Experience Tea Studio is a learning space and tea shop located on Front Street in historic downtown Issaquah. In addition to a great selection of tea and tea ware, regular classes and workshops led by owner and Certified Tea Specialist Roberta Fuhr are available for anyone who would like to learn more about one of the world's most popular beverages.
On Thursday, July 10th, Experience Tea Studio hosted a Green Tea Tasting where we were introduced to a variety of green teas ranging from Japanese teas prepared by Noli Ergas (
Sugimoto America) to teas from China and Korea prepared by Roberta Fuhr (
Experience Tea Studio).
For the Japanese teas, we were able to taste and compare short and long steepings of Fukamushi Sencha and Gyokuro. It takes very little time to take a Gyokuro from a delicate, sweet/savory umami to a bright, grassy astringency similar to Sencha. While both results are desirable, this really highlighted how important steeping time is, especially for delicate teas like Gyokuro.
We also compared a ceremonial grade Matcha with a culinary grade Matcha. It's unusual to prepare culinary grade Matcha as a stand-alone beverage. However, this was a great opportunity to understand how the bold, astringent flavor and aroma of a culinary Matcha make it an ideal food and beverage ingredient, where the more delicately nuanced flavor and aroma of a ceremonial Matcha would be buried under other ingredients.
For the Chinese teas, we enjoyed a toasty West Lake Dragonwell. Then we moved on to Korean teas which included an Ujeon (first picking) and a Jungjak (third picking). This was my first experience with these particular Korean teas and I can already see my tea collection expanding soon to include the delicate and flavorful Ujeon.
Many thanks to Roberta and Noli for putting this event together, sharing their expertise, and introducing us to these wonderful teas!
Address:
195 Front St N, Issaquah, WA 98027
Hours:
12:00pm - 6:00pm Wednesday - Saturday
12:00pm - 4:00pm Sunday
Closed Monday - Tuesday
