2024-04-18 20:49
Chemistry doesn’t ever come to mind when I brew a cup of tea, but the process is indeed chemistry:
I extract the chemical compounds from the tea leaves and transfer them into the hot w… Read More
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Breezy look at all things tea related—fun info, health, science, social issues, history, industry news, and more!
2024-03-28 18:33
The annual World Tea Expo fosters exploration, innovation, networking. Tea industry producers, importers and distributors, tea shop owners, restauranteurs, and tea drinkers sample and discus… Read More
2024-03-16 18:47
Next week’s World Tea Expo is taking place alongside the Bar & Restaurant Expo, which is fitting. Although we may view tea and alcoholic beverages as two entities, they’ve lo… Read More
2024-03-01 20:10
Have you seen the latest tempest in the [salted] teapot? Recently, American chemist Michelle Francl had the audacity (!) to recommend a sprinkle of salt in your tea. Which prompted the Brits… Read More
2024-02-13 23:43
In my last post, we had reached the mid-1800s, entering into the advent of leisure travel in Europe, a period when souvenir collecting evolved into spoon collecting, both in Europe and the U… Read More
2024-02-05 15:11
Here I continue to look at how utilitarian teaspoons turned into souvenirs that we hang on a wall!
As mentioned in my previous post, both teaspoons and tablespoons existed by 1704. Still, be… Read More
2024-01-23 22:51
Way before the pandemic disrupted, well, pretty much everything, TeaHaus was gifted a set of decorative teaspoons—which I’m finally getting to, and thank you! (What I did not get… Read More
2024-01-17 02:38
Having looked at two Chinese black teas from Yunnan Province in my last post, I turn now to keemun. Like the Yunnan black teas, keemun teas hail from China and are highly valued. Therefore… Read More
2024-01-09 21:29
Yunnan Province in southwest China is considered the birthplace of tea, and the mountainous region remains one of the world’s top tea producers. Interestingly, demand for tea in this a… Read More
2023-10-06 15:07
Walking around your house with a black light can be hugely illuminating.
For instance:
I discovered that my handmade ceramic steamer for food contains a disconcerting number of fluorescent g… Read More
2023-09-28 18:38
Autumn is officially here. Yet, the Great Lakes region always approaches this seasonal change with some trepidation, unsure whether to stay rooted in summer warmth or commit to autumn’… Read More
2023-09-14 15:04
Have you ever posted what you thought was an innocuous comment on some social media platform only to be slammed? Even in the tea world? Yep, it occasionally happens.
But sometimes those deni… Read More
2023-08-29 14:17
When Governor Mikazuki of Japan’s Shiga Prefecture presided over a tea tasting at TeaHaus, Ann Arbor (see previous post), the teas were exquisite—and rare, at least for us here i… Read More
2023-08-18 16:03
Nearly 70 years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower encouraged cities to partner with their counterparts in other nations as a way to connect to other places in the world, other people. With… Read More
2023-08-10 21:47
If you’ve ever bought an iPhone, or even an Apple mouse, you’ll understand this: Opening the box is part of the experience. The ultimate in sophisticated design, the box itself i… Read More
2023-07-28 18:00
It’s always interesting to me that when you mention “tea,” almost everyone has a story, whether inheriting a teapot, being given tea to drink when they were ill, hating or… Read More
2023-07-21 18:10
Have you ever had to sorta duck out of your usual life for a bit, perhaps to deal with a pressing issue or what have you? If you’re fortunate, you can eventually return and gather the… Read More
2023-05-05 21:17
Green tea drinkers: Have you seen recent claims that your favorite beverage may cause liver failure? I’m finding versions of the article everywhere. So annoying!
The headlines can be q… Read More
2023-04-05 17:22
Just the words “jasmine tea” can conjure up perfumed evenings in some breathtaking setting. Although I’ve looked at several of these enchanting teas in earlier posts, here… Read More
2023-03-21 12:00
I generally roll my eyes at the endless made-up “holidays” that bombard us constantly. Must we really be prodded to celebrate trivial things every single day?
