is by far the best. The metabolism boost takes about 10-15 minutes to kick in after you drink it, but it lasts for hours - much longer then coffee but without the jitters and that awful 'crash' your body experiences when the caffeine buzz is gone. For the caffeine addict, it makes the transition from burnt coffee beans to the world of tea much more graceful.

In our shops, Yerba Mate is the fastest growing segment on the tea wall, beating out green tea and rooibos.

If you are going to indulge for the first time, then take my advice as a convert – get some of Mate Factor’s un-smoked green Yerba Mate. It's organic, direct trade and the quality is unmatched. Your body will thank you in more ways then you can imagine.

Happy Sipping,

Brendan

grieving for Paul, my bro...

2010-04-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

This week, my brother decided to end his life. I received the call from his partner in Rankin Inlet on Monday night. It was, without a doubt the worst phone call I have ever received.
He fought depression all his life, and at the age of just 45 it got the better of him.

Paul and I were in business together in the early 2000's and built a successful chain of teahouses and an artisan chai brewing company. His tireless efforts and love of tea & business helped our fledgling operation survive and then thrive.

Now, as I get ready to leave Vancouver to attend to the family matters of laying Paul's remains to rest, I think of a brilliant man, and man whose heart was larger then life, a friend and confidant to so many and a calm spirit who will live on in our family and the hundreds he touched across the Canadian Arctic

farewell my dear brother, we will see you again soon...

I forgot about this place...

2010-03-17T23:52:00.000-07:00

You know, there is so much going on and we get really busy and we forget that things get neglected, like our daily workout for instance, like my tummy and like this dusty blog.

The only constant has been tea and always will be is
Tea
TEa
TEA - never more then an arm lengths away.

I committed myself to something on TChing this week. I vowed to attempt the cultivation of the camellia bush on Vancouver Island - Canada's first tea garden. I thought about this post for almost a week before I started tapping it out. I realize that once I open this can of worms, there is no back-treading - at least not for me there isn't. Past experience tells me that the one sure way to up your chances of success, is to share your thoughts with those around you who are interested and/or care.

So my journey deepens. My trip to Taiwan in May will undoubtedly entrench the desire to be master of my garden just a little deeper.

Teapresso & Loose Leaf Tea

2008-02-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

Chai Baba's Teapresso in Kelowna, BC.

Fortunately in 2008, most modern tea bars in North America are promoting and using tea in it's loose leaf form, and like myself, they tend to shun the inferior bag version. Not all bags are god-awful though, there are some exceptions - Mighty Leaf being one of them. They have a very good product with the most compostable packaging in the industry(as far as I know anyway)
Currently, the Asian tea market is all about speed and innovation (with quality playing second fiddle), and this is where the Teapresso is becoming a standard piece of tea bar equipment - essential and timely.
The general practice in the far east is to insert a nylon tea bag into the porta filter and extract a shot of tea. It may work for the throngs of tea drinkers in Asia, but it doesn't make for a great presentation over on this side of the pond - especially when your shelves are full of beautiful loose leaf teas.

To compete with the Starbucks and Second Cup's of the world, tea purveyors and new tea lounges need to use the extensive array of tea we stock in our stores to create a repetiore of drinks that rival and surpass any of the afore mentioned coffee chains. The Teapresso is the only machine I currently know of that can take your loose leaves and turn it into a strong, concentrated, versatile tea shot, thus allowing you to create any number of hot or cold beverages in under a minute. If you know of another way to acheive this without using quadruple the amount of tea, I would love to know.

After much experiamentation with various leaf sizes, cuts, grades and varieties of loose tea and infusions, I came the the realization that the design of the porta filter needed some adjustment to accomodate loose leaf effectively. Ideally, the tea needs to be mulched to expedite the extraction process. Full leaf did not produce a strong enough shot in the few minutes of time you have to get the drink into the customers hands.

Mulched tea on the other hand, does allow the operator to produce a drink in the 45-60 second range. The problem I ran into though, when I did mulch loose leaf tea, is it would clog the holes in the bottom of the diffuser plate inside the porta filter.

