The long awaited Kurihara Gyokuro Green Tea Reviews!

Edited post on the 22nd of August 2014 for the new tea blog

Greetings to all, hope you all had a fancy time during the holidays that you celebrated or not!

I found out that I had already cup-tested 3 out of 4 of the Gyokuro of 2013 from the Kurihara family farm after trying out the 4th one. Goody!

Picture from Yunomi.us
One of the best Japanese tea shops out there!

 I won't make you wait too long:

 First and foremost, I gotta be fair... I didn't steep the teas all the same way. The first tea was steeped at 45C as per the instructions from the Kurihara farm, then I lost those instructions, so I had to refer to the Yunomi.us instructions which are as good in my opinion. Then, after attending a very  personalized (we were only 2 people) Japanese  tea tasting event, I tried to brew my 2nd and 3rd  teas (Premium & Heritage) in a smaller teapot (since there exist smaller kyushu teapots, but I don't own any yet.) used for Gong Fu Cha service. The 4th tea also used less water and a smaller amount of tea as I learned that I can use a small-medium sized teacup to measure the amount of water needed (roughly 30-40ml) and 1 heaped teaspoon per said cup of water. Turned out rather delicious. You'll see!

Standard Gyokuro 2013

(Spoiler: I had vanilla-chocolate body lotion on... Something to mind in the future.)

Dry leaves:

• Dark green with a little bit of lighter green colours
• Short thin leaves rolled like hay (needles) and a very good amount of powdery bits
• Looks delicate
• Smells buttery, green, sweet like vanilla & white chocolate (see spoiler up above :S), light asparagus nose
• The leaves seem light and fresh when squeezed. They would rather bend than break

1st Steeping (Kyushu teapot - Senchado technique)
 2 minutes - 80 ml (1/3 cup) water - 8 grams of tea - 45C (as instructed by the Kurihara farm)

Liquor:

• Light vibrant green
• Shiny, forgot to note down whether or not it was opaque... Most likely.
• Smells like dry leaves, buttery, green, sweet like vanilla & white chocolate (see spoiler up above :S), light asparagus nose

1st Taste: Intense asparagus, sweet, round, smooth
2nd Taste: Almost like eating a whole bunch of boiled greens (asparagus, spinach)

Wet leaves:

• Smell like butter, asparagus, almost milky
• Look like nice soaked dark & light green hay

2nd Steeping (Kyushu teapot - Senchado technique)
~20 seconds - ~80 ml (1/3 cup) water - Still the same 8 grams of tea - 80C

Liquor:

• Camo green, opaque and a little shiny
• Smells like creamy asparagus

1st Taste: Bitter, open, a bit astringent
2nd taste: Like drinking the juice of a dark crushed fresh tree leaf. However, when you drink it normally (not slurping), it doesn't seem so bitter and more round.

3rd Steeping (Kyushu teapot - Senchado technique)
~25 seconds - ~80 ml (1/3 cup) water - Still the same 8 grams of tea - 80C

Liquor:

• Colour is even darker and opaque, still a bit shiny
• Smells like creamy asparagus

1st Taste: Round, smooth, buttery, no bitterness, less "tasty"
2nd Taste: More bitter, still smooth though. Tastes like crushed, fresh young leaves. When swallowed, it's almost creamy.

4th Steeping (Kyushu teapot - Senchado technique) - because I felt I could stretch it that much
1 minute - full kyushu teapot (normal small one) - Still the same 8 grams of tea - 80C

Liquor:

• Clear green leaf colour, shiny
• Smells a bit like asparagus

1st Taste: Light smooth, astringent, fresh leaf taste
2nd Taste: Same as 1st taste, but less astringent, almost a sour point at the tip of the tongue at the very beginning.

Notes: I was disappointed by the lack of "marine" taste (seaweed). It's obviously not a Tamahomare, but not bad either. Very intense at first.

