Tea Gets Hot in Austin

This is an excerpt from an article I wrote for The Austin Chronicle after visiting SXSW last year. To find out more about my freelance writing or to ask me about writing copy for your tea business, please contact me at vee at veetea dot com. Thank you.

Jeffrey Lorien, tea sommelier and co-owner of East Austin’s Zhi Tea Gallery, said developing a tea palate can be easier than developing a wine palate because, "wine still hasn’t been totally democratized here, but there’s accessibility with tea. It’s the people’s drink." Here are some tasty suggestions for wine lovers from Lorien.

Your favorite wines: Spritzers or other wine-based drinks

Teas you’ll love: Tea-infused cocktails or flavored teas

Your favorite wines: Assertive, full-bodied reds

Teas you’ll love: Lightly oxidized oolongs for mouthfeel or Assam/Sri Lankan (aka Ceylon) teas for flavor

Your favorite wines: Mellow, balanced reds

Teas you’ll love: More oxidized oolongs and high-quality, well-aged pu-erhs

Your favorite wines: Crisp, dry whites

Teas you’ll love: Really good Japanese green teas such as gyokuro or sencha or bai mu dan white tea (aka pai mu tan)

Your favorite wines: Floral whites

Teas you’ll love: Darjeeling second flush black tea or Silver Needle white tea (aka Bai Hao Yinzhen)

Your favorite wines: Complex, nuanced wines

Teas you’ll love: Keemun black tea and oolongs such as Oriental Beauty (aka Dong Fang Mei Ren or Bai Hao Oolong) and Tie Guan Yin (aka Iron Goddess of Mercy, Iron Buddha, and Ti Kwan Yin)

Your favorite wines: Dessert wines

Teas you’ll love: Sweet/floral blends, Oriental Beauty oolong, Darjeeling Second Flush, and well-crafted, rooibos-based "dessert teas"

Your favorite wines: Sparkling wine

Teas you’ll love: Kombucha for mouthfeel and uplifting effect


You can read the remainder of this article in The Austin Chronicle.