UYE Tea with a Brit @Steepers

«It’s tea time, dahhlingg.»
…and of course, without a doubt, Janet O. knows how to get the party started — no alcoholic beverages required! There were three things I looked foward to accomplishing throughout this event: spending time with Janet O., getting acquainted with new South Bay Unilocalers, and the obvious, drinking tons and tons of tea. Historically, tea has been viewed as a health drink. Recent studies suggest that tea, especially green tea, helps reduce some forms of cancer, helps bad breath, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduces blood pressure, helps with weight control, kills bacteria and virus, acts as an anti-​inflammatory, and has neuroprotective power. With that said, I try to encourage myself to drink as much tea as I can on a daily basis since my guilty conscience won’t punish me for it afterward. Tea is meant to maintain one’s overall wellness and stimulate the body’s immune system, so why not drink as much as your heart desires.
Admittedly, I’m what some people may call, a «tea-​a-​holic». Don’t believe me? I drink about 7 – 8 cups of tea per day. I probably drink more tea than what’s for my own good, but let’s be honest, wouldn’t you RATHER get tea schwasted than drunk off alcohol?! Thought so. ;D
Julie, as in Julie Andrews — Steepers’ proprietor and England native, provided invaluable education concurrent with a tea sampling of at least 8 various Earl Grey Teas for groups of 10 every 15 – 20 minutes. It was great to learn about each tea and familiarize myself with each distinctive flavor. In addition to the tea sampling, Julie also provided various teas sampling stations to all participants located throughout her petite, posh-​like store. My personal favorite would have to be the Peach Apricot Black Tea from Sri Lanka. Utterly refreshing. Smashing. I could’ve sworn that I drank at least 5 mini cups of that tea. Moreover, homemade biscuits and crackers were available beside each tea station to enhance the whole tea tasting experience. What’s better than sipping on some of Steepers most exquisite tea while nibbling on some delectable crackers here and there?!
I left this UYE enticingly stimulated, with mind and body awakened, due to the excessive amounts of tea consumed during the event. Content; well-​pleased; unabridged. Thank you, Janet!

It’s a new year and Janet O. is already at it with yet another successful and fun UYE at the Steepers. We arrived early and the place was set for a tasting event. There were few tea pots throughout with an assortment of cookies to enjoy. Unilocalers begun to arrive and within 15 minutes the place was chock-​full. Everyone was respectable and paid the tea tasting fee, which I think was a great deal.
I’ve been in this shop previously and it’s an awesome place for tea. Name it, they probably have it. I love the sample wall, which allowed me to experience the teas aromatically. So many choices, I was at a loss but eventually managed to decide on three flavors. The black Rainbow tea was one of my favorites, with a scent of Marzipan, simply fabulous. I also bought some Oolong Watermelon flavor tea that is ostensibly amazing for the hot summer months brewed up as iced tea. The final flavor was the owner’s concoction of several teas that she brewed for tasting. She made the blend as remedy for soar throats; a sip of this magical creation soothed and coated my throat. Although I didn’t have a soar throat, I was still able to experience its magic. In the end it was the flavor that made the sale. The owner is a tea encyclopedia to say the least. She shared some tea facts and myths with us during her educational tea tasting. Did you know that Earl Grey tea is the most recognized tea in the world? Also that caffeine in tea plants acts as bug repellent? She also explained the difference between caffeine delivery from coffee and tea. Caffeinated teas provide a long sustained energy boost without the abrupt caffeine spike followed by a dramatic energy drop associated with coffee.
Unilocal events, UYE or YEE, typically involve alcohol followed by a intoxication. I was not expected to be doped at this event, but I was high as a kite! It was a bodily experience I totally enjoyed, and it lasted for a few hours. Without doubt this event made me more knowledgeable and posed a scary conundrum, do I switch my caffeine delivery from java to tea?

This event was fan-​tea-​stic!
I’m a huge, huge, huge fan of tea, so thank you very much to Janet and Steepers for hosting this event! (I don’t know how you manage to do these kinds of things Janet…)
This place seemed like something out of Pinterest. The ways the teas were set up on the wall, I swear I probably seen it on Pinterest or something like that before.
We were treated to an educational tasting of various Earl Grey teas, which by the way, I learned that it is because of the oil of bergamot that the tea is Earl Grey. There also was once a dude named Earl Grey or the Earl of Grey… something like that! The samples were all very delicious, with my favorites being the Russian Earl Grey and Dorian Grey. Around the room, there multiple other teas available for sampling, including a Bourbon St. Vanilla, which was extremely aromatic. There were also sweets such as, cookies and blakava to compliment the teas. I felt pretty British for a while.
I was able to meet some Unilocalers (finally!) and catch up with old ones. Thanks again to Janet and Steepers for the amazing event!

This event was awesome! Janet O, just amazing!!! Thank you very much! Also a big thank you to the owner, Julie! She is a very nice lady!
We tried out about nine different Earl Grey Teas and was educated on each of them. It was really cool to learn about them. From light to strong, you name it. The Dorian Earl Grey Tea was my favorite! All black teas.
I love how they have each of the teas in little jars for you to smell them.
There was little snacks around the store to munch on like cookies. There was also some teas out to sample as well.
I love how they have Green teas, Black teas and Oolong! So many teas to pick from, I wanted to buy them all!
I ended up getting the Sweet Watermelon Oolong tea. Its smell is like a watermelon jolly rancher and I love those! There wasn’t any of it bagged so one of the workers made me a bag of it which I thought was really cool!
I will be coming back since I HAVE to try other teas like this chocolate black tea. Chocolate Mint black tea.

