I'm tired of talking about samples at the moment. Instead, I'm going to talk about t-shirts!
Here's another in the my series of internet finds. Some of them are pretty cool. Some, meh. Personally, I like this one best. Check it out, have a good weekend, and (most importantly) enjoy your tea!
Friday, July 6, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Vee Tea in the News
TeaMuse just published an article about Vee Tea! Cool. Check it out to learn more about my tea tours and classes, and about Vee Tea in general. Enjoy!
Samples: Mint Verbena
Today's Expo sample is Harney & Son's Mint Verbena. It's a caffeine-free tisane made of mint (it doesn't say which kind) and lemon verbena. "Lemon verbena" is the same thing as Verveine Odorante, or French Verveine, which they also carry. I think the reason they don't label it the same way is that their verveine is a beautiful, delicious, whole-leaf tisane that tastes amazing and their bags of Mint Verbena just don't stand up to that. Sure, the packaging is lovely. The bag is large and pyramid-shaped and made of polyester mesh. The infusion smells good and has a rich color. However, the leaves are small and broken, and the brewed tisane is more harsh than soothing.
Somehow, this kind of inconsistency is what I have come to expect from Harney. The owner is quite a character and he's good with people. (Cool.) Some of the teas are delicious. The packaging is good. (Great.) The company has the potential to be an excellent tea merchant. (Wonderful.) But it's not. (Ohh . . . not so good.)
I think that the problem is that they carry a range of quality levels, but they don't delineate them very clearly. Some of their loose teas are excellent. Others, I regret drinking even once. Here's another major inconsistency that gets me. They sell a line of "premium" teabags, which would be great, except that it seems that these teabags are lower quality than their line of tea in sachets. Sachet is supposed to mean bag, right? I'm sure it's not just me who thinks this. So how is it that their premium tea is a lower grade than their tea of unspecified quality in bag-type-infusers? If they want to appeal to people at a variety of interest levels and price points, then that sounds like a good business move to me. But I'd just as soon skip the Orwellian double-speak and hear and honest appraisal of what they are offering. Wouldn't you?
In the meantime, I'm sticking to my Verveine! (If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it!)
Somehow, this kind of inconsistency is what I have come to expect from Harney. The owner is quite a character and he's good with people. (Cool.) Some of the teas are delicious. The packaging is good. (Great.) The company has the potential to be an excellent tea merchant. (Wonderful.) But it's not. (Ohh . . . not so good.)
I think that the problem is that they carry a range of quality levels, but they don't delineate them very clearly. Some of their loose teas are excellent. Others, I regret drinking even once. Here's another major inconsistency that gets me. They sell a line of "premium" teabags, which would be great, except that it seems that these teabags are lower quality than their line of tea in sachets. Sachet is supposed to mean bag, right? I'm sure it's not just me who thinks this. So how is it that their premium tea is a lower grade than their tea of unspecified quality in bag-type-infusers? If they want to appeal to people at a variety of interest levels and price points, then that sounds like a good business move to me. But I'd just as soon skip the Orwellian double-speak and hear and honest appraisal of what they are offering. Wouldn't you?
In the meantime, I'm sticking to my Verveine! (If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it!)
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Happy 4th!
For the 4th, I thought I'd focus on a summer classic--iced tea. First, check out the winners of the World Tea Expo's iced tea competition (below). Then, read (or reread!) my article on iced tea. Have a happy holiday and enjoy your tea!
The World Tea Expo's "Ready To Drink" Winners and Runners Up
Unflavored: Ito En's Darjeeling, Adagio's Anteadote Black Tea/Papa's Simplici-tea Unsweetened Green Tea
Flavored: Ito En's Jasmine White, ZredT ZT Peach Red Tea
Sweetened: Papa's Simplic-tea Green Tea, Ito En's Matcha Latte (Tried it yesterday--it's one of the best ready-to-drink teas I've ever tried!!!)
Packaging: Adagio's Anteadote Black Tea, Adagio's Anteadote Green Tea
Overall: Ito En's Jasmine White (no runner up, you may remember that I tried this sometime back and really enjoyed it (about 3/4 of the way down the entry))
Enjoy your tea!!!
The World Tea Expo's "Ready To Drink" Winners and Runners Up
Unflavored: Ito En's Darjeeling, Adagio's Anteadote Black Tea/Papa's Simplici-tea Unsweetened Green Tea
Flavored: Ito En's Jasmine White, ZredT ZT Peach Red Tea
Sweetened: Papa's Simplic-tea Green Tea, Ito En's Matcha Latte (Tried it yesterday--it's one of the best ready-to-drink teas I've ever tried!!!)
Packaging: Adagio's Anteadote Black Tea, Adagio's Anteadote Green Tea
Overall: Ito En's Jasmine White (no runner up, you may remember that I tried this sometime back and really enjoyed it (about 3/4 of the way down the entry))
Enjoy your tea!!!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Samples: Keiko Green Tea
Today's Expo sample is from Keiko Tea. It's a bagged, shade-grown Kagoshima green tea packaged like the tea in the link's lower right corner. As you can probably see, the packaging for this bagged tea is very cool. What surprised me when I opened it was that the teabag itself looked EXACTLY like My Green Tea, which I discussed in a previous post, right down to the pH neutral tag and ultrasonically-welded thread. The My Green Tea sample was so bag, that I began to worry that the tea would leave me disappointed in Keiko.
You see, I hung out at their booth a bit at the Expo and was quite impressed with their range of Japanese green teas. Also, they had a supremely cool matcha machine, some tasty green tea candies, and good (in some cases even great) loose teas. How could their bagged tea be as bad as the horror that was My Green Tea?!
