All tagged puer

Tea and food pairings and tea-infused dishes from a fine dining chef's perspective

Tea and food pairings and tea-infused dishes from a fine dining chef's perspective

Anna Mariani
Pairings, Recipes

When I think of tea and food pairings or using tea as an ingredient in a dish, Italian food does not come to mind as the first, most obvious choice. And I was born and raised in Italy. That’s the reason why, when I came across chef and tea lover Christian Nicita and his tea room/restaurant Acquamadre on Instagram, I was immediately captivated. Imagine my reaction when I found out that he was serving gongfu-cha-steeped tea alongside fine-dining dishes in Sicily! Mind-blowing! And tea found its way into the dishes as well, together with local seasonal produce. Unfortunately, Acquamadre has shut down permanently due to the pandemic but Christian is already working on more tea-infused projects. Here is my conversation with him.

Tea and Mindfulness. Drinking pu erh and making a collage

Tea and Mindfulness. Drinking pu erh and making a collage

Anna Mariani
Tastings

Hello, tea lovers and welcome back to The Tea Squirrel! This is episode number two of my series on tea and mindfulness. Being present in the moment, enjoying the beauty of little things, being intentional with one’s thoughts and actions are all things that tea lovers can easily teach themselves by cultivating a tea ritual, however simple or elaborate. My goal for this series is to practice mindfulness more consistently and explore it in a creative way.

My favorite tea recipes for fall

My favorite tea recipes for fall

Anna Mariani
Recipes

Happy first day of fall, tea lovers! How are you celebrating this wonderful season? I can’t say it looks or feels like fall here in LA (yet?), but I can celebrate nonetheless, right? Luckily, I have some tea-infused recipes up my sleeve. Right this way for some cozy tea goodness.

Korean steamed eggs with puerh tea and miso

Korean steamed eggs with puerh tea and miso

Anna Mariani
Recipes, Pairings

I love infusing tea in savory dishes and the flavor combination of ripe puerh and mushrooms is a no-brainer. Earthy, woodsy and deep, bold, savory notes work perfectly together. Does this remind you of fall? While the rest of the northern hemisphere is enjoying the last weeks of summer, here in San Francisco we can’t wait for Fogust (fog+August) and its gray skies and chilly temperatures to be over. The good news is, from September on, we will have our fair share of summer too! Yay! So let me snuggle up with these delicious Korean steamed eggs while I bid adieu to Fogust and get ready for San Francisco summer!

An epic tea tasting with David Lee Hoffman

An epic tea tasting with David Lee Hoffman

Anna Mariani
Tastings

It’s a beautifully mild and sunny winter Saturday in San Francisco. My friend and fellow tea blogger Mike (The Tea Letter) and I are headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County, north of San Francisco. On the way, lush eucalyptus groves give way to towering redwoods. It’s a beautiful area and one that I often come to when I go hiking. Our destination is Lagunitas, where a very special tea tasting awaits.
 

The San Francisco International Tea Festival 2017

The San Francisco International Tea Festival 2017

Anna Mariani

It's 9:30 on a Sunday morning. On a regular Sunday, I would still be in bed, snoozing. But it’s not a regular Sunday. A line is forming in front of the San Francisco Ferry Building. I join it with a sigh of relief, virtually patting myself on the back for getting there early. Passers-by approach the volunteers who are managing the line, they want to know what event people are standing in line for (and what they are missing out on). They are stunned that tea is the reason drawing such crowds.

My favorite smoky tea cocktail

My favorite smoky tea cocktail

Anna Mariani
Recipes, Pairings

Fall… the most nostalgic, sweet, smoky and luxurious of all seasons. The grape harvest, the weather turning chilly, we go back to craving hot tea, even though we never really abandoned it in the summer. When I was a child, fall meant collecting edible chestnuts with my dog, playing in the fallen leaves and trying to avoid the spiky chestnut pods (ouch, those spiky pods sting!). Chestnuts are delicious roasted on an open fire, they become soft, sweet, smoky and earthy. For me smoky and earthy flavors are the embodiment of fall, which is why I’ve created a tea based cocktail that brings all those notes together.