I don’t know if you have ever bought tea online from the English Tea Store but they have some awesome tea and tea items. Until November 14 (2009)  you can get free shipping on an order of $20.00 by adding coupon code fall09.

We used to buy this tea when we had the tea room and I can tell you that the tea is very high quality. One of our favorites was called Casablanca, also one of Marc and my favorite movies! The prices are very reasonable and the coupon code makes it impossible to turn down a few tins of …read more

O.k. browsing the internet today I came across a really cute idea. These homemade tea bags  are just awesome. They would make incredible Christmas gifts for the tea lover for sure.

I found them at Bonzai Aphrodite, which may be added to my top ten, because the blog, images, and stuff is amazing. Hey, you know I am impressed; I said awesome, incredible, and amazing in the first 55 words! Basically you take unbleached cheesecloth and fill it with your own personal tea blend. The result is an adorable, whimsical, cozy looking array of tea bags that would look fantastic in …read more

Fully Loaded Tea announced that it will be hooking up with Tree of Life in a new distribution agreement.
Tree of Life has been around a long time, I have been  buying their brands since the 80s, I am pretty sure. I haven’t had the chance to try the Fully Loaded brand but they look really interesting.

Flavors include:

Citrus Spiked
Goji Force Green
Naked Strawberry Green  (with rose petals-yum)
Cucumber Mojo White
Shameless Berries Fruit Tea
Bulletproof Currant
Wild Siberian Fruit Tea

The new agreement with Tree of Life will put the Canadian based company in more stores in the United States, including Whole Foods. If I see some …read more

I have wanted to do this temperature chart for brewing different kinds of tea for awhile and I keep forgetting about it.
Were you aware that different types of teas had different optimum brewing temperatures? Well, it is true, and you can coax the most flavors out of the tea leaves when you bathe them at their favorite heat. Why?

Well, each type of tea is made differently. Some is more delicate than others and some needs massive amounts of heat to get every molecule of flavor. Do your own taste test and see if you can’t tell the difference.
Black Tea- 203F …read more

I love chai and there are so many varieties of it that there are plenty of new ones to try. My favorite chai is homemade – infusing half and half with spices and adding it to black tea. However, there are some very good commercial chais and many of them as close as your grocers.

Here is my dilemma, of course. I prefer loose tea but the nearest tea shop is Teavana at Northpark and that is a good 30 minutes away. Not far but my days are not so leisurely that I can head to the mall very often. I …read more

So, are ya bored with your biscotti? Does your Sable make ya sigh? Need something to add some life to your life?
We all get in ruts now and then and good friends always encourage us out of them. So, consider me a good friend and consider this encouragement. If you are looking for an awesome little somethin’ somthin’ to add a little “oh yeah!” to your coffee break you need to check out The 50 Best Cookie Recipes on the Internet: Scene 2.

And for your viewing pleasure..there is a link to the 50 Best Cookie Recipes on the Internet, the …read more

Do you love green tea? Do you think it is healthiest when drunk plain or with a little honey? Well you may be wrong. Researchers at Purdue university have found that the good stuff in green tea (called catechins) is more readily absorbed into the blood stream when…(get ready for it) sugar and lemon are added.

Now there is a study that I can get behind. I really like green tea…when there are other things added, including sugar and orange, sugar and tangerine, or sugar and lemon. Personally I think green tea by itself tastes like hay.
If you have been avoiding …read more

Bigelow has a tea plantation in South Carolina. There are tea plantations in Hawaii. Now there soon may be a tea plantation in Washington State.

Tea, which has been grown in Asian countries traditionally seems to be finding its way onto, or maybe INTO American soil. It is an interesting idea, and exciting that tea could be a bit more locally produced and sourced.
You have to wonder what kinds and varieties of flavors you would end up with. Where tea is grown, the soil, and the climate makes a difference in the finished product. Areas like Washington mimic some of the …read more

Since I am working at a slower pace right now I am doing a little more web crawling than usual. Sorry, less than a week post surgery I don’t have enough energy for actual web surfing.
Anyway, as I was reading through various sites I saw a really fascinating idea on Apartment Therapy. They were talking about how you could use tea bags as air fresheners for small spaces.

What a great idea!
You probably don’t want to use this as a way to upcycle used tea bags though…stick with fresh ones!
image:sxc

Hawaii has been growing tea for over one hundred years, who knew?
Apparently that rich, volcanic soil that grows such awesome beans also grows tea leaves and the Department of Agriculture is encouraging the producers to grow! grow! grow! I first read aout Hawaiian teas on the New York Times site and then did a quick search to see what I could find out.

Apparently the flavor of Hawaiian grown tea is unique. That makes sense since the climate and soil play a big role in the finished flavor. I found the Hawaiian
I am interested for sure. Here are some producers that …read more