So we’ve already learnt that climate plays a huge part in the magic of a tea’s unique characteristics, but what else plays a part?

Topography (the relief of the land) – in a nutshell this takes into account how the altitude and latitude (the degree of the slope of the mountain) of a particular place determine the tea garden’s exposure to wind, rain, frost, sunshine, shade and drainage.

Having recently been to Sri Lanka I have been lucky enough to experience the diverse climate and topography and therefore flavour and characteristics of its tea, first hand. I loved chatting to the wonderful Herman, owner of the tropical Handunugoda tea estate, about Sri Lanka’s unique topography and how it determines how their tea is grown and therefore, how it tastes.

Herman explained that Sri Lankan teas are not classified by season or climate but instead by elevations: low, mid and high-grown tea. Each elevation lends itself to unique flavours and characteristics - mellow and rich low-grown, aromatic citrusy mid-grown and intense high-grown – and even price point!

In the high mountain tea growing areas, the native China tea bush, the Camellia Sinensis, flourishes even on incredibly steep slopes as high as almost 8000 feet. At this height the thin air slows the leaf growth. This growth is focused around an optimum picking period so their yield is half that of the tea bushes grown in the much lower tropical tea gardens.

In the tropical Southern tea growing parts of the island where Herman’s beautiful estate is, the tea bush flourishes more consistently all year round and produces a more mellow and rich flavour and the teas are easier to harvest.

The lower yields, coupled with the difficulty in harvesting the tea in the highlands lead to a more intense flavour and a much higher price point for the high elevation teas.

Next time, the final focus will be on geology and terroir.

A little update to my blog post on Monday (http://lahlootea.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/).

Here, the BBC investigate just how to master the art of brewing the perfect brew with me, Kate Gover (founder of Lahloo Tea) and The UK Tea Council.

Happy reading!

This year i’m more excited about pancake day this week, an attempt to flip and smoke up the kitchen and top a mountain of pancakes with an unhealthy amount of sugar, maple syrup, cheese, ham- you name it; for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I take the ‘day’ in pancake day very seriously.

Still. This shouldn’t stop us creating a few romantic treats for our loved ones, i’m sure that although we all say we hate the idea of Valentines Day that deep inside we hope for a little something special.

These Rose Florentines weren’t exactly planned for a Valentines Day post, in fact i thought of these a couple of months back at the beginning of the year. I was in a cafe in Bath drinking a cup of Lahloo Rosebud tea with a lovely slice of very sweet cake, and i fell in love with the combination of the floral taste.

It’s definitely a kind of marmite tea, some may think it’s a bit too perfume like but others may develop a kind of obsession; it’s a beautiful caffeine free tea that can cheer the dullest of moods.

I bought a tin of this tea last week and began to recipe test these Rose Florentines. Feel free to experiment with the amount of edible rose petals, if you want just a small hint of rose i would suggest halving the amount i’ve suggested. Since when should being romantic stick to one day of the year ?… so do try to make theese at any time of the year for your loved one!

Perfect with the light rosebud tea or a dark expresso, as they are very sweet, they’re perfect to share ;)

 Rose Florentines 

Adapted slightly from this Hairy Bikers recipe. Makes 6 big ones or 12 tiny ones.

Additional notes: You may find using silicone sheets easier to make these as they tend to love to stick. If using greaseproof paper ensure that they are slightly warm when attempting to move to a wire rack to cool.

 2 tbsp of unsalted butter

75g of golden or regular caster sugar

3 tsp of Gluten free plain flour

70ml of creme fraiche

125g flaked almonds,  Half whole, half chopped and toasted.

3 tbsp Candied peel /Orange Peel (optional)

2 tablespoons of Edible Rose Petals (roughly chopped) with extra for decoration (i used Lahloo’s Rosebud Tea)

150g/5oz good quality white or dark chocolate, broken into pieces

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Measure out your almonds, candied peel, rosebuds, mix and set aside.

