I had such a great Seattle day yesterday. My friend Ash invited a handful of folks on a tea tour. Seattle has lots of tea places and I've been back in to tea quite a bit lately, so I signed right up. The schedule:1st stop: Ash's house for bisquits & gravy and/or strawberries
2nd: the Panama Hotel Tea House at 6th & Main in the International District - an incredible place. We started with the lychee black tea - I wasn't sure I'd be in to either - but it was delicious. And the place has some amazing history. I would have been fine staying there for the day, but we had to move on - lots of tea out there to taste!
3rd: World Spice Merchants on Western by the Pike Place Market. This was more a spice joint, but on the lower level they had the bulk teas out - I don't think they normally have people come in for tea, but a guy there made us a pot of white tea (I think), was very nice, and gave us GIANT mugs to drink out of. We hung out there on some old stinky couches and debated whether or not all green tea comes from one plant (turns out, it does - along with oolong, black, white, and pu-erh, which I found out about at a later stop). All in all it was a nice stop (although I did get a semi-dirty cup that I had a hard time getting over. It's obvious they generally brew tea only for themselves and not for customers) - some folks bought spices (which looked amazing and I'll go back for), then we headed into the market.
4th: Vital Leaf Tea - this was an amazing place I've passed SO many times in the south end of the market but never realized what a gem it was. We sat down at a long, low bar and the bartender (teatender?) immediately began serving us various teas in thimble-sized tea cups (quite a switch from the stop before). I couldn't begin to name them, but we drank another lychee tea (a little sweeter this time), many many black teas, and herbal teas. I have no idea the number of thimbles I drank, but it was an incredible experience that I'd recommend to anyone who likes teas. I left with a new teapot (with a cool plunger design), the knowledge that you need to rinse black teas and only steep some of them for a second or so, and an ounce of lychee tea.
5th: Remedy Teas - the pièce de résistance. I had heard about this place in Capitol Hill - it's even better than what I expected from all of the hype. We started out with a white tea, then had a matcha shot (the tea version of the wheat grass shot). But that's just part of it. The wall behind the counter lists at least 140 types of teas you can order in bulk. The menu is ginormous and intimidating, but I am determined to conquer it. I ordered 2 green teas and 2 rooibos (which I learned I had been pronouncing wrong - it's 'roy-bos'). The absolute beauty of this place, besides the scrumptious tea, is the labels. After the crash course in teas all day I was definitely concerned that I would not know what to do with the tea. How long do I steep? How many times can I use the leaves? And then the final kicker, What temperature water do I need to use? Well Remedy Teas is brilliant and put all of that info on the package for you. I happily walked out of there with my teas and instructions.
Next we all went to the Elysian for dinner. I was so hopped up on tea that I was in dire need for food. We had a not-so-great waitress but the food did not disappoint, as usual. I opted out of drinking beer (which is a hard thing to do at the Elysian) because C and I were heading to Gay Bingo to table for Camp Ten Trees. I ran Gay Bingo from 2002-2004 so it's always fun to go see how much it's changed, the vibe, etc. It's changed a lot, and it's no longer how I would ever run it, but it does well, everyone has a blast, and it raises money for a great cause. The funny part is the host was Geisha Star, the very drag queen that used to live directly across from me in Capitol Hill. We both lived on the third floor of mid-century buildings and both had windows down the full length of the apartments. Neither of us ever closed our blinds, and I'd see her getting ready, putting on makeup for shows, and rehearsing numbers with her backup dancers in her living room. I loved it, and I'm sure she knew many of us across the street could see her dancing. It was great press. This was the first time I had actually seen her perform outside of her apartment, and she did not disappoint!So ends the incredible Saturday adventures of this Seattle girl. I can't wait for the reunion tour.
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