On the other hand… Read More
2023-03-14 14:52
Coffee is ridiculously easy in my house. Espresso/french press, dark/light roast, demitasse/mug? Done.
But tea?? The choices are staggering! Black, green, white, oolong, or pu-erh—wit… Read More
2023-03-08 15:41
March 8—International Women’s Day—calls for an appropriate tea. Therefore, Iron Goddess of Mercy it is.
But who is the goddess of mercy and why does the tea bear her name?… Read More
2023-02-28 19:27
That costs how much?! For most of us, the price tag influences many of our buying decisions. Beyond just affordability, we know just how much we’re willing to spend for any given objec… Read More
2023-02-17 22:32
Out of curiosity, my daughter and I picked up a bag of kankaliba tea leaves awhile back. We had never heard of this herbal tea so we had to look into it!
The Plant
Although the package speci… Read More
2023-02-10 23:10
Have you ever been handed something that at first glance you disliked, but then grew to sorta like—or at least appreciate?
When I first saw this vintage Japanese moriage set (sold as… Read More
2023-02-02 18:04
Literally. Monkey-picked tea IS the stuff of legends. And fanciful children’s books like Cloud Tea Monkeys, written by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham and richly illustrated by Juan Wijnga… Read More
2023-01-26 20:57
This intriguing tea has been sitting around our office for a really long time. It may have even improved with age, but who would want to disassemble such an expertly wrapped pressed tea?! Th… Read More
2023-01-18 21:11
Anything that contains dragon fruit evokes places far from Michigan. A distant shore, where warm salty waves lap white sand, overseen by graceful palm trees. Somewhere neither gray nor drear… Read More
2023-01-12 13:01
According to my calendar, January 12 is not only National Hot Tea Day, but Work Harder Day as well!
What the? Does anyone really need a work harder day—another reminder that whatever y… Read More
2023-01-07 18:41
It’s a new year and it’s definitely time for me to return my attention to this blog. It’s not that I’ve taken a break from tea or from research, despite the absolute… Read More
2022-06-02 17:30
It’s commonly said that we’ve used caffeine for centuries, including during the Stone Age, when caffeine-containing plants were chewed for their stimulatory effects. This being p… Read More
2022-05-03 15:47
Tea should be fun, and even though I’m generally not a fan of foods/beverages pretending to be something else, I have to say that Creamsicle tea is surprisingly like its namesake&mdash&hell…Read More
2022-04-11 14:21
Roasted Almond fruit tea (or more accurately, tisane) consistently ranks as one of the top ten best-selling teas at TeaHaus, with many raving about both its flavor and its stunning color in… Read More
2022-04-04 16:12
Tea can evoke many things: a memory, a tradition, the essence of a country. Just the words “English breakfast” immediately conjure up a complete picture of participants, setting… Read More
2022-03-23 20:17
I hate it when a little research verifies that an item falls into souvenir status rather than art. I can never look at the item in quite the same way—proving that a degree of ignorance… Read More
2022-03-17 21:09
At a yard sale decades ago, I picked up what I considered a rather exquisite tea set that had been made in Japan. I have now discovered that I evidently was the intended buyer, or at least s… Read More
2022-03-09 20:36
Sunflowers have new depths of meaning these days, a fact that seems startlingly at odds with the flower’s straightforward boldness. After all, its perpetual cheeriness and habit of qu… Read More
2022-03-02 19:51
I recently read an online article, supposedly vetted by experts, that claimed that white tea has no caffeine. Yeah.
Add that to misleading articles arguing that x tea has less—or maybe… Read More
2022-02-22 15:24
Little cups are irresistible, whether designed for tea or coffee. A yard sale find, this small handleless porcelain cup was made in Ethiopia, land of coffee drinkers.
But who’s to say… Read More
2022-02-17 18:08
Fruit Teas
To tea purists, fruit tea is not tea. And technically, they are correct.
Actual tea is composed of Camellia sinensis whereas beverages made from other plants are tisanes or infusi… Read More
2022-02-10 21:48
When “supply chain” is part of our everyday language rather than remaining confined to, say, auto part suppliers, we know that we’re in unprecedented times