January 15, 2013 at 9:32 am (Uncategorized)

Food for thought indeed. As a store blogger myself, sometimes I have a hard time finding a balance between information and shameless self-promotion. All you all one can do is just try to be as honest as possible, and hope that people sense that honesty in your posts.

Tea Blog

Many tea vendors have, in addition to their online store, a company blog about tea (pssst! you’re reading one now). Often, the goal is to increase the knowledge of tea among their customers so they feel more comfortable ordering teas outside of their normal selections. Considering the price of some of the more fine teas, this knowledge is a great convincer. Being able to link to reviews on external sources lends further credibility.

Are all these blogs created alike, though? Do they give you reliable information? Or are they slanted in favor of their products? Well, no to the first question, and yes and no to the 2nd and 3rd questions.

1 Keyword Loading

Some blogs are geared more toward making sure their posts are loaded with the right keywords to trick search engines like Yahoo! and others into putting them at the top of the hits lists. One store’s…

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AdaptabiltiTEA

January 15, 2013 at 9:22 am (Uncategorized)
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First, please excuse the pun, but I couldn’t help myself!! Tea is one of the most highly adaptable drinks in the world, and tea puns are too deliciously tempting to resist!

So I woke up in a total funk this morning. One of those the-last-thing-I-feel-like-doing-is-getting-up-and-doing-anything kind of moods. Generally I am a pretty positive person who cannot wait to get to work, but being that this is my first day back after a two-week holiday, I could not be positive about anything.

I got up, collected my thoughts, and after checking my emails I asked myself the same question I do every day: “What tea am I going to drink?” Usually, I pick either a tea I have never tried before (good mornings) or a an old standard (mornings where I need more help than usual). This morning however, my funk left me stumped and confused. With each new tea considered, my grumpiness increased. Nothing seemed to peak my interest and with each tea rejected, my foul mood deepened.

So, I did what I always do in this situation. I pulled out an Earl Grey from my vast selection, brewed it with no particular attention or care and dumped the contents into a randomly selected cup. After the first sip, the effects were instantaneous: the grass was slightly greener and the world seemed a little brighter.

And that, fellow tea lovers, is what got me thinking: Is there any other beverage as highly adaptable as tea? Is there any other beverage that can be not only be tailored to suit any taste, but can also lift any mood without the jarring effects of other caffeinated drinks? I feel that if I had taken a sip of coffee, my mood would not have been lifted, but exacerbated by the striking effects of (coffee based) caffeine. My cup of tea had the double effect of refreshing me and calming my mind. I can think of no other drink that could have done the trick.

Of course, by this point, you are thinking:” duh, being the tea drinking gal that you are, of course a cup of tea did you some good this morning.” A valid and correct statement that is undeniable. Maybe coffee has a refreshing effect on you, and makes your day easier to face. However, I doubt that any regular coffee drinker, soda drinker, or maté drinker has the same variety of flavors open to them as tea drinkers do. With 5000 varieties of tea on the planet, countless methods of preparations and hundreds of additives available, tea drinkers have a plethora of flavors to discover and appreciate. So there! ha ha!!

Lipton tea has a new slogan for their black tea bags, and although it breaks my heart to give them any more publicity, I have to admit that it is catchy, if not “kitchy” : Drink Positive. Apt, to the point and more annoyingly, correct. Tea is an uplifting drink, a refreshing drink, a positive drink. I dare any drink to do the same.

So that’s it! I have dared you dear readers! What drinks bring you out of a funk, and more importantly, what convenient drinks or foods are more highly adaptable than tea? Subjects ripe for discussion:)

In the meantime, here’s hoping that this post has found you well in the New Year and that your moods are better than mine:)

Drink on Tea Lovers, drink on!

 

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Tea Gal Flashback: Getting ripped off has its advantages

September 6, 2012 at 12:31 am (Tea travels, Uncategorized)
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Fellow Tea Lovers,

Now that I am back in the States, I have more time on my hands than I would I like. This has led me to reminisce and go through all my meticulously kept tea journals and take a trip down memory lane, back to a time when I was a Chinese tea novice, revisiting all the experiences, good and bad, that led me to become the Tea Gal that I am today.

