My tea journey is about the journey itself, not the destination. I don’t know where I’m going exactly but I know that every cup of tea, whether shared with someone or enjoyed alone, every encounter and conversation over tea, each and every tasting note and photograph I take are worth my undivided attention. Creative process and pleasure are more valuable than overanalyzing and perfectionism. In order to feel good, I have to take action, creative action, and tea is the Thing that fuels it. So here I am, amplifying my sensory experience of tea by drinking tea, two teas, side by side, in wine gla ..read more

If you’ve seen my previous posts about tea chocolate, you know that I am obsessed with bean-to-bar chocolate maker Fossa from Singapore and their single-origin tea chocolate bars made in collaboration with tea curator Pekoe & Imp. Given how consistently impressive these tea chocolate bars are, my goal is to try their whole line, which is no easy feat given that many limited releases are not available in the US (at least not that I know of). I was able to find two Fossa bars I had not tried yet, Duck Shit Dancong tea chocolate and Himalayan Royale Tips Hongcha tea chocolate. Tea-infused ch ..read more

While I was hanging out at one of my favorite artisan bakeries in Long Beach recently, I came across two tea-infused chocolate bars by bean-to-bar chocolate maker Fossa from Singapore. I had not tried either yet, so I picked one up (hopefully next time I’ll remember to get the other one too). A little while ago, I had posted about my tasting notes, thoughts and impression of their Honey Orchid Dancong Hongcha Tea Chocolate, which was exceptional. That bar was made with black tea (hongcha). Today, you’ll hear what I thought of their Honey Orchid Dancong Oolong Tea Chocolate bar. I am captivated ..read more

What is the Tea Squirrel up to? Testing out tea-based mocktail recipes to see if they meet my tea-centric expectations, obviously. If there’s tea in it, I want to taste it. Don’t you? Is the author of the recipe a tea drinker? Are they using tea because they believe in the potential of tea as an ingredient or because they need to use just another buzzword? So many questions, only one way to find out. Trying it out myself. I came across another recipe by Julia Bainbridge, the author of Good Drinks, a recipe book on non alcoholic drinks. In my previous post, I tried her black tea based mocktail ..read more

What is the Tea Squirrel up to? Testing out tea-based mocktail recipes to see if they meet my tea-centric expectations, obviously. If there’s tea in it, I want to taste it. Don’t you? Is the author of the recipe a tea drinker? Are they using tea because they believe in the potential of tea as an ingredient or because they need to use just another buzzword? So many questions, only one way to find out. Trying it out myself. I came across the recipe for a mocktail called A little bit Russian by Julia Bainbridge. It’s a riff on a White Russian, which is typically made with coffee liqueur. Think sw ..read more

Dear tea friends, I hope your 2022 is off to a great start! This blog post is a little different from all my other posts but I think it’s necessary. I haven’t been very active here on the blog or on social media lately and I wanted to reach out to you to update you on what’s next for The Tea Squirrel. Since the beginning of January, I have been on a social media fast, specifically I’ve deleted the Instagram and Facebook apps from my phone. I don’t know how long this will last but I’m happy to report that it’s been a positive experience. You don’t need me to tell you how distracting and how ali ..read more

Today I’m revisiting a method to evaluate matcha I had described a few years ago in my blog post “Comparing 2 single-cultivar matcha”. I did not invent this method, but I had borrowed it from the Kettl tea blog. Unfortunately, their original post is no longer available for reference, but I remember following their method exactly. I selected 3 different matcha green teas from my collection, which at the moment includes 5 (actually 6 if we include culinary grade) and evaluated them side by side. Let’s start by reviewing what kind of information is available for each one of them. As a rule of thu ..read more

The other day I was at a specialty wine store and stumbled upon a few interesting artisanal chocolate bars, including two tea-infused ones. On a whim, I decided that I needed to try them and purchased them. I was already familiar with both brands but had not tried either of them yet. Tasting tea infused chocolate bars _ The Tea Squirrel The chocolate bars I purchased are Fossa Honey Orchid Dancong Hongcha Tea Chocolate and Raaka Green Tea Crunch. I was mostly excited to try Fossa Honey Orchid Dancong Hongcha Tea Chocolate because of how specific the tea type used to infuse the chocolate is. H ..read more

Can the gaiwan be the gateway to a deeper enjoyment and understanding of tea? It's a sunny afternoon in late March, maybe early April in Portland, Oregon. It’s 2016. I’m sitting indoors at a table facing two French patio doors half open onto a pond. There’s a weeping willow tree to the left, its branches caressing the water. To the right, a small pavilion with a steep sloping roof, its corners boldly curved upwards. In the background a sleek skyscraper façade, glimmering. There are people around me but the room is quiet. I am presented with a tray and what is referred to as “the formal tea ser ..read more

Are you looking for this post in English? You can find it here. Le foto sono gentilmente fornite da Christian Nicita. Quando pensiamo agli abbinamenti che si possono fare con il tè o all’uso del tè come ingrediente in cucina, non è automatico associarlo a piatti salati e tanto meno alla cucina italiana. La maggior parte di noi accompagna il tè con un dolce o dei biscotti ma non si sognerebbe mai di usare il tè per preparare un piatto a base di pesce. Ed è proprio per questo che quando mi sono imbattuta in Christian Nicita sui social media e nelle meravigliose foto dei piatti e degli abbinament ..read more