Minute grains of tea would embed themselves in the holes of the diffuser, expand from the hot water and completly block the openings, rendering the tea shot pretty much useless. It will actually push small grains of tea right through the porta filter and into your shot glass. You can see the holes in the diffuser plate in this pic:

After much trial and error, I realized that the process of mulching the loose tea had to be incredibly precise to allow for proper extraction of a clear tea shot - too precise to train staff & create an industry standard.

During the testing phase, I was spooning 2 teaspoons of loose leaf into a mini grinder (the same ones used at home for grinding coffee beans)and mulching it for 3-5 seconds. The results would vary from tea to tea. I should tell you that all the CTC teas that I used in the porta filter work extremely well - no pre-mulching, no clogging, and a strong, clean tea shot resulted.

So, the only real solution for us loose tea afficianado's was to revamp the inside of the porta filter so that it would accomodate various grain sizes of tea and not clog. I posed this dilemma to Klub in Taiwan and within a few months, they sent over a prototype of a screen insert that screws into the porta filter. The diffuser plate is removed. The screen prevented tiny tea grnules to embed themselves into the holes and clog. Here is a picture of the screen they sent:

This fine nylon screen prevented a lot of the clogging issues that occur without the screen in place. The smallest particles of tea now do not get create havoc with your shot, but stay on the screen side of the porta filter. The screen works very well and has allowed us to use pretty much any loose leaf tea, tisane or infusion without much concern for the particle size. The extraction is even, strong and very flavorful.

Here is the screen installed inside the porta filter:

As the use of the Teapresso gets much more widespread, you will see a whole industry spring up around the packaging of loose teas cut and prepared to a grade that will be suitable for use in the Teapresso. It has already started in Asia.
As I mentioned above, CTC teas seem to be the ideal grain size and yield the best shot that I was able to achieve with real teas.
Unfortately, most of the teas we carry in our tea bars and tea houses are not of the CTC grade. It is a start though, and learning what a great tea shot looks & tastes like from ctc will allow you to create some basic drinks early on as your understanding of a quality tea shot grows with continued use of the Teapresso. It is a fun and excting learning curve!

I hope this information has been helpful. I wish you all the success with your new Teapresso.

Brendan

Mate Factor Yerba Mate

2008-02-03T13:31:00.000-08:00

Wonderful, healthful, aromatic Yerba Mate

I have to be honest and admit that I did not and could not drink yerba mate for the first 7 years I was in the tea business. I tried many varieties and flavors - roasted & unroasted , with herbs, without herbs, but I could not wrap my palate around the dense, thick, herbaceous and intense flavor of yerba. I knew it was good for me - my brother had warmed up to it immediatly several years ago and drank it daily. I didn't know quite what is was about the plant that I didn't like, but needless to say, I would sell it, talk about it - touting it's amazing health benefits, and wonderful weight loss capabilities, but did not consume the beverage myself.

Then I tried Mate Factor (www.matefactor.com) green organic yerba mate. It was smooth, flavorful, clean and very green. I was in love with yerba - finally!
So I needed to find out why this particular yerba tasted so different from all the rest I had sampled over the years. As it turns out, Mate Factor's yerba is NOT smoke dried - and believe it or not, this makes ALL the difference (at least to me it did). I now drink copious amounts of yerba and I am feeling the health benefits of this consumption. The smoke dried versions - which is pretty much all of the other varieties, are much harsher, more astringent and are definitely harder to acquire a taste for. Trust me on this - I am a living test case.

Other then the 15 amino acids and tons of nutrients, Yerba Mate is high in antioxidants, plus it’s generous supply of vitamins and minerals (including chlorophyll, vitamins A, B, C, E, magnesium, potassium, iron, pantothenic acid, and much more) make a cup of Yerba Mate an excellent immune-system booster.

When I am assisting women who come into our stores looking for "diet teas" and 'weight loss teas" I always recommend yerba - because it is also regarded as one of nature’s weight loss secrets by speeding up the metabolism, curbing the appetite and helping the body to release excess calories rather than storing them as fat.
Finally, lets talk a little about the energy boost. I drink अन espresso every now and then, lots of tea, the rare red bull and various other energy boosters that are on the market.
Yerba is simply the best. The metabolism boost takes about 10-15 minutes to notice after you drink it, but it lasts for hours - much longer then coffee without the jitters and the awful 'crash' your body experiences when the coffee buzz is gone.
If you're looking to ween yourself off of coffee and are aware that you need a comparable stimulant to replace what coffee does for you, then look no further then Mate Factor Yerba Mate.

a native, wild, Brazilian yerba mate tree
It's organic, direct trade and the quality is unmatched.
now get sipping Goucho's!
Brendan

My T/O (time out)

2008-02-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

Yes, unfortunately - Loose Leaf Tearoom has closed its doors.

