Red & Green, Organic Tea

At the Expo, I was very glad to see that Red & Green Co launched a new line of organic teas (scroll down about 3/4 of the way). I have spoken with the owner, Chongbin Zheng, at his San Francisco location at length about his committment to quality tea and I am very glad to see the addition of this new line. I also quite like the packaging. (In addition to running Red & Green, Chongbin is also an internationally exhibited painter. He designs his packaging and much of his teaware himself.)

On Monday, I responded to a Wired Magazine article advocating that environmentalists "forget organics." It suggested that local produce is the better way to go. The two are not usually mutually exclusive, but in the case of regular produce that can be sourced locally, I opt for local over organic. However, there are many proucts that are simply not available locally or can not be well-produced locally. In the US, there are some areas that produce tea. I'm even trying to grow some in my living room, though we'll see whether or not that works out. However, the simple fact of the matter is that the growing conditions in the US are not condusive to producing quality teas. Tea's ideal environment is high elevation, hot, and humid. Unless you count my third-floor, no-AC apartment as "high elevation," I don't think it qualifies. Likewise, other tea growers in the US simply do not have the environment necessary for good tea. So how can you reduce your environmental impact if you can't buy quality tea locally? Buy organic tea. Simple. I'm glad to see another line out there to make it that much easier for us!

Have a good weekend, and enjoy your tea!