Oolong tea and passion fruit affogato

Oolong tea and passion fruit affogato

Anna Mariani
Recipes, Pairings

Despite being located in California, San Francisco has little in common with the rest of the Golden State when it comes to its climate. Summers in San Francisco should not be called summers. Can we all agree on a different name, please? What do you call a foggy, overcast and cool season? Fall? Oddly enough, fall in San Francisco is the best time of year. We’re experiencing a heat wave right now and warm and sunny weather is expected to last until early November. No pumpkin-spiced anything for us, at least until then. To beat the San Francisco heat, I’m making plenty of ice cream. The best way to pair any ice cream with tea? Read on to find out! 

My tasting notes: Oriental Beauty oolong

My tasting notes: Oriental Beauty oolong

Anna Mariani
Tastings, Pairings

Oriental Beauty is a “bug-bitten” oolong tea from Taiwan. Let's take a moment to appreciate a tiny insect, the tea green leaf hopper. The plant defense mechanism against the attack of leaf hoppers makes the tea delicious by releasing chemicals which contribute to its flavor. Read on to find out more.

Tea: what’s going on in the UK?

Tea: what’s going on in the UK?

Anna Mariani

The most British thing there is doesn’t seem to be doing well at home, but is thriving on our side of the pond. Last month, British daily newspaper The Guardian reported that “the US currently seems to be enjoying a tea party to which Britain has not been invited, with tea bars popping up across the nation and sales of the hot drink shooting up 15% in the past five years”. Good, high-quality tea is not hard to come by here on the West Coast but what is happening exactly in the UK?

5 things you might not know about me

5 things you might not know about me

Anna Mariani

Last week, fellow tea blogger Nicole Martin shared 5 things her readers might not know about her on her blog Tea For Me Please. I really enjoyed getting to know her a bit better through that post! She challenged fellow tea bloggers to write their own versions of this post, so here I am with mine! Thank you, Nicole, for sharing such a fun challenge!

The Tea Squirrel interviews Italian tea sommelier Gabriella Lombardi

The Tea Squirrel interviews Italian tea sommelier Gabriella Lombardi

Anna Mariani

When I was little, before even learning to read, one of my favorite pastimes was to take books from my parents’ bookshelves and look at the photos or illustrations. Some of those books were beautifully illustrated cookbooks, some were travel photography books, some were gardening books. Those books and their photos and illustrations had me under a spell. I would spend hours lost in those books, fantasizing about those photos and illustrations. I own a tea book that holds that same fascination for me. It’s ...

My tasting notes: He Kai Shan Puerh

My tasting notes: He Kai Shan Puerh

Anna Mariani
Tastings, Pairings

The weather in San Francisco is weird, there’s no other way to put it. We have a unique micro climate. So while the rest of the Northern Hemisphere is trying to survive the scorching heat of summer, we have to put up with the fog and lower-than-usual temperatures. August has even been renamed Fogust (= fog + August). It’s dreary and grey. For a tea drinker, it’s actually rather ideal. Did you know that the fog has a name?

Hugo: the European summer cocktail gets a tea makeover

Hugo: the European summer cocktail gets a tea makeover

Anna Mariani
Recipes, Pairings

Elderflower has a charming flavor with a very sophisticated profile, somewhat vintage-y, but very classy. It’s a flavor I associate with Austria. Chilled sparkling water with elderflower syrup is a popular non alcoholic summer beverage there. As it turns out, elderflower syrup is popular in cocktails too! The first time I’ve heard about the Hugo cocktail was in Austria, but - strangely enough - not until my recent trip to Europe did I fell in love with it. There’s no tea in the original version of the Hugo cocktail, but you know me, I can’t help myself ;-) 

My tasting notes: Jun Shan Yin Zhen yellow tea

My tasting notes: Jun Shan Yin Zhen yellow tea

Anna Mariani
Tastings, Pairings

Milan is well known for being Italy’s fashion and design capital, for its opera house La Scala and for its saffron risotto. Little did I know that I would find a less widely known Chinese tea there.
Braving the merciless afternoon heat, I made my way to Chà Tea Atelier, a specialty tea shop and tea room, where owner Gabriella Lombardi and I chatted over a cup of tea. Gabriella, who is the author of the book “Tea Sommelier”, travels to Asia every year and directly sources her teas. It was fun to hear her talk about China and the cultural aspects that made a lasting impression. 

My tasting notes: Organic Assam black tea

My tasting notes: Organic Assam black tea

Anna Mariani
Tastings, Pairings

"I grew up on this estate, so for me Chota Tingrai is full of memories. The butterflies, the fresh smell of rain, the Tingrai river that winds its way through the estate, the sound of the crickets before a roaring thunder, and the loud rain pattering on the tin roofs and a sea of glowing fireflies are some of my favourite memories of the estate".

Avantika Jalan, Managing Director and Founder, Mana Organics

Confessions of a teaware minimalist

Confessions of a teaware minimalist

Anna Mariani

The beauty of tea also lies in the choice of teaware it is served in. In the Japanese tea ceremony, for example, appreciating the beauty of the teaware is part of the ritual. It helps being present in the moment. The right teaware adds to the experience. Think of drinking your favorite tea out of a beautiful porcelain cup and compare that to drinking that very same tea out of a disposable paper cup. Not the same, right?

Tea and charcuterie

Tea and charcuterie

Anna Mariani
Pairings, Tastings

With World Tea Expo coming to a close, I’m a little sad that I I was not able to attend. To beat the blues, I turned to tea and food (so predictable, right?!) to cheer me up and ended up experimenting with some pairings I had never tried before.Drumroll, please...Let me introduce you to salumi, aka the cured meats of Italy. I have three tea and salumi pairings for you! 

Tea-infused Negroni, two ways

Tea-infused Negroni, two ways

Anna Mariani
Recipes, Pairings

If you haven’t already, it’s time to hop on the Negroni bandwagon. Negroni, now ubiquitous, is an iconic Italian cocktail. Legend has it that Count Camillo Negroni invented it in 1919 in Florence. Why is it so popular? For one thing, it’s Italian, need I say more? (just kidding, of course). Well, it’s a simple recipe (just 3 ingredients in equal parts) and it doesn’t require any special bar tools. Nevertheless, it’s a very sophisticated cocktail. Its strong flavor, with bitter and sweet notes, might not be for everyone but palates have evolved to appreciate the bitter flavor in coffee and IPA beers, kale and dark chocolate, to name just a few examples. As it turns out, tea is perfect to create playful variations of Negroni, so without further ado, let me introduce you to the Tea-groni, two ways!

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