Congratulations to The Rendezvous With Tea!

I stopped by The Rendezvous With Tea on Monday to purchase some teas, and was delighted to learn the shop had just won the Best of 2015 award for Specialty Food Stores in Grosse Pointe Woods, MI.  Congratulations to Naszreen, the owner!

The front window is beautifully decorated for Christmas in hopes of winning the 'Deck the Store Front' competition sponsored by the Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce.  

I was at the shop on December 1st for a tea tasting, but I'm just now blogging about it. 

[Naszreen, owner]

There were ten of us present to taste eight teas.  The first was a full-bodied black tea - Kiruwanaganga FBOPFEXS #1.  Trying saying that three times fast!  ;-)  The FBOPFEXS is the grade of tea which stands for Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings Extra Special.  It was a whole leaf tea with long tips, grown in Sri Lanka.  I wrote on my tasting notes that it was a good, robust tea.

The second tea was Yunnan Royal Gold Tips, grown in the Yunnan Province of China. It is made entirely of gold buds.  It was not as robust as the first tea, but was very good.

Third was Monkey Picked Oolong.  Legend has it that ancient Buddhist Monks trained monkeys to gather the youngest leaves from the tip of wild tea trees for this special Reserve blend.  This oolong tea leaned toward the green spectrum.  It had a mild perfume-like taste, and the printed notes described it as having an orchid aroma, so I'm wondering if my sense of smell influenced my taste buds??

Fourth was Thunder Supreme - a Chinese green tea that was very good.  

Fifth was Gyokuro Gold - one of the most expensive types of sencha available in Japan.  It actually had flecks of gold in it, and no strainer was used to pour this tea.  Any tea leaves that made their way into the cup were consumed.   The tea had a vegetal taste, but was good.

Sixth was Oriental Beauty Oolong, named by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1960's due to its fruity, smooth deliciousness.  It is also called White Tip Oolong.  It was on the green spectrum, and was very good. 

Seventh was Silver Tips [also called Virgin White Tea] - a rare white Ceylon tea with the finest buds.   I didn't take any photos of this tea.

The eighth and last tea was Golden Tips.  A rare Ceylon tea made from the finest young buds that are silvery white in color.  This tea is highly prized for its rarity.  It is the most expensive tea The Rendezvous With Tea sells.   It was a mild tea, and very good.  [Sorry, no photo of that tea either.]

Food was served at the conclusion of the tasting.  I had a medical test scheduled the following morning, so I couldn't eat it, but I brought it home to my hubby and he was happy to eat it for me! He declared everything delicious!

  

Naszreen made a tea eggnog with a Ceylon black tea called Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Unable to drink it at the tasting, I bought some of the tea to make the eggnog at home. Isn't it an elegant looking Christmas beverage?

Thanks for another wonderful tea tasting, Naszreen.  I'm looking forward to returning in February, 2016!