Changes...

A lot has happened since I last wrote here! I traveled to Japan and Taiwan. I spent over five months researching material for my first book in India. I stopped by London for a bit, and revisited my former hometown of NYC. And, oh yeah, I set up a new website that reflects my current body of work and introduces you to some of my collaborators: Copy & Taste. Enjoy!

Tea in Film

I recently asked my Twitter peeps about their favorite movie scenes involving tea. Here are their responses:

Winnie at Teance said, "the scene in Fearless with Jet Li before the fight is good."

HonestTea said, "The Mad Hatter's tea party from AliceinWonderland!"

JeeJuno said, "Karen and Felicity drink tea in a scene from Out of Africa, not a grand scene, but a GRAND movie!!"

dcbuck said, "The only scene I can even think of is the bit from the second Karate Kid movie just before the very dramatic storm sets in."

Also, thetearooms linked this segment on tea at Harrods. (I visited Harrods' tea department when I was in London. Fantastic!) The film clip includes an amusing (and very dated) segment on how to brew tea with a teabag. YouTube kindly led me to this old film how to brew tea with information that's (mostly) still relevant today. (I love the use of the words "tea juice" throughout...)

What's your favorite movie scene involving tea? Seen any interesting old tea films lately?

Bramah Museum of Tea & Coffee

According to this article on London tourist spots, The Bramah Museum of Coffee & Tea is set to reopen this year. The tea museum's website says they're set to open early this year... but May isn't exactly early, is it? Have any of you heard anything? Is it open? If not, do you know when it will open?

Mega-Sale on Tea Books

Elmwood Inn is having a mega-sale on their "Tea in the City" books. It's only $3 for all three books, each of which focus on tea in a different city (London, Paris, New York). They are old enough that a fair amount of info is out-of-date here in NYC, where the business turnover rate is very high, but I can't speak for the other two cities. Still, it's an amazing sale ($54 off retail prices), and it only lasts until the 30th at midnight!

Cool Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea is getting a makeover in London hotels. Please ignore the tragic confusion between high tea and afternoon or "low" tea and enjoy this otherwise informative article on London tea trends.

Which London hotel's "tea with a twist" would you most like to try? I'm leaning toward The Metropolitan or The Athenaeum. Last year, during my tea visit to London, I visited Laudree at Harrods. (The Athenaeum also offers their products at tea.) Such beautiful cakes and sweets!!! It makes me want to write a whole new article on tea and sweets pairings about London's approaches to the sweet tooth during tea time. Perhaps...

Coffee Blossom Tea

My sister lives in London and gets to travel all over Europe at the drop of a hat. (Lucky!!!) I get some benefits from her location, too -- she helps keep me attuned to European tea trends. A little while back, she sent me a link to a London tea shop where they sell coffee blossom tea. It's white or black tea scented with the flowers of the coffee blossom, similar to jasmine teas. How innovative! Here's an excerpt from their site:

While revisiting Handunugoda Tea Estate in the south of Sri Lanka last summer I came across a coffee bush in full bloom and was overwhelmed by the amazing aroma of the white blossoms. Knowing how jasmine flowers are used to scent tea, I thought it would be interesting to try the same process with coffee flowers so I talked to Herman Gunaratne whose family have been growing tea and cinnamon at Handunugoda for over a hundred years about making this innovative tea...



Cool! It's available worldwide. Here's their full tea list.

London Tourism Ad Campaign... with Urination

As one of the world's leading tourist destinations, you'd think that London wouldn't have to go to sad extremes in its tourism ad campaigns. You'd be wrong. What's really weird (but not weirder than urination in a teacup as a tourist lure... perhaps I mean "also weird") is that the guy is supposed to be a punk, but looks more like a skinhead neo-Nazi. What was the stylist thinking?!

"Green"

NPR tackles the topic of green politics and purchases. How Green is Green? Check it out, and have a great weekend!

PS--I've been filling in the missing blog entries from August. Since the internet connection in India is spotty at best, I kept a journal while I was there. The journal entries are being rewritten as blog posts and added to VeeTea. Start with my trip to London or my arrival in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) or my journey up to Darjeeling or my visit to Makaibari Tea Estate (or where ever else you want to start) and see where it takes you!

Last Day in London

My short stop in London is about to end. Today was my last full day here, and I made the best of it. Natalia and I started at the Royal Academy of Art, where she toured the facilities and I worked on some things outdoors, where the weather was gorgeous (warm, breezy). From there, we hopped the Tube to the Victoria and Albert Museum for New York Fashion Now (loved the Duckie Brown, Christian Joy (of Karen O fame), and Proenza Schouler) and the South Asian Art collection (for the Indian art, of course). We walked past Harrods to The Carriage Hotel for afternoon tea (delicious sandwiches--loved the egg salad--and wonderful sweets from passionfruit macaroons to raisin scones). Afterwards, we went back to Harrods to check out the tea (a great range of loose and bagged whole-leaf tea, lots of single estate teas (including some from estates I'll be visiting soon!), several notable specialty teas), sweets (oh, the beautiful macaroons and cakes at Laduree!), chocolates (more Maison du Chocolat, and tons of other brands), bar fromage, and gorgeous clothing. I was more than a little surprized to see that they have a Krispy Kreme, as it is a southern institution and NOT something particularly associted with class. I suppose it's a novelty here, like it was when it first opened in LA. When we were done shopping at Harrods, we walked around Kensington and Chelsea for a while, then had dinner at a little Italian place (where Princess Diana supposedly frequented). Then, it was back to the hostel to pack a bit and work on a crafts project I've been trying to finish. We had a great day. I'll be sure to visit London again sometime soon! (A post for when I have time: London vs. NYC. Pros and Cons of each.)

