Search Results for "gen mai cha"

Recently, our tea buyer Tanya and I had the privilege to visit Kagoshima to see where the tea is grown. Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture is located on the Osumi peninsula, in the south of the island Kyushu.

We couldn’t believe how fortunate we were. As a Tea Consultant, I was excited because Japan is home to the finest green tea in the world. As a tea drinker, it also felt personal.

WhatCha talking about? Tea, of course! Have you ever noticed that some cultures don’t refer to tea as tea but call it cha or chai? Why is that and how did we start calling it tea?

Cha-no-yu, the Japanese tea ceremony, is a time-honored and cherished tradition: a ceremony crafted for the optimal enjoyment of the experience of drinking a bowl of tea, arranged with great care and detail to create beauty and harmony in this moment of simplicity. To understand the complexity of Cha-no-yu and its cultural value, let us begin with the history of the tea that inspired the ceremony: a powdered green tea known today as Matcha, prized for its characteristic umami (savory vegetal) flavor.

Not sure what to buy for your loved ones this holiday season? We have a wide selection of gifts for tea drinkers! Follow along with us as we help you build your own tea gift basket with loose-leaf tea and accessories.

The gaiwan is perhaps the most traditional vessel used to prepare tea, dating back centuries to China's Ming Dynasty.

The lush tea fields of China’s An Hui province flourish, surrounded by craggy mountains that seem to stretch skyward into the clouds. When the wind blows, the damp mountain air carries the aroma of sweet spring rain and vegetation...

The most anticipated time of the year is upon us – the first flush season in Darjeeling, India. The season usually begins in mid-February when the earth starts to warm up after the plants’ winter dormancy. The newly sprouting tea leaves are packed with stored nutrients and plucked by hand in the traditional way – two leaves and a bud. Batch sizes are limited and their quality is unparalleled. First flush teas are sometimes referred to as “sunshine in a cup,” with a flavor that is delicate and smooth yet so full of brightness. The fresh and slightly floral aroma is enthralling.

For many of us, a fresh, new year equals a lot of reprioritizing and redoubling our efforts to put our very best self forward. Wellness and immune support can provide a perfect basecamp as you prepare to summit whatever your plans and goals may require. Revving up your immune system predictably proves to be most challenging during this time of year, which is quite notorious for sniffles and sore throats. When seeking to fortify your defenses, where better to turn than the culmination of thousands of years of tried-and-true traditional healing.

As the light faded on a clear autumn day in early November 1848, Robert Fortune first gazed upon the steep slopes of the “far-famed” Sung-lo-shan (Sung-lo Mountain). Cloaked by a misty layer of clouds, its intense beauty evoked the sense that he had just stepped into a painter’s landscape.

A new day dawns over the Nilgiri Hills of south India, the rising sun slowly illuminating the vast swaths of verdant tea fields, terraced into the steep mountainsides in a series of horizontal ridges to minimize erosion and conserve moisture. Towering eucalyptus trees stand sentinel over the fields, helping to improve soil micronutrients. These aromatic trees impart a desirable refreshing undertone to the cup steeped from the premium tea leaves.

By the time the French and Indian war ended in America in 1763, the British Crown had amassed a huge debt. They reasoned that the American colonies should contribute towards payment of that debt as the war was fought on and for their land. A series of taxes were issued on a number of commodities the colonists used in daily life — molasses, wine, fabric, paper for printing, glass, lead, paint and tea. Over time, after boycotts from the colonies and protests from merchants in England over those boycotts, all of the taxes were repealed. Except for the 3-pence per pound tax on tea. On one fateful night in Boston, that tax lit the flame of revolution and started a long, tumultuous journey that ended in the creation of a new, independent nation.

Steep a cup of tea to sip alongside some classic records for a delightful sonic experience.

A Unique German Tea Tradition: The Ostfriesentee Ceremony