Happy Lucky's Tea House

Last night, after many months explaining the health benifits of tea and constant invitations to join me at Happy Lucky’s Tea House, two members of my Fibromyalgia Support Group showed up at the tea bar!

I was so elated!

Like most (if not all) our group members, these ladies don’t leave their homes unless it’s necessary. It’s just too painful to move and walk even short distances, and a sort of brain fog is a common side effect that comes and goes…making it embarrassing to dialog with other people.

I know how hard it is to function, but being alone is worse!

We sat at the bar where I introduced my friends who graciously served us tea and explained how tea benefits health. Eric served some of his personal tea from a gaiwan before we ordered an herbal blend and finished with Chocolate Aire.

As much as my friends enjoyed the new world of tea, which they did, was gift of inclusion offered to them in the tea shop. They were not outsiders looking in, but accepted. This is what I love about my tea shop, many beloved tea vendors and the people here on Steepster!

It was ‘Food Walk’ evening in Old Town. This is an evening where many shops give out free samples of food as you walk through town every third Friday of the month, and it’s fun! There was a Fall ’Apple" theme, with Apple Pie Tea at the tea shop.

The ladies wanted to try a walk around 1 block. Can you imagine not knowing if your body can take the pain of 1 block?

Off we went to the cheese shop for apples and goat cheese and chedder, then a spice shop for cherries with 5 spice and apple cider…past the outdoor concert where families were dancing and a booth with childrens meals had the biggest Rice Krispie Treats I’ve ever seen!

We made our way in and out around and back to Walnut Street where Happy Lucky’s is located, watching the hummingbird moths gather nectar in the flowers.

Our evening cost under $4 for a pot of tea but was priceless for the joy it gave me to share with these ladies.

Tea is my amazing friend, but it’s meant to be shared.

A note on sharing: (Many already do this, some may like to begin)
When I read about sip-downs it makes me a bit sad, as though tea is something to be gotten rid of. Forgotten, old, unwanted tea once enjoyed or loved.
Consider, instead of ‘sipping down’ unwanted tea’s, could they be sent to a student or struggling Steepster short on funds to buy tea? Newer Steepsters would benefit from the run-off from many of our overstocked, bursting cupboards too. Swapping isn’t always necessary. When one person has nothing in their cupboard to swap gifting would be an act of hospitality! This is the way of tea.

I had just enough left of this Pu-erh to review again. It has been awhile!

After my experience with the mind altering Pu’er from Verdant yesterday, I wanted an experience where I could look down at my feet and see that …yes…there were my toes and the nails were painted purple just like I remembered! Those of you who have tasted the Xingyang 1998 from Verdant will understand what I’m talking about. I’m a bit hungover!

So, I had a hankering this morning for chocolate and Happy Lucky’s uses cocoa nibs instead of flavoring mixed with their Pu-erh in this blend. What a good idea. I am moving further and further away from the desire for artificial flavors. Don’t get me wrong…I like flavored tea! My preference now is for Organic and Natural flavors since there are so many available and they taste better.

My steep time was about 4 minutes and this brewed up very dark! The chocolate was closer to a bittersweet chocolate than a milk chocolate. There is no way I would drink this tea without milk and sweetening. It screams for it to be added! The flavor was rich and creamy like a hot chocolate, but not. There was a chocolate shot (liquor) flavor that was not like cocoa. I think the only down side for me was the lack of Pu-erh flavor. I missed the earthiness that Pu-erh has. Ah well.
For those that dislike Pu-erh’s but want the health benefits this would be the perfect choice.

First Review. Medium light chocolate puerh mix with cocoa hulls. The dry scent is almost a sweet pipe tobacco slightly cocoa. The steep is 1tsp per 8oz. for 5min. resulting in a mild, slightly earthy cocoa brew that is best enhanced with sweetening and cream as a latte for dessert (unless you are a true espresso drinker and drink puerh straight). In such a case I would even suggest a tiny twist of lemon or orange peel. There are many more elegant and refined puerhs for sure out there however, not everyone enjoys the stronger flavor that comes with them. Lighter or flavored puerhs like this one allow more people to drink without fearing strange fishy or super earthy tones.

It’s been 5 months since I tasted this Oolong! Wow that’s a long time!
I almost forgot it was in the Happy Lucky’s bin and then…I was looking for a trio of tea’s to share with Fr. Evan today and saw this one. Ah ha, that was the one for sharing with him, I thought!

Since I’m still car-less, Fr. Evan said he’d come by my condo on his way home to the wife and kids for our regular chat. When we visit we go on and on talking about Food and Faith. (His family owns one of the oldest and most famous restaurants in Denver)

I had already warned him to leave lots of time for drinking tea.

First, there would be this Oolong, then a nice malty Black Pearl Tea and last a Shu Pu-erh. (All three his first tastings of those kinds of tea’s ever.)