Tomorrow, we leave for Kolkata. Masala chai, here we come!

In London!

Natalia and I arrived in London last night. By the time we got to the hostel, everything in the neighborhood was closed, despite the fact that it's in Central London. Welcome to the UK! I'd heard that everything closes very early, but I didn't realize just how all-encompassing "everything" was in those mentions. I must be too used to "the city that never sleeps." It was OK, though. We got to walk around in the quiet for once. :)

Today, we walked around town a bit more (and noted, once again, how much quieter it is than in NYC), and then we went to the New Tate. The New Tate had a fascinating exhibit called "Global Cities," all about the development and growth of some of the major cities around the globe. The coolest part: a 3-D model of population densities in four major cities, by location. In other words, it was an overhead view of the city, with varying model heights as population density rose or fell by neighborhood. Outside of that exhibit, I really enjoyed the Surrealist area of the museum: Dreams and Poetry.

After the New Tate, we walked over to the Bramah Museum of Coffee and Tea for some Rose Congou and tea education. They were not exactly fastidious about things like spelling, but they had a wealth of information on coffee and tea, and it was very entertaining and educational. Also, learning some of the British terms for things was fun. (Example: "Cookie jars" are called "biscuit barrels.")

Next, we were off the Picadilly Circus to fight the crowd to get to the Royal Academy of Art and Fortnum & Mason. On the way, we stopped off at Minamoto Kitchoan for some Japanese wagashi (sweets, which we have yet to eat) and Maison du Chocolat for some incredible dark chocolate truffles. Yum! At Fortnum & Mason, we spent some time checking out their wide tea selection, biscuits, and teaware. (More on that later!) To end the day, we had some fish and chips at a pub. (I know, I know. But it's required, really.)

Now we're off to plan for tomorrow. Later!

Off to India (via London)

Today, I leave for India. After passport drama (It was filed 17 weeks in advance, and then received JUST IN TIME to get my travel visa.), changes in plans (Who knew my friend would get kicked out of Bhutan for traveling on an Overseas Citizenship of India rather than a regular Indian passport?), last-minute vaccines (NY's immunization clinic said I didn't need a second Hep-A shot. My doctor blanched at the thought of me not getting it.), and packing absurdity (Ziploc bags are my new best friends. They make anything and everything fit into one small suitcase), I am FINALLY ready to go.

First stop, London. My friend Natalia and I will enjoy three days of tea and museums (of the tea and art varieties... yes, they have a tea museum and, yes, I am amped about it). Then, we're off to Kolkata for some masala chai and culture shock. After a few days to adjust, we'll fly up to Darjeeling for cool mist, hot tea, and tours of some of the world's best tea plantations. Three-and-a-half weeks of caffeination from nation to nation. Exciting. I'll be posting a travel blog whenever possible, so check back often.

PS--If you're viewing this through Vee Tea, the post order may be funny. Try my Vee Tea Blogger page instead.

Travel Plans

I think today warrants two posts. Of course, I already posted a tea article because it's a Monday and that's what happens on Vee Tea on Mondays. However, today is not just any Monday for me. Today is when the countdown begins, at least in my mind.

In two weeks exactly, I'll be in London enjoying low (afternoon) tea with my friend Natalia. Then we're off to India for three weeks to visit various tea estates and meet up with artist Rajive and web designer (of Vee Tea fame) Pat. Each of us has our own agenda (mine being the tea!), but we'll also experience the culture and landscape, buy beautiful fabrics, enjoy the food, learn some more Hindi, get rained on a lot, and be thankful for the cool Darjeeling air after we leave the heat of Kolcata (formerly Calcutta). Perhaps while I'm there I can learn more about Indian cooking, too. I'm so excited, I can hardly wait! Be sure to check back here--I'll be keeping a travel blog whenever possible.

London and VeeTea

On my way to India this August, I'm stopping off in London for 3 days for-- what else?!-- the tea. My friend Natalia and I planned it all out yesterday. Low tea (which, contrary to popular belief is more elegant than high tea, and is often mistakenly referred to as high tea in the U.S.) in two prestigious tearooms (yet to be disclosed). Cream tea (tea with scones, cream, and jam) and learning at the Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum. Tea shopping at several of the major markets. Three art/design museums. And a pub. After all that, it's a good thing we can sleep on the plane to Kolkata!



Other than that, I've been working on VeeTea pretty much constantly. My webdesigner, Pat, and I have big project in the works. In fact, it will be the biggest of its kind in the online tea world when it's done. I'm not telling what it is, though! You'll just have to wait and see. :)