Good Morning!

About 2 years ago a guy I really respect in the wine business said if I wanted to better understand the tastes of wine, I needed to understand the subtle flavors of all alcohol. He said, you need to go to a bar with a notepad and become friends with the bartender and sample everything, from vodkas, to Bailey’s to Bourbons, try everything and take tons of notes.

The thought of that was kinda scary for me, I am not really an alcohol fan..seriously! But I wanted to learn and I want to have a very educated palate. So, I had my pad and was dropped off at a very expansive bar with a very lovely bartender and told him what I wanted to do and I would be spitting a lot so he and I became friends and he got me a bucket and I said I hope he did not charge by the shot, but I was prepared to tip well, if he could call my ride when I got hammered. (I don’t care how much I spit, at some point, I was going to be drunk and my mouth would get fatigued.

We started out with the vodkas and I tried 11 of them, they went from watery and just plain alcoholy to very smooth and almost sweet vodkas, some had depth and really tasted beautiful and others, not so much. I think I was there for 2.5 hours, spent about $125.00 and had a great time and I promised him I would be back the next week to continue my education, but I never went back…to make a long story short, my mouth was wasted from the heat of all the booze. I plan on trying this again some day, just not anytime soon.

I like going to the breweries where they have flights of beer, I love how different each style and regional beer can capture so many nuisances of the brew. And of course you know I love to taste wines, I love blending, I love blind tastings, I love vertical tastings and I even love tasting at the grocery store from those ridiculous plastic shot glasses.

So when I was ask to go to a tea tasting I said yes, I’ll go. Ok, so some background on tea and myself. My mama drinks Lipton Black Tea every morning, I was raised in the Midwest so Iced Tea is really popular and since I spend so much time in Texas, I know all about the sweet tea, I remember making sun tea as a kid and if I go to Starbuck’s I like cold Green Tea. That is about all I really have tried.

I am not really a coffee fan. I love the way it smells, but the taste is just burnt and bitter to me, so I have never been a coffee of tea person in the morning. I have over the years figured out that me drinking a hot drink in the morning makes me feel all sweaty and clammy so I think that is why I do not join in the morning fun.

I arrived at the tea tasting in a “special room” in my local high end grocery store. I checked in and found my seat and I was seated beside a British woman who was into tea. She could have talked with me all day, because I loved her accent, but she knew all about white, green, black teas, steeping techniques, what water (distilled or spring) that worked best with each type of tea and she knew about drying techniques and she hangs out in tea lounges. I had seen a few tea lounges when I lived in downtown San Francisco, but I have never been in one.

As we tasted and tasted, I really did try to approach the tasting like a wine tasting, checking color, aromas, body and finish with each tea. I learned a ton and had a great time. What I found out is tasting teas left my mouth feeling very similar to tasting big dry red wines. The drying effect I feel from tannins and the puckery effect of the more “fruity” teas, reminded me of wine.

The big difference was what you will expect, I did not feel any of the “lift” from the tea, like I do when I taste wines. I would totally go tea tasting again…It made me think about pairings and how to better describe wines and I learned much from my seat mate about the traditions of tea for her and her life.

Have a great Wednesday!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi