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I love oolong. I drink it morning, noon and night. I’m particularly fond of Oolongs from Taiwan. Could you call it an obsession? Hmm… probably. But there are worst thing, right? Today I’m blogging about a few people that I know who are just as mad about Oolong as I am.
Marilyn. My most beloved acupuncturist who has the warmest, most inviting treatment room in the city and is located in a favorite part of town: Cap Hill/Eastern Market. I’m always relaxed and in a good space after seeing her each week. She is a miracle worker and the results are profound. Those of us in advertising have the unfortunate dilemna of insomnia. Me included. Or rather it used to be me. Thanks to her tiny needles, I sleep just fine. One of the requests I get from her is: “Are you bringing Jade Oolong???” said in a very, well… “I need my oolong” kind of way. She goes through it fast. I’m happy to supply.
high mountain dong ding
Chandler. No, not the guy from Friends. The guy who comes down to talk to me at the Market on Wednesdays. Chandler walked up to me one day and said with excitement, “You have a 2nd flush Darjeeling???” My reply was, “Yeees. Do you know what a 2nd flush is?” He knew quite a bit about it. He bought Darjeeling and we got tea-chit-chatting and I mentioned Oolongs. His eyes sort of lit up when I shared with him that we had a Jade Oolong and a High Mountain Dong Ding. Immediately, he wanted the Dong Ding. I told him that I was taking it off the site for selfish reasons and that I wasn’t sure I wanted to sell anymore. I won’t say he begged, but I was convinced to part with 3 or 4 ounces. It’s now listed on the site as limited quantity. Which it is. This past week he came by to visit again and leaped at the Jade Oolong. I’ve no doubt he will love it. Chandler qualifies as a TeaPeep. We’re happy to have him as a customer. Thanks Chandler!
Teaescapade. Im proud to say we have a fan in teaescapade. Nikki is a tea enthusiast who blogs about tea, does reveiws and really stays connected with many people in the tea industry through her blog. We sent Nikki some samples of our teas to try and on October 5, 2008, she reviewed our Jade Oolong. Check it out and her blog too. She does very comprehensive reviews of teas. Thanks teaescapade!
So, rather than keep blogging Im headed down stairs from some Yellow Gold Oolong (Huang Jin Gui) but that’s another story.
the dreaded tea ball
Anyone that knows me knows… I have opinions. On everything from organic cat food to global warming. I also have an opinion on the what I call: the dreaded tea ball.
A couple of times a week, I stand outside in the cold to meet people and talk about tea. Yes, I am “doing” a farmers market in Northern Virginia. What can I say… my beloved bookkeeper Glenn (a TeaPeep) is sort of a mover and shaker at the market and thought I would be a good fit. So I said, “Ok.” If you happen to live there, come by and say hello. I’ll be in Del Rey on Saturdays wearing my sunglasses and a very large fluffy black down coat. I’ll be sipping hot tea. Tangent. Sorry…
Often times people will ask me this question: “What should I use to brew my tea in?” First of all, if you read my post on “To Steep or To Brew?” you would know that the word “brew” is like nails on a chalkboard to me. So I answer like this: “What I like to use to STEEP my tea is…” and I share my opinion.
So what do I like to use? Certainly NOT the dreaded tea ball. I’m sure it came in handy during Victorian times and like, the 80s, but it’s 2008, TeaPeeps, we need to retire the ball. It doesn’t do the leaf justice. Leaves need room to stretch out and “breath.” The ball is too restrictive. Plus, its messy.
Universal Infuser
What I love are tea pots with built-in infusers (I will be blogging about this in a few days). I also like our Universal Tea Infuser. Love it. Have more than one. I also like the glass tea pot called Bora Bora by Bodum. And not just because it just happens to match the name of our super fabulous Bora Bora Green tea with passion fruit. Pure coincidence. Lastly, I really like our HuesNBrews tea pots. These pots work. Are easy on the eyes. Easy clean up. I’m partial to sunflower this year.
tea pillowcase
I also really really love our tea pillow cases. That’s what I call them. I’m not a fan of the “tea sock”. Others love it. Not me. I don’t like that it hangs over the side of the cup. Don’t like that tea can sneak out. Yep.. the pillow case gets my vote. I also LOVE that I can make my own tea bags and bring them with me. I never leave home without tea. Seriously. I have special tea carry case. Does that make me a tea nerd? Absolutely. But at least I’m drinking some darn good tea and not something of lower quality.
