I can imagine, with an admitted twinge of horror, the founders of Stash Tea sitting around an ugly yellow formica kitchen table on an overcast Oregon afternoon in 1972, when one of them perks up and says, “Dude! We should totally name the new company after our dope, man! ‘Cuz it’s like tea is also [...]
Since it is at long last looking and feeling summery for more than 10 minutes at a stretch here in Seattle, it is appropriate to think about iced teas. I do not drink any less hot teas than I do in cooler seasons, but I do like having a pitcher of iced tea ready and [...]
I spent the end of last week and the beginning of this week in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a far cry from Seattle on a lot of levels. The people in that part of the United States, at least the ones I was in contact with, are fueled by steak, overcooked previously frozen vegetables and soft-drinks/sodas/cokes (or [...]
I am usually disparaging of teas that are blends of different varietals or tea leaves with non-tea ingredients added to them. They usually seem somehow deceptive and incoherent to me. Naturally there are exceptions, Russian Caravan and Earl Grey being two that I enjoy drinking. However, in complete contrast to that purist tendency, I also [...]
To be perfectly frank, I prepared and drank a cup of Green Tea Tropical out of obligation as it was sent to us by the nice people at Mighty Leaf Tea. It is very unlike anything I ever drink – tea or otherwise. It is fruity, not strongly caffeinated, with a wide range of dissimilar [...]
I wouldn’t normally have any contact with those odd, restricting constructions of convenience called “tea bags,” but Mighty Leaf Tea sent us some bagged teas to sample, so I gave one a chance. Mighty Leaf Tea’s bags are a little different, in good ways. The company calls them “silken pouches” to differentiate them from those [...]
This is partially a follow-up to my previous post on gingko. Seattle has experienced a dramatic change in atmospheric pressure over the past couple of days – from warm and sunny to foggy and overcast. These changes often result in bad multiple-day-long sinus headaches for me and I have been experiencing quite a bit of [...]
Last week I finished off the last of a tin of jasmine pearls and was reminded, after an unintentionally long period of neglect, how much I enjoy this exquisite tea. It is not at all reminiscent of the brightly colored exuberance of Chinese opera, nor the strident red imagery of Maoist propaganda, but of the [...]
I stopped in at the Teacup to get some refills on our household favorites, and I also picked up a couple ounces of their Wu Wei blend. This one has less hibiscus and much more lemon – and it’s certainly not listed in the ingredients, some combination of herbs gave me a vague impression of [...]
My latest ritual comes from having a series of lunchtime appointments about half a mile from work. I’ve been stopping at Cafe On The Ave on my return trip. They serve Caffe Vita, which is a popular local coffee roaster. It took me a long time to find any good information on the tea they [...]
