Issue #17 of JagaSpam: Maccha Has Arrived!, Fukamushi Sencha, Mason jar brewpot, Spiced Water, new JagaStaff

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MACCHA HAS ARRIVED

Our monthly replenishment of tea has arrived! This is the first of the 2011 maccha.

Initial cuppings have the organic single estates (Butterfly & Dragonfly) showcasing excellent nose and colour, but unfortunately lacklustre in body – a little thin and grassy. We would be scared if this wasn’t the case EVERY year… For some reason, giving the tencha until November to mature before milling always seems to do the trick. But you cannot beat the flowery and “embodiment of spring” factors at work here.

The estate blends (Nirvana & Crane) are, of course, perfect. Smooth, rich, creamy and sweet. Genius.

Remember, frequent flyers get an extra dollar off the refill packs…. And guaranteed stock… 😉

FUKAMUSHI SENCHA

An old favourite is back: Harimaen estate’s Fukamushi Sencha. Deeply steamed and thus rich in body and sweetness, this tea requires  4g for every 8oz, making it slightly more economical than standard sencha that requires 8g per 8oz serving.

At JagaSilk we love the fast infusion sign, simplicity, and all around forgiving nature of this Sencha.

MASON JAR BREWPOT

A work in progress for over 2 years:

– We have replaced the inner lid of a mason jar with a locally produced stainless steel sieve disc.

– Victoria leather craftsman Vladamir Flad of Accentric Arts has produced a choice of simple leather wrap or thick canvas jacket to protect the fingers.

– All for the ever popular “wide-mouth mason jar”, meaning if this jar breaks, it’s easy to replace. Though mason jars are strong and made for the heat.

$21 with the wrap

$9 with out

SPICED WATER

95% complete. Stay tuned…  🙂

TEABAR BARISTAS: COMINGS AND GOINGS

Kanae Morioka – Runner up in the 2009 Maccha Latte Art Competition and the one who poured the latte art on our cover webpage – will be joining us to make drinks at Spiced Water, strengthen the desserts and food at JagaSilk/Spiced Water, pack tea, and make the “merch” side of what we do rock.

Graham Bouvier – trained with the reigning Canadian Barista Champion the 2011 Western Regional Champion – will be joining us to rock the teabar, make the Spiced Water glow with awesomeness, spiff up the equipment, and cup a LOT of teas and coffees. He will be strengthening our training systems and our web presence.

Toni Hiatt – Joins us from a few seasons of treeplanting and experience at the esteemed A Ladybug Cafe – she will also be behind the bar at both locations, growing camellia sinensis, and otherwise whisking, brewing, and extracting yummy beverages…

NEW WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS

– In October, JagaSilk loose tea will be released at Fresh Cafe in the Selkirk development of Victoria BC.

Greg and his staff have a very high calibre of food and drinks and it is going to be really cool to be working with them above and beyond the current JagaSilk maccha menu! Awesome.

– James Bay Discovery Coffee will be opening very, very soon…. And it will have our loose teas (like the other two)

Peace and light,
—
Jared and Miyu Nyberg
JagaSilk

p. 1.778.430.5683
f. 1.778.430.5684
www.jagasilk.com

A17-633 Courtney St
Victoria, BC, V8W 1B9
Canada

—
Jared and Miyu Nyberg
JagaSilk

p. 1.778.430.5683
f. 1.778.430.5684
http://www.jagasilk.com

A17-633 Courtney St
Victoria, BC, V8W 1B9
Canada

Issue #16 of JagaSpam: New Teas, Teabar baristas, Adrian Bronson in CD, Maccha situation, Yuzu Soda

SPICED WATER 

JagaSilk will be partnering to open Spiced Water, a spiced water bar serving multi-roaster single origin coffee, JagaSilk maccha, our seasonal teas, and a brilliant food and dessert menu in an effort to manifest what we want to see in a flagship cafe.

Opening Sept 2011 (the goal) we will be closing the teabar for Sept 13-17 so we can focus on the last push of getting Spiced Water up and running and the new JagaSIlk staff members trained.

You will see a lot of crossover with staff and drink ideas. JagaSilk will remain the space to have a conversation about tea, while Spiced Water will be fast paced, open longer hours, and bring equal balance to tea and coffee.

MACCHA FRESH-INOur monthly order from Harimaen is in transit from Japan as we speak.

Nothing quite as gorgeous as freshly micro-milled maccha.

We are pumped to explore the new first flush flavour profiles this order is going to present!

NEW LOOSE TEAS 

Today at JagaSilk, something wonderful occurred.

Our tea direct from India arrived via FedEx

We are rediculously excited about the line up of teas soon to be released at JagaSilk

The sneak preview…

1. Giddapahar Est SFTGFOP 1 CH SPL, Darjeeling region, 1st Flush 2011

2. Rani Est Assam CTC, Assam region, 2nd Flush 2011

3. Frans & Gerda’s Organic Rooibos, Cederberg region, Jan 2011 (FYI South African and unrelated to the FedEx package)

4. Rani Est Organic Earl Grey, Assam region, 2nd Flush 2011

(Earl Grey is simply black tea leaves rolled in the oil of bergamot – a citrus fruit – and we are now officially rolling our own at JagaSilk!)

There are many more that will slowly reveal themselves in our limited offering tea program…

We have been looking forward to receiving these teas for WAY too long. The Indian teas arrived Sept 7th at 1pm and we timed two of them in and started bar service previews at 4pm.

– The Giddapahar is the bomb. Probably the highest grade of tea we have yet to cup from the Darjeeling region.

$6.75 for a pot at the teabar.

– The Rani CTC is showcasing what we want to see in an Assam when we extract 4g via pour-over and a wine aerator. Gorgeous.

$3 for a pot at the teabar.

ADRIAN BRONSON IN RECITAL – THE CD 

Available soon: Adrian Bronson’s CD from his fabulous show where we served iced tea cold brewed and bottled in wine bottles.

Tracks featured:Bela Bartok’s “Romanian Folk Danses”
Richard Wagner’s “Wesendonck Lieder”
Beethoven’s “Violin & Piano Sonata” (Op. 24)

Available through Adrian, soon at JAGASILK inside of Nootka Court (Behind the bug zoo) at 17A-633 Courtney St, or by calling            778-679-2172      .

TEABAR BARISTAS: COMINGS AND GOINGS

Midori (two time Maccha Latte art competition winner) and Ryan (sales assistant) left us for the island life off the coast of southern Japan. We may see them again in a year or two, but for now they are taking in the “inaka” experience and seeing what life throws their way.

Justin Coward (Maccha Journeyman) has left for a year long exchange to University in Morioka. He plans to return and join us at both JagaSilk teabar and Spiced Water

We have new baristas joining us that we will introduce in the next JagaSpam. Some powerful awesome people.

YUZU SODA

If you have not tried the Yuzu Soda at JagaSilk teabar this summer, you need to.

Beautiful citrus jam tea we learned in our travels in Japan can be blended with sparkling water to make quite the thirst quenching beverage. Delicious. $3.

Peace and light,
—
Jared and Miyu Nyberg
JagaSilk