As America's demand for Japanese green tea exploded in the 1880s, large commercial tea gardens were planted further south in Kagoshima Prefecture
Kagoshima – Japan’s Second Largest Tea Growing Prefecture
The Ritual of Tea
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…
Why Orange Pekoe Tea Contains No Oranges
William of Orange, Husband of Queen Mary, Kensington Palace Every tea seller tells a story about a customer who sent back their pot of Orange Pekoe tea because it did not taste of oranges. How can this be? The answer to the disappointed drinker’s dilemma may be found in the fact that, while Orange Pekoe…
Tour the Tea Clipper Cutty Sark in London
The iconic clipper ship Cutty Sark has come back to life in her new Greenwich dry dock on the eastern edge of London, not far from where tea clippers once brought endless cargos of tea into the warehouses of the East India Company. Her journey here was not without incident, and we are fortunate to have…
Best Tea in Bordeaux
Tea may not be the first beverage visitors think of when visiting Bordeaux but, during my first visit to France's sixth largest city, I was delighted to find a vibrant tea culture where several traditional and contemporary tea shops, as well as salons du thé, are doing a brisk business. If you have already explored Paris…
Breaking Bread in Bordeaux’s Oldest Bakery
My typical breakfast routine in France is a fresh croissant with butter and preserves and accompanied by a cup of café au lait. But in Bordeaux, I broke with routine and enjoyed my most memorable French breakfast in the company of friends and seated at the baker’s table of Au Pétrin Moissagais. There we ate thick…
Exploring Wine in Bordeaux
Bordeaux is arguably the wine capital of the world. Simply say the name and your next thought is wine. First, a bit of clarification: there is the region of Bordeaux - with its thousands of producers, nearly 60 different appellations and several different regions – and the city of Bordeaux, the sixth largest in France.…
Pairing Tea and Chocolate
Of the world’s three great temperance beverages–cocoa, tea, and coffee–cocoa was the first to be introduced by the Spanish into Europe in 1528. A century later, the Dutch brought tea to Europe. Finally, coffee made its European debut in 1615, thanks to Venetian traders.From the onset, cocoa, tea, and coffee were afforded only by wealthy families.…
A Tour of the Starbucks Mega Store in Shanghai
Starbucks established a bold presence in Shanghai last December with the opening of their two-storied Reserve Roastery, which delivers a multi-sensory, interactive coffee and tea experience like no other. With 3000 stores located in 136 cities across China - including 600 in Shanghai alone - the Seattle-based company is taking advantage of the booming Chinese economy, which…
Global Tea Hut Infuses Mindfulness One Cup at a Time
Wu De welcomes guests to his tableI discovered Wu De - originally Aaron Fisher - when I read his book The Way of Tea: Reflections on a Life with Tea in 2010. He was also the translator for numerous articles found in the beautiful Asian magazine Art of Tea, now out of print.It was evident…