As it turns out, it wasn't. It was pretty good for a bagged tea. Not the best I've ever had, but pretty good, nonetheless. It was mellow and mildly sweet, pleasant. It lasted through several infusions. Nice. Still, I really prefer their loose green and specialty teas. Try them out if you get the chance!
You see, I hung out at their booth a bit at the Expo and was quite impressed with their range of Japanese green teas. Also, they had a supremely cool matcha machine, some tasty green tea candies, and good (in some cases even great) loose teas. How could their bagged tea be as bad as the horror that was My Green Tea?!
As it turns out, it wasn't. It was pretty good for a bagged tea. Not the best I've ever had, but pretty good, nonetheless. It was mellow and mildly sweet, pleasant. It lasted through several infusions. Nice. Still, I really prefer their loose green and specialty teas. Try them out if you get the chance!
Monday, July 2, 2007
New Article: Flowering Tea
I just got back from a long weekend in Maine, so this is a bit of a late post! Maine was wonderful (green everywhere, a puffin-watching tour, ocean breezes, lots of tea-drinking . . . incredible), so it's worth the late work tonight!
Anyway, on to the point . . .
I get a lot of questions about flowering tea. For my own edification (and yours!) I decided to do some extra research on the topic and write an article about it. It covers their mythology, how they are made, how to brew them, and some sources for buying flowering teas. Here's an excerpt:
Hand-sewn teas are, well, hand-sewn. There’s much more to it than that, though. They are most commonly produced in the Yunnan province of China near the borders of Vietnam and Laos. Green flowering teas are the norm, but other types of tea can be used. The leaves may or may not be scented with jasmine or other flowers before they are sewn. Like the reeds and wood of basketry, the leaves for flowering teas must be kept damp when they are shaped. They are laid flat, and then sewn with cotton thread to form various shapes. The sewing and shaping may take as little as one minute or as long as ten minutes, depending on the complexity of the design. Sometimes, flowers such as jasmine, globe amaranth, chrysanthemum, marigold, carnation, or rose are placed inside so that when the tea unfurls, it reveals a hidden, colorful bouquet. Occasionally, there are flowers that are visible on the exterior of the flowering tea, though this is usually just with simple shapes, like spheres. Ah, this brings us to another topic: the shapes. The most common shapes are peaches (often called “peach ball,” and said to signify longevity) and spheres. Less common shapes include mushrooms, cones, cylinders with rounded ends, eggs, hearts, and various abnormal forms. After the teas are sewn, they are dried in their new shape and sold either individually or in packages at upwards of $1 each (and often more).
After all the work that is put into flowering teas, you’d thing that brewing them requires great skill. Don’t worry--brewing flowering teas is incredibly easy. All you need is a glass teapot, large clear cup, or pale, shallow bowl and some good brewing water at the right brewing temperature. (Since the leaves are tied together, you don’t even need a strainer. I find these teas are great for people who are transitioning from bottled or bagged tea and don’t mind the price point, but are very concerned about ease of brewing.) Flowering teas tend to be mild, so you can brew them over a longer period of time (like a meal) without worrying about them becoming too astringent. Most of them can withstand multiple infusions (often 5, sometimes up to 15). This means that flowering teas can be displayed over the course of the tea-drinking and refilled with additional warm water as they are used up. (In other words, it’s a natural conversation piece.)
Read more about flowering tea on Vee Tea.
Anyway, on to the point . . .
I get a lot of questions about flowering tea. For my own edification (and yours!) I decided to do some extra research on the topic and write an article about it. It covers their mythology, how they are made, how to brew them, and some sources for buying flowering teas. Here's an excerpt:
Hand-sewn teas are, well, hand-sewn. There’s much more to it than that, though. They are most commonly produced in the Yunnan province of China near the borders of Vietnam and Laos. Green flowering teas are the norm, but other types of tea can be used. The leaves may or may not be scented with jasmine or other flowers before they are sewn. Like the reeds and wood of basketry, the leaves for flowering teas must be kept damp when they are shaped. They are laid flat, and then sewn with cotton thread to form various shapes. The sewing and shaping may take as little as one minute or as long as ten minutes, depending on the complexity of the design. Sometimes, flowers such as jasmine, globe amaranth, chrysanthemum, marigold, carnation, or rose are placed inside so that when the tea unfurls, it reveals a hidden, colorful bouquet. Occasionally, there are flowers that are visible on the exterior of the flowering tea, though this is usually just with simple shapes, like spheres. Ah, this brings us to another topic: the shapes. The most common shapes are peaches (often called “peach ball,” and said to signify longevity) and spheres. Less common shapes include mushrooms, cones, cylinders with rounded ends, eggs, hearts, and various abnormal forms. After the teas are sewn, they are dried in their new shape and sold either individually or in packages at upwards of $1 each (and often more).
After all the work that is put into flowering teas, you’d thing that brewing them requires great skill. Don’t worry--brewing flowering teas is incredibly easy. All you need is a glass teapot, large clear cup, or pale, shallow bowl and some good brewing water at the right brewing temperature. (Since the leaves are tied together, you don’t even need a strainer. I find these teas are great for people who are transitioning from bottled or bagged tea and don’t mind the price point, but are very concerned about ease of brewing.) Flowering teas tend to be mild, so you can brew them over a longer period of time (like a meal) without worrying about them becoming too astringent. Most of them can withstand multiple infusions (often 5, sometimes up to 15). This means that flowering teas can be displayed over the course of the tea-drinking and refilled with additional warm water as they are used up. (In other words, it’s a natural conversation piece.)
Read more about flowering tea on Vee Tea.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
July Discount: Educators
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