Three for tea

Linda Harris and Maxine Shear, owners of Earl Grey Manor Tea Salon in Old Sacramento (916 Second Street, (916) 447-4832), recently went to the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas to participate in the first-ever tea auction on U.S. soil. I asked Harris what three kinds of tea she’s excited about now:

1. White Velvet, a white tea Harris bid on—and got—at the tea auction. “An exquisite white tea, much more pure and less processed than other types of teas.”

2. Macha. “A Japanese green tea, stone-ground very fine so that it disintegrates in water. You’re getting so much of the intense quality of the tea with macha.”

3. Oolong. “Oolongs are very exciting. They’re more oxidized than green teas but less than black—very smooth and velvety on the tongue.”