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Try Grasshopper-Oxidized Tea at New Tea House

By Paul Biasco | March 26, 2015 5:47am

LINCOLN PARK — One of the world's finest teas, oxidized in part by the nibbling jaws of grasshoppers in Indonesia, will be featured at a new tea house in Lincoln Park.

Grasswood is set to open Thursday in the space above Strings Ramen shop with an offering of 10 unique teas.

The owners behind the tea shop with seating for 16 seek to create a unique tea drinking experience.

"Everyone knows what tea is in the U.S., but people only know it as tea bags or bubble tea," said Mathias Rengert, general manager of Grasswood. 


Specialty tea brewers at Grasswood (DNAinfo/Paul Biasco)

Grasswood will feature sit-down tea service with a menu of teas from China, Japan, Indonesia and Nepal.

"It's something that you are supposed to take a moment and appreciate like a glass of fine wine," Rengert said.

The tea house's menu features two extra premium teas that are available in-house only.

The Da Hong Pao is usually reserved for honored guests in China and the Banten Beauty is the aforementioned grasshopper-assisted tea.

The Banten Beauty is an oolong tea that is famous for its flavor that is caused by the oxidation triggered by grasshoppers that nibble on the tea leaves while still on the bush.

The tea is grown entirely without pesticides to allow the insects to feed on the leaves.

Rengert, who studied tea for two years while living in Taiwan, said the unique tea originated by way of a mistake.

A farmer saw that grasshoppers had been feeding on his tea leaves and was going to toss the leaves.

An open-minded colleague decided to give the tea a try and realized its uniquely enhanced flavor, according to Rengert.

The tea house will offer two brewing methods for its 10 teas, a regular method where leaves are steeped longer and a "gong fu" method where the tea is brewed with more leaves and for less time.

Both the Da Hong Pao and Banten Beauty will only be served in the gong fu method.

That method allows the tea to be steeped many times in a row in two-ounce steeps and is meant to allow a drinker to notice the subtle changes in flavor and aroma with each steep.

"It's creating a fine dining experience with teas," Rengert said.

Rengert sampled more than 100 teas before deciding on the 10 that are available at Grasswood.

The eight nonpremium teas on the menu will be available for purchase in canisters to take home.

The tea house is the sister space to Strings Ramen, which has seating in the bottom floor and will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Strings Chinatown location regularly has long waits during peak hours for seating and Kee Chan, the owner of both Strings and Grasswood, imagines that the tea house will be a place for customers to have a cup of tea while waiting.


The interior of Grasswood (DNAinfo/Paul Biasco)

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