Kim made the move from Vanouver to Toronto (where I am now) to a new, demanding job at UBC and a strong desire to open a little Tea Bar.

She indeed succeeded in her task.

Unfortunately, her location was mediocre, and it would take some time and lots of dedication to be successful - time and energy that Kim did not have at this point in her life.
It would have had to be an immediate success for her to devote her full time attention and quit her new job. This did not happen and as a result, Kim decided to close her doors.

The Teapresso was purchased by a women in Victoria who is opening a modern Tea Bar in Oak Bay. She will be creating a plethora of tea based beverages from the teapresso.

I wish Kim great success with her new and challenging position at UBC.

Happy New Year all,

Brendan

2007-11-17T20:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the comment Josh!

2007-11-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

Hey J,

I passed on your remarks to the owner of The Loose Leaf Tearoom - Kim Fraser. She was delighted to hear you had a positive experience in her bar. Good news is always great for a new business like Kim's.
Please tell your friends to come and try another wonderful teapresso creation some time - the sky is the limit!

Take care and enjoy your trip into fine tea!
brendan

Loose Leaf Tearoom ( tea room) opens with Vancouver's first TEAPRESSO

2007-08-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Aug 25th, Kim Fraser, the owner of Loose Leaf Tearoom opened her doors to the public with Vancouver's first teapresso sitting on the counter. Loose Leaf Tearoom is a great little store where tea quality and hand crafted tea based beverages are the prime focus. When you walk through the door, the beautiful scent of the fresh, premium loose leaf teas piques your senses and stimulates your palate.

Kim came up to Chai Baba in Kelowna to see the Teapresso in operation and after watching Tina and I make an amazing array of drinks for customers in short order decided that this was a unit that she could not be without.

Like Chai Baba, Kim's beverage program will be unique, high quality and unlike anything that any tea sipper has ever tasted. With Kim's enthusiasm and love of tea, she will definitely create a tea menu that will be second to none in the Vancouver market.

This is the third Teapresso in Canada. Interest in the machine is increasing world wide as I get requests for information on the unit from all parts of the globe. Once a customer has tasted a beverage produced from the Teapresso, all other tea based concoctions will pale in comparason.

So, if you have time, please check out Loose Leaf Tearoom at 3648 West Broadway in Vancouver and try a drink from Kim's new Teapresso!
Come out and help support a fellow loose tea enthusiast.

regards,

Brendan

The Great Canadian Tea Steep-Off

2007-07-03T18:35:00.001-07:00

SEPTEMBER 16, 2007

Toronto Congress Center

12-5 pm

Open to all service industry members who would like to introduce their finest teas and tea based drinks to experts, purveyors and blenders from across Canada.

Contestants will have a rare opportunity to compete and create tea drinks with the world's first Teapresso Machine.

Get out from behind the counter and show up armed with your best tea concoctions!

Looking forward to seeing you there,

http://www.coffeeteashow.ca/tea_steep_off.html

The Teapresso debut's at World Tea Expo

2007-07-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

KLUB NT2 Teapresso
The Teapresso debuted at the 2007 Atlanta World Tea Expo last month and by all accounts, it was a runaway success. Over the past 10 years, I have exhibited at dozens of trade shows and rarely do I see the energy and excitement that was hovering around booth 609. Initially, my intentions were to stop by and help out if needed, but there was such a buzz around the booth, that my Taiwanese counterparts were swamped with interest and a lot of great questions.

Chai Baba has one of the few teapresso's in North America that is operating in a busy teahouse environment, so everybody wanted to know if it was living up to it's reputation as being the machine that will could invigorate our industry. The answer was, unequivocally....YES!

I am in love with this machine. I am not kidding when I tell you that at least 6 years prior, I was using an espresso machine to attempt extracting tea shots through the porta-filter. The results were mediocre at best. I remember thinking that some day, someone will invent a machine designed with the perfect time/temp/pressure to extract the essence out of tea as well as as an espresso machine draws it out of ground coffee. So, here we are, 6 years later in 2007 and such a machine is now available to the tea cafe industry in North America.

