I get a lot of emails from people asking me how to start an online tea business. I’m not exaggerating, I get A LOT of emails. When I closed Chicago Tea Garden the amount of emails I received spiked. Many people in the beginning stages of opening their business asked me if I had any insights [...]
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Tea processing is the most important quantifier when determining or producing a tea type. Green tea, yellow tea, white tea, oolong tea, black tea and post-fermented teas all begin as fresh camellia sinensis leaves and go through different processing steps. While there are an infinite number of variations that result in an infinite number of [...]
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Have you ever wondered why Japanese green teas are so green? And why Chinese green teas are not as bright green, but are typically yellower? The reasoning lies in the processing steps for each tea and in particular the “kill-green” step of the processing some tea types. The term kill-green is derived from the Mandarin [...]
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The definition of green tea in it’s simplest and most generalized form is a tea that is made up of leaves that were prevented from oxidizing, shaped and then dried. However, green teas are not unoxidized. No tea is truly unoxidized because tea leaves begin to slowly wither and oxidize the moment they are plucked, something [...]
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Oxidation is a chemical process that results in the browning of tea leaves and the production of flavor and aroma compounds in finished teas, oxidation is also responsible for the browning of some fruits and vegetables when they are cut open including potatoes, apples, and avocados. Controlled oxidation usually begins after tea leaves are rolled [...]
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The moment a tea leaf is plucked from the tea plant, it begins to wither or wilt. The amount of this unavoidable, uncontrolled wither the leaves experience depends on how much time elapses from the time the leaves are plucked in the field until the leaves reach their destination and they are further processed and the [...]
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These tiny oranges, known as clementines in the United States, are typically hollowed out and filled with tea, then aged. I have several that were obtained in Guandong, China, in 2005 and have since been aged in man-made pu-erh caves in the United States. The leaves, when steeped, have a zesty orange smell; the tea [...]
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Yunnan black teas come from China’s Yunnan province and can be found in many different forms, this particular tea is comprised of twisted leaves similar to those found in Bi Luo Chun. Golden Bi Luo and other Yunnan black teas are best steeped for 1min at 195 in my opinion as it keeps the astringency [...]
read more »Tea Wares for your Christmas List Libre Tea Tea Glass The Libretea glass is a perfect, on-the-go solution for loose leaf tea, it’s the best glass tumbler I’ve found so far. I bought a bunch in China a few years back and tested them, but this one is pretty amazing. The middle section seen above [...]
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Why re-steep? Why not? Re-steeping tea really brings out the value of a tea, you can get many servings of tea from just one serving of leaves. More bang for your buck, and you get to taste the tea as it develops from steep to steep. Before you re-steep: If you are going to be [...]
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