Some of you may remember my review of the excellent Miro Tea in the Ballard neighborhood here in Seattle.  This month, we head to the other side of Ballard - and the other end of the tea spectrum - with a visit to Floating Tea Leaves, a tiny tea shop tended by the dedicated and [...]

While Beverly Hills Psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman interviewed me on her radio show on August 17, 2010, she surmised that I must have a warm and happy childhood memory about tea that led me to have the passion and fascination I have for tea today. We were talking about my new book, but, of course, [...]

Today I am out on the edge of a rocky slope that overlooks a huge blue lake below and is covered in silvery
sagebrush, aspen trees whose heart-shaped leaves quake to expose their silver-sunned undersides, and various wildflowers (Arrowleaf Balsamroot, Yarrow, Lupine, and Rocky Mountain Phlox).  I am on a quest to find juniper berries to [...]

It is in my plans to hike to a mountain top in China and drink tea in a beautiful secluded environment, as sometimes the location in which you drink tea can make the tea so much better.  My favorite cup of tea for the entire month of June was not a tea I would have [...]

Recently, I spent a week in the beautiful village of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte Baume in Provence.  Of course, the food, wine, and weather were fantastic, but I was amazed at the quality, variety, and quantity of tea available in the tiny hamlet.
Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte Baume is a small town of about 14,000 people located between Marseille and Aix-En-Provence in [...]

I’m a country boy.  My father was a farmer, although he also owned a building materials business until he retired.  I lived in the country for 19 years.  In my experience, farmers are hospitable, straight forward, and pleasant to be around.  Every guest is welcomed with tea.  Every family keeps a tea set ready for [...]

Lately I’ve been blessed to explore some western landscape.  Traveling through northwest Utah, one is witness to huge expanses of rock, very vertical as well as intricately layered horizontally.  From the valley, one also sees vertical forests of pine, and in the distance, more hills and snow-capped mountains just below the clouds.  Even places most [...]

Our tea journey through the coffee-soaked streets of Seattle takes us to the neighborhood of Wallingford this month and a cozy little place called Teahouse Kuan Yin.  Wallingford is located in the heart of Seattle on the north shore of Lake Union.  Gasworks Park is a major draw in the spring and summer and is [...]

This month, we go back to Ballard - remember, the fishing village turned Seattle social hotspot? - to Miro Tea, once again.  I couldn’t resist the urge to give this place another go ’round, so I came for a change of pace from my usual Taiwanese Oolong habit and dove into a pot of Organic [...]

Ballard - once a quiet Scandinavian fishing-and-timber community, this Seattle neighborhood has seen a lot of change in the last few years, but still manages to maintain much of its small-town feel.  In addition to continuing to sustain much of Seattle’s fishing industry, Ballard is now home to a myriad of specialty boutiques, popular bars [...]