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| Tea tasting on-line event hosted by Brooklyn Tea featured four black teas from various regions. |
Last month, a few members of the Gulley family took part in a fun and flavorful tea tasting hosted by Brooklyn Tea and without any of us leaving home - whether that saved us a long drive or a short walk.
Brooklyn Tea is a compact, contemporary tea room in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood (aka "Bed-Stuy") of the New York borough. It's also home to my son, Matt, who joined me in the virtual tea tasting the last weekend of July.
The tea tasting was co-sponsored by The Coffee and Tea Festival and to participate in the virtual event, you needed to buy your tickets ten days in advance to assure your package of tea samples arrived on time. And, how exciting it was when the package was delivered!
The box from Brooklyn Tea came with four different teas in sleek black pouches wrapped in tissue paper featuring a map of Brooklyn. Instructions on the box, in bold block letters, succinctly let you know what to do: steep it, pour it and sip it.
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| On-line with Matt and other participants for tea tasting event |
That's exactly what we did, along with several other on-line attendees, under the direction of Brooklyn tea owners, Ali Wright and Jamila McGill. The couple are both business and life partners and their knowledge and passion for tea came through loud and clear in the slightly-more-than-an-hour tea tasting event.
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| Brooklyn Tea owners Ali Wright and Jamilla McGill guide participants through four black tea tastings. |
Wright is a certified tea sommelier who grew up in Jamaica and remembers tea being a part of his life as early as age three. McGill is from the south where sweet tea was her main tea connection. When the two began dating they would go "tea shop hopping" in their travels which lead to a tea business that expanded from catering pop-up events to finding a brick-and-mortar tea shop in Bed-Stuy, which they bought last year.
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| The virtual classroom! |
The July tea tasting featured four black teas: Assam, Nilgiri, Kambaa Kenyan Black, and Lapsang Souchon. Spoiler alert: they were all fabulous!
Wright and McGill would describe each tea, - it's origin, optimal brewing time - while participants would open their tea packets and steep, pour and sip, just as our box advised.
While I was familiar with the Assam's full bodied, earthy flavor (featured in many English Breakfast blends), and Lapsong Souchon's smoky taste, Brooklyn Teas versions were really amazing.
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| Kambaa Kenyan is a "knock your socks off" tea |
The Kambaa Kenyan Black tea was from, no surprise, Kenya, and it was strong and hearty. Wright fittingly described it as a "knock your socks off tea" - it has a high percentage of caffeine and takes the addition of milk exceedingly well.
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| Nilgiri is my new favorite tea - floral and light, great for afternoon tea |
But, my absolute new favorite is Nilgiri, a tea grown in the mountains of eastern India. It has floral notes, almost perfume-y as a few participants observed, but a bit lighter in taste and body than the others. I think it would make a wonderful afternoon tea selection!
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| Brooklyn Tea in Bed-Stuy area of Brooklyn, short walk for son, Matt |
Matt and I really enjoyed this tea tasting experience and I'm planning on visiting Brooklyn Tea in my son's neighborhood when things get back to "normal". The tea store is currently opened and Matt took a visit there shortly after the tea tasting and supplied me with some pictures (and maybe some tea?).
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| Inside the compact and contemporary tea room |
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| You're encourage to "stop and smell the tea" |
In the meantime, Brooklyn Tea has another tea tasting scheduled for August 23rd. This will be on green teas and although the deadline to order the tea has passed, you may still be able to participate. Click this evenbright link to the Coffee and Tea Festival sponsored event for more information.
Thanks to Brooklyn Tea for this great event and thanks to Matt for the location photos!
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