I'd like to draw a comparison between teahouses opening today and the typical coffee house 20 years ago. There were few espresso machines in these establishments back then. Today, if you open a coffee house without one of these machines, you would be considered mad by your counterparts! Chances are, you would be out of business before you ever got rolling. The cornerstone of your business and the prime profit center in your teahouse will not be the chipped brown betty, nor a $50.00 German glass handcrafted tea press, but the drink program that will arise from the use of a teapresso.

We launched our summer iced tea exlixirs at Chai Baba a few weeks back. I have never been able to produce iced drinks of this calibre from the conventional methods of brewing tea. For example, one of our drinks takes 2 table spoons of ground yerba mate (about .20 cents). We push it through the teapresso, pour over ice in a shaker, add a shot of a flower essence (our recipes are proprietary), a few ounces of rice milk, shake and pour into a glass. The reaction from our customers confirms that this drink is nothing short of extraordinary!

The reality is, none of this would be possible without the teapresso. I've come to the realization that in the last few months, purveyors and servers of loose leaf teas, who incorporate a unit into their establishments create a drink repertoire that is pretty much endless and limited by your own imagination.

The experimenting phase is so much fun!

Drop me a line if you want to ask me a few more questions, or go to my catalogue on the provided link and you will see more info on the Teapresso unit.

I look forward to helping you bring your tea house / coffee bar into the 21st century!

http://www.theteaguy.com/illustrious.htm

1st FLUSH DARJEELINGS ARE HERE!

2007-05-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

With great anticipation, I awaited the arrival of the Makaibari Imperial Vintage Darjeeling. Tim from Cargo & James and I ordered 30kgs of this tea and now that it is here - and I have tasted it again, I wish I had a hundred kilos!

The tea came packed in .5 kg foil bags with an outer plastic bag. It was undamaged and the leaves are in pristine condition.

I've done a few cuppings already and have sold a few of the bags to some of my clients. They have been blown way by the beautiful muscatel notes and super clean finish on the tea.

This invoice is by far one of the best Darjeelings that I have tasted in over 5 years.

If you would like a sample, please let me know and I'll see what I can arrange for you.

talk soon tea people,

Makaibari Imperial Vintage - bio - Best Darjeeling

2007-05-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

Makaibari Imperial Vintage - what can I say...wow, wow and wow again.
This impressive Garden has produced an exceptional 1st flush this year.
They have been using biodynamic growing practices for quite some time now and this season's tea 1st Flush Imperial Vintage clearly shows that all their hard work and committment to quality and sustainability is paying off. I used 7 key variables to score the teas and the Imperial Vintage came out on top. Here is the cupping criteria I used:
1. Aroma
2. Astrigency
3. Body
4. Briskness
5. Character
6. Greeness
7. Muscatel
8. Thickness
I used a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the least desirable to 10 being the most desirable.

The top 3 in order of thier scores are:

Makaibari Imperial Vintage Bio - 62 points
Margarets Hope FTGFOP1 - 60 points
Glenburn Wiry Vintage - 41 points

I will be ordering a chest or two of this tea. Let me know if you want some yourself.

Happy sipping,
Brendan

Darjeeling cupping shots

2007-05-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

On Friday I cupped some primo 2007 1st flushes.

Here is a photo essay of the sensory experience:

2007 First Flush Darjeelings are here!

2007-05-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

My cupping pack of the top picks from some well known gardens in Darjeeling arrived on Friday - yeah!.

Caselton, Margarets Hope, Thurbo and Makaibari to name a few.
I sipped some yesterday - just skimmed the surface, and so far, I am thoroughly excited with the quality.

These are exceptional Darjeelings, and this seasons picks are the best I have tasted in 3 to 4 years.

I am doing a full cupping with the 8 later this afternoon. I will let you know the results of my slurping.

STAY TUNED!

