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Tea Blog

Official Blog of the English Tea Store


July 2011

  • Tea Name Circus

    Sometimes it can seem like there is a tea name circus going on out there. “In the center ring! … a high-flying green tea! … the great Longjing … no, wait, that’s Dragonwell … uh, I mean, Lungching … whatever!” Yes, I fuss a lot about calling those herbals things “teas” versus “tisanes” but this Continue reading

  • Rose Teas

    Unlike the United Kingdom, in which rose is relatively common flavoring for candies and other sweets, the American palate has never really adapted to the notion of “edible” flowers. However, many teas and tisanes are blended with rose buds and petals, often with stunning results. Rose not only adds a lovely scent to teas and Continue reading

  • My Top 10 Tips for Making Tea

    In a previous post, I talked about my top 10 tips in a good tearoom. This week I’d like to talk about top 10 tips on how to make great tea. MayKing Tea. Yes this is a pun on my name but there is nothing like making your own tea to guarantee it’s made just the way Continue reading

  • Tea Haiku

    Tea is very popular in Japan, practically the national beverage. Haiku is a form of poetry that originated in Japan. So a tea haiku or two seems totally expected. A poetry form that embraces nature combined with the tea that comes from nature plus how that tea affects our lives. In an art class I Continue reading

  • The Buzz on Rooibos

    We’ve featured a few articles on rooibos in these pages before. It’s an herbal beverage that’s not exactly a new phenomenon in our part of the world, but then again it’s far from being a household word, at least not yet. If rooibos is not a word that’s in your vocabulary just yet, here’s a Continue reading

  • Tea Brewing Techiques

    I recently spoke to a tea merchant who asked me how I brew my teas for reviews. I explained that, depending on the size of my sample, I typically try to brew the tea several different ways in hopes of duplicating the kind of treatment that a tea might get from a customer. This usually Continue reading

  • Finding Your Tea Starting Point

    You’ve heard about this stuff called “tea.” You want to try it. But where do you start? Well, the obvious answer is to start at the beginning, but that’s not very helpful. So, let’s roll up our sleeves and take a good look at what will be helpful. I’m one of those people who, when Continue reading

  • A Newbie at World Tea Expo, Part 2

    The saga of the newbie at the World Tea Expo continues from Part 1: Then there’s your time “budget.” However long you think it’ll take you to prepare, both before leaving home and at the Expo hall, double or even triple it. Just slogging through the 150-page Exhibitor’s Manual and figuring out what parts of Continue reading

  • The World’s Best Cup of Tea?

    The world’s best cup of tea — if there was ever a phrase to make tea lovers leap from their chairs and take notice, this has got to be the one. It’s also mighty high praise for a mere cup of tea, and one might wonder who’s to decide when it comes to awarding such Continue reading

  • Some New Zealand Grown Teas

    The word “Zealong” is being bandied about in the tea world these days. Not many vendors are carrying it yet, but it is getting better known. This is a tea from New Zealand, a nation comprised of two large islands (and some smaller ones) located southeast of Australia between the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Continue reading