OK, so I know that everyone in the industry seems to think that the only “tea” is from the camellia sinensis shrub, but may I express my vehement denial of this definition? Dicitionary’s definition: “An evergreen shrub or small tree, camellia sinensis, of tropical and subtropical Asia, having toothed leathery leaves and white fragrant flowers.” Read more…
Ingredients: Butternut Squash (1) 1 15oz can of pumpkin 1 ½ cup of chicken broth 1 ½ cup of Indian chai tea 1 medium onion roasted 1 small container of half and half 1 tsp of ground cloves 1 ½ tsp of ground ginger 3 tsp of ground cinnamon (I use Ceylon cinnamon) Candied bacon Read more…
I’ve spent this year traveling for an education to become a Certified Tea Specialist, CTS, with the Specialty Tea Institute in New York City! They are also affiliated with the Tea Association of US with over 100+ years of the tea industry and the president of both was Lipton’s tea taster for over 35 years. Read more…
Green tea is touted as being the most healthful of all teas but know that ALL teas have health benefits so it doesn’t matter the type of tea you drink! Green tea is the classic tea of China and each region of China has developed its own methods of processing. Most processing techniques include sun-drying, Read more…
White tea is the least oxidized of all the teas but beware of the amount of caffeine that some experts say is NOT in this tea. In fact, university research studies show that white tea can have as much caffeine as an Assam or Ceylon! Why? It’s simple: when a mother plant begins to have Read more…
Oolong tea is also seen or recognized as wulong tea. In Taiwan, it is seen as Oolong and in China it is seen as Wulong. The meaning of oolong is simply “dark dragon.” It refers to the simple shape and color of the leaf which is long, twisted and dark. Oolong teas may also be Read more…
There are 3 traditional countries of origin of black tea: China, India and Sri Lanka. I will be heading to Sri Lanka at the end of this month to see the tea gardens there and I am so excited!! While there are many other countries around the world that are producing black tea such as Read more…
Ok so let’s talk about the pronunciation of this word pu’er: Poo-errr. This is the proper way to pronounce it! So what is pu’er tea? Simply put, it is a tea that has been allowed to ferment. Now, while that sounds like something that isn’t interesting at all, it’s actually one of my very favorite Read more…
My trip to Sri Lanka was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime trip! The tea gardens were filled with wonderful and hard-working people that care about the tea that they produce and send to people like us. I’ve included pictures of the trip to the tea gardens in Sri Lanka.
Each tea garden or estate would provide a sample of the teas for those of us that arrived for tours with our group. Below is just some of the many teas we tried and eventually bought for our own shops, customers and ourselves!