I set up my wooden gonfu tray, two gaiwans and glass cups (shouldn’t show off but I did anyway).

The Oolong was not what he expected. Fr. Evan likes Black Tea best and grew up drinking Greek Chamomile Tea with lemon and honey.
This was delicate and slightly floral with a little vegital background that he enjoyed. "I like this tea and would drink it which I didn’t expect, " he said. Of course I nodded in a knowing manner. (I thought he’s like it because it’s a very tasty tea!)

Next the Black Pearl delighted him since he loves a malty black tea.

But…the winner was…the Pu-erh! I’m the one who made a convert out of my Priest!!! Ha! (Now I have to buy some Pu-erh as a gift for his Church office tea set-up!)

We had such a lovely time sipping our tea and talking about how tea relaxes you and brings a person into the ‘present’ where you are able to be still with God. He understood why tea has meaning for me and how it is helping shape and heal my life.

He noticed at one point that I have a small beeswax candle on my icon shelf shaped in the form of a beehive.
“Where did you get that?” he said with some excitement in his voice.
“At the honey store by Terry Lake”, I replied.
“Did you know that the architect for Hagia Sophia modeled the great dome of the church after a bee hive…that’s how it was created and why it has remained all these century’s?”
“Wow, I had no idea!”…(I always learn something new from Fr. Evan)
What a kind man.

First review.

I was sitting at the bar at Happy Lucky’s and Andy slipped me a shot of this tea. My life passed before my eyes in a moment…(maybe longer) and every tea thing I knew about unflavored tea CHANGED (hear the drumbeat) right then! I had NO idea that you could taste Bahddah (butter) and popcorn and a bit of floral with all it’s sweetness in a tea. No idea that leaves smelling and looking like fresh spinach cooked in butter could produce tea that is so remarkable. Who knew? I bought 1 ounce of precious tea but find that you can resteep many times without the tea getting weak. I have to be careful not to steep too long or the tea gets overly vegital tasting.
This is a wonderful addition to the tea cupboard and opened me to trying Oolongs and other unflavored Tea!

Second tasting…the leaves dried while I was busy doing other things and here in Colorado it’s in the 70’s and the air is quite dry all the time. I’m so surprised at how large the leaves are! Really big! I have one of those safe plastic large 20oz dishwasher safe insulated cups that my silicon steeper just fits in perfectly…has a lid and I used for multiple steepings…easy to transfer leaves from pot to this method and also portable. Anyway…a 2 minute steep was plenty long for a supurb brew. Oh this is lightly sweet and buttery good. Slight orchid…very very slight….not nutty like nuts but like brown rice. Maybe a reason why people may like this is that it’s like rosotto… that buttery, nutty rice flavor. Well… today this is what it tastes like to me.

A fantastic Oolong. I am so greatful that my local tea people have tastings or I would never have known this kind of tea existed. What a pleasure!

It has been a very long time since I reviewed this Lapsang Souchong from Happy Lucky’s Teahouse here in Fort Collins. It happens to be a tea that I’ve sent to England, Canada and all over the United States when sending out samples of tea over the past two years. I even sent some to David Duckler at Verdant to use as a rub! (I have my nerve!)

Not too long ago, the Manager at the tea shop, Andy, had some ‘other’ Lapsang Souchong tea’s that he was sampling.
Andy said that he had some tea’s for me to try…so several Lapsang Souchongs were lined up for tasting. Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh.

None were as good as the original China Lapsang Souchong!
Why? Smoke without bitterness, depth of flavor and a little sweetness.

All agreed that there’s no point changing a favorite tea of so many people! This is one good Lapsang Souchong!

Personally, I’m never without a few ounces of this tea.
I grind it into a powder with freeze dried garlic and onion and sprinkle it on vegetables when steaming them (broccoli and cauliflower). I make meat rubs, and can’t wait until my daughter’s goats produce milk for cheese so that I can dust them with tea.

For those who received this tea from me and loved it, you can now buy it directly online. There’s another Lapsang blend with toasted jasmine and orange that’s called Lion and Lamb (less intense).
www.happyluckys.com

Third Tasting Note.

I keep coming back to this tea and using it in different ways.

First I added a pinch to other tea’s to smoke them up a little…especially good with a floral tea or Earl Grey.

Next, I started to steam my broccoli and cauliflower with a pinch of ground Lapsang Souchong and sometimes I grind it with smoked pepper or freeze dried garlic, sprinkling it over the vegetables in the steamer. The house smells so good and the veggies taste wonderful.

I moved on to pasta. Yes, pasta water and a little tea…smoky pasta…which I used first with Cheese Tortellini. Fabulous…just add a little olive oil and some herbs and um….!

Finally I want to try cooking meat and fish with this smoky tea. I know there are people who use it with BBQ rubs. You can google this and try out those options.

I had some WHISKEY CHEESE from my local cheese shop (The Welsh Rabbit in Fort Collins) that I ate while sipping my tea and ohhhhhh it was perfect! Whiskey and Smoke!