What to do with your old tea ball? Honor it. Frame it. Hang it on your Christmas tree. Glue it to a pedestal, but please, retire the dreaded tea ball.
Do you have an opinion on the dreaded tea ball? I’d like to hear about it.
If you liked this post, pass it on to a friend!
When I woke up this morning and opened my email box (actually its always open and the computer is always on), I clicked my Google Alert email. I do this every morning as I sip some new tea or an old favorite. In case you are wondering, this morning I was sipping PG Tips. Yes I know, not my own but you can’t argue with a PG Tip and I don’t mind saying so. Plus, we love the PG Tips Monkey! Anyway…
I click on my Google Alert and scan, and scan, all the way down to Blogs. And I’m reading, and reading and I notice this article on Presidential Teas and I think, “Wow, someone else came up with the idea too? How odd.” Then I realized I was reading about my very own little tea company: Pearl Fine Teas.
Tea Guy Speaks posted a lovely bit about us on his fabulous blog and rather than thank him via comment to the post, I decided to thank you in a more grand way: by blogging right back.
Many of you probably already know about his blog and how amazing the info is about the tea world. I often look to it for things I wouldn’t ordinarily find. Like the fact that there was a Tea Drinking Gorilla who recently passed away at age 48 or that World Tea News wrote about us and I didn’t even know it. You can read the bit called: “Politics Inspires Tea Blends“ on their site.
When I posed the question on Twitter a few weeks ago, I had no idea people would be so interested. Seems its spreading like wild fire. It’s looking like California is taking the lead with blend orders. Thank you TeaPeeps of California! And thank you Tea Guy Speaks for the nod.
Remember to Vote. And drink tea.
Tea Illustration by Jack Cheng (www.jackcheng.com)
So, Social Media does work. While on Twitter last week when I posted the now infamous “If Obama or McCain were a tea, what would they be” question, we were approached by Jack Cheng, a tea enthusiast, to help us with the packaging of the Presidential Blends. As you can see, they are seriously fabulous!
You can find Jack at: www.jackcheng.com
You buy a tea blend at : www.pearlteas.com
"Drink for Change" Blend or "Extra-Mavericky" Blend
OK, you crazy TeaPeeps… Since we posted our little poll from Twitter last week on the TeaLove Blog, people have been wondering when the Obama Blend and the McCain Blend will be available.
We issued a Press Release on October 14th letting people know that for a Limited Time beginning Oct 16 thru Nov 4, you can pre-order an Obama Blend or McCain Tea Blend. The teas will ship during the week of the Inauguration in January 2009.
On November 5th, we’ll post the votes for which tea sold more. Anyone care to make a prediction?
“Extra-Mavericky” (McCain Blend):
My friends, this robust Black Tea is bold, assertive, has a hint of smoke and is highly caffeinated. A great kick start to the day or a power boost in the afternoon. It’s fundamental difference is that it stands up to cream, sugar (and the Senate). You’ll either like it or you won’t.
Sip while reading the NY Times, Wall Street Journal or following the Stock Market.
“Drink for Change” (Obama Blend):
Let me be absolutely clear, this African “Red Bush” Rooibos based tea is a mix of herbs with hints of fruit. It’s smooth, fresh and lacks bitterness. Environmentally friendly, unexpected, and a little left of center. Contributes to your overall well being and Health(care).
Sip after reading the NY Times, Wall Street Journal or following the Stock Market.
Buy Tea Now! Retail: $15.50/USD each
(Yields approximately 30-35 cups of tea)
*10% of the profits from each blend will be donated to the Washington Humane Society.
Happy (Political) Sipping!
*fwd this blog post to a friend
chocolate in my tea?
As a self proclaimed “tea snob” sometimes its hard to wrap my hands around a trendy blend. Especially some that are just… the oddest of concoctions. I’ll refrain from mentioning anything specific, but one that comes to mind is a tea with so much strawberry in it I dumped it out immediately. It wasnt tea, it was Strawberry Quick!
