Celebrating Tea in 2010

Happy New Year! I hope that your new year, like mine, has gotten off to a great start!

One of the things I look forward to each year is the idea of getting back to basics in January. I like to take the opportunity to simplify and clarify things in my life at the beginning of each year. I step back and look at my life and my business. I make goals and strategize on how to reach them. While looking at the big picture, I try to appreciate the little things.

This year, part of my simplification for January involves celebrating Hot Tea Month. Each day in January, I'm focusing on a different tea. For example, on New Year's Day, I drank a silver needle from Teance. The next day, I drank a silver needle from American Tea Room. Today, I drank a Bai Mu Dan. During the next week, I'll drink a different green tea each day... and so on it goes. Each day, I'll take on the simple act appreciating a different tea, but there's an overall goal to the exercise -- to re-educate my tea palate in a very straightforward way by reacquainting myself with a range of teas.

Of course, there are plenty of other ways to celebrate hot tea month. (In fact, I came up with a list of 31 ways to celebrate hot tea month for About.com.) How are you celebrating Hot Tea Month or using January as a time to rekindle your love of tea?

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Tea Sales

Looking for an awesome deal on tea and teaware for the holidays? Check out this list of Black Friday & Cyber Monday Tea Sales I wrote for About.com. It includes deals from Adagio, Rishi, Samovar, Teance, teas, Etc. and more. If you have a tea company that's offering a deal for the holidays, please add it to the list! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

Tea & Cheese Pairings

If you're reading this, you probably love tea and, more likely than not, you're a foodie. If you're a foodie, you probably love cheese. Lately, tea and cheese pairings have been a fascination of mine. I think there's no better time to share them than the holidays -- they're perfect for parties and meals as an alternative (or addition) to wine and cheese pairings. Whether you're a tea business owner looking to spice up your events or a host/hostess looking for a new culinary path for your guests, I think you'll enjoy this approach to pairing.

I recently wrote about the topic for World Tea News. Here's an excerpt from my article, with pairing advice from David Barenholtz (Le Palais Gourmet/American Tea Room), Cynthia Gold (Boston Plaza Hotel, lecturer at the World Tea Expo and other venues) and Mim Enck (East Indes Tea Company, lecturer at the World Tea Expo and other venues):

*Pair opposing flavors – the salty, fruity flavor of Taleggio with the peppery, chocolaty notes of Risheehat First Flush Darjeeling (Barenholtz), or sweet Lychee Black or Pouchong and with salty Gorgonzola or Shropshire Blue (Gold).

*Play on similarities – the grassy-sweetness of Nevat with grassy-sweet Japanese greens, or the herbaceous Vento d’Estate with the honey-hay notes of Golden Needle Yunnan (Barenholtz).

*Consider texture – the fat of a rich Brie with a brisk, palette-cleansing Darjeeling First Flush (Gold).

*Bring out sub-tones and sub-textures – well-aged Comte emphasizes the cleanliness and chestnut tones of Dragonwell (Gold).

* Follow the seasons – seasonally available Irish whiskey cheddar with cold-weather teas like Lapsang Souchong (Enck).


Yum! What are your favorite ways to pair tea and cheese? Interested in doing this with your tea business? Read more on World Tea News.

Teas, Etc. Sale

Teas, Etc. is having a Memorial Day Sale through Monday. It's 20% off all teas, teaware and accessories. I'd suggest their Bai Hao Silver Needle and their award-winning Assam Reserve, but there are lots of great tea (and more) to choose from.

What are you up to this long weekend?

Tea Chocolates

Did you get your mom something tea-related for Mother's Day? I did! Check out these yummy tea chocolates from Charles Chocolates and Teance. Other mom-friendly tea gifts include:

Flowering teas
Flower-based tisanes
Chocolate teas
Cool teapots
Afternoon tea for two (or more)

What did you get for your tea-loving mother?

Hanami -- The Cherry Blossom Festival

As I recently said in the Samovar blog, I planned a hanami celebration with some friends. It was incredibly windy on the day of, so although we made matcha, it was left undocumented. Here are a few photos we DID manage to snap. I hope you enjoy them, and take the time to welcome spring with your friends!

We celebrated at my favorite park in Charlotte -- Freedom Park. Here's the view near the entrance.














Here's the view from our barbecue spot.


























Veggie Yakitori + FIRE



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Happy Vee! (If you look closely, you can see my hubby, Marko, reflected in my sunglasses.)

Maybe it's just that I was very happy, but it also seemed that the ducks and ducklings were enjoying the weather. :)













Hanami Crew














Andrea drinking matcha. She'd never tried it before, nor had Adam (also pictured).














The willow tree near our barbecue was lovely, but...














... we came for the cherry blossoms!














We found a nice spot to enjoy our veggie yakitori/kabob-type food (yum!) and assorted sushi (veg + otherwise) from our fave local sushi joint, Ru San's (nothing fancy, but very fun -- fusion rolls like walnuts and Sriracha hot sauce).
























Later, we ate wagashi (higashi, matcha agar and youkan) and played soccer. (Below) Marko (our official photographer and my beloved) kicking our collective butts with his Eastern European soccer skills.

Valentines Day Tea

Valentine's Day can be a great way to enjoy tea! Here are a few ways you can combine the two:

Kulov Tea Festival

Ladies-Only Tea to Combat "Man Drought" in Australia

A V-Day flowers and cookies class over afternoon tea

Girls-Only Tea (or Tea & Spa) Events in DC

Sipping Romantic Teas with a Loved One (Feel free to add to my list!)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Tea Sales

Here are some tea sales for the week, the month and pre-Valentine's Day:

Rishi Tea -- sale on Organic Wild Rose, Silver Needle Jasmine and White Tea Melange through Valentine's Day
Teance -- $20 off online purchases of $70 or more this week, enter code "VALENTINE" at checkout
Urbana Tea -- 30% off all online teas for the month of February, enter code "URB3510"

Do you know of any other cool tea sales going on right now? If so, please add them in the comments!

