Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Radiance Tea House and Books in NYC! This is the tea we chose to have there. No preparation details as it was lovingly prepared in house.
1st infusion:
Amazing golden apricot color and the fragrance was so sweet. Honey, honey, honey! I couldn’t believe the rich honey notes I was getting from this tea. Each sip was heavenly. I’ve never had a tea, yet alone an oolong tea, with so much sweet flavor. I feel like I’m doing an extraordinarily poor job of describing this tea – I think it must be experienced!! It went so well with the buttery tea crackers with black sesame seeds that were served with it. This was my husband’s favorite infusion.
2nd infusion:
This one was heavy on apricot. Slight honey notes and some of what I associate with “oolong” flavor coming out – and a fine oolong flavor it was. I’ve never had anything so fine. We had this pot with our dumplings and entree (me: Teriyaki Salmon rice bowl with mushrooms and bok choy, Husband: Rice bowl with shrimp and avocado) This was my favorite one and it was PERFECT for food.
3rd infusion:
More fantastic tea flavor, slightly floral, not as sweet, not as fruity. Still delightful. We had it with more tea crackers. It was a great finish to the meal and perfect for digestion.
Photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/steepster/pool/
and a couple more of my day here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackiemania/sets/72157623565672780/
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It’s so freakin awesome to be able to give a tea a 100 when you have absolutely no control over any of the steeping parameters!
Agreed!!! They so very know their stuff there! I didn’t even take any leaves home because I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make it as carefully as they did!
Thanks for sharing your photos, Jacqueline. It sounds like an awesome tea shop experience.
Jealous! I have to go there sometime. All I had was a some bubble tea yesterday =(
Haha, picture in the bathroom!?!?! Hahaa that was hilarious.
Lovely photos! Hahaha, and my friends and I have taken pictures in some pretty awesome bathrooms. But this sounds delicious! I definitely would try an oolong because of the multiple infusions.
Ricky – :P !!!!
teaplz – if you are having food, oolong is def the way to go (and the food was sooooo good! Simple and perfectly prepared). Although there was a table near us having some kind of bubble tea concoction which looked like it also had ice cream in it with spicy cold noodles and they looked very happy! The other table near us had tea with tea cookies and they looked happy! There was also a man out front with tea, cookies, and a novel and boy if I lived closer that would be me every chance I got!!!
The tea (and the entire experience) sounds marvelous! I’m still planning my first visit to
Radiance — it will most likely be one of their tea tastings, as soon as I can find one that fits into my weekend schedule.
The tastings look like so much fun!
Lovely pictures! Next time I’m in NY I’ll need to give Radiance a look-see.
It’s so freakin awesome to be able to give a tea a 100 when you have absolutely no control over any of the steeping parameters!
Agreed!!! They so very know their stuff there! I didn’t even take any leaves home because I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make it as carefully as they did!
Thanks for sharing your photos, Jacqueline. It sounds like an awesome tea shop experience.
Jealous! I have to go there sometime. All I had was a some bubble tea yesterday =(
Haha, picture in the bathroom!?!?! Hahaa that was hilarious.
Lovely photos! Hahaha, and my friends and I have taken pictures in some pretty awesome bathrooms. But this sounds delicious! I definitely would try an oolong because of the multiple infusions.
Ricky – :P !!!!
teaplz – if you are having food, oolong is def the way to go (and the food was sooooo good! Simple and perfectly prepared). Although there was a table near us having some kind of bubble tea concoction which looked like it also had ice cream in it with spicy cold noodles and they looked very happy! The other table near us had tea with tea cookies and they looked happy! There was also a man out front with tea, cookies, and a novel and boy if I lived closer that would be me every chance I got!!!
The tea (and the entire experience) sounds marvelous! I’m still planning my first visit to
Radiance — it will most likely be one of their tea tastings, as soon as I can find one that fits into my weekend schedule.
The tastings look like so much fun!
Lovely pictures! Next time I’m in NY I’ll need to give Radiance a look-see.