I also tried to cook the tea leaves...
So I used olive oil & cut pieces of garlic that I sautéed ~1 minute. I added the wet tea leaves, some Cyprus salt and a little bit of pepper. I sautéed the whole for ~1-2 minutes, then added a small piece of butter on top. Mixed and let the butter melt.
It wasn't bad. But maybe I would have added a little soy next time to give it a little kick as it lacked a bit of flavour. My husband found it a bit bitter. Some pieces of leaves were still a bit hard. 3 stars out of 5.

Premium Gyokuro 2013

Dry leaves:

• Dark green with very little light green colour
• Short thin leaves rolled like hay straw (needles) and powdery bits
• Smells like cream of spinach and asparagus cooked with butter and cream
• Felt a bit dryer than expected when squeezed, but still a bit springy

1st Steeping: Gong Fu Cha teapot
2 minutes - 80 ml (1-3 cup) water - 8 grams of tea - 60C

Liquor:

• Light yellow-green colour, clear
• Smells like creamy spinach, sweet

Taste:
A bit intense, a bit bitter, interesting taste at the beginning at the back of the mouth. Something green and veggie-like and sweet

Wet leaves:

• Nice green colour, look almost mashed
• Smells like warm thick grass that has been cut and piled and has warmed up under the sun

2nd Steeping: Gong Fu Cha teapot
~20 seconds - 80 ml (1-3 cup) water - same 8 grams of tea - 80C

Liquor: Thick, shiny, viscous dark green colour

Taste: A bit bitter, actually, pretty bitter, astringent, but smooth and palatable at the same time. Tastes like tree leaves and hay. It's hard to taste much because of the bitterness.

Interesting facts: Drinking pure (a bit warm in my case) H2O after the tea made the water taste super sweet.

Notes: This tea is too bitter and intense... Might be because of the first steeping's temperature, I don't know... I did a  3rd steeping afterwards and it was much better and smoother.

Experiment!
I melted unsalted butter in a pot, added the gyokuro wet leaves, then added salt and pepper. I cooked the mix for a while, mixing from time to time, then I added organic 3.25% milk, added more salt and pepper to taste and voilà! Crème de Gyokuro!

Creamy, buttery, slightly bitter (only a little in my opinion) and as good as leek or spinach cream! :9 4.3/5

Heritage Gyokuro 2013

Dry leaf:

• Dark green with a little lighter green colours
• Flat needle-like leaves with some powder
• Smells like cream of Spinach cooked with butter and cream

1st Steeping: Gong Fu Cha teapot
2 minutes - 80 ml (1/3 cup) water -  8 grams of tea - ~50C

Liquor:

• Medium green-yellow colour
• Opaque but not completely as I can still see powder deposits at the bottom of my cup
• Smells like buttered greens with cream

Taste:

• Intense, sweet, green, umami, with a lightly smoky taste at the back of the mouth on the 3rd sip. Very intense like something bitter, but it isn't really bitter. Quite overpowering with a creamy taste
• Creamy and smooth

Wet leaves:

• Vivid medium green colour
• A bit like mashed leaves lightly squashed together
• Green smell, reminds me of the taste of its liquor, just less intense
• Asparagus and cream smell

2nd Steeping: Gong Fu Cha teapot
~20 seconds - 80 ml (1/3 cup) water -  the same 8 grams of tea - ~70C

Liquor:

• Much more opaque, almost muddy
• Darker green and a little yellowish

Taste:

• Almost bitter, but still smooth
• Less sweet
• Green taste
• Intense but less than the 1st steeping
• A little smoky, especially after a few sips when breathing out through the nose
• If you drink water in-between sips to clear the previous taste in the mouth, it almost feels like the moment it enters your mouth, the water tastes like coffee!

3rd Steeping: Gong Fu Cha teapot
~25 seconds - 80 ml (1/3 cup) water -  the same 8 grams of tea - ~70C

Liquor:

• Lighter, clearer, green-yellow colour
• Green sweet smell

Taste:

• Smooth but a little astringent
• A bit sweet, a bit smoky
• More watery, will not sustain another steeping
• More drinkable as an everyday type of tea or in bigger quantity
• Green taste

Notes: One particularity of the Gyokuro teas that I like is the tenderness of the leaves

Experiment: Dipped the wet leaves in garlic dumpling sauce (Six Fortune brand) and it was good.

