Monday, December 15, 2008
Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:49 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Black Green White

After attending a concert the other night at the Esplanade, my friend and I tried to avoid the post-concert rush by sitting down for tea somewhere. We came across the Cookie Museum, but were told that there were no more tables available at the rather small shop. Disappointed, we queued at a shop opposite, but a few minutes later, the waitress who had turned us away came rushing over to tell us a table had just been cleared, and were we still interested?

We were, and took a nice window seat in the corner. The decor of the place was very roccoco, full of gilt, mirrors and heavily patterned fabric. The tea menu was quite impressive, with at least 2 or 3 dozen types of tea, including green and white tea. My friend ordered a Lady Grey, which she had not been able to obtain for quite a while. I ordered an infusion named Bed of Roses, which were pale rosbuds with marigold petals. The Lady Grey was impressive, the black tea a soft background to the lavender and bergamot. In successive infusions, though, the bergamot began to get stronger, and the lavender weaker, so by about the third pot, it became rather like a lowgrade Earl Grey. But kudos for the tea lasting even 2 steepings, which is fairly good for black tea.

The Bed of Roses was a bit more disappointing, but I was not expecting much from a flower infusion. The rose was fairly strong in the first infusion, subsequent steepings became very weak.

We also sampled a white tea named Peony Garden and a green tea named Lotus Garden. We were very taken with the Peony Garden, although they scalded the white tea with water that was too hot. The fragrance of the Peony was noticeable but still delicate enough to allow the innate fragrance of the white tea to come through. The Lotus Garden was less impressive, as the flower scent (definitely not lotus) was too strong, almost artificial. Still, I could tell that the green tea base was good, although overpowered by other fragrances.

I am definitely going back to try some of the other teas, and perhaps even the cookies, of which they had a mindboggling variety.

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