My first real tea experience in China happened shortly after I arrived in March of 2007. Having been in China for a month, I decided to make my way to Shanghai to see what all the fuss was about. Boy, they have a lot to be proud of. One of the largest cities on the mainland with a population of 23 million, Shanghai has everything. Restaurants, shops, malls, skyscrapers, tiny winding lanes, large neon-filled avenues, street vendors, clubs, bars, building after building after building…it seems never ending at times. I could talk about Shanghai at great length, but I will save myself the trouble and simply recommend one of my favorite expat-run websites so you can discover it for yourself:

http://www.echinacities.com/shanghai/

As soon as I left the train station, I knew that I was somewhere special, a true Asian metropolis. I was so excited. Even with my non-existent Chinese I managed to get around by showing passers-by my desired destination in my Lonely Planet, raising my shoulder and arms into the air with a “WHHAAA??” expression on my face.

Since I looked pretty harmless and fairly lost, people pointed out the right direction to go in and eventually with the help of the many English sings in and around People’s Square I found my first sight: The Shanghai Museum. I had heard that it was one of the best museums in China and was not disappointed. Filled with a dozen exhibitions, including coins, calligraphy, paintings, ceramics, furniture, this museum was the perfect introduction to ancient Chinese culture. And the gift shop! My inner shopaholic swooned to see books, clothing, jewelry and a plethora of things one does not need, but definitely wants. After living in China for 6 years, I now know where to buy all these things for much less, but if you only have 48 hours in Shanghai, what a gold mine that shop is! Check out the museum here:

http://www.chinamuseums.com/shanghai.htm

I exited the museum, my head swimming with all that I had just seen, and sat on the stoop for  a smoke and a ponder. Just as I was wondering where to go next, I was approached by three lovely young women, claiming to be students on holiday in Shanghai for the first time. Now, for those of you who have been to China, or who have been living in China, you don’t need me to say much more than “three students came up to me in the street” to know that I was about to experience the classic Shanghai scam. Well spoken, bilingual young people roam the streets of Shanghai and Beijing, chatting up locals and try to sell them anything from paintings to guided tours of the cities. There are hundreds of tales recounting tea related scams in China, http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g308272-c108782/Shanghai:China:Scams.html, http://blog.chinatravel.net/china-travel-tips-advice/shanghai-beijing-tea-house-scam.html, some more horrifically expensive than you can imagine. I was new to China, but my years of travelling told me that something was up. Who goes up to a stranger in the street and offers to take them around for no apparent reason? I was about to stand up and leave, when one of the young women said the magic word: tea.

Now, I had come to China with the express intent of learning more about tea, but I had no idea how to get started. Without the language, or knowing anyone, how was I going to accomplish this? I had been to a few tea shops and used what little I knew to help me purchase small quantities of tea where I could. But this was a golden opportunity. Three girls with good English, willing to take me to a tea house to try tea. How could I refuse?

So I followed them down a series of confusing streets and never ending alleys until we finally reached a run-down looking building near Nanjing Lu. On the third floor, we entered a beautifully decorated tea house filled with traditionally dressed attendants, all waiting to serve me what they called “the finest and most authentic tea that China had to offer”. We sat down before a table filled with different kinds of teapots and glasses, and our attendant started pouring different kinds of teas in the most elaborate ways possible.

My scammer hard at work

I was so excited! I was going to have real Chinese tea prepared in the traditional way! I couldn’t wait. I drew the first cup up to my lips, took a sip and …meh. Banal. Uninteresting. Weak. I was disappointed, but decided to wait for the second cup before saying anything. My three “students” were chatting, asking me how I liked it, how I liked the tea ware, and other small talk. I remained pleasant, all the while confirming to myself that I was, in fact, being scammed. I decided that it was time to let them know that I knew quite a bit about tea, and that I would appreciate a higher quality brew. They looked at me quizzically, poured me another cup of dried fruit tea (blah), and hoped that would make me happy. It did not, and asked again for something more interesting.

At this point, they realized that I did know what I was talking about when it came to tea, and served a higher caliber tea: a Long Jing from Hangzhou. Finally! I was trying a tea I had wanted to sample ever since I had arrived in China. I was enjoying it and thanking them for the superior tea when they brought the bill: 1 600 RMB! About $200 CAN. I couldn’t believe it! Since I had been drinking and buying Chinese tea in Canada since I was 14, I knew exactly how much the teas I had been served cost. I was incensed. The whole thing should have cost around 200 RMB. I had been scammed and good.

