Brew up for your favorite tea and sip along with us as we explore tea and the Samovar Life. And check out our YouTube Channel for even more videos!
Tea is about slowing down and becoming more present. Tea is about paying attention to the little things because in the end, that’s all there is.
Engage all your senses as you learn the art and practice of tasting tea.
Check out the entire Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Tea
In this episode of Expert Enough, Corbett sits down to interview Jesse to talk about all things tea.
Also available as an audio podcast.
Continue reading How to Really Enjoy Tea: Interview with Jesse Jacobs
Watch the Tea and Truffles Pairing with Samovar and Bay Area chocolatier Charles Chocolates. Jesse, founder of Samovar, and Chuck Siegal, founder of Charles Chocolates, discuss entrepreneurship, premium chocolate and teas, and what makes food and beverage companies like theirs unique.
Continue reading Video: Tea & Chocolate Pairing with Samovar and Charles Chocolates
Hawaii-Grown Tea: An Interview with Tea Grower and Processor Eva Lee
Meet the tea farmer! Join Samovar Tea Lounge’s Jesse Jacobs as he talks with Hawaii Tea grower and producer Eva Lee.
Erick Gets a Taste of Hawaii-Grown Tea
Join Samovar Tea Lounge operations manager, Erick Xicum as he travels to Hawaii Island, Hawaii to check out the tea gardens blooming there.
Hawaii-Grown Tea Comes to Samovar and the USA
In this video:
For the fist time in the continental U.S.: Hand-Picked, Artisan, Whole-leaf tea grown in America.
Hawaii-Grown Oolong Tea: Semi Oxidized Tea
Hawaii-Grown Black Tea: Fully-Oxidized
Only 15 pounds of each tea is available through Samovar Tea Lounge.
Jesse demonstrates the unique Brewing Technique for these teas.
To Brew:
Quantity: Steep 2-3 heaping tablespoons of tea in 14 oz.- 16oz of water
Water Temperature: 195 degrees Fahrenheit
Steep Time: 2-5 minutes (depending on strength desired)
Leave the leaves in the pot
Other Teas Mentioned in this Video:
Japanese Senchas
Phoenix Oolong
Tea Ware 101:
Getting into tea means being introduced to a whole new world of vessels and tools to brew tea with. In this video, Jesse Jacobs walks you through several tea making implements, so that you may become a confident and educated tea ware buyer.
Herbal Blend Tasting
Samovar Tea Lounge has some of the most delicious Herbal and Tea Blends out there. Have you ever wondered how Samovar chooses which teas and herbals to serve?
Join Jesse Jacobs and Erick Xicum as they taste variations of 3 herbal blends and decide which botanicals will win Samovar’s seal of approval and be sold and served at Samovar Tea Lounge. The three (soon to be for sale) herbal blends featured in this tasting are 1) Rooibos and Yerba Maté Blend 2) Wei Chi Cha Herbal Blend and 3) Kukicha Twig Tea and Yerba Maté Blend
Learn about how Samovar evaluates and tastes teas by observing 4 characteristics:
1)The aroma
2) The body
3)The flavor
4) The aftertaste
Tea is hot!
And no one steeps patrons in the ancient and enduring properties of tea like San Francisco’s Samovar Tea Lounge. In this compelling podcast, owner Jesse Jacobs explores the reverberations of how one cup of tea serenely enjoyed influences peace throughout the world. Visiting with modern Tea Masters, Jacobs uncovers the mysterious roots of today’s highly sought-after tea experience and sheds light on the dark elixir’s calming effects….
Christie Bartlett, Founding Director of Ursaenke Society, San Francisco talks about the history of Urasenke, why tea gatherings matter today, and the ripple effect of “peace through a bowl of tea.”
– What is a “tea gathering?”
– Spontaneity through structure and the art of tea
– Slowing down time, appreciating fleeting moments
– Sipping tea to free the mind, cleaning tea utensils to clean the heart
– The role of a tea gathering in creating world peace
Check out the tea in this video… Matcha.
* Special thanks to Toshiko, for making the tea!
David Lee Hoffman: Part of the beauty of tea is you can get so many different tastes and sensations with it. Almost emotion, each tea has a different emotion and personality. And you could shape that personality, you could play with it, depending on how you steep it, and the water, and the temperature, time, and the quantity of leaf you put in, it all has a contribution to the shape that you want to give that tea. Continue reading David Lee Hoffman, Tea Pioneer: Part I
American tea pioneer David Lee Hoffman discusses puerh, the Slow Food tea movement, and the benefits of organic, handcrafted family-made tea.
– Living with tea kings, learning to taste fine tea
– How To: Artisan tea crafting and family operations, and secrets
– Making American Handcrafted Puerhs
– Slow Food and the Fair Trade movement and tea
– Culinary pleasures of tea and living slowly
– Tea as an affordable path to world peace
Teas in this video… Puerh , Ancient Tea
David Lee Hoffman, American tea pioneer, chats about the old days of tea buying, giving artisan family farmers a fair deal, and some crazy adventures in the backwoods of China.
– Falling off a tea mountain and how to taste Snake Wine
Teas in this video… Puerh and Ancient Tea.
Tea is hot!
Join Jesse Jacobs, owner of Samovar Tea Lounge, as he talks to tea enthusiast, Christine Savage about the different kinds of tea. A quick lesson in Tea.
Teas in this video…. White Tea, Green Tea, Oolong Tea, Black Tea, Pu-erh Tea, Herbal Infusions.
Ayumi Kinezuka visits us from Japan to talk about her organic tea farm in Shizuoka, and the challenges facing small artisan Japanese tea farmers today.
– Meet the family: an entire production from a small family operation
– Where are today’s generation of organic tea farmers? Challenges with aging tea farmers means fewer farmers making high-grade Japanese green tea
– Big beverage companies offering bottled green tea replaces Slow Tea
– Big business lacks microenvironment knowledge to manage small organic farms
– How can a consumer make a difference
Check out the Teas in this video…Organic Tea, Green Tea, and Fair Trade Tea.
San Francisco tea-entrepreneur and owner of Modern Tea, Alice Cravens discusses her Slow Food Farmer’s Market philosophy, discussing challenges and opportunities to growers, distributors and sellers of organic food and tea.
– Organic, seasonal, artisan food philosophy at Modern Tea
– About the Slow Food Movement and why it’s important
– How to make a difference: visit a local farmer’s market
– Fair Trade Today, challenges and opportunities
– The environmental impact of importing tea to America
Teas in this video… Fair Trade Tea and Organic Tea.
Mostaffa and Omar brew traditional Moroccan tea and espouse on the harmonizing effects of Moroccan tea, Moroccan culture , and food- for all to embrace.
– How to make traditional Moroccan tea
– A gathering of family and friends around the Moroccan tea table
– Moroccan tea culture and the growing American tea culture
– The diverse ethnicities of Morocco and the unifying effect of tea
Teas in this video…Moorish Mint
Taste tea, eat food, meet American tea-icon Karter Louis and learn about tea pairing principles.
– How to pair tea and food: basic harmonies and balancing flavors
– One tea leaf connects cultures and makes peace
Teas in this video.. Gyukoro, Masala Chai, Herbal Infusions, Moorish Mint, Black Tea, Pu-erh Tea, Wuyi Oolong
Check out other Japense Green Teas.
