Samovar Tea Lounge - Green Tea Class: Live Online Tasting - Followup

At 2pm, I eagerly tuned in to the hosting of a live online tea taste and green tea class, led by Jesse Jacobs, the founder of Samovar Tea Lounge. The tasting began with Jesse describing the components of the subject of the tasting, Ryokucha. They are sencha green tea, matcha green tea, and popped brown rice.

Some important points from their tasting class:

• Control the brewing strength by filtering the leaves from your tea.
• Quick guide on how to taste tea:
• Look at the leaves themselves and inspect for consistency. This will lead to consistent flavor. 
• Breath in the aroma, hold it in the lungs, then exhale. This lets you get the full olfactory experience.
• Let the tea cool to room temperature before tasting it, in order to get all of the flavors.
• Slurp the first sip a bit in order to aerate the tea and let it coat your mouth and tongue.
• Green tea is loaded with antioxidants, called flavenoids. The fresher the tea, the greater the antioxidant amount.
• Green tea will pair well with:
• Eggs
• Oatmeal
• Fish, especially salmon
• Other seafood, including sushi
• Mousse
• Brownies
• Loose tea is absolutely better than bagged tea in every way.
• The biggest enemies of tea are heat, light, and moisture. Keep your tea stored away from these things to preserve as much freshness as possible.

I look forward to further tastings and classes from Samovar Tea Lounge! It was definitely worth watching.