Heat the butter, sugar and flour in a pan over a medium heat.  Stir continuously to avoid sticking, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.

Add in the crème fraîche, stirring continuously until well combined.

Add the almonds, candied peel and rosebuds and mix well. Make sure the sugar coats all of the almonds.

Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and place teaspoonfuls of the florentine mixture onto it. Space the teaspoonfuls out like you would cookies, not too close to each other. You can either make 6 big ones or 12 tiny ones.

Transfer the florentines to the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until just turning golden-brown. Top the florentines with the extra rose petals whilst hot, so they stick.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool on the tray, then transfer the florentines to a cooling rack.

Bring a little water to a simmer in a pan. Suspend a heatproof bowl over the water (do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water). Add the chocolate and stir until smooth and melted.

Turn the florentines so that the flat base is facing upwards. Spread the melted chocolate over the florentine bases and set aside to cool and set. Or pop in the fridge for quicker results.

OPULENT BLACK ………………….. Spice Chai (32.4%)

Beating Bristol Brew by just one vote, the invigorating and comforting Spice Chai gets to the top of your trusted black teas!

INTRIGUING OOLONG …………… Orchid (36.1%)

This oolong is so stunning that even thieves love it! Our whole consignment of Orchid was stolen and we’re currently trying to source an alternative! True story. Too much Orchid love.

GALVANISING GREEN …………. Matcha (28.6%)

The mighty Matcha gets your vote, followed closely by Green Jasmine. Once you try Matcha there’s no turning back!

ALLURING WHITE …………….. White Peony (30.6%)

This seemed to be a difficult choice! White Peony, Snow Jewel and White Whisper got nearly the same number of votes.

HERBAL THERAPY…………….. Peppermint (28.6%)

The trusted English favourite beats the exotic Mulberry by just one vote!

Do you agree with the results?

Sweaty Betty’s new collection’s motto ‘Fit is the new it’ is the perfect match to our Herbal Therapy month!

The winner of the competition will also receive a special Lahloo Herbal Therapy gift box, including our caffeine-free infusions Rosebud, Mulberry, Sobacha, Peppermint and Golden Rooibos.

To enter the competition, you just have to answer the following question in the form below and submit it: what do you do to stay fit? 

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Terms and conditions

1. This competition is open to residents of the UK, 18 years or over, with the exception of employees of Lahloo Tea and Sweaty Betty and their families or partners.

2. All entries must be received by midnight on Sunday the 3th of February 2013.

3. Only one entry per person. The winner will be drawn at random from all entries received by the closing date.

4. By entering this competition you agree to have your name released as the winner. The winner will be contacted through e-mail or telephone after the 4th of February.

5. If the prize winner fails to respond to correspondence from Lahloo Tea or to claim his/her prize within 72 hours of receipt of notification, Lahloo Tea shall be entitled to select an alternative prize winner. The prize winner who has not responded won’t be entitled to a prize.

6. Prize is non transferable and there are no cash alternatives.

7. Lahloo Tea reserves the right to record the entrants’s e-mail addresses for promotional purposes and to share these with Sweaty Betty.

This month my package came from Helen who has the Patient Gardener Blog. This is a lovely blog and Helen’s relationship with her garden (with other sides to her many interests too). I am a struggling, starting-up grower-of-things-that-don’t-immediately-die. Potatoes are my only continuing success … I think that’s my Lincolnshire blood seeping out. Helen’s blog is nice for me to read because she tries to appeal to people (like me) who are trying to have a go. She is also a SeedyPenpal.
So, what did I get? Well …

Yup, that’s some anticipation for you. When I open my parcels, I do try to make an event of it, so I’d brewed some tea and sat down with some chocolate.

Of course, I used my favourite Smoky Tea from Lahloo, my favourite Emma Bridgewater mug and some Rococo chocolate (that I found when I moved house – lavender flavour). Then I realised that I had probably morphed into being a bit of a poncy twat … and if I had read what I’ve just written I would be shaking my head in despair. But nice things are nice and I find it hard to write about savouring nice things without sounding like a tool.