Inaugeral Tea

Tea has historically been a part of many types of celebrations, including weddings, holidays and, yes, inaugurations. The First Ladies' Inaugural Tea will be held today, and a number of tea companies have developed teas in honor of President Obama, perhaps (in part) because Obama loves tea. These include:

Barack Obama Tea
Obama Inspired Green Tea with Ginger
SerendipiTea's Inaugural Blend
Tea-Co's Barack O-Baby
and, of course, Honest Tea's Barack Forest Berry

What kind of tea are you drinking to celebrate?

Tea Eggs

Tea eggs are a beautiful, traditional Chinese dish made with tea, eggs and spices. They're fun and easy to make, and the flavors are perfect for cold weather. I recently made some with a variation on this tea egg recipe. (I substituted loose leaf Assam black tea for the bagged tea and changed up the spices just a bit.) Yum! I just wish the crackling turned out a bit better. Have you made them before? How did they turn out? Do you have a good recipe to share?

Thanksgiving Teas

Thanksgiving can be an ideal time to share delicious teas with friends and family. Aside from flavored teas, there are a number of rich, warming and even digestion-aiding teas, tisanes and tea cocktails/mocktails you can make for Thanksgiving. This year, I'm making home-blended masala chai, fresh ginger tisane, Superior Pu-erh from Imperial Tea Court and Ti Kwan Yin from Teance. I'm also making homemade rum-spiked apple cider, which I'll also be spiking with black tea. Yum! What are you brewing this Thanksgiving?

Celebration Teas

Sometimes, you just need to celebrate! Most people break out the alcohol, some break out the tea and others break out both. I love high-quality oolongs, pu-erhs or greens, flowering teas or masala chai for non-alcoholic options. Tea cocktails are also delicious and fun if alcohol is part of the plan. Which teas and tea recipes to you use to celebrate?

Election Day

Happy Election Day! I hope you're all getting out there to vote (if you are eligible to do so, that is). I'm off to line up in a few minutes.

By the way, did you know that Obama loves tea? He used to drink organic green, but now he prefers tisanes. Cool!

A Nice Cuppa

Between Halloween, the time change and the election, this is quite the eventful time of year. It's also the beginning off cold season -- yet another reason to relax over a nice cuppa tea. Enjoy you tea, and don't forget to vote tomorrow!

Teapot Condom

This is the weirdest "teapot" (and the weirdest condom) I've ever seen. Just... wow. You can find more rubbery weirdness here, if you dare. Happy Labor Day! (Maybe I should have saved this for Halloween!)

Thé Adoré

Since today is Valentines Day and my recent tea article is Valentines Day themed, I figured it's OK to be a bit redundant this once.

TeaMuse recently published an article I wrote on one of my favorite NYC tearooms. Excerpt:

February in New York City is about two things: escaping the bitter cold of a Northeastern Winter and embracing the sweet warmth of Valentines Day. NYC's Japanese-run, French-styled tearoom Thé Adoré is ideal for both. As an oasis of calm in the hustle and bustle of Union Square, it offers sustenance and succor for the sidewalk-weary pedestrian. As a tearoom that was born out of Japan's love affair with France, it offers an understated Japanese simplicity and provincial French charm that can bring a smile (and an exceptional cup of Mariage Freres tea) to the lips of the most hardened, been-there-done-that New Yorker.


If you're in NYC, check out Thé Adoré and escape the nasty weather we've been having! Happy Valentines Day!

V-Day Teas

It's one week to Valentines Day. Do you have a gift for your sweetheart? We all know that V-Day flowers are toxic to the environment and the humans who grow/harvest them (Right? You surely didn't think all those flowers bloomed on the same day naturally.), but what to get instead? If you're turning to tea to turn your partner's heart, here are a few Valentine's-related teas out there:

Adagio's Valentines Tea
Chocolate and strawberries and Ceylon! Oh, my!

Flowering Teas
There are a lot of them out there. More on flowering teas and their suppliers on Vee Tea.

Harney & Sons Rose Tea
One of my personal favorites. Very sophisticated.

Mariage Freres
Mariage Freres has Valentines Day covered. They have heart--shaped flowering teas, an aromatized tea called "Amore," a Kama Sutra tea gift box, and more. I guess the French really do get the whole "romance" thing.

Rishi's White Tea Rose Melange
Rumor has it that this tea was blended as an anniversary gift for the blender's wife. Tastes good, too.

New Vee Tea Article on TeaMuse

This month's TeaMuse features an article by yours truly. It's a review of one of my favorite NYC tearooms, and it's just in time for Valentine's Day. Excerpt:


February in New York City is about two things: escaping the bitter cold of a Northeastern Winter and embracing the sweet warmth of Valentines Day. NYC's Japanese-run, French-styled tearoom Thé Adoré is ideal for both. As an oasis of calm in the hustle and bustle of Union Square, it offers sustenance and succor for the sidewalk-weary pedestrian. As a tearoom that was born out of Japan's love affair with France, it offers an understated Japanese simplicity and provincial French charm that can bring a smile (and an exceptional cup of Mariage Freres tea) to the lips of the most hardened, been-there-done-that New Yorker.



Check out the full VeeTea article on TeaMuse. Have a good weekend!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! May it be filled with peace, happiness, and lots of tea.


~Vee

Vacation for VeeTea

I'll be away for a little while for my holiday celebrations. Have a fantastic holiday and a wonderful New Year!


Best,
~Vee

PS--Enjoy some tea by the fire for me. :)