I'm often called upon to create tea blends for art museums, performers, or historic sites. But no project was more interesting than the commission I received from a Chinese fashion house who tapped me to create a line of 20 teas to match their designs. The owners of Huanggen Fashion Group met me at World…
Most of the world continues to be baffled by America’s fascination with iced tea. We drink 80% of our tea poured over ice and, for over a half-century, we have expected this ubiquitous beverage to be “a crisp, clear tea that’s never cloudy,” as first advertised in 1971 by Nestea Instant Iced Tea. While we…
A news report about plastic particles leaching from tea sachets and into teacups has been spreading online and through news publications across Canada, England, and the United States since the end of September when a research study from Montreal’s McGill University was published. The small scale study showed plastic teabags released as much as 60…
Dundee Cake made with Scottish Marmalade Interest in the tea rituals of Downton Abbey and the runaway success of the BBC Great British Bake-Off series has spurred a resurrection of Victorian recipes, including one of my favorites - Dundee Cake. Named for a city on the western coast of Scotland (where I spent one of…
A question posed to me almost daily is “What’s your favorite tea?” For a tea buyer, there is no quick response to that seemingly-simple query. The answer depends upon where I am in the world, who’s joining me for tea, and the season or time of day. I often turn the table and pose a question…
Was brick tea thrown overboard at the Boston Tea Party? Tea historian Bruce Richardson shreds that myth.
Tam O'Braan, Scottish Tea Grower Tam O’Braan’s tall tale of Scottish-grown tea continues to steep in the pages of the British press. Dawn Thompson, writer for The Sottish Mail on Sunday reports this week that Aberdeen scientists have proven that the Scottish Dalreoch White Tea O’Braan sold to Fortnum & Mason and other posh merchants –…
As America's demand for Japanese green tea exploded in the 1880s, large commercial tea gardens were planted further south in Kagoshima Prefecture
English author Henry Fielding is known in tea circles for his quote “Tea and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea”. But a simmering Scottish scandal has left a bitter taste in the mouths of tea drinkers who paid inflated prices for teas touted by a self-proclaimed “Mr. Tea” as the "world’s best". Extravagant claims…
My wife and I have found great delight in introducing our grandson to the ritual of tea. Green, strawberry, or black with lots of milk, Davis is enthralled with all the tea families and takes great pleasure in pouring the tea from his tiny teapot into his porcelain cup with the giraffe handle. He gives…