That’s it for this round! I love the smoke!

I still like this tea a great deal and especially enjoy playing with adding it to other tea’s and cooking with it. Here is tonights discovery:

No more stinky veggies!

You will never, ever, ever, ever, ever guess what I did with my Lapsang Souchong tonight. Well, I don’t like the smell of my broccoli steaming in the steamer basket (and I had 2 bunches from Whole Foods on the stove) so I put 2 pinches of …you got it…Lapsang Souchong in the water and….OH WOW! The smell was wonderful, and the flavor super fantastic. Not too smoky but just right! My house didn’t smell like old socks either! Um…Um…good! Playing with my food, playing with tea!

ok, another thing I did with this tea was put some in a steeping basket then in the water where I was boiling some cheese tortellini. This was also a big winner. I added a little olive oil and dash of Greek seasoning after draining the pasta…so good! Smoky in a mild yummy delicious way!

First review.

Last night my daughter and 3 teenaged granddaughters (18,16,14) came over for laughter (we seem to laugh till we cry at the dumbest things) and have tea.
I had fresh strawberries from California, cookies, 3 pots of different tea…Czar Nikolas II with Cherry Jam first, then Sweet Potato Pie Tea, ending with this very smoky Lapsang Souchong. I knew that noone had ever tasted anything like this tea before.

When we ended our array of tastings ending with this tea, my youngest granddaughter was absolutely loving it! Only the oldest didn’t prefer it… and thought it was like having a piece of smoked meat. Oh well, everyone else enjoyed it.

Here are the comments:
It tastes like you’re in a cabin in the woods…it brings you to memories of camping or a Winter day when the snow is falling. The smoke is real and not artifical or chemical tasting. Comforting…like having a wood fire in the fireplace and candlelight. I had only steeped a scant teaspoon for 2 minutes for 10 oz.

I’ve added Lapsang Souchong leaves to other tea’s that I wanted smoky like Czar Nikolas II once and in Earl Grey which was good also. I think this would be tasty while eating chocolate so I’ll try that next time. Good tea time.

Went to the tax lady today…got that ordeal over with!!! As a reward (as if I need an excuse) I stopped by Happy Lucky’s Tea House which has THE BEST service in the world! The regular 2 guys are terrific but today was the first intro of a new employee Diana who went out of her way to make sure I’d have a great time. I decided to try something way different than anything I have at home. Smoked Earl Grey. What in the Sam Hill would this taste like? There was a new frosting of snow out the window to look at…and a bamboo tray with a lovely white ceramic pot and cup was brought to my table “another 2 minutes and I’ll be back”, she said. OK. (about 4 min total on the steep I’m guessing). The first pour….transported me to a mountain cabin with a log fire crackling away to warm the room. There was the scent of flowers gently edging in under the smoke from some other room. Comforting but a really big smoke. I wanted some dark chocolate or a pear or aged dry goat cheese with this. The pairing would be the same as some red wines that I love. I added sugar and it brought out the floral in a good way. Diana and I were in cahoots (is this spelled right KAHOOTS?) “Let’s try a second steep and see where it takes us!” (I’m drinking a lot of tea…slosh) but…the second steep was way better…less smoke but not bland at all. So good. Not artificial. I liked this tea. Never thought of drinking anything like this. I did buy another smokier tea to cook with but may return soon for this one to keep forever. Thank’s to Happy Lucky’s for a memorable tea time!

It’s an herbal tea I purchase for road trip tea drinking. It’s floral, minty and is combined with a variety of herbal elements to give it a very earthy smell. It’s strong, almost pungent and bears little resemblance to many things you’ll ever drink. Wouldn’t recommend sweetening it, as that just makes it worse. Just an acquired taste herbal and I’m admittedly not an herbal tea drinker.

I added this tea to steepster after a jaunt to Happy Lucky’s in downtown Fort Collins. The tea masters are good fellows. They brewed up a hefty clay pot of this Velour ( great name) Pu erh and we talked and I sipped a 3 minute steeped brew with hot milk. So nice to have a tea bar with stools so high I can’t touch the floor and I’m tall! I got to put my big nose WAY into the big tin of Pu erh to get the bang of scent dry…and I could pinpoint where I smelled that scent before…in the barrel room at the winery! Old damp and cool barrels with dust in the corner and humid. The soury good smell. The dirt smell. Wow. The smell is something soily. The 3 minute steep with hot milk created a mocha cup that was not too bold, a bit smoky and not too weak either. Liked it. If this had been wine I would have been drunk! It was a big pot!

This is a local Fort Collins Colorado Tea House blend. Not too bad but a bit weaker than what I’ve been drinking. Heavy on the almond flavor which makes it a bit bitter. Would like this with less almond and vanilla and maybe a more caramel note. Just not that fond of it. Oh well. The tea house it awesome though. Service is great and they have a ton of other tea’s.