The new Canadian Coffee & Tea Show

2007-04-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Vida Radovanovic, who I have been working with for the past 5 years at the Coffee & Tea Expo, sold her show to a media company from Toronto called Fulcrum Events.
They've relaunched the event as the 'Canadian Coffee & Tea Show" which will be held at the Toronto Congress Center on the 16 & 17th of September.
Fulcrum's show format has a track record of success and innovation thanks to a dedicated group led by Russel Hoffman, Fulcrums General Manager. As Russell points out on the Show website:

“We believe this show can offer educational and business building seminars on some of the most profitable menu items to the operators who read our publication as well as entrepreneurs looking to enter the Coffee & Tea shop or restaurant business. We look forward to working with the shows founder, Vida Radovanovic, and growing the show together.”

There is a plan to launch the 2nd Annual 'Great Canadian Tea Steep-Off' as well. This year, with Fulcrum's help, I will improve on the format, include audience participation, and possibly introduce the TEAPRESSO into the event to let "Tea Baristas" wow the judges with their creations.

Either way, with the track record of Russell and his team, Vida's long term dedication to the promotion of the Coffee & Tea Industry in Canada, and heightened interest from many more packers, importers and wholesalers, I think this years new Canadian Coffee & Tea Show will be the best ever.

I look forward to seeing you there!

FROM LEAVES TO ICED IN 2 MINS

2007-04-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

As summer approaches, and the mercury rises, customers everywhere are looking for cold beverages that will quench the thirst and provide a welcome energy boost.

Over the years, I have experimented with numerous ways to make fresh brewed iced teas and as well, to come up with new drink concoctions that incorporate the hottest and trendiest teas on the market.

In today's tea culture, iced tea is way more then just black orange pekoe with a slice of lemon.

Fresh Brewing Method

Without any machinery, other then a french press, I have been making fresh brewed iced teas for patrons for almost a 9+ years with very high levels of satisfaction.

You make the tea extra strong, use much less water (about 1/2 the press), agitate the leaves often and the pour over a glass or pitcher of fresh cubes.

viola! - fresh brewed iced tea on the spot and... unsweetened, which is how I am finding more people want it served to them.

They can add sweetener if they want, as we make a simple syrup from organic unrefined cane sugar available at the to-go station.

Your High powered blender

Our teahouse has a high powered blender as well. We take our exquisite chai concentrate, some milk, a dash of chai sprinkles all into the blender for 15 seconds. The result is a chai smoothie that is not too sweet, yet very authentic in taste. Here, real rules!

So, as the summer approaches, don't be afraid to experiment with all your teas and other tea beverages. The sky is the limit here folks and the more creative you are, the better you will stand out from the guys down the street who add a slice of lemon to their chilled supermarket tea bag.

wishing you a super successful summer season,

BEST OF LUCK!

More on the Teapresso

2007-03-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

We are now into our third week here at Chai Baba with the Teapresso.
Our sales of tea lattes have risen substantially and we have also realized the we can make ALL brewed teas through the unit - no more dunking infuser balls and tea-sacs.
As well, the shots can be poured over ice to make a fresh brewed iced tea.

Think of this common scenario:

A patron walks into your tea store and picks one of the hundred or so offerings of loose leaf tea from your shelf. She says that she would like this iced & to-go.
What do you do?

Tell her that this is not the iced tea of the day and have her walk out? or,

figure out how to take the dry leaves from the container, brew them, ice them and get the resulting beverage into her hands pretty quick.

So where do you start?

For years, I used a tea press with double the leaves and half the water. To expedite the steeping, I would slowly push the plunger up and down 8-10 times over a 3 minute period. I would have my cup full of ice waiting.

This was the way I used to do it.

~now

The teapresso produces a stronger, more concentrated shot and mimics the versatility of espresso in many ways - except the possibilities with tea/infusions are infinite.

Drop 2 scoops of tea into the porta filter, push the programmed button, walk away and get your glass of ice ready. 1 minute later come collect your shot, pour over ice, hand to the customer and off she goes.

I would also like to point out that Customers who were consuming tea lattes before the teapresso arrived have said the drinks are now significantly better.

The Teapresso opens up the doors for teahouses and tea bars to create an endless array of drinks that are all tea or infusion based and, DO IT quickly!

The tea bar can now compete drink for drink with the hippest coffee bars.

Isn't this what we all are trying to achieve?

Hey, it's an asset we all could use.

happy sippin'

The TEAGUY scores one of Canada's first TEAPRESSO's

2007-03-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

With great excitement and serious fascination, we ripped open the crate that just arrived from Taiwan.