Nevertheless, Helen sent me a lovely parcel full of great things:

I know, it’s amazing! A living sage plant, home-grown shallots, porcini mushrooms, homemade Cornish fairings (plus recipe), goji berry and seed mix, sesame snaps and two packets of tyrells crisps. Lovely!

Helen sent the sage because she felt it went well with meat – which is does of course – pork and sage is a classic, as is liver and sage! It was prescient (what a great word @carllegge) because my sage was/is dieing. Shallots are great – I usually use onions, so was pleased to have a new, fresh flavour to use. I love vegetable crisps and sesame snaps so two great ticks there. The porcini have already been used in my stuffed spleen (more of that another day). I’m toying with the idea of making my own granola because A) the only one I love is Mornflake apple and it seems to have disappeared from the shelves of Leeds and B) I can be proper fussy (as above), so I am sure the goji mix will get in there. Best of all were the Cornish Fairings which are a gingery, chewy biscuit. Super tasty!

I used some of the shallots up in a chilli-kale combo: put some oil in a pan, then add three peeled and quartered shallots and cook for five minutes, add enough kale for two people and one teaspoon chilli flakes and about a quarter of a pint of stock, stir and cook til kale is done. Yum. The shallots were well nice cooked with the chilli and stock – next time I’m going to just cook them on their own so they are a total star.

I have even managed to keep the sage alive for over two weeks!

It even stayed alive while I went on holiday. So Sandra the Sage I hope will live a long and happy life! What a nice forever present.

My parcel went to Switzerland this month – to Ratri who writes another lovely blog about food and her travels called NomadicFeastKitchen. Carol Anne and I recently had a twitter exchange about the worry that what you’ve sent in your eyes is quirky and thoughtful, can come across as weird and emptying out the cupboards-y. On that note, go see what Ratri made of my parcel …

And of course, you should totally join in here.

This recipe I made up entirely out of all of my own head. I say this, because as I am reviewing the ingredients, it sounds … well, a bit weird. However I do know it was delicious. TRUFAX.

Here I am holding a pig cheek, next to my cheek. Whatever will I think of next?

I am also doing an oink at this point. My face doesn't always have such a sultry pout on it

This was another piece of slow cooker magic. Slow cookers are magic. Everybody needs one! You can even bake in them!

Ingredients: 6 pork cheeks, 4 tbsp flour, 2 tsp caraway seeds, 1 tsp sugar, knob of butter, half tsp nutmeg, 2 chopped carrots, 2 sticks chopped celery, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp caraway seeds, 1 tbsp japonica jelly, half a pint of Lahloo Smoky tea (or another lapsang souchong) that has been brewing for at least 30 minutes, 100ml red wine.

1. Brew your tea. I used 1 tbsp to a teapot and had a cup while I did the rest of the preparations.
2. Mix flour, 2 tsp caraway and sugar in a bowl. Dip cheeks into mix so they are well covered.
3. Melt butter in a frying pan, then fry the cheeks on each side for til they are sealed.
4. Transfer all frying pan contents to slow cooker.
5. Add vegetables and other ingredients to slow cooker, including any of the flour mixture that is left over. (Make sure the tea has brewed for long enough.)
6. Cook on high for about five hours. The cheeks will just melt away into the sauce.

I also made apple dumplings to go on top. You follow the dumpling recipe on the suet packet, but add a chopped apple to the mix. You then put them in about an hour before you want to eat. So this was after 4 hours of cooking:

Looking back on this recipe, it seems I’ve brought up a few questions i.e. white wine with pork? a tea-based casserole? what is a japonica? why has the stew gone purple? veg in sticks not rounds in a stew? To you, I say, well I steal someone else’s words, whose I can’t quite remember, but, to you say “What is that? A rule? A convention? HIIIIIIIIIYAHHHHHHHH” *motion of karate chopping wood*

When you cook the face of an animal, you need to take some risks.

