Selected Taiwanese Tea Leaves

If you ask us, “Why does Rewind’s cocktail menu always have so many teas?”

The answer is probably that, for Beverage Director Ken, tea has never been just an ingredient.

Ken says: “Growing up in Taiwan, tea was actually very close to us. It might appear on the dining table, at the homes of older relatives, or it might simply be a pot of tea casually brewed in the afternoon. In Taiwan, tea is an everyday beverage that can be found everywhere. It was not until I began making cocktails that I became aware again that something we are so familiar with actually possesses an extremely rich range of flavors.”

All of them come from Taiwan, but different growing regions, varieties, and degrees of fermentation and roasting can give each cup of tea an entirely different character.

Some are delicate and elegant, carrying aromas of flowers and fresh leaves; some are mature, carrying honeyed aromas and ripe fruit; after some have been roasted, they take on notes of nuts, wood, and warm roasted aromas.

So at Rewind, when Ken chooses tea leaves, he rarely asks only:

“Is this a good tea?”

What I ask more often is:

“What can it say in this cocktail? How should the flavors of tea and alcohol be combined so that they are just right?”

I hope tea in a cocktail is not an ingredient that needs to be specifically pointed out, nor is it there to make the drink look more “Asian.”

It should have a place of its own.

Sometimes it is responsible for aroma, sometimes it builds mouthfeel and structure, and sometimes it remains at the end, becoming the lingering note you still remember after you have finished drinking.

These teas I have selected from Taiwan may ultimately appear in your glass in completely different ways.

But if, after you finish your drink, you begin to wonder:

“What tea was that just now?”

Then I would be very happy to brew you another cup.

Before tea becomes an ingredient, it deserves to be understood.