Tea Time

When my good friend Abbey invited me to a tea tasting event at DAVIDsTEA, I thought it sounded like a interesting idea. Abbey is a lot of fun to hang around with and the thought of tasting tea instead of wine for a change sounded perfect (especially on this blustery April Day!).

DAVIDsTEA is tucked into a string of stores along the popular Queen Street West cooridor in Toronto. It's a tiny place that shares space in a way with Le Chateau just east of Spadina. About 20 chairs were planted at the front of the store facing a long white table that housed some porcelain cups and several clear ramekins full of loose tea.

We were seated and introduced to tea guru, Richard Guzauskas. Guzauskas instantly commanded presence from the crowd; not because he demanded it, but more because he looked so... fresh. His cropped white hair framed his smooth tanned face; so clear and pristine looking, it was almost as though he bathed in tea, whilst drinking it.

Once he began speaking, I couldn't take my eyes off him. I hung onto every word that filled his stories and information -- I never thought I could be so immersed in the world of tea.

I won't even attempt to relay any of the stories told, but I will go through the tasy teas Guzauskas fed us through out the night.

We tried six teas: two white, two green, two oolong and two black.

The first were a duo of white teas; one from Sri Lanka called Silver Needles and the other from China called Bai Hao Yin Zhen. I don't have info for the latter, but according to my info card, the Sri Lankan tea comes from expertly selected long leaf buds that are chosen and plucked to produce one of the finest and purest of all white teas.

Next we tasted two green teas: an Organic Gyokuro tea from Japan and a Chinese Snow Peony Green Tea. The leaves from the Gyokuro are sheilded from the sun for two weeks before harvesting which results in a sweeter, more energizing tea. The Snow Peony reflects every phase of its production, from from hand plucking the leaves to hand rolling and drying the leaves in a shaded ourdoor area.

The interesting thing about the difference between Japanese and Chinese green teas that I never knew is that Japanese people don't care what their tea looks like so they tend to just chop it down, steam it and brew it in covered cups; whereas Chinese like to see their leaves so they take great pride in hand picking their leaves and brewing them in an glass cup so they can see the leaves take shape in every cup.

Our next tasting was my favourite: Emerald Oolong and Organic Tie Kwan Yin. I've always read about Oolong but never tried it. According to Guzauskas, Oolong takes the most work to produce and to get the best cup, it's best to steep it for 7 minutes or more.

I found these Oolongs were pretty buttery and full-bodied and really lovely to drink all around. I'm so excited I got to try them in a setting where I could really get information on how to brew it properly.

Last but not least, we tried two delicious black teas: Red Dragon Pearls and Wild Black Tea. I loved how the dried Red Dragon leaves looked as their name suggests, little pearls of tea. Their leaves are plucked, oxidized and hand rolled to preserve the essential oils.

The Wild Black tea comes from years of deep forest growth which has enriched the flavours in each cup.

Now as a PR person, I loved attending this event because it was a really neat way to get the information out about tea. Guzauskas provided tons of info and advice about tea without so much "selling" DAVIDsTEA. But at the end of the night, you can bet the attendees were lined up to by a tea or two to bring home.

It was a fabulous event and well done. I will definitely be visiting DAVIDsTEA again, especially since one is opening in Bloor West, which is a bit closer to my neck of the woods. Nice work David!

DAVIDsTEA
336 Queen Street West (beside Le Chateau)
Toronto, ON M5V 2A2
www.davidstea.com
www.twitter.com/davidstea