Tea Talk

I’m always on the lookout for new teas I can share with you. There are so many options out there, and it’s loads of fun to get samples, brew them up, and taste-test them. After the samples arrive, the first step is to open the package and literally smell the tea. After taking in the aroma, I look closely at the tea and its ingredients. What I can see visually is also important. It will tell you a lot about what’s in the tea. Plus, it’s fun to guess what’s blended into the tea if I don’t cheat and look...

Ever wondered what to do with your tea leaves besides throwing them out? Well, I’ll share one of my secrets. I use them all over in my garden and around my trees. When I’ve finished brewing my tea (and the flavor doesn’t matter), I take the used tea-leaves (no need to dry them out) and add them to my potting soil, garden soil, or compost bin. This gives me an acid-rich, nourishing compost that I use all over my garden to fertilize and grow my plants. Another great thing about using tea leaves in your garden: it keeps pests, slugs,...

A lot of people ask me about matcha - what it is, what it’s good for, how to drink it or use it, and what it tastes like. The Organic Matcha I carry is a high-quality, single-origin green tea from Japan finely ground into a powdered form from shade-grown tea leaves. Japanese farmers grow matcha by covering their tea plants 20–30 days before the harvest to avoid direct sunlight. Doing this increases chlorophyll production, boosts the amino acid content, and gives the plant a darker green color. It also increases the naturally occurring levels of antioxidants, l-theanine, caffeine, flavonols, and...

Are you familiar with white tea? Many people are unaware that white tea exists and how delicious it is. So what is white tea? White tea is the least processed of all the types of tea and therefore contains the least amount of natural caffeine. Did you know that white tea, like black, green, and oolong teas, comes from the same plant - camelia sinensis. White tea is harvested from the bud while it is still covered by fine white hairs, hence the name “white” tea, plus the top two leaves of the new growth of the tea plants. The...

Do you like raspberries? I sure do. I enjoy the actual fruit a lot, and I enjoy my Raspberry Oolong Tea. As the weather starts warming up here in the south – we’re on our way – my taste buds start turning toward the fruitier side of my tea offerings. One of my favorites is Raspberry Oolong Tea. This tea is filled with a delicious raspberry flavor. It is excellent, either hot or over ice. This tea is a Ti Kwan Yin rolled oolong, also known as Iron Goddess of Mercy (you’ve just met your quota for learning something new...