Kurihara Heritage Gyokuro 2013

Dry leaf:

• Dark green flat needles with a little of lighter green
• NO POWDER
• Buttery dry spinach smell

1st Steeping: Senchado
2.5 minutes - 1 small-medium teacup of water (~30ml) -  1 heaped teaspoon - 50C

Liquor:

• Light yellow-green colour
• Shiny but opaque
• green, spinach, buttery, seaweed, almost perfume-like

Taste:

• Intense at first then weakens and slowly taper off
• Sweet, green, light asparagus
• Mellow, none to barely any astringency
• Rolls in the mouth like a good Tamahomare (Another Gyukuro, the expensive kind)
• Very insignificant bitterness

Wet leaves:

• Sweet broccoli, green smell
• Vivid medium green colour with a little bit of paler green
• Looks like cooked spinach, the leaves look beautiful

2nd Steeping: Senchado
30 seconds - 1 small-medium teacup of water (~30ml) -  same 1 heaped teaspoon - ~60C

Liquor:

• Medium grey-green with some yellow colour
• Less opaque, shiny with some translucent specks on the surface
• Light sweet powdery green smell

Taste:

• Less sweet
• Green taste
• More liquid, less viscous
• Slight bitterness at the end
• Very drinkable as is

3rd Steeping: Senchado
30 seconds - 1 small-medium teacup of water (~30ml) -  same 1 heaped teaspoon - ~70C

 Liquor:

• Clearer, light-medium grey-green-yellow colour
• Small green specks at the bottom and translucent specks at the surface

Taste:

• Lacks taste, a little green taste
• Slight metal taste

Notes: Very agreeable in the mouth, more of an every kinda feeling than the previous gyokuro grades. It would seem this grade is only suitable for 1-2 steeping as it becomes quite bland quickly.


Verdict: This last grade is the best so far!

That's it, folks! I gotta run now as it is the 31st and already 7:10pm! Happy New Year to all! :) May this new year be even better than the last. Make lots of wishes!

Tea 104 with the Tea Association of Canada and a visit to Montreal for the love of tea!

Edited post on the 22nd of August 2014 for the new tea blog

I started Tea 104 (yay!). I missed 102 and 103 but it doesn't matter, after I passed 101, they told me I was free to do any of the 7 other classes in the order I wanted. I went to visit my family in September before the move so I missed the other classes. I stayed pretty long until October, but managed to try out an afternoon tea set from the Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. If you are in the area. Try it! It's worth the $26 I promise! The best "plain" (it was vanilla flavoured) scone you'll ever have. Lightly crunchy on the outside and so soft and fluffy and just sweet enough on the inside. A raisin scone, double cream, organic jams (you can actually taste the difference as they are not so sweet and the marmalade one is less bitter), tea sandwiches and some finger desserts made it quite a lovely tea event for myself. The tea selection was good but not pristine in my opinion. They had their own blends which were good enough I guess.

Here is what it looked like! I was also rather lucky as they told me they only serve it after 3 in the afternoon and there I was at 1h30pm, one of the rare days I could get someone to take care of my son so I could enjoy some me (and tea) time! The man in charge felt for me, knowing what it's like to finally have a day off and looking forward to something like that. I'm glad I got a little whinny. I usually don't like it when I do my pitty-me tone, but for once it did well. Then I went for the Tea exposition the Pointe-à-Callière museum was having. Lucky me again, it was the last day, so I almost missed it! During my time in Québec. I signed up for some tea workshops at the Camellia Sinensis, so I made sure my stay had tea in focus.