We don’t sell “crazy blends.” I like a blended tea that keeps with the integrity and mission of the company which is to: source and sell the best leaf with the best flavor. Quite simply: I like quality. Recently, a fellow TeaPeep & tea merchant strongly recommended I give chocolate tea a try. Here is what happened:
I loved it.
With just a touch of local honey (buy local!) to boost the chocolate flavor – you’ve got yourself one of the best secrets out there! Rich, smooth and creamy it reminded me of sitting fireside in Vail … watching everyone ski and snowboard into each other.
Do you have a chocolate addiction? Consider yourself a choco-holic? Like a chocolate-y snack around midnight? Try chocolate tea to satisfy the craving. I highly recommend this wonderful, surpising tea as a way of enjoying chocolate and tea without… consequence. (ie: calories).
*** If you contact me directly (info@pearlteas.com), I’ll send the first 10 TeaPeeps a sample of our newest member to the tea family: “TeaChocolatte”.
In the subject line put: “TeaChocolatte, please!” and let me know if you found us via Twitter or the TeaLove Blog! and don’t forget your mailing address!
Happy (TeaChocolatte) sipping!
An article put out September 15, 2008 by World Tea News discussed the state of the economy for the tea industry. To paraphrase: “…the results indicate that tea businesses are doing fine, despite the faltering economy.” I’m curious to see the survey after WTN reviews the Q4. October is just a mess.
According to the survey, the average gross monthly sales over the last 12 months were the highest for tea bars which reported $43,031. Tea rooms came in 2nd with $33,126 and tea retailers were last with $17,343.
Included in the article was an interesting chart of top selling teas.
Top Selling Teas Chart (World Tea News)
I wasn’t surprised by black tea as the leader at 48% and green tea falling behind at 18% but I was surprised that Rooibos wasn’t far behind green in consuption. Puer or Pu’erh was in last place with 0% – not surprising.
Ceylon tea - Shawlands Tea Estate
Any news about ceylon tea is going to catch my attention. So when an article by Steve A. Morrell popped up in my email box this morning about ceylon tea sales it caught my attention.
According to Russel Tennekoone, Director of the Ceylon Tea Brokers, Ltd., “there is serious concerns that the market has dropped.” Mostly because of what is happening in the Dubai port of Jebel Ali. Apparently, there is congestion with cargo movement which is restricting the flow of goods and services. Tea being one of the major categories affected. The other issue was that Dubai has introduced a “Quality Certification” not just for tea coming out of Columbo but for other seller origins. From what I can gather from the article, the bottom line is that growers were going to have to work harder to produce teas of high quality. In an auction last week by Quantum, 6.2 million kilos of tea was sold. “Good teas were sold, bad teas were discounted.”
What countries are the largest buyers of Ceylon tea? According to the Tea Market Update, Volume 4 No. 2, UAE (United Arab Emirates) beat out Russia by the end of the first half of 2008 with imports of 23.5 million kgs of Ceylon accounting for 16% of total tea exports from Sri Lanka. Russia showed a minor drop from 24.6 to 23.2 million kgs. Iraq, Jordan and UAE are among the top 10 destinations.
Top 10 main destinations of Ceylon Tea:
1. UAE
2. Russian
3. Iran
4. Syria
5. Turkey
6. Jordan
7. Iraq
8. Japan
9. Saudi Arabia
10. Chile
At the end of the article Mr. Morrell also reports on interesting news related to tea and health which I found most important:
“There was an interesting news piece in the tea market report of Ceylon Tea Brokers. ‘A single cuppa contains 200 milligrams of flavonoids. Drinking three cups a day, would increase flavonoids in the blood by approximately 25 %. Flavonoids help fight pre-mature aging,heart decease, and some types of cancer.”
I’ve heard that steeping tea between 3-5 minutes brings out the most flavonoids. Admittedly, I sometimes prefer my black teas around 2 minutes, but will go to 3 minutes with a fabulous ceylon. For me, ceylon tea is smooth, complex and lacks bitterness. I often say that ceylon tea is the Pinot Noir of the tea industry. At least according to my taste buds.
Our ceylon this year comes from the Shawlands tea estate which is located in an altitude of 1,173 mts. with a tea growing area of approx. 295 hectares. Tangy tea straight from the UVA district.
Map of Sri Lanka (Finlays)
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