As the anger boiled up inside me I decided that I had two options before me: I could refuse to pay and get into a fight, or…I could get my money’s worth. Since I am someone who hates conflict and would rather learn from her mistakes than cause a scene, I decided that these lovely young women were going to start providing me with some much needed information.

Pushing the bill to the side of the table, I pulled out my tea notebook and started asking questions. Where were these teas picked? How were they picked? How were they processed? What type of rolling techniques were used? How long should each tea be steeped for? What type of water should be used? How long could one keep the teas in a pantry? What were the Chinese names for these teas and how were they written? How would one ask for a specific tea in a tea shop? Was I using the right tones? And on and on and on…

Those poor girls. They never saw it coming. For 2 hours I sat there having my tea re-filled with hot water, asked every question I had about tea and the Chinese language, keep a sunny disposition and got the information I needed. Every time they would bring up the bill, I would smile and say I just had a few more questions, and would they be so kind as to write down the Chinese characters for this and that. When we started heading into hour 3, the smallest of the group abruptly stood up, put her bag on her shoulder and said: “We have to go.”

I stoop up, paid my bill and left. My three scammers left without me, hurrying down the stairs as fast as their legs could carry them. I had clearly wasted their time and they had lost several hours finding new marks to take advantage of. That’s what you get girls:)

I was elated. I left that shop with so much information and the Chinese characters I needed to start buying tea more seriously. I left that shop feeling that I knew…everything. Well, not everything, but I finally had a starting point! Something to work with for the first time since I had arrived in China.

So yes, I had been ripped off, but on my own terms. People had tried to take advantage of me, and paid I them back in kind. I got what I wanted out of the experience, all while staying positive. It was great. Besides, every expat living in China has their own “the first time I got ripped off in Shanghai/Beijing…” story, and now, I had one as well:) It was like a rite of passage, and I got something out of it.

So, it’s true what they say: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And when someone gives you a bad cup of tea, demand a better one!:)

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The Trick to Coming Back

August 22, 2012 at 5:38 pm (Uncategorized)

Back in the USSR! I mean USA…

However, being here in the United States feels as disorienting as going to the USSR in the 60’s. After living in China for six years, being back in North America feels incredibly strange. Aside from the obvious, things being more expensive, people understanding what I am saying when I am speaking to my husband in the street and the fact that it is easier to find a taco than fried rice, the whole vibe is different. People are larger, more outspoken and more concerned with what strangers think of them. People seem more confident and are expressing themselves through their clothes, their accessories and their opinions. It’s only now that I am back that I can see that living in Communist China is much more different than what we see on the surface.

In China it seems at times that people do whatever they want, when they want. Stalls are set up illegally all over the place, the rules of the road are respected only occasionally and people have become experts at hiding things from government officials, with little fear of retribution. But there is fear. Now that I am back I now see how fear is always present there, no matter how people behave.

The fear of no social safety net. The fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and having the police show up at your door because you typed something into Google search that you shouldn’t have. The fear of disappointing your family and being banished from the social group you have known your whole life. The fear of not being able to find a job that will help you feed your family. The fear that in a country of 1.3 billion people, you are, in the end, disposable.

I was was not immune to that fear. The fear that one of your Chinese friends may ask you about a subject you know that you should not talk about. The three T’s (Tianamen, Tibet and Taiwan), the Dalei Lama, all subjects that if talked about openly, heard and reported by the wrong people, would have me deported in under 24 hours. Talking to another foreigner about it was not a problem, but “brainwashing” a Chinese national held rather serious consequences. For me, that would mean never being able to return to a country I have come to love almost as much as my own, filled with a people and culture that I respect and care about more than I thought possible.

But back here in North America, I can say and so as I please. I should be feeling a sense of relief, but a new kind of fear has taken the place of ChinaFear: the fear that people can say whatever they want, no matter how incorrect, hurtful and even hateful at times, and there is no one, no one to stop them.

People and societies in the world have more in common than they are willing to admit. There is a nameless “fear” in every country. Every place has it’s scary and confounding elements, the trick is to learn how to navigate them and have a happy life, free of fear.

