Bottled Tea vs. Fresh Brewed

The RTD (ready-to-drink) tea market is going through the roof.  Sales keep increasing.  This is good news for the tea industry, and it introduces people to tea, which is always a good thing.  The only problem is that many of the drinks are high in sugar and low in beneficial antioxidants.  The industry is being helped by all the information on the health benefits of tea, green tea in particular.  The average consumer is buying the bottled tea drink thinking they are doing something good for them, and are really only getting a drink that may be as healthy as drinking soda.  The healthy antioxidant, or polyphenols are present in bottled tea drinks, but at half to 100 times less than the levels of freshly brewed tea.  If you are drinking a decaffeinated version of a bottled tea it is even lower.  To decaffeinate tea in general, the caffeine and many of the antioxidants are stripped out, then the antioxidants are put back.  The studies of the lack of polyphenols in bottled tea are from as early as 2000, when the USDA said that bottled tea had very low levels of polyphenols.  Linus Pauling Institute did a study in 2005 that also showed low levels of polyphenols.   The latest study done in August of 2010 showed the same results. "The six teas... analyzed contained 81, 43, 40, 13, 4, and 3 milligrams of polyphenols per 16-ounce bottle. One average cup of home-brewed green or black tea, which costs only a few cents, contains 50-150 milligrams of polyphenols".  The labels say that green tea is antioxidant rich, but don't actually say the tea contained in the bottle is, so what they say isn't untrue, but it is certainly misleading. If you are going to buy bottled tea, stick to an unsweetened one, but better yet make your own at home.  You will be saving money & getting lots more antioxidants in your cup.  Take a moment in your day to make a cup of tea and sit & siptea...

Good Cup of Tea in LA

Went to Intelligentsia in Venice a few weeks ago & finally got a good cup of tea. The green tea was not bitter and the only bad thing I could say was it was a bit thin on flavor. Might want to use more tea leaves the next time. Oh I should add that they also took the leaves out of the pot, so no re-steeping, bummer. Also had a great muffin from Cake Monkey, love them.
4 1/2 out of 5 leaves!
Success at last!

Lamill Coffee in Silverlake

Lamill Coffee in Silverlake is from the name, the place to get coffee, not necessarily tea. This is a coffeehouse but they do have a nice and well balanced list of teas. Went for lunch here and overall a good experience. I ordered a green tea they had on the menu, and even though I know quite a bit about tea, I didn't know how to pronounce the Chinese name or know the tea. So being adventurous I wanted to try this one, organic magnolia Yuncui green. When I said to the waitress, I would like this green tea, not sure how to pronounce it, hoping she would help me out, she responded, "I don't know either." Ok, not the answer I was expecting, but it is a coffee place. One friend got a silver needle, white tea and the other ordered iced tea. The iced tea was said to be a green tea. When it came it had other flavors in it, and having allergies my friend wanted to know what else was in the tea. That took quite a while and ended up having flowers in it, so she chose not to finish it. Side note food was excellent. Both the white & the green tea were bitter, again this could be due to too long steep time or too hot water. The tea came in a glass pot and the leaves had been removed, which is fine for presentation, but re-steeping, especially oolongs is important. The white tea was listed as a silver needle, but the waitress when asked said that all the teas were blended with lots of other ingredients & that nothing was pure tea. I didn't correct her, but my tea & the silver needle from flavor appeared to be just tea, not blends with herbs & flowers. They menu had cool names for the blends, but when asked what the ingredients were in the blends, the waitress responded, "there are 8 million ingredients in the blends," and therefore couldn't really give us a better idea of what was in the tea.
Things they did right:
- nice atmosphere & good music
- cool descriptions of tea, not the usual flowery, fussy, but modern & hip
- nice presentation with glass pot
- loose leaf tea (assumed because we didn't see the tea)
- tea given equal time in the beverage menu (beverage menu much larger than food)
- loose leaf tea tin available for purchase
Things that were off:
- staff knowledge of tea (might just be our particular waitress)
- took forever to find out what the iced tea was made of & it was a standard menu item
- tea preparation seemed flawed, not sure of the problem, but outcome was bitter tea
- no leaves so re-steeping isn't an option
- different cups for different tea, but no real reason
- price warrants better knowledge of what they are selling
Side note, the bench seats are uncomfortable & hard to get in & out of, recommend sitting in chairs.
3 leaves out of 5
For trying to make tea hip and atmosphere.
They might want to up their training of staff on tea, since about half the people were drinking tea.

