Get “Tea Drunk” with Smith Teamaker & Chef Karl Holl
Smith Teamaker’s Head Teamaker Ravi Kroesen teams up with Chef Karl Holl for a tea-centric dinner event at the company’s SE Portland Tasting Room & Headquarters
WHAT:
“Tea Drunk is a feeling of euphoria achieved when consuming an exceptional amount of quality tea in one sitting. So much so, you can reach an almost meditative state, where caffeine and tea begin to affect time and place.” – Ravi Kroesen, Head Teamaker
On Saturday, May 4th, join Smith’s Head Teamaker Ravi Kroesen and Portland Monthly’s 2018 Chef of the Year Karl Holl as they collaborate on an exceptional dinner event, aptly named “Tea Drunk,” inspired by the season’s lush spring harvest and tea gardens around the world.
On this night only, Smith will transform their SE Portland tasting room into a restaurant for a family-style supper showcasing the interesting techniques Chef Holl has uncovered while cooking with Smith tea—including herbal butter infusions, tea brines and tea-chi (kimchee that incorporates spent tea leaves). Guests will enjoy bites such as spiced carrots and spent tea-chi lettuce cups with spiced mayo and plates such as spring garden-burnt beets, greens, shaved roots, sprouted grains and tea spiced granola and Mao Feng green tea brined pork loin and sausage with herb spätzle, young vegetable ragout, chili butter, charred onion.
The menu will be complemented by a line-up of special teas and non-alcoholic offerings prepared by Kroesen and his celebrated team of teamakers. Pours include this season’s first harvest of first flush Darjeeling (known to many as the Champagne of tea) from the Shree Dwarika Estate in India, as well as early pluckings of Mao Feng green tea from Wuyi County, Zhejiang Province that is so fresh it provides the experience of tasting spring in a cup. Other beverage offerings include a non-alcoholic “rosé” crafted using a complex combination of delicate teas and botanicals steeped with river rocks harvested from the Willamette Valley for minerality. They will conclude the evening with an extremely rare aged 2014 Lapsang Suchong—history’s first ever black tea—harvested by the same family from the same garden where it was first created in 1646 in the Tongmu village in the Wuyi Mountains of China.
Tickets are limited. This is an alcohol-free event. Come get tea drunk with us.
WHEN:
May 4, 2019 from 6:30PM – 9PM
WHERE:
Smith Teamaker
110 SE Washington St.
Portland, OR 97214
HOW:
Dinner is $80 per person. For reservations, please visit: www.smithtea.com/products/tea-drunk-dinner
**Limited complimentary media seats are available. Please email Katie Burnett if you are able and interested in attending. We would love for you to join us.**
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About Smith Teamaker
Smith Teamaker celebrates 10 years of sourcing the world’s finest teas and botanicals to offer a drinking experience like nothing else in the world. The brand is beloved for brewing up uncommonly curated teas and herbal infusions, which are blended and packed in small batches at its Portland headquarters and tasting room. Smith was founded by the late legendary teamaker, Steve Smith, who was the craftsman behind two of the nation’s biggest tea brands, Stash and Tazo. The brand’s mission is to elevate the tea experience by crafting products made with transparency, exceptional blending and constant innovation. Smith is available online at smithtea.com and in select hotels, restaurants, retail and natural grocery stores across the nation.
Katie Burnett | Brand Manager | Smith Teamaker | 110 SE Washington Street | Portland, OR 97214