Now I know I promised to talk about some gyokuro teas that I was supposed to test, but unfortunately, I've been way too busy. It's on my list and after my class is over, so after the 18th of December, I'll get to it. Right now, they are making me test SO MANY teas, it's crazy! Next week I'll have 23 teas to try and jot down info about.

In any cases, I'm searching for a Christmas gift for my husband (even he doesn't know what he wants...) and I may have gotten something. I really like the online tea shop Yunomi and I know I will sound like I'm plugging it in my blog, but they gave me this link to share with friends and since I don't really wanna bug my friends, I'll share it with you, tea lovers! It's 20% off your entire purchase and seriously, they have really interesting teas! I thought banchas were the poorer teas and they got farmers who made amazing things out of these (well, we'll see as I've just ordered a bunch and haven't received them yet).
here: http://curebit.com/x/xOrd7i
This one also works: http://curebit.com/x/QMGAaQ
Curebit is some company that organizes those deals for online shops, I think, as I've seen that for other websites (like when I registered to some magazine, I got a deal to share through curebit as well. If you're unsure, just look it up - it's safe! (I know I always do before clicking on some unknown link as I'm very careful...)

And yeah, I do get some bonuses if you guys get referred through the link, so I guess it's win-win! (oh, and if you like them, register! Once you get the Chajin status you can qualify for free international shipping!)

I'll be working on my class project now. I'm thinking of doing a power point presentation on India. I thought that if I felt too overwhelmed or unsure of how to handle the presentation I'd do it on Japan since I know Japan best amongst the tea countries, but I got a good feeling about this. India has interested me for quite a while so I want to try something out of my comfort zone and challenge myself a bit. Even if I'm not very good at naming everything I smell and taste in black teas, I like how rich India is - and not just for their black teas, they got a few other types as well, like Darjeeling white tea!

I promise to get into the gyokuro teas again! See you next time (hopefully within the next month!)!

Tea notebook discoveries for this summer!

Edited post on the 22nd of August 2014 for the new tea blog

It's been a few months since I last posted. As usual. Well, today I feel good! I've been laying on the patio like a cat pretty much every day, absorbing the warmth of the sun. Summer, at last, is here, has been here for the last week or two, and hopefully will stay for a while.

I finished tea 101 with a fantastic grade of 93%. I know it's a good grade because some other students shared theirs. I didn't out of respect because I'm sure they did what they could. Besides, they were so nice to talk to on the forum we got for our class, I couldn't think of bringing them down. It's not perfect, but for once I should be proud of only having 93%. I'm was such a nerd (a kinda cool marginal one) in high school. But I'm getting through that, thanks to my supportive husband who jumped out of happiness (he wasn't much of a nerd in school). I actually got shocked when he screamed "93%!!!". He seemed happier than me which in turn made me quite happy.

So there, I finished 1 course out of 8, but I'm not planning on taking 102 just yet as I'll be in Quebec for 3 weeks in September and October which is when the next course will be held. I'll take 103 when available.
I'll also be visiting Quebec province soon and make sure I get a full tea experience!

I've been a bit lazy on the tea cupping, but hopefully, I have a few teas here in my big book of tea that might interest you...

So after reviewing what I had posted about tea... it seems that none of the teas I cupped in my big book were ever published! Well, you're in for a lot of info! Note that the first teas didn't have as much info regarding to the steeping methods. Anyway, here we go:

Pu-ehr 2010 Yong De Lan Ting
Pu-ehr tea

Tried on the 26th of February 2013, so it was due that I publish those! This one is my very first entry.

Dry leaves:

• Dark dull brown colour
• Compact and  crisp; will break if pressure is applied with fingers
• Smell like old cut grass & spinach
• Composed of pieces of stems & broken leaves that look smashed, almost mashed! Some leaves may have been intact, but the rolling process removed any proof of that

Wet leaves:

• Smells earthy and warm. There is a honey kind of feeling in there. It smells like bark, oak bark or similar strong dark brown barked tree.