Tickets are £7.50 in advance or £10 on the door and they include a glass of champagne and a mince pie. All ticket profits will donated to Winston’s Wish, the charity for bereaved children. So if you want to book in advance you can visit the Cowley Manor website. Hope to see you there!

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  White

Where to Buy:  Lahloo

Product Description:

Snow Jewel white tea is the true queen of teas! Pure elegance! This rare wild Dai Bai silver needle tea grows high in the Fujian mountains.

♥ Downy buds plucked in the spring just before they open
♥ Exquisitely refreshing and delicate
♥ Ripe fruits- peaches, lychees, pear

Taster’s Review:

I absolutely LOVE this tea.  The aroma is amazing!  It smells sweet and fruity, somewhat floral and leafy, and reminds me of the air here in the Pacific Northwest just after it rains (which it does a lot here).

The dry leaves are fuzzy and even though they resemble spears or “needles” – they are light and fluffy.  Silvery!  And the flavor they produce when steeped is so delightful.

The flavor is delicate and sweet.  I can taste peaches!  Fresh, delicious peaches!   The taste is crisp and slightly vegetative.  Clean and invigorating!

The mere act of sipping this tea is truly a meditative process.  First, inhaling deeply to experience its sweet fragrance, and then taking a sip and allowing the flavors to develop onto the palate, all the while I can feel the stresses of the day disappear as my spirit rejuvenates.

I love this tea!  This is a tea I could drink every day and never grow weary of it.

Where To Buy: Lahloo Tea

Product Description:

WHITE TEA » SNOW JEWEL

XI HU, ZHEJIANG, CHINA

The Story:
Snow Jewel white tea is the true queen of teas! Pure elegance! This rare wild Dai Bai silver needle tea grows high in the Fujian mountains.
♥ Downy buds plucked in the spring just before they open
♥ Exquisitely refreshing and delicate
♥ Ripe fruits- peaches, lychees, pear

“Oh my! It’s an absolute revelation! I’m greeted with this amazing peachy flavour. It’s light and sweet and delicious, making me gulp down the lot.” teatunes

PS Perfect chilled over ice

Tasters Review:

Pure…as the driven snow!

Clean…as the whistle!

Crisp…as crisp can be!

Mouthwatering Masterpiece!

This White Tea – Snow Jewel – from Lahloo is a pure delight!  I mean…this is REALLY nice!  It’s sweet and I can taste a hint of fruitiness!

If you are a fan of white tea or looking for something different to dive into…try Snow Jewel from Lahloo!

I looked at the notebooks, the handbags, the scarves, the jewellery.

Then I remembered the tea room.

So I nipped in there for some lovely Lahloo tea.

And a slice of Victoria Sponge

Here’s the tea, the cake had gone by the time I took a picture!

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Lahloo

Company Description:

This spectacular fragrant Mi Lan Xiang oolong tea is the work of a true tea master! The beautifully twisted leaves make a fragrant  and delicious afternoon tea.

♥ Sensationally sophisticated rejuvenation!
♥ Orange blossom honey, apricot, grapefruit

Taster’s Review:

The dry leaf has a lovely aroma.  It is floral with a distant fruit note, and also an underlying musky/earthy fragrance.  The brewing process brings the fruit note into focus, and makes the act of inhaling the scent of the tea just before taking a sip almost as enjoyable as the sip itself.

The flavor is delightful – there is a nice fruit taste to it.  I can taste the grapefruit and apricot notes as mentioned in the company description of this tea, and the way the sweet and tart meld together here is a very nice experience for the palate.  There is a hint of a honey note which gives it a delicious sweetness.

Some of the earthy notes that I detected in the aroma are also presenting themselves in the taste, it isn’t a strong earthy quality, but more of a wood/musk/earth note that offers a nice contrast to the sweeter flavors of the cup.

