Tea Guy Speaks

Pricey Puerh

2009-11-07T11:04:00.002-07:00

Magazine and newspaper editors seem to have a great weakness for stories about ridiculously expensive tea. Which, most of the time, means puerh. Case in point, a recent article at CNBC with the lurid headline, The $1,000 a Gram Tea. I'd prefer to drink tea, rather than use it as part of my keenly honed investment strategy, but if you're into this sort of thing, take a look.

If you are looking to invest in some pricey tea or if you've just got a spare $888 lying around, check out this Imperial Tribute Harvest Purple-Tip puerh from the Imperial Tea Court. Which is probably a bit rich for most people's blood. Those who seek something decidedly more affordable might investigate this Pu'erh Tea Starter Pack, which includes Bana Tea Company’s own Limited Edition 2008 Vintage raw puerh and a Piao I teapot.

Last up, a plug for our hometown tea shop - Seven Cups of Tucson - who recently released their own puerh cakes. More here.

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The Rookie

2009-11-05T11:22:00.001-07:00

RedUmbrella Tea
Canada’s Loose Leaf Tea Co.

Offbeat Teahouses

2009-11-04T14:14:00.002-07:00

Looking for an unusual place to take tea? You could start with Teas And Toes, located in Glen Elyn, Illinois. They bill themselves as a "teahouse and foot sanctuary." So if you're keen to have your little tootsies soaked and rubbed while pounding down some Sumatra Oolong Barisan or Temple of Heaven, this would be the place.

If you'd like to try something a little more off the beaten path, consider the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse, in the Canadian Rockies. It's not exactly what you'd call accessible, but that didn't stop it from recently marking its fiftieth anniversary.

Speaking of remote and not very accessible, have a gander at this posting from the Tea Finely Brewed site. If you're afraid of heights, though, just looking at these pictures of a climb to a frightfully lofty Chinese teahouse might be too much.

It's not clear if you can actually go there for tea, but check out this four million dollar golden teahouse anyway. Too rich for your blood? How about a teahouse made of recycled paper? Afternoon tea at a crocodile farm? Well, sure. Why not?

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Rishi Tea Announces Taste Of Origin Gifts

2009-11-03T10:39:00.002-07:00

Rishi Tea Announces Taste Of Origin Gifts From Wild-Harvested Ancient Tea Trees
(from a press release)

Rishi Tea, the 1st Place Award winner at the World Tea Championship for two years in a row, debuts Taste of Origin. This distinctive program will educate tea drinkers about the geographic origin of tea — and why it matters. The first featured Taste of Origin is Mannong Manmai in Yunnan, China, where remarkable teas are harvested from wild, ancient tea trees.

The Taste of Origin program launches with 3 exclusive Organic and Fair Trade Certified Gift Sets. Each set features unique teas from exceptional micro-lots, hand-selected during the peak harvest season for their superior representation of Mannong Manmai.

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Tea Blog List Updated

2009-11-01T14:09:00.001-07:00

We're turning up new tea blogs all the time. Here's the latest batch and here's the whopping huge-o enormous master list.

An International Tea Moment
The Association of Tea Bloggers
Black Dragon Tea Bar Blue People Tea Cha Cha Tea Blog Doctor Oolong Green Teas Chatter Green Tea TV
Halcyon Tea
Kopius Teas Lainie Sips - A Tea Blog
My Cup Of Tea
Pembrokeshire Tea Company
Sip Locally Tea At Nigelewan.com
Tea For Me Please
Tea Geek Blogs
Tea Journal Teaosphere
Tea Reflections - A Tea Blog Tea Review Tea Time With A.C. Cargill
Tea Traveler
Teatunes
Two Leaves And A Bud
World Of Tea

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A Tea Shop In India

2009-10-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

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Bacon Tea

2009-10-30T09:55:00.002-07:00

Yes, friends. It has come to this.

I've been a vegetarian for a while but that wasn't always the case. So there was a time when I wasn't exactly immune to the charms of bacon. Even with that in mind, I can't help but find myself a bit baffled at the relatively recent and dramatic upsurge in the popularity of this particular pig product.

For some examples of bacon tea, check out the custom blends (here and here) concocted as part of the Adagio Signature Blend's series. Don't be alarmed, though. No porkers were harmed in the making of these teas, both of which include Lapsang Souchong as a prominent ingredient.