Liquor:

• Surprisingly, very faint earthy smell, dull and not very wet (because I think Pu-ehr teas smell wet)
• Colour is dull dark orange, rather opaque than dull

1st sip: faint earthy taste. Disappointing. I think the water was not hot enough.

2nd sip: stronger, bitter & astringent earthy taste. It leaves a strange anti-slippy-velvety feeling on the inside of the mouth when I rub it with my tongue...

3rd sip: The bitter and astringency were milder. Earthy nutty taste like chestnuts or walnuts.
Full sip (that I gulped): bodied, earthy, dull reminiscence of wet forest.

Verdict: Disappointing, had better... but the nutty taste was a plus in this dullness of a tea.

Ceylon Lumbini Estate FBOP
Black tea from Teasource.com (I got a sampler)

Dry leaves:

• Dark brown, almost black in colour
• Break (crispy) if squeezed a little, so brittle
• smell like raisins and dried figs (mmmh!)

During steeping:

• Some pieces are floating up to the surface. The tea leaves already look lighter in colour as the water changes to a dark orange hue. The leaves are unfurling nicely and look small in size.

Liquor:

• Smells great! Warm, smokey, with almost a sour note at the end. A bit of cacao.
• Dark pleasant orange body, clear and bright

Wet leaves:

• Smell like wet leaves after the rain has come and butternut squash baby puree
• Broken leaves and pieces of stem compose the tea. I cannot tell what type of plucking the leaves are (bud, 1st leaf, 2 leaves, etc)
• They look slightly coppery, but also a bit dull

1st sip: Bitter, earthy like chewing on a green leaf freshly plucked

2nd: sip: Slightly metallic (brass), less bitter

3rd sip: Still a bit metallic (brass), a bit more bitter than the 2nd sip, leaf after-taste

4th sip: slightly bitter, old leaf stem taste with almost a chestnut after taste

5th sip: It's beginning to be pleasant and tasting more like it smells. Maybe some astringency after-taste, dull taste and a bit pungent

6th sip: It tastes like Chinese incense. A bit brassy, not bitter after a few seconds. Slightly comforting ending.

Full sip (that I swallowed): It was a bit soapy...Slight raisin taste coming from the back of the mouth as an after-taste.

Verdict: It smelled better than it tasted. I would gladly ruin this tea with some milk and sugar to bring out the sweetness and round the rough edges.

Side note: I used tap water from the apartment in Frankfurt which contains a lot of calcium (still potable), but it's not very good water... So this one might be better with better water.

English Breakfast St-James
Black tea

Dry leaves:

• Little broken piece, obviously a blend
• Medium brown to dark brown
• Break a little, but seem to still have some spring to them when I pinch them
• Smell like fresh cut hay/grass not unlike a shaded tea like a Gyokuro would, but drier. Something smells sweet like apricots and maybe a bit floral

Wet leaves:

• Dull brown
• Broken pieces
• Smells very sweet like honey and mandarines, but there is something more... something sweet like a confited fruit or something, maybe dried strawberries? or flowers...

Liquor:

• Dark, slightly dull orange-brown colour
• Smells like leather, a bit of dry hay, a bit of mandarin and a light sweet note perhaps like honey

1st sip: 0.5 seconds later, a taste attack jumped at me! Like something that is going to be bitter, but does not deliver the whole package. There was little to no bitterness. A taste of stem that lingers.

2nd sip: Taste of stems and sweet rolls. Light finish. The stem taste lingers...

3rd sip: A hint of mandarins (hurray!), but mainly stems... stems stems stems... Especially when swallowed.

With the addition of milk and sugar: Reminds me of milky pancakes, Aunt Jemima style. Now I wonder if I should add maple syrup to it...

Verdict: Better with sugar and milk... Just because of the pancake taste! Without is not bad either, but not high end. Suitable to breakfast, hence the name.

Tung Ting Wulong
Oolong tea from Teasource.com (I got a sampler)

Temperature of water: 90.5C (About 195F)
For the steeping time, I frankly can't read my notes... Something to 8 minutes... Sounds fairly long to me. The sampler bag says 2-4 minutes. I'm confused. Anyhow.

