One way that many people describe green teas (not just green teas, just using it as an example) is by using the word “vegetal” — meaning that the taste reminds them of the taste of vegetables. One quick tip to take your tea appreciation to another level is to see if you can figure out [...]
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As the tea scene explodes in America, we’re seeing many different business models, both on the wholesale side and on the retail side. One that I find particularly interesting is the small but growing trend of tea farms selling directly to American consumers, whether shipping directly from the farm or by shipping to the states [...]
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In China the tea plant can be harvested anywhere from once to as many as 6 or 7 times per year. In addition, the first harvest- the first flush in Indian nomenclature- can occur any time from mid-February to end of May. Let us look at some of the factors that determine when tea leaves [...]
read more »Tea Cultivation, Tea Education
Posted on November 1st, 2012 Written by Derek Chew
Based on my research, this is a list of countries where tea is a cultivated crop. Did I miss any? Argentina Australia Bangladesh Bhutan Bolivia Brazil Cambodia Chile China Colombia Ecuador Ethiopia Egypt England France Georgia Germany Guatemala India Indonesia Iran Italy Japan Kenya Laos Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Mauritius Mexico Myanmar Morocco Nepal New Zealand [...]
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** Note: Chicago Tea Garden has closed. ** The Chicago tea scene is blowing up. If you are visiting Chicago and are super into tea, please make it a point to visit these Chicago tea shops: Todd and Holland (Forest Park) - http://www.todd-holland.com/ Adagio (State Street, Naperville, Old Orchard) - http://www.adagio.com/stores/ TeaGschwendner (River North) - http://www.teagschwendner.com/US/en/Locations.TG Madame Zuzu’s [...]
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Etymology: “Tieguanyin” translates to “Iron Guanyin,” Guanyin being the “Goddess of Mercy” Other Names: Iron Goddess of Mercy, Ti Kuan Yin, Ti Kwan Yin Origin: China, Fujian Province, Anxi County Taste: Overwhelmingly floral and slightly vegetal. Behind the Leaf: This tea is named after the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (“Guan Yin” in Mandarin), also known as the [...]
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Muscatel is an elusive taste found in some Darjeeling teas, most likely second flush teas. It is very hard to describe the taste in words, but it is easy to recognize the taste once you are familiar with it. James Norwood Pratt goes as far as saying that in tea, muscatel “denotes a unique muscat-like [...]
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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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Rather summer cleaning. I just need to get rid of some of my yixing sets. Looking for a starter yixing or an addition to your collection, check these out. Prices start at $5.00. Shipping is flat $14.95 because I’m going to wrap the living daylights out of each piece and put them in a large [...]
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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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