Lexington, KY - Yes, there is a sterling silver tea set on display, but MonTea is not that kind of tea place. "It's not like a traditional tea room," said Danielle Montague, who, along with her husband, Miller, opened MonTea at 814 Euclid Avenue this past November. While there are a couple of chairs for sitting while a cup of tea steeps, it is primarily a retail store, featuring loose leaf teas and tea accessories. No scones or doughnuts, but there will always be water, heated in special tea boilers, hot and waiting for those wanting a cup of tea to go.
"We decided it was better to smart very small and very specific," Danielle said.
She is working currently toward master certification from the Specialty Tea Institute. "We have worked very hard and very long at educating ourselves," she said.
And the Montagues are ready to share with their customers what they have learned about the more than 50 types of tea lining the back wall in stainless steel canisters.
"We want it to be interactive," Danielle said. "We want people to understand that brewing loose leaf can be very easy."
Loose leaf means, of course, that the tea is not in pre-packaged bags. Two ounces of tea costs an average of $5.50, but prices vary depending on the variety. Two ounces is enough to brew roughly 20 eight-ounce cups.
Tea is becoming more fashionable in the United States, according to Danielle. The beverage has gained appeal among students who want to try something different and earth friendly, Baby Boomers interested in the health benefits of tea, which is rich with anti-oxidants, and the international community who have strong cultural ties to drinking tea.
For the Montagues, it has been a natural evolution that led to Lexington's first retail tea store.
"I have enjoyed tea all my life," Danielle said. "But our tea tastes have evolved."
And turning a taste for tea into a business really began about four years ago, when the Montagues were visiting Charleston, S.C., and found themselves in Teavana - a shop specializing in loose leaf teas.
They have been working on the idea of bringing a tea store to their hometown of Lexington ever since. But when the recession hit home last year, putting both Danielle and Miller out their jobs, they "decided to go ahead full force."
Still, they did their homework before opening the store, Danielle said, calling and e-mailing shops in other cities to see how they were doing in the tight economy. "Tea shops have been doing very well," she said.
And they considered buying into a franchise such as Teavana, which has locations in 34 states, but ultimately decided going their own way was more their style.
That decision was made easier by fostering a relationship with Bruce Richardson, the owner of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, a tea distributor with a national reputation based in Perryville, Ky. Richardson, who is known by tea professionals around the country for his expertise in the industry, provided a lot of knowledge and also provides the majority of the tea for MonTea.
"It was a natural fit," Miller Montague said. "It's so much nicer to deal with a wholesaler from Perryville than somebody over on the East Coast."
The small storefront on Euclid Avenue also suits the Montagues' style. Both are from the Chevy Chase area. They like the access from the University of Kentucky and downtown. The location is on the same block as the Chevy Chase Plaza, where plans are developing to turn the street-level offices into retail and make the area more of a retail destination. And it's an area with a lot of foot traffic.
"To be in this area was important to us," Danielle said. "We had to turn people away while we were getting ready."
A Proper Tea Party: Your guide to buying and brewing the perfect cup of tea
From harvest to consumption, the international realm of tea is a vast, complex arena, shrouded with mysterious origins, ceremonial rituals and numerous misconceptions. Despite these overarching enigmatic qualities, however, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world next to water, imbibed by approximately one half of the American population on any given day.
There are five basic categories of tea: black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong tea and pu-erh tea. Each category shares the exact same beginnings -
a green leaf and/or bud on the Camellia senensis plant, a warm-weather evergreen plant native to Asia. The distinction between the five categories is found in the treatment of those leaves - different methods and levels of harvesting, drying, rolling, pressing and oxidizing the leaves produces the differentiating qualities, from flavor to caffeine levels to proper brewing techniques.
Within those five categories lies an almost infinite number of distinct tea varieties and flavors. In the following pages, we have broken down the five categories and provided a brief description of two popular varieties from each category, all of which are available at MonTea. Note the omission of another popular beverage that is often mistaken as a tea - herbal "tea," which does not come from the Cameillia sinensis plant, but is made instead from a variety of materials from other plants, including bark, flowers, fruit and leaves. MonTea does offer a number of herbal tea varieties, from the fruity kiwi-strawberry to the increasingly popular rooibos, but we opted to limit our exploration to the true teas.
- Saraya Brewer
One teaspoon of loose leaf tea is recommended for each 6-8 oz. cup of tea. Some of the following information furnished by www.monteashop.com.
Green Tea
Like white tea, green tea undergoes minimal oxidation during processing and contains minimal amounts of caffeine. Green tea has been purported to have multiple health benefits, including a high level of powerful antioxidants. Used as a diuretic, astringent and stimulant in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine.