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Adagio Chai Sampler

2009-10-28T23:37:00.003-07:00

A while back the good people at Adagio Teas offered to send samples of some of their newer chai blends. Even though I don't like chai that much, I accepted, figuring I could be objective enough to allow me to taste these blends and review them.

I've decided that I'm not the right guy to be reviewing chai after all. We all like what we like and there's just something about chai that really puts me off. Ditto for flavored teas like Lapsang Souchong, Earl Grey and certain others.

In any event, in lieu of a proper review, I'll just say that if you do go for chai, you're probably likely to find that at least one of these six blends is to your liking. More here.

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Time For Tea Timers

2009-10-26T23:29:00.006-07:00

Got time? Knowing how long to steep the leaves is a critical part of brewing a great cup of tea. With that in mind, here's a selection of virtual and actual tea timers.

Or if you'd like to learn how to brew tea without a timer, check out what Imen at Tea Obsession has to say on the matter.

Virtual Tea Timers
Aromatic
Cuppa
Steep.it
Tea Round App
Tea Time!
Tea-Timer
Tea Timer

"Real" Tea Timers
Penguin Teaboy
Perfect Tea Timer
Taylor Tea Thermometer & Timer

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The Tea Rap

2009-10-25T09:30:00.002-07:00

Who knew tea and rap was such a popular combination? Here's one from The Tea Mafia.

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Elemental - Cup Of Brown Joy.

2009-10-23T09:37:00.002-07:00

Continuing with our theme of wildly popular viral videos that are constructed of an unlikely mix of tea and rap, here's Elemental's Cup Of Brown Joy.

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Tea Partay - Smirnoff Raw Tea

2009-10-21T14:03:00.002-07:00

From a few years back, a viral video Smirnoff put together to promote a tea-flavored beverage. Judging from the fact that it generated more than five million hits, one assumes that it managed to draw some attention to the product.

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Tea Review Sites

2009-10-20T10:57:00.003-07:00

Looking for the lowdown on a specific tea? Here are a few sites that specialize in tea reviews or at least have a bunch listed. If you know of others, mention them in the comments and I'll update the list from time to time. For links to my own smattering of reviews, check the categories list on the right side of the page.

Authoritea
Daily Tea Reviews
Hudin - Tea Reviews
STeaP TV
TeaCritic
The Tea Pages Reviews Tea Reflections – A Tea Blog The Tea Review Blog
Teaviews
Tending Toward Tea
Walker Tea Review

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Tea Podcasts, Vodcasts & Video Channels

2009-10-18T22:42:00.001-07:00

Here are some tea podcasts and video-based resources. If you have anything to add, feel free to leave a note in the comments. For our whopping list of tea blogs, look here.

Podcasts
Tea Lover's Room Teacast
TeaCast Radio

Video
Adagio Teas (Signature Blends)
Bigelow (BIG Tea-V)
Guayaki
Samovar (Tea TV)
Seven Cups (Videocasts)
STeaP TV
Tavalon (TeaTube)
TeaCast
Teatulia Tea
Walker Tea Review

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Lipton - Bruce Lee vs. Karate Kid

2009-10-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

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Tea Lowers Cancer Risk...Or Not

2009-10-15T23:29:00.002-07:00

Hang around here long enough and you'll find that every now and then I go off on a mild rant about tea's alleged health benefits. If you're new here, I'll reiterate my position (like you care). I don't doubt that tea actually has some health benefits, of which I'm glad to be a beneficiary. I also don't doubt that there are a lot of dubious claims about these benefits being floated in the interests of selling more tea. Whatever.

Something caught my attention recently as I opened my latest round of emailed news alerts regarding the search term tea. One link led a story in the British press with the headline, "Five cups of green tea a day lowers cancer risk." The very next link led to a story in the British press with the headline, "New study casts doubt on green tea's anti-cancer properties." Whatever.

As I've suggested before, it might not be doing our health much good to be spending so much time worrying about our health.

Here's the link to article one, which appeared in the Telegraph. Article two appeared in the Tea News.

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Location, Location & More

2009-10-14T22:55:00.002-07:00

A perfect cup of tea is an elusive sort of beast. Not only are there a host of variables involved in producing the stuff, but then you've got to take that dried leaf and add water, a process that opens another can of worms.

