Tea Reads: Grassroots Gardening
Without looking for it, I found Grass Roots Gardening by Donna Schaper among the "Botany" books. In contrast (to it's neighbors) this little green book seemed unassuming. It lacked the colorful illustrations, the tables of plants in their seasons, and smiling women in straw hats - yet it promised ritual, guiding wisdom, sustenance: sentiments that spoke to the tea drinker in me.
Read MoreSip of the Month: Oi Ocha Green Tea
I've had this tea on my shelf a while, it was a gift from family stationed in Japan. The label is in Japanese (which I'm not trained in) so figuring out what I'm drinking here has been a bit of a puzzle. With a little research I was able to put together most of the label: the big black font is the brand logo: Oi Ocha - which means something like "Tea please!" or "lets have tea!"
Read MoreSip of the Month: Pi Lo Chun
Pi Lo Chun is my go to for rainy days now, and February had plenty of them! I love this tea, it's like spring come early.
Read MoreSip of the Month: Blood & Fire
Looking for something to fill the dragon shaped void in your soul, now that Game of Thrones season 8 has wrapped up? Nothing warms an icy dragon heart like a steaming glass of Blood & Fire Tea, a fandom blend we conjured up for last winters Issue of Fantastic! Magazine.
Read MoreTea Reads: Delilah Dirk
To continue with our theme for the summer (which is very broadly books with tea references...or even, books I'd pair with tea) lets add to the shelf the dashing comic book adventures of Delilah Dirk by Tony Cliff.
Read MoreSip of the Month: Xue Gong Xiang
Very excited to be trying out Dancong Oolong tea for the first time. Shannon’s family has been growing high elevation tea in China for more than 80 years. Overall we were very impressed with this tea: a light floral oolong with some surprising citrus notes. Can't wait to get everyone together to try the rest of our samples from the Wudong farm!
Read MoreTea Reads: The Night Circus
The Night Circus is peppered with porcelain cups (and even a full tea ceremony at one point), which are more than set dressing to the author. Many carefully described and delicate tea cups were broken in service of character development. I was not surprised then to discover that Erin Morgenstern is in fact a tea lover.
Read MoreSip of the Month: Spring Garden Latte
Lately I've been visiting On The Hill (a snug cafe in Bolton Hill) crossing my fingers that the "Spring Garden" special latte will still be there waiting for me.
Read MoreSip of the Month: French Blue Lavender
As I watched President Obama say goodbye to the White House last month, I reflected back on his accomplishments and the things that made him truly great. Mr. Obama made many admirable choices during his 8 years in office, not least among them being his choice of tea over coffee
Read MoreSip of the Month: Bella Coola
At least one good thing came out of 2016- I met Not Just Tea at the Sugarloaf Craft festival back in April. They had samples of their Fruit Sangria tea blend which is to die for. I had the foresight to pick up a couple other blends, enough to hold me over while I anxiously await their return to Maryland. Here's their tropical tisane: Bella Coola
Read MoreWanting to Punch AutoPunch
Some will remember an earlier teamail where I got stupidly excited, having finally acquired a copy of the SINGER embroidery software AutoPunch. (Warning, this exciting tale of sewing sabotage is not for all readers, especially if you're just here for the tea)
Read More