Cup characteristics: Golden-green color; fresh, grassy, sometimes nutty flavor.
Brewing: For Chinese green tea, steep tea for 3 minutes at a temperature of 170-180∞ F. For Japanese green tea, steep for 1-2 minutes at a temperature of 160-175∞ F. Do not pour boiling water over green tea, scorched leaves often result in a bitter flavor.
Jasmine Pearls
Premium hand-rolled Chinese green tea from Fujian Province with the aroma of jasmine blossoms. This exquisite tea can be infused multiple times.
Sencha
This is the most consumed green tea in Japan. It's steamed immediately upon plucking to lock in its antioxidants. Vegetative taste with light yellow color. Drink it hot or cold.
White Tea
White teas and green teas have similar caffeine levels - the lowest of the five categories. Studies have shown white tea to have higher anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties than green tea, and the wilting process it undergoes causes it to have a less grassy flavor than green tea. Said to be good for skin and reducing age.
Cup characteristics: Smooth, sweet and delicate.
Brewing: White teas can produce three to four successive brews (extend the brewing time by a few minutes with each steeping). Getting the water temperature right (approximately 185∞F - not boiling) is crucial in bringing out the fine, delicate flavors of the tea. Steep for 3-5 minutes during the first brewing (though some people prefer to step it longer, up to 10 minutes, in order to allow the aromas to fully develop).
Darjeeling White
In 2000, the Poobong Tea Estate became the first Darjeeling garden to produce a white tea. The young spring harvest leaves produce a light liquor with a sweet finish.
Mango White
Chinese Bai Mu Dan white tea enhanced with mangoes. Great iced or hot. Loaded with antioxidants.
Black Tea
Making up over 80 percent of tea consumed in America, one reason black teas are so popular is because they have a much longer shelf life than many of the other categories. They are often blended and mixed with other plants to obtain a beverage - Earl Grey, for example, is black tea blended with bergamot and cornflower oil; the traditional Indian beverage Masala chai is black tea combined with various spices, milk and sweetener.
Cup characteristics: Pungent, rich, often sweet. Many Indian and Sri Lankan black teas take milk well, while Chinese back teas tend to be more complex and sweeter, as they are usually not processed with the use of milk in mind.
Brewing: Unlike green teas, which turn bitter when brewed at higher temperatures, black tea should be brewed with freshly boiled water. Steep for 3-5 minutes at a water temperature of 205-210∞ F.
Duchess Grey
Sri Lankan black tea with bergamot, lemon peel, rose and cornflower petals. Looks as beautiful as it smells.
Golden Yunnan
The Yunnan region of China produces these luscious soft leaves that brew into a full-bodied, rich black tea. The beautiful gold leaves give this rare tea its name.
Oolong Tea
Arguably the most demanding tea to manufacture, this traditional Chinese tea has caffeine levels somewhere between green and black tea. Said to be good for skin and teeth, as well as enhancing metabolism, digestion and weight loss.
Cup characteristics: Fragrant, rich, complex and sometimes fruity.
Brewing: Steep for 3-5 minutes at a temperature of 175-195∞ F.
Ti-Kwan Yin
This is one of the classic rolled oolongs of China. It produces a delicious cup with peach pit overtones. Good for multiple infusions.
Black Dragon
This affordable Chinese oolong from Fujian Province has a nutty overtone with a peach finish. It's good for multiple infusions.
Pu-erh Tea
While it is available as loose leaf tea, pu-erh is perhaps best known for being compressed into dense cakes or "tea bricks." In China, it is widely believed to counteract the unpleasant effects of drinking too much alcohol, and it is often sold as a weight loss drug, though no scientific evidence exists to support either belief.
Cup characteristics: Earthy, musty aroma with a rich, nutty flavor.
Brewing Method No. 1 (traditional): Steep for 10-20 seconds in water that is approximately 210∞ F. Pour off water. Pour another 6 oz. of 210∞ F water over leaves, steep for 30 seconds and serve. Leaves can be steeped up to eight times using this method.
Brewing Method No. 2 (Western): This method creates
a stronger tea. Steep leaves in 210∞ F water for 3-5 minutes (or longer to taste).
Golden Pu-erh
Golden pu-erh has been aged for five years in a dark cave in Yunnan Province. Hint of mustiness with a bit of earthy character, milder than younger pu-erh and highly prized.
Scottish Caramel Pu-erh
Dessert in a cup. The earthiness of pu-erh fused with caramel for a sweetly decadent finish. A favorite of the Scotland-China Association.