Description on the package: A silky, sweet, and floral tea from the mountains of Central Taiwan. Good for multiple infusions.

Dry leaves:

• A dark to medium green colour dominates with some paler green. Some light brown here and there
• The leaves are rolled into rough open curls that were then twisted (typical of a Taiwanese Oolong)
• Fresh green tobacco

Wet leaves:

• Camo green colour, shiny and healthy looking
• The leaves are big to small in size and most look intact, especially the big ones
•  They smell like cooked asparagus with a little bit of cooked spinach
• One particular leaf set I found was a stem with 5 leaves on it, so most likely a bud and 4 leaves... um... I am not familiar with the plucking ways of Taiwan, but I am led to believe this isn't a high-end tea

Liquor:

• A pale yellow-brown, dark sand colour
• Smells slightly of honey. Almost earthy but sweet like mashed sweet berries (such as strawberries), but very faint

1st sip: Mild, smooth, no bitterness but a want for taste

2nd sip: Taste of cooked asparagus, I felt like there could be a mild astringency in there. Tastes green.

3rd sip: Smooth, mild taste of cooked green veggies & broccoli (like broccoli AND some other green veggie)

Full sip (Which I swallowed): When I took a mouthful it was almost like I could taste peaches for a quick second. It also felt a little floral.

Notes: I set my boiler to Oolong which is 195F (90.5C) when the package did say 160-180F for 2-4 minutes... I just assumed my boiler had the right temperature. I ought to try it with that temperature next time I stumble upon the sampler bag. I did this tea cupping with a steeping time of 3 minutes and it didn't even seem like it was enough. Either the tea is just that mild and lacking taste or it needed more time. With a higher temperature, shouldn't the taste be stronger, more bitter or astringent anyway?

Anyhow, this is quite a lot of reviews and there is more to come!
I'll stop here as it is tasking for me and most likely would be tasking for you guys to read.
Next time, I'd like to finally do a review of all four Kurihara Family Gyokuro teas I have. Two out of five have been sampled. Eventually, not to backstab the Tea Association of Canada, but I'd like to also compare their White Silver Needle to the one I bought from the Camellia Sinensis. My thought is that the first is not a Bai Hao Yin Zhen, but rather a tea of similar plucking season and fashion but not from the Fujian province.

To be continued...

Tea classes, tea friend, tea experiences, and teapots... and tea sandwiches!

Edited post on the 22nd of August 2014 for the new tea blog

I have neglected this blog for a while. Gathering info and avoiding my little office (down the stairs in our basement, tiny tiny...) mainly because I was too beat when my son finally went for a nap.

So what is this title all about?

Well, I decided to give online classes another try. This time with the Tea Association of Canada. I believe they are not out there to scam me, so I feel confident I can trust them to teach me what I need to know in a reliable way. Besides, there are still no classes advertised for the college downtown (the show up in person kinda classes). Apparently, they cancelled class until further notice. As I was told, they are undergoing restructuring as the tea classes weren't as popular as they would have liked them to be. I told them to lower their outrageous prices. Unless someone wants to get into the tea business, no one will want to pay between $200-$350 per category (there are 8) that consist of 2 classes each (that means you show up twice in class). Unless that person is rich and has time on his/her hands. And the thing is, even if tea interest is on the rise, not many people consider this as being THE kind of field they want to study. They rather buy their tea and work on "real" projects. ...

There will be meetings through Skype a few times so I am quite anxious. Stressed and nervous and excited... I hope my computer will be fast enough so it doesn't lag, that I will be able to understand people and that people will understand me and my Eastern French accent. It's not very thick, but I have a problem with emphasis and where to put my "h"s. I'm also wondering what this will be about...

This will be tea 101, a prerequisite for all the other category of classes that will follow. I intend to take the one for brewing the perfect cup of tea, and any other that requires more than reading about tea, in person. It's always better if questions arise or if like me, you can't brew a perfect Gyokuro.