Jin Patisserie Tea Review

Another in my series reviewing tea service in Los Angeles.
Jin Patisserie in Venice on Abbot Kinney.
I had been here a couple of years ago, when they were carrying teas from Le Palais des Thes, a French company with a branch here in Beverly Hills. They have lovely teas, pricey, but very nice. Jin Patisserie is now carrying a new French tea line, The O Dor, don't know that name, but the menu says it is a newer company. The setting is great with a small enclosed courtyard around a central water feature. My friend & I had tea, plus a chocolate that they had samples of at the register, don't miss out on the samples! It was a passion fruit chocolate. Incredible intense flavor in such a compact package, really lovely. My friend had a blend with roses & I had a Lotus green tea. I am not remembering all the information on the teas & didn't take good notes, so thought I would just get it off the website, but no such luck. Another pet peeve, websites with music, please stop, plus the pretty site was hard to navigate & get info. Next step was to phone, but must have called at the wrong time, no answer. This is from memory so if I get some details wrong oops.
Things they did right:
-Lovely, peaceful setting, that isn't overly fussy.
-Tea is brought to you already steeped with the leaves removed, so no over steeping at the table.
-White porcelain cup & teapot. White color is the best to show off the color of the tea liquor.
-Perfectly steeped tea, they do know what they are doing.
-Pour the first cup for you, a nice touch.
Things that bugged me:
-Were there any organic options?
-Tea is brought with tumbled raw sugar lumps, and pretty big in size too. So if you wanted sweetener you would get lots.
-They remove the tea leaves. Which as I said above is good, but what if you want a re-steep? You have to buy a second pot, which I'm fine with the paying for more tea, but what if you get an Oolong? The 2nd steep is usually better than the first because the tea has a chance to open up. It just seems a disservice to tea in general not to let people see & smell the leaves & get to experience re-steeping of a good tea.
Liked the white cup, but not crazy about the handle on the tea cup, I kept trying to cup it like a Japanese style cup. This is my preference & I know many people like handles especially for black tea. Style points for the pot & cup being simple not flowery.
On a personal note, I think I picked the wrong tea for me. The Lotus tea I had was interesting & I had never had that particular tea before, so I got it to expand my taste palette, but liked it, wasn't in love with it. That is not part of the review but my own take on the tea.
In general, Jin Patisserie has good tea & even better chocolates & desserts.
Still in search of a perfect tea in Los Angeles, besides the ones I make at home.
4 out of 5 leaves

Earth Day Birthdays!!

We are extremely pleased to announce that Rosalyn Grant, had a little baby girl this morning. So excited for Jesse & Rosalyn that they had a 7lb. healthy, and according to her father, beautiful baby girl. Of course she would be beautiful. Rosalyn had the baby naturally & without any drugs, just like she wanted. It is extra impressive, that she was working at siptea until the 10th of April! All I can say is, WOW & that we are so happy for her. Can't wait to see the new little baby girl, who is now sharing a birthday with me & the earth.
Our Earth Day Green tea discount was a success & we gave away chico bags to customers who brought in their own cups. Kudos to you who made the extra Earth Day effort!
Thanks to our great customers & Rosalyn for making this a very special Earth Day indeed!

The Mayor of Los Angeles

Celebrity sighting here at siptea! Antonio Villaraigosa came in today to have a pot of green tea & a meeting with Jessica McLean of the Bringing Back Broadway Project, along with his bodyguard. I used the opportunity to mention the green roofs project that the Mayor of Chicago started and that we should use some of the green stimulus money for putting green roofs in downtown LA. He was interested in the build out of the space & I told him we followed LEED standards, but couldn't afford the certification, because you had to have an on-site LEED representative to certify your project. Too large a cost, $25,000 to $50,000, for a tea house. He said that was something the city should look into for small projects and small businesses.
He also got a kick out of the bathroom & the fact that I put Councilmember Jose Huizar's plaque up in the restroom.
Some of the customers texted friends of the Mayor sighting. Overall very cool & receptive to the place & what we were trying to do as a green business.