So I am going to embark on my new adventure without fear. I will approach this new place the same way I did with China, head first and ready for anything. In the end, the only thing to fear is fear itself.

And whatever they put in those tacos and fried rice…digestion issues are also something all societies much eventually confront:)

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Song Zhen

May 3, 2011 at 12:47 pm (Uncategorized)

Fellow Tea Lovers,

It’s here! It’s finally here! TEA SEASON!!!!!!

My first venture out to the tea markets this season was, ironically, not to buy spring green teas, but to purchase pu’er and black teas, ones that we already have in the Thes de Cru line. I am proud to say that it was my first purchasing done without the aid of a translator (yeah!!) and that I was clearly understood!

Today was about rediscovering teas that I fell in love with over three years ago, but discovering for the very first time that I could do it in Chinese. So today, I would like to talk to you a bit more about black teas from Yunnan. As many of you may know (or may not), the first tea plants originate from a region called Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan, where the climate is hot and dry, it’s very high altitude and is home to tea trees that are over 2000 years old. Yunnan’s best Pu’ers and Black teas come from this region, as well as all of Thes de Cru pu’er and black teas . Because of this long history, and the age of the tea plants themselves, Xishuangbanna teas have rich and complex flavours, completely unlike most black teas. Take for instance Song Zhen tea. Song Zhen tea is a classic black tea, yet, its flavor profile includes barley and honey, and lacks any of the bitterness usually associated with darker teas. It is picked and fermented, with no particularly special process used to extract its unique flavor.

It is a product of a terroir, of a land that has been producing tea for a thousand years. Song Zhen is mild, aromatic and simply does not get bitter. The colour of its infusion is a light golden honey brown. It is, quite simply, perfection in a cup.

Today, I sat conversing in Chinese with my supplier and translating in a weird English-French hybrid for my Quebecer friends who were visiting. Usually, my head would have exploded under the strain of having three languages bouncing around in my head, entertaining guests and conducting business. However, the very nature of tea allows one to stop, pause and contemplate. And when one has a cup of refreshing, soothing and interesting tea, many things can be done at once. Multitasking becomes easy.

I encourage you to find some Song Zhen wherever you can. In this crazy hectic world of ours, where else can you find the energy to work (finding tea), the ability to complete a once impossible task (converse and do business in Chinese), and have fun at the same time?

Song Zhen my friends. Song Zhen.

Did I mention there was a baby at the tasting?:)

Drink on Tea Lovers. Drink on.

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Death of a Computer or How I learned to stop worrying and love Kokicha

April 5, 2011 at 12:38 pm (Uncategorized)

Fellow Tea Lovers,

Spring has sprung! Tea season is upon us! Things are getting busy in terms of tea, so my computer decided that this was the best time to have a complete mental breakdown!!

As everyone who has woken up to find that their computer won’t knows, losing all your files, internet bookmarks and pictures can only result in one thing: long, prolonged, unadulterated swearing. For the past two weeks I have been picking up the pieces of my internet life, meaning I have not posted in quite some time.

However, being unplugged does have its advantages. I have had more time to sit and read tea books than ever before, study Chinese and enjoy cup upon cup of tea.

This month, I have been absolutely addicted to Kokicha tea. My recent trip to Japan has obviously influenced my choices, but these roasted Japanese teas are the perfect “wake up and go get ‘em” teas.

Kokicha has long been a very popular tea in Japan, a slow roasted tea, whose leaves are a dark/cocoa colour, yet has a remarkably smooth texture and flavor, with a slight astringent bite at the end. Sounds complicated, no? Well, that’s one of the reasons I love it so. Its complexity is hard to describe, but once you have tried it, you understand why it is the most consumed tea in Japan, after green tea. It’s a great morning tea, a fantastic tea to help digestion, and can be mixed with anything. I like it “au natural” but I must admit, St******s makes a kick-a** Kokicha latte in Japan, something I hope to reproduce myself in the near future (frothy milk+kokicha+honey= yummy in my tummy).

