Take time to share: respect is the root of true happiness

Examine, for a moment, the attributes of someone you respect.  Did the traits of integrity, loyalty, kindness, and humility come to mind?  Not only do these positive traits raise one’s esteem in the eyes of others, they maintain our self-respect as well. Instead of being [...]

Sometimes I wonder what Thanksgiving would be like if the Pilgrims had celebrated their thankfulness with a pot of tea and a day at the spa instead of a feast - but the history books are pretty clear on this, even in the Progressive Schools of LA.
Too bad, because tea and a Spa Day would [...]

Most normal folks don’t automatically assume there is a connection between coffee and tea, on the one hand, and poop, on the other.  But there is.  And it begs the question: Who were these pioneers who thought to extract fermented coffee beans from the poop of the Paradoxurus, a small mammal native to Indonesia that [...]

Eleventh in a series on the teas of China.

Superior oolong is also made from these two varieties of Camellia sinensis which seem to grow nowhere outside of China.  The Shuixian (also known as Water Sprite or Narcissus) plant is grown mainly in Fujian.  It has a single trunk and few branches whose thick, glossy leaves [...]

To prepare for my short, three-day stay in Tokyo, Japan last spring, I read two tour books, freshened up on my language skills by memorizing Hiragana and Katakana characters, and thought seriously before choosing Hakone over Nikko as time would not permit me to visit both towns.  As for my trip to Bali in 2007, [...]

As evidence of the potent health benefits of tea continues to mount, those of us in the industry are aware that the media coverage of the scientific research reporting these benefits is one of the main drivers of the tea market.
As a result, more and more people are gulping down green tea solely to derive [...]

You may have noticed that there is currently no main image on Tuesday’s post. It came to our attention yesterday that we had three images on our Tieh Kuan Yin post that had copyright restrictions and that we hadn’t received permission from the photographers to publish. This was clearly unintentional on our part and was [...]

There are a number of perks associated with having a tea blog.  Perhaps my favorite one is having the opportunity to sample innovative new products.  The folks at Ceramcor sent me one of their gorgeous new ceramic Tea Potles, part of their Xtrema teaware line.  This ain’t your grandma’s kettle.  I was immediately drawn to [...]

Ask teenagers what their favorite part of the school day is, and a fair number of them will say lunch.  For the most part, it isn’t because of the food being served.  Lunch is the one time of the school day when students can enjoy the company of friends without being interrupted by irritated teachers.  [...]

Tenth in a series on the teas of China.
Iron Goddess of Mercy - Ti Quan Yin, is a variety of tea plant from which extraordinary oolong tea is made; in fact, Ti Quan Yin from Anxi County in southern Fujiian Province is ranked as one of China’s Ten Most Famous Teas, making it of interest [...]