This has a lighter mouthfeel than many Oolongs that I’ve tried, but, it is nonetheless enjoyable.  It is smooth and reminds me a bit of chiffon – it has a lightness to it that is almost “airy” which is quite unusual for a mouthfeel – and even more unusual, perhaps, for an Oolong.  But I think that is one of the things that I enjoy most about it is that it is so *different.*

This is a tea that should be consumed hot without sweetener (I think that sweetener would really overwhelm the flavors of this cup and you really don’t want to do that!)

This tea has a very autumnal feel to it – maybe it’s the amber color of the liquor, or maybe it is the earthy quality to the taste, but, it has a very comforting essence to it that reminds me of autumn.  It is a fantastic Oolong – one that I would recommend to Oolong enthusiasts!

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Lahloo

Company Description:

XI HU, ZHEJIANG, CHINA

The story:

This year’s Long Jing green tea is a real treasure! Strolling around Xi Hu (West Lake) you can smell the sweet tea flourishing. Legend has it that Long Jing (meaning Dragon Well) should be made with water from the ancient spring it’s named after.  Don’t worry, it’s a great tea even made with your local water!

♥ Skilled tea masters pluck only the delicate, whole leaves in the Spring
♥ Indulgently refreshing
♥ Sweet chestnutty, moreish
♥ A real treasure – share it with a friend!

Taster’s Review:

A funny thing about Dragon Well tea… a funny story, actually.  It’s one that I’ve probably told before, and if you’ve read some of my Dragon Well reviews you might have already read it.  Back when I was first becoming more acquainted with tea – green tea, that is – I had tasted some Dragon Well tea and found it not to my liking.  Now, I don’t know if I happened upon a particular Dragon Well that I didn’t like, I don’t know, it could have been the vendor, it could have been a bad year… but more than likely, I think it was MY fault.

Yes, there it is, my friends.  I admitted fault.  Please don’t tell my husband.  I have him trained to believe that I am never wrong.

I think I brewed it wrong.  Back then, I brewed all teas with boiling water for 5 minutes.  And the tea that I tasted was bitter and vegetative to the point of tasting like freshly mown lawn clippings.  It was not tasty.  Not in the least.  And so I had an unfavorable – and incorrect – opinion of Dragon Well tea for quite a few years to follow.

Since then, I’ve learned a thing or two about the art of steeping tea.  And I also think my palate has become a little more appreciative of the more vegetative qualities of some green teas.  Both these things have led me to the point where I am able to proclaim that I LOVE Dragon Well Tea!

This Long Jing (aka Dragon Well) from Lahloo is no exception.  It is smooth, rich, buttery and delicious.  It has a pleasant chestnut-ish flavor, slightly roasty, slightly nutty, slightly sweet – that melds together well with the vegetative quality.  It almost tastes a bit like roasted vegetables that have been lightly buttered.

I generally prefer Dragon Well tea hot, because I am of the opinion that the complexity is stronger when it is hot.  As tea chills it can sometimes lose some of the flavor.  This is still rather tasty cold though, and would make a very refreshing, energizing iced tea.  But, I still prefer it hot – with no sweetener – it doesn’t need it!  It is tasty and sweet on its own.

Where To Buy: Lahloo

Product Description:

OOLONG TEA » ORCHID

PHOENIX MOUNTAIN, GUANDONG, CHINA

The story:
This spectacular fragrant Mi Lan Xiang oolong tea is the work of a true tea master! The beautifully twisted leaves make a fragrant and delicious afternoon tea.

♥ Sensationally sophisticated rejuvenation!
♥ Orange blossom honey, apricot, grapefruit

Tasters Review:

This is my first time trying Lahloo and I am pretty excited.  I never take for granted a new tea…whether it’s new to the market or just new to me!

The smells of this is a little nutty and a little blossomy.

I didn’t really pick up on the apricot notes hinted at in the description but I did the grapefruit and it was an awesome natural flavor.  I also picked up on the honey hints, too, and they were lovely!

All-in-All I like this Oolong!  Looking forward to trying more offerings from Lahloo!