Inside was a revolutionary machine - a machine that will transform the tea cafe industry. Here was one of North America's only TEAPRESSO's and it was here in Kelowna, BC at Chai Baba Teahouse.

With the growing trend towards tea based lattes and fresh brewed iced tea, this tea specific unit operates and looks a lot like a conventional espresso machine. Here at last, was a machine that the tea barista could actually get serious about.

So far, we have had it in operation for about 48 hours and it has proven to be everything we expected and more.
Customers are raving about the quality of their drinks.
I actually feel like a kind in a candy store right now....
more later,

Brendan

The Great Canadian Tea Steep-Off

2007-02-20T15:58:00.000-08:00

In 2006 at the Canadian Coffee & Tea Show. Vida Radovanovic and myself decided to launch a Tea industry competition. It was a good success, and will be reworked and retooled for the Toronto show in 2007.

I think that, like the Cdn Barista Championship, a friendly competition amongst tea afficionado's could be a good shot in the arm for the specialty tea business. We need to get the support of the entire Industry if it is going to grow legs and stride ahead.

Do leave me your thoughts.

Brendan

Japanese Tea Gardens

2007-02-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

Some new pics from the trans herb website. These Japanese tea gardens are so beautifully manicured. No wonder the teas are so delicious from this small country.

Has any one got a story to tell about a trip to this magical tea kingdom?

Anyone care to guess what they may be producing here?

life is good....drink tea and see.

Brendan

Geisha Green

2007-02-17T13:22:00.000-08:00

Chai Baba Teahouse in Kelowna just brought in this exquiste green tea from Japan. It's a blend of 5 top Japanese gems - Genmaicha, Gyokuru, Bancha, Sencha and Kukicha. It's been scented with strawberries and redcurrants. I have to say, this is one of the best scented green teas that I have ever consumed. I'ts soft, smooth and delicate.... just what you would expect from a high end Japanese green tea. The flavors are beautiful.
Tea drinkers here in the Okanagon are lapping it up - if your in the hood, go and get some!!!
Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday - It's a warm and sunny day in Kelowna right now.

GO on...get out there and play while the sun lasts!
Happy sipping

Brendan

the teaguy.com

2007-02-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

the teaguy.com

my website for consulting - the new site will be up in a few short weeks
It will be much more user friendly.

Stunning matcha green tea

2007-02-15T17:16:00.000-08:00

SO how potent is Matcha green tea? Well listen to this - a study just completed by Tufts University and the USDA;

The ORAC (oxygen radicle absorption capacity) test, which is a scientifically controlled test, standardizes and quanitfy's the antioxident values in foods. This allows you to make accurate comparasons between different foods. Tufts and the USDA choose a broad selection of fruits and veggies and as well included the "known" superfoods.
1 gram of each was tested.

top antioxidant foods - orac units per 1 gram

fruits
cranberries - 95
wild blueberries - 93
black plums - 74
blackberries - 54
raspberries - 50
strawberries - 36
apples - 43
cherries - 19

vegetables
small red beans - 150
artichokes - 95
black-eyed peas - 44
broccoli - 31
red cabbage - 32
asparagus - 31
beets - 28
spinach - 27

superfoods
wolfberries - 303
gojiberries - 253
dark chocolate - 227
pomegranate - 105
acaiberries - 60
wheatgrass - 49
And then they tested 1 gram of Matcha:
matcha green tea 1384

'Granite ground teas contain the highest concentration of antioxidants compared to all known natural fruits and vegetables known thus far'

This study was done with the Matcha the we carry at Chai Baba, which is the most superior matcha available - or at least that I have found.

I think it is time to drink matcha today!
Brendan

U R intrigued by TEA

2007-02-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

I am really happy to be here. My goal is to start an informative and enlightening blog for all things tea. I possess some real, useable knowledge about this wonderful beverage and would really like to share some of this with other people who are also passionate about tea.

Tea has been the focus of my life, professionally and spiritually for the past decade. I am loving every minute of it.

With the growing popularity of all things tea, there are sure to be people out there who are literally thirsting for knowledge about this super-healthful beverage. Throw out a few questions and lets start a discussion - over a pot of tea of course....

please, do leave me a post.