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| Afternoon tea with a difference: dim sum |
Bath has no shortage of cafes – so you might wonder what
another new opening could possibly bring to the table. Fortunately, the new
Comins Tea House (a second branch for them, following the success of their
original teahouse in Dorset) doesn’t lack for unique selling points. Not only
do they offer an incredible range of teas in different styles (from the infamous
matcha to the rare & special Pu’erh tea), all made in traditional style and
served in appropriate vessels with a side helping of expert knowledge, but
they’ve got a great twist on the bog-standard afternoon tea as well, with their
dim sum. As someone who’s eaten more than her fair share of cucumber sandwiches
with a cup of Earl Grey, I was delighted to try something different, and Comins’
feather-light gyoza washed down with a bowl of green tea really hits the spot.
I’ve got to admit, though, I was slightly intimidated by
the extensive tea menu, so when I was invited back to attend the first of Comins
Bath’s tea tasting evenings and learn a bit more, my answer was an immediate
yes. Over two hours, owner Rob talked us through six different teas without notes,
hesitation or repetition – his passion for the subject and the depth of his
knowledge was truly impressive. We started with White Peony, which is a light,
subtle tea with hints of straw and vegetable, and learnt that the longer the
leaf is exposed to the air, the more it oxidises, and the darker and more
bitter it becomes. White Peony is dried straightaway, in the sun, so the
flavours are delicate – and this also preserves the anti-oxidants that make
some teas so good for you.
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The lovely (and very knowledgeable)
Rob, doing his thing |
Next up was Sencha Karigane, a Japanese green tea that is
steamed, preserving its fantastic grassy green colour. As Rob says, this tea
isn’t for everyone – it’s got quite a strong, vegetable foretaste (even though
it’s actually pretty light, for a green tea), but then it becomes quite floral
– it definitely grew on me. Our third tea was probably my favourite of all,
Houjicha – another Japanese green tea, but roasted, giving it fabulous hints of
smoke, sawdust, hazelnuts and coffee. It was completely unlike any other tea
I’ve ever tried and I loved it (although it seems that betrays my lack of
sophistication, as this is often called ‘farmer’s tea’).
The fourth tea was an oolong called Dong Ding, which
translates as “frozen summit” in Taiwanese – apparently most teas from Taiwan
are named for the mountain on which they grow. The higher altitude means that
the tea grows much slower, making for a deeper flavour. This was a lovely
floral tea with hints of honey and jasmine, partially oxidised (were you paying
attention earlier?) so that the flavour is a little stronger, brewed in a tiny
yixing teapot and served in a tiny sipping bowl.
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Our tea flight for the evening - teas in order of
writing, from front to back |
For our fifth tasting we moved on to black tea, in the
form of Darjeeling Rainbow, which had an elegant, malty flavour with a scent of
pine. Black tea, we learned, is picked and dried, rolled (which bruises the
leaves, speeding up the oxidation) and then fired in a hot oven, accounting for
its relatively strong flavour. Tea from the same estate as this one – Ambootia
– retails in Harrods for £250 per kilo. Finally, we tried a more
vegetable-flavoured black tea from a tiny smallholder in Malawi – call me
stupid but I had never really thought about tea-growing in Africa before. I
love the Comin’s approach to supporting smallholders, something they intend to
keep doing in the future.
All in all, this was a totally fascinating evening – I
took pages of notes that I couldn’t possibly fit into this post – and left me
with the urge to learn much more. If you feel intimidated by all this tea
nerdery, then know that the experts at Comins are incredibly friendly, and very
happy to explain and offer tastings to help you decide what you’d like. Highly
recommended – and make sure you try the gyoza too.