It’s tea time from all around the world! Great teas were brewed perfectly at this tasting event with a diverse representation of cultures that celebrate tea, from the peach apricot black tea from Sri Lanka to the rooibos from Africa. My favorite was the pomegranate hibiscus from China! We also enjoyed a variety of tea cookies and desserts from thumbprint cookies and macaroons to baklava.
Steepers is located in downtown Campbell and despite the unassuming exterior, the inside of the store will just blow you away. It is a gold mine of teas! The tasting was lead by the owner Julie, with whom it only takes one conversation for you to realize the depth of her knowledge and passion for all kinds of teas.
Amazing setup and well organized by veteran planner Janet O. Thanks to her efforts more people will get to know this hidden gem of a shop and shopkeeper and discover the wonderful teas they didn’t know the loved!

Another awesome UYE w Janet. The samples were generous with a wide variety of delicious favors, yummy treats and great Unilocalers to clink tea cups with. I was most impressed with both the quality of the selection and the in depth education provided at the tasting… On my way to becoming a savvy tea connoisseur!

Tea-​wowza!
I’m a noob to the world of tea as my feet have been firmly and faithfully planted in the java world since I was introduced to the uplifting perks of that magical bean way back when. This brilliantly organized event by Janet O. has now opened the portal to the world of tea for me, and I can see myself joining hands with the coffee and tea worlds in harmony.
There were several tea tasting stations and assorted sweets planted around this very quaint store owned and managed by the charismatic and delightful Julie. The Bourbon St. Vanilla was dare I say as decadent (almost candy like) of a tea as I have ever tasted.
There were groups of 10 people rotating through the grand tasting sampling, orchestrated by Julie, and prior to each tea we were given a precise description of what to expect. My clear cut favorites were the Dorian Grey and Versailles Lavender Earl Grey which, mixing coffee metaphors I use, «packed a wallop» across my palate.
Steepers has a large collection of teas (in tiny glass jars) along the left wall in which you can open and get an aromatic sense of how it should taste before you decide to purchase. You can bet that I will be exploring their vast offerings in the near future.

TEA. EARL GREY. HOT. As Captain Jean-​Luc Picard of the USS-​Enterprise-​D would say.
Thank you to the UYE Queen Janet for organizing another successful event and Julie, the owner of Steepers for sharing her knowledge and love for tea. All for $ 10 we sampled about 10 different Earl Grey teas and some tasty dessert — I love the Dorian Earl Grey the most! There should be a Dorian Earl Grey milk tea in the future! :D Boba shops! I’m calling ya’ll out! ;)
After the tea tasting was over I browsed around the store and smelled all the teas in the cute little clear jar and the one that caught my attention was the Sweet Watermelon Oolong tea. OH MY GAWWWWD! It totally smelled like a Watermelon bubble gym! :D so I bought 1 oz bag of it (pretty small) and I will try some later. I played the safe zone for now since I’ve had teas that smelled delicious but tasted not so delicious, haha.
Overall, it was great meeting new and familiar Unilocal faces and I had a great time at this UYE. Thirsty Thursdays Tea tasting edition! Oh, I must not forget Adam D. for being the super pro photographer last night! ^_^

I need more tea in my apartment like I need another hole in my head, but I needed some quality time with my girl Janet and the whole crew like California needs the rain, so off I went…
Just a quick (sarcasm font) 3-​hour jaunt down to Campbell from the Peninsula in traffic that was 100% worth it to sample some tasty teas and get legit tea knowledge dropped from a real deal Brit, practically fresh off the boat from Buckingham Palace.
Our educational tasting was made of all different blend of Earl Grey tea, which is actually my least favorite tea normally, but these were such high quality that even I was almost tempted to invest in a bag.
in addition to 4 different types of tea available throughout and sweet treats like my favorite apricot cookies and baklava, there was an enormous wall of little glass tea jars to smell (my favorite!). I was so engrossed in sniffing that I actually missed the first two Earl Grey tea tastings, but I just couldn’t be lured away from the Crème de Caramel rooibos and the watermelon tea that smelled exactly like a watermelon Jolly Rancher and that I know will be my new favorite for iced tea at home.
Thanks to Janet (and Adam, too) for tons of fun and another spectacular UYE.

When in doubt, pinkies out!
I’m a huge tea drinker so I perked up immediately when Janet texted me about this event. I can have tea at any time of the day, unlike coffee which makes me jittery and my (overly sensitive) stomach hurt.
Ask me to describe wine and I’ll throw around words like tannic, supple, acidic, jammy, crisp, etcetera. Ask me to describe tea and you’ll get a blank look. to me, it’s either strong, or not strong. Well I’m glad I finally got schooled tonight. Who knew that tea could be «biscuity» or «buttery»?
Tonight, we had the privilege of sampling 18 teas under the wing of Julie, the kind British owner who possesses an impressive amount of knowledge about tea.
The more oxidation that the tea leaves have gone though, the less health benefits you receive from drinking the tea and that is why green tea (specifically jasmine and longjing) is my #1 choice. The majority of samples that we had were Earl Grey which helped me expand my tea horizons and develop a palate for something I normally wouldn’t drink. Fellow Unilocalers munched on cookies and baklava while sipping the night away. Julie did a great job at thoroughly explaining the essence of each tea.
I had a fantastic time catching up with old friends and meeting new Unilocalers tonight! Still on that caffeine rush as I write this: P Miss Janet deserves a huge round of applause for organizing the first UYE of 2015 :) Until next time, SYOY!