Now a little bit more about tea...

I purchased Gyokuro from the Kurihara farm in Japan. I just tea cupped the standard one (that's how they call it) and have yet to try the three other ones which are of even better grades. I shall post a review of them soon (soon being within the next few months... sigh... I hope not that far in the future.).

The other day, I was brewing Pu-er and I got this idea of trying it with milk and sugar. If you wanna do that, just so you know, be my guest, but frankly, I'm not doing that ever again. It just doesn't match. You could think that cows are the creatures of the earth and thus their product would go well with an earthy tea. Such reasoning is the type I would go for, but in this case, avoid it if you can. Don't even think about it. Forgotten? Goood.

I've been making tea sandwiches and tried quite a few. Some were horrible, some were okay, but some had great potential! Fig jam is a definite favourite when it comes in the making of sandwiches with cheese or even some meat. It's even good without the sandwich part. We brought it with us for a picnic and became a quick favourite with everything we put on our baguette slices.  If you have the chance to try it, it goes very well with any soft cheese such as brie or Camembert. I haven't tried yet with blue cheese and somehow have doubts, but since I refuse not to experience new flavours, it's definitely on my list. Speaking of which, I bought preserved duck eggs (the Chinese style), this ought to be interesting, especially when on the box, the inside of the egg (including the yolk) looked totally grey. But hey, it was preserved with things like tea (among other ingredients), so it's an added plus to my trying new things! (I'm updating this bit here... I tried one and the lady was right, you have to boil them. It wasn't so bad but it was so pungent as to make my egg hard to eat. I could only eat half. The inside, since the egg wasn't boiled, but rather warmed up in warm water, was gooey and really didn't look appealing. I have 5 more to eat... I'll try once more but boiled. I should have known when that lady gave me a grimace when I asked about them.)

Here are some sandwiches I made:

From the top left to the right then bottom left to right we have a:

• Cream cheese-fresh strawberries sandwich (some I put pepper on which enhanced the taste), I gave it a 2.5/5. I was rather dull. I got the idea from the movie Kate & Leopold where Hugh Jackman makes it for Meg Ryan and she seems to be on cloud nine eating it.
• Swiss cheese (I didn't have Taleggio)-pear sandwich with fig jam, butter and salt & pepper. I gave it a 3.5/5, and my husband 4/5.
• Roast beef-horse radish spread sandwich with slices of cucumber, salt & pepper. It was horrible! First, there was too much horseradish (my fault) and then the roast beef slices tasted sour a bit (not like they weren't good, but of a rather poor quality compared to real sliced roast beef). 2/5
• Ham-brie-pear sandwich with butter and Dijon mustard I gave it a 4/5, but hubby said 2/5 :( I love it!
• Prosciutto-fig (jam) sandwich with butter, salt & pepper (No one at the store seemed to know what bib lettuce is, I don't know either, so I didn't put it in). This one has potential. I gave it a 3.5/5 and hubby a 2.5/5, but we both agreed it would get a better grade if I were to put less jam next time.
• Brie-fig (jam, as I didn't have fresh ones)-walnut sandwich. The recipe wanted fancy candied walnuts. I don't even know if the grocery store holds that type of merchandise... So I put normal half walnuts. Maybe pecans would have also been good. My husband an I both agreed it deserved a 4/5.

I also made smoked salmon sandwiches with lemon zest mayo, but I thought it lacked something... It had other ingredients like dill in it which I discovered is awesome with smoked salmon! I gave some to my neighbour and she said she liked the ones topped with dill best. Still, I thought cream cheese would be better than butter. So I made another one a week later:

 This one was way better, but I used a different salmon which in my opinion was not as good as the previous one I used for my mayo-lemon-dill sandwich. I still offered some to my neighbour and have yet to hear about them. On top is cream cheese (mixed with other ingredients) and cut chives.

If you guys have any fool-proof recipes I ought to try, contact me, I'll all for finding that perfect little tea sandwich!