One of the variables you might not have given much thought to is slope direction, or to be more specific, the direction in which tea plants face while they're sprouting those little tea leaves. Imen at Tea Obsession briefly discoursed upon this very topic a little while back.

And then, of course, tea ain't much without water. Or at the very least it's kind of tough to get down. T Ching recently published some of James Norwood Pratt's thoughts on the importance of selecting the right water, not to mention this brief piece in which he mused upon the topic of water temperature.

On a similar note, here are some thoughts from Imperial Tea Court's Roy Fong on the ever critical question of how long tea should be steeped. One of the most important points he brings up, "tea is not an exact science and shouldn't be treated as such." Indeed.

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The Journey - A Film about Tea

2009-10-12T23:35:00.001-07:00

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Tea Gadgets & Gizmos

2009-10-10T09:52:00.002-07:00

If you've ever found yourself longing for "the simplest internet tea timer EVER" you're in luck. Check out what Steep.it has to offer.

There are no shortage of nifty gizmos these days for tea drinkers on the move. Here's one with a rather pleasing design.

If the name Steven Smith sounds familiar it might be thanks to his connection with Tazo Tea. The company he started some time back was later assimilated into the Starbucks empire and Smith is in the tea biz again, with the aptly named Smith Tea. Now, if you really want to know exactly where the tea that went into your Smith Tea came from, simply go to their Web site, enter the batch number from the package and click. How's that for a gimmick?

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Typhoo: The Better Way To Wake Up

2009-10-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

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Tavalon’s Golden Tea Ticket

2009-10-07T15:01:00.001-07:00

Tea Company Gives An Extra Benefit For Drinking Tea
(from a press release)

One lucky tea drinker will be extra happy this holiday season when they open their package of Tavalon Tea and find a Golden Tea Ticket inside the box - worth $1,500. You too can be a winner, just by referring your readers.

By placing an order on the Tavalon website, consumers are automatically entered to win the Golden Tea Ticket. All purchases must be made before October 28, 2009.

In addition, if the winning contestant is referred to Tavalon’s site by a blogger or other website, that blogger also receives $1,500. To be eligible, the blogger has to provide a link to the contest’s web address and/or add the contest’s banner to their web page directing their readers to Tavalon.

Winners will be chosen by Tavalon and announced during the first week of December. Visit Tavalon for more information on Tavalon’s Golden Tea Ticket contest.

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A Public Apology From Typhoo Tea

2009-10-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

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Adagio Roots Campaign

2009-10-05T23:08:00.003-07:00

Tea - it doesn't grow on trees, you know. Oh wait. Actually tea does grow on trees and as is the case with any agricultural product, it requires that there are people involved in every step of its production from planting until the point when we the consumers are clutching the finished product in our sweaty little paws.

In recognition of this fact, Adagio Teas recently launched their Roots Campaign. It will allow their customers to meet the individual farmers who produce their teas and to gain an insight on the process of growing and making tea. The project is slated to run for 12 months and will feature 12 farmers from different tea-growing regions around the world. The first two farmers featured are a grower from China's Fu Jian province and a rooibos farmer from South Africa. More here.

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The Great Tea Decaffeination Debate

2009-10-04T22:48:00.003-07:00

Itching to stir up a ruckus in the tea community? Here's how to do it. Publish (presumably with good intentions) an oft-repeated but somewhat dubious bit of information about how to decaffeinate your tea with a brief rinse. Then step back and watch the fur fly.

Which is exactly what happened a little while back at the T Ching blog. Though the debate raged for a while and brought forth some interesting data on the topic, thankfully it appears that it never reached the point where dueling pistols had to be broken out of their cases. Read the original article and the lively comments thread here.

Here's Caffeine and Tea: Myth and Reality, the article by Nigel Melican that's referenced in that comments thread.

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Tea Weathers Economic Storm

2009-10-03T13:14:00.001-07:00

Are people buying less premium tea as a result of the tough economic times of late? Not at all, at least not according to a recent article in the New York Times - Gourmet Tea Sales Stay Strong in Economic Storm. As the article notes, "Specialty and gourmet tea is a fast-growing segment within the tea industry. In the United States, it is estimated to account for 8.5 percent of the $2.1 billion in sales in 2009."

Image: Dragon Pearl Tea (White Tea Drying Room)

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