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For many tea lovers, coffee has always been a bit of an anathema. Harsh where tea was gentle, unnerving where tea was calming, and decidedly unhealthy in contrast to tea’s undeniable wholesomeness. The lines between the camp of coffee and the camp of tea have always been clearly and unmistakably demarcated. That is, until lately.
Enter Brian Foster: a native of White Plains, New York, and one of a small (but enthusiastic) group of people who are enjoying a most unusual tisane made by steeping the leaves of the coffee plant in hot water. Yes, you heard right, Foster and his fellow enthusiasts are making “tea” from coffee. “It’s fantastic!” Foster gushes. “It has a caffiene kick similar to black tea, and a really great flavor. I love it.” Foster admits that obtaining the leaves can be difficult, but not impossible if “you know the right suppliers or grow your own.” According to Foster, the popularity of “Coffee-tea” is growing. “Right now this is sort of a fringe thing. But everyone who tries it loves it, and it grows a little every day. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it on the menus of coffee shops in the next five years or so.”
We recently asked independent tea expert Tommy Smith to sample some of our teas. Tommy is a guy who takes tea seriously, and his tasting notes are incredible. Here’s what he had to say about our Yun-wu Meilan Chun, one of our most popular teas:
September 11, 2007
Kasora Special Reserve Teas’ “Yun-wu Meilan Chun“
This is one of the samplers which were graciously sent my way for review by the good people of Kasora. This high elevation, young-growth spring harvest tea from Fujian is harvested from a slow growing, high quality varietal called Mei Tsan and according to the company is one of the most difficult greens to procure in China. Like other “yun wu”/mist teas Ive tried, this has a predominantly vegetal flavor and aroma, but is much smoother, milder, and less grassy than many of the others I’ve tried.
I was impressed with the level of flavors offered through this tea’s multiple infusions, considering it seemed to be a basic pan-fired young-leaf China green with little more than a faint dry green spice aroma hiding behind the typical vegetal dry fragrance prior to infusion. The many light, ephemeral flavors appear as transitioning notes dancing around the palate, necessitating mention of location on tongue to pin down associations. 2g/125ml in a glazed ceramic 6oz capacity gaiwan, decanted for tasting.
Who, or what, is Kasora? And does the world really need another blog about tea?
Kasora was founded in 2006, after a small group of passionate tea fanatics became frustrated by what they saw as widespread deception in the tea industry. Nearly every tea company was promising that the tea they were selling was “the best”, or “the finest”, or “the choicest”, but almost none of them were actually selling the highest grades of tea. This meant that tea lovers were purchasing what they thought was the best tea they could buy, never aware that they were essentially being duped. The reasons for this industry-wide deception were threefold. First, the highest grades of tea represent quantities that are far too small to fill all the containers necessary to justify a typical production run; second, the highest grades of tea are notoriously difficult to acquire; and third, these high grade teas are not reliably consistent from season to season. Kasora was conceived as a service that would work as a liaison between its clients and the gardens of the world’s major tea producing regions. Seeking out only the highest certified grades of the world’s finest teas, submitting them to independent expert tasting analysis and grade verification, and making them available to connoisseurs who were tired of empty promises wrapped in flashy packaging.
Now Kasora presents ”World of Tea”, our first online blog/magazine, featuring tea news, guest reviews, and all the honesty you’ve come to expect from the internet’s premier source for truly rare and high-grade teas.
