Learn About Tea

Here are some resources I recently ran across that may be useful to those brushing up on their tea knowledge.

Via the Mellow Monk blog, here's a link to Tea Course, which is brought to you by the Tea House Times.

Lindsey from Vee Tea passed along word of a "webinar" she'll be presenting on July 16, 2009. "The topic is Marketing Tea to Your Under-Thirty (Generation Y) Customer. I'll be covering subjects like technology’s impact on youth culture, how to identify and market effectively to a specific youth subculture, why useful and accessible info is key to attracting and retaining young customers, and how to make your brand accessible to young people through marketing tactics like pricing structures, "starter" products, word of mouth, exclusive specials and local events. There's more info on my background and the overall webinar below. You can register through World Tea News. The cost is $29."

Last up, from one of the northern California papers, an informative article that touches on the history of Chinese tea.

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Half-Full: Musings Of A Wannabe Tea Bottler (1)

I've studied and written about tea for about four years now, most notably at this site for the last four years. I've also written about tea for various other web sites and publications. It's brought in some ad revenue and led to a few decent writing jobs, but if I'd been doing it for the money, I'd count it a failure.

Fortunately, I haven't been doing it for the money. I've been doing it because I like tea and I find it an endlessly interesting topic. One of the best perks that comes with publishing a tea site is all the great tea I get to sample, be it loose, bottled, or even bagged.

At some point, the notion began to form in the back of my mind that it might be interesting to be involved in the tea business in some way. But until just recently - as in a few days ago - the idea didn't come into focus. What moved things along was when I brewed up a batch of homemade iced tea - as I so often do. It was an offbeat mix and I didn't really expect much but I took it to work anyway, and found it to be quite good.

I won't get into the specifics of the blend just yet - let's just call it Product X - but I thought it might be interesting to explore what's need to get such an animal onto the market. So, for better or worse, that's what I'm going to try to do. Stay tuned.

Half-Full is a periodic chronicle of my efforts to conceive of, manufacture, distribute and market a premium quality bottled tea - in spite of my near total ignorance of the mechanics of doing so.

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Green Tea Cheesecake & Tea-Pops

If tea stuff with a sweet twist is what you're craving, check out these delights. From the Los Angeles Times, a recipe for
Layered Green Tea and Black Sesame Cheesecake. By way of Tavalon's The Voice of Tea, here's a recipe for Blueberry Tea Cream Pops.

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Tour Charleston Tea Plantation With Cindi Bigelow

Tour Charleston Tea Plantation With Cindi Bigelow
(from a press release)



A little Southern hospitality goes a long way in South Carolina's Wadmalaw Island, home of America's only tea garden, the Charleston Tea Plantation. Cindi Bigelow, President of Bigelow Tea, gives a fun and informative video tour of the idyllic plantation, purchased by the Bigelow family in 2003.

The plantation receives over 30,000 visitors each year, many of whom are curious to see a real, unique tea garden -- in all its 127-acre splendor -- and perhaps want to plan their weddings/special events on the grounds or to explore the rich history of Charleston or to simply just enjoy a lovely a cup of the plantation's signature American Classic Tea. Visitors from near and far are fascinated by the knowledge imparted by plantation founder and passionate tea aficionado Bill Hall, who now partners with Bigelow Tea in running the Charleston Tea Plantation.

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Tea Review 101 - Jing Tea Chinese Greens

Pre Rain Organic Dragon Well Supreme Green Tea
Pre Rain Organic Anji Bai Cha Green Tea
Jing Tea

Now this is more like it. I've had the good fortune to sample some nice Chinese greens lately, but nothing that really made me leap from my seat and click my heels. Until now.

Jing Tea refer to their Pre Rain Organic Dragon Well Supreme Green Tea as "our highest grade Dragon Well green tea" and I certainly wont quibble with that. It's a classic Dragonwell sensation - and if you've ever sampled a good one you'll know what that means - with a nice smooth feel and a much fuller flavor than most of the varieties I've tried.

Jing's Pre Rain Organic Anji Bai Cha Green Tea also compares rather favorably to some of the other Chinese greens I've tasted. In their words, "vivacious and exuberant flavours combine spring blossom scents with sweet sappiness, lush textures and beautiful floral top notes." Here here.

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Lyons Quick Brew Tea Ad

Another one from Lyons, circa 1985.



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Tea Tasting Time Lapse Video

So much tea. So little time. From the New Mexico Tea Company.



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Lyons Commercial & English Tea Blog Articles

Here are few of my brief tea articles from The Taste of English Tea Blog:

Sweet Tea: House Wine of the South
Tea and Hydration
Tea Movie Review: All In This Tea



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Drink Real Tea

The good people at teapigs are on a mission. Though the UK has been closely identified with tea for hundreds of years, the truth is that much of what's being consumed there is not very good. The teapigs crew refer to it as "shameful brown slop" and are "calling on people to demand better quality tea from cafes, restaurants, and hotels across the country."

For more info and to sign the mission petition, go here.

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Animated Barry's Tea Commercial

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Tea Review 100 - Mighty Leaf (x4)

Organic Emerald Pearls
Organic Yellow Flower
Marrakesh Mint Green
Orange Dulce
Might Leaf Tea Company

Organic Emerald Pearls
Organic Yellow Flower
A nice pair of loose-leaf Chinese green teas from Anhui province. Quite a delicate flavor in both cases. This can be a bit of a drawback if you're used to stronger stuff, but nothing really to complain about here.

Orange Dulce
There are a few flavored teas I like, but as a general rule I'm not the target audience for this sort of thing. Orange Dulce is a blend of black tea with orange, vanilla and jasmine. Not to my liking, so much, but your mileage is likely to vary.

Marrakesh Mint Green
As with most mint teas, the mint component of Marrakesh Mint tends to overpower the green tea. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. For my money, a good peppermint tisane is as good as anything, but if you want a bit of a pick-me-up, you could do worse than this mix of China green teas and Moroccan mint that's been "cultivated on a mountainside in Tiznit."

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Tea-Riffic Cricket

Another one on the miraculous powers of tea. Aspiring cricketers, take note.



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Mold Growing On Tea Time Lapse

Not sure why you'd want to do a time lapse sequence of mold growing on tea. Or why you'd want to watch it. But if you do, here you go.



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