Kokicha is a great tea to try for those who are tired of trying green teas, yet are not ready to go over to the dark side, trying harsh black teas. I like to think of it as a “golden tea”, first because of the colour of the infusion, and second for its smooth, rich flavor.
I urge you to try the black sheep of the Japanese tea family, especially if your computer is acting up…it calms one down:)

Drink on Tea lovers, drink on.

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Speechless

March 17, 2011 at 7:57 am (Uncategorized)

Fellow Tea Lovers,

This past week, I have done little else than follow the tragic news in Japan. Having just returned from my wonderful trip to that rich, interesting, exotic and welcoming country, I have found myself glued to the New York Times, sending my Japanese friends and suppliers emails, hoping that they will be alright. I am worried, sad, but mostly, speechless.

I think what has affected me most is that while I was in Japan, I saw signs everywhere telling people what to do in case of an earthquake. They were ready for disaster, and yet…this seems to be testing even their level of preparedness. Now, with the meltdown of their power plants a very real possibility, my mind only goes to the poor people who are now evacuating their homes, or worse, staying in their boarded up homes in an attempt to protect themselves from radiation poisoning.

This is the land of Manga, Godzilla and Akira; cartoons about living in a post-apocalyptic future after a nuclear disaster. The possibilities of what is currently occurring has been a part of Japanese pop culture and its national psyche for a very, very long time. And now, people are living in fear of the very thing they have always dreaded.

Most of us never have to face what the Japanese are going through right now.

Look, I know that Japan is a well-developed nation. I know that they will overcome this. I know that they have been through worse, in the last 60 years no less. But I still feel that they need all the help they can get.

So if you’re like me, a lover of Japanese tea and culture, I hope that you will take the time to see if there is anything you can do to help. It’s really the very least we can do.

In the meantime, chin up, pour yourselves a cup of Japanese tea, and remember how lucky you are. I know I am:)

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A new way to Matcha

March 1, 2011 at 9:27 am (Uncategorized)

I am a huge fan of people making and appreciating tea in different ways, and aside from promoting my beloved beverage, this blog is about informing people about the different teas out there, and the many different ways one can go about preparing them.

Many tea aficionados love spending hours telling me why I should use a specific teapot to make a specific tea, how to brew the perfect cup and why my easy going nature towards making tea is a horrific notion to them. I’ll be perfectly honest: yes I know there is a right way and a wrong way to make the perfect pot of tea, and most of the time I follow these rules, but at 6 o’clock in the morning, even I could not care less about the “right” and “wrong” way.

That’s why my recent trip to Japan (the most formal and rigid of tea making countries), was such a refreshing eye opener. As tea sales are slightly declining, so has people’s interest in making a “proper” cup of tea. Although this saddens me to no end, this has more to do with modern and hectic lifestyles than mere interest. In order to accommodate the modern tea drinker’s needs, there has been an evolution in the way that people prepare tea in the home.

Matcha is a perfect example of this change. Matcha, having long been Japan’s premium and most recognized tea, has not changed much in the past few hundred years when it was first introduced by Buddhist monks: very bright green in colour, this tea can only be found in a fine powder form. Once green tea has been dried, it is ground up into a fine powder with the aid of a large machine. Not only does this make the tea more compact for shipping, but it also changes the basic texture of the tea. To make matcha, one needs a matcha whisk, a matcha bowl, and the patience to whip the tea up into the smooth, frothy concoction that people have loved for years. It is a beautiful tea with a silky texture that invites contemplation of the highest order and is the perfect accompaniment to sweets and treats.

But let’s face it: special whisk? Special bowl? Only the most ardent of tea fans have the patience for that kind of stuff, and why should we be the only ones to enjoy it?

Well, while rummaging around one of the many tea shops I had a chance to discover in Kyoto, I found a matcha shaker. Yes, you read correctly. A shaker almost exactly like those used to make cocktails, just a little smaller. Although the matcha made in a shaker is not as frothy as the one whisked by hand, I can assure you that it gives one a much pleasure when consumed.

I can already hear the cries of: “How dare you!! Matcha has a history and a technique that should, nay, must be respected you heathen!” To this I respond: “So what?” The times they are a changing, and although the old traditions should never be lost, we have to evolve and adapt to the changes of our lifestyles. Anything that remains stagnant dies, and would it be better that one can only get matcha at St*****ks? Think about that for a minute!

So if you love trying new teas, but don’t have the right pot, ladle, cup, whisk or whatever else may be suggested to you, don’t worry. If the Japanese have adapted their culture to fit the 21rst century, then so can you, and don’t let anyone else tell you any different:)

 

Drink on tea lovers!

 

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Tea Gal in…Japan!!!

February 23, 2011 at 11:15 am (Uncategorized)

Fellow Tea Lovers,

I just spent my Chinese New Year in Japan, and boy, have I got stories!! After 4 years of living and working in China, visiting Japan was like visiting an alternate universe: everything is so well organized, so clean and so orderly, I couldn’t help but feel slightly unnerved:)

I have become so accustomed to the Chinese lifestyle, that being flung into the most organized and well prepared country in the world was a bit of a shock. But I loved every minute of it, and am already planning another trip there!!

Because of the hardships and reconstruction that came after the Second World War, it seems that the entire country is fire proof, earthquake proof, flood proof, bomb proof…let’s just say that if Armageddon ever comes, I want to be in Japan when it happens. The have contingency plans for everything!

To top it all off, the Japanese are some of the most helpful, kind and interesting people I have ever encountered. At every turn, people were willing to help me find my way, just wanted to chat, and at no point were they interested in anything other than helping me enjoy their country.

But let’s get down to business: tea! I had the privilege to visit a tea plantation in the southern part of Kyoto, drink teas I had never even heard of and learn more about Japanese tea culture that is in any book I have ever read.

All this week I will be regaling you with stories from tea rooms, tea plantations and the easiest, fastest and most popular place to get a cup of Matcha (powdered green tea) in the whole country…Starbucks (weep!:( ).

I have so much to share with you, and over the next few days, you’ll get to hear it all!!

Drink on tea lovers, drink on!

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Top 5 Teas To Drink On a Rainy Day

January 10, 2011 at 12:08 pm (Uncategorized)

Fellow Tea Lovers,

Happy New Year! I hope that 2011 has started off on the right foot for you as it has for me. The first week of 2011 has been filled with sunshine and warm breezes here in Kunming, but all that ended today. Rainy, cold and damp are the only words to describe what I had to walk through to get to class today (I know that my friends in Canada feel no sympathy for me at this moment) and this drastic weather change had me reaching for my warm mug of tea more than ever.

So this got me thinking about all the teas that I love to drink on a cold, generally unpleasant day, teas that are real pick me ups. Therefore, in honor of the first real cold day of 2011 (in Kunming), I give you my Top 5 Teas To Drink On a Icky Day:

5. Generic Black Tea with Milk and Sugar
I am not usually a fan of boring black teas (I like teas with a little bit more personality) but there is no denying that the addition of hot milk and brown sugar saves the day here. The British have drunk tea in this manner for many a year, and although the Brits are not exactly world famous for their culinary skills, I have to say that they got it right with this one:)

4. Lapsang Souchong
This Chinese smoked black tea has been a favorite in Russia since the two countries began trading. Who knows more about surviving the cold than the Russians? This tea is sometimes disliked by tea connoisseurs and novices alike because of its somewhat overpowering “smoky” flavour. It’s for that exact reason I love Lapsang Souchong. Also, it helps digestion after meals, especially heavy ones, you know, like the ones you have on a cold day.

3. Chamomile and Honey Tea
Is there anything more soothing than Chamomile? Added bonus: being herbal, this tea is perfect to help you go to sleep on those stormy nights.

2. Green Tea and Mint
Refreshing and soothing, mint tea is one of those teas that is always great to drink, be it hot or cold weather. The taste of crisp mint always makes me think of Morocco, thus thinking of hot weather when it is anything but. Thanks Mint Tea. Thank you for whisking me away to a warm country:)

1. Chai
Black tea+ spices+ sugar+ milk= awesomeness. As soon as the boiling water hits this blend, your nostrils are filled with the sent of spices, and thus begins the adventure! This Indian tea is the ultimate in comfort, warming every inch of you as the flavors of cardamonne, mace, fennel, black pepper and cinnamon dance on your tongue. Can you think of anything better? I can’t.

I hope that you are able to enjoy these teas as much as I do, and that they will warm you up on those dull and dreary days.

Drink on tea lovers, drink on!

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