Steep It Loose — WHOLE LEAF TEA

Sunday’s article in the Hindu Business publication titled “Firm trend in dust tea at Kochi sale” reported on the current tea auctions taking place in Kochi, Kerala (India). “Bucking the downtrend of the last few weeks dust tea prices appreciated at the Kochi tea auction. There were 11.49 lakh kg of dust and 2.35 lakh…

All teas come from the plant Camellia Sinensis, and are further classified by their type of tea: Pu’erh, Black, Oolong, Green, and White (in descending order of fermentation). “Tea” does not include herbal teas or other teas that do not include “real” tea leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant. It is an interesting fact that…

Iced Tea… America’s contribution to the global tea tradition The story of our nation’s independence begins with tea.  At the celebrated Boston Tea Party of 1773, three shiploads of tea were dumped into the harbor in protest over high taxes on the tea being re-exported from Britain to the American colonies. Interestingly, in our formative…

The best quality tea must have creases like the leathern boot of Tartar horsemen, curl like the dewlap of a mighty bullock, unfold like a mist rising out of a ravine, gleam like a lake touched by a zephyr, and be wet and soft like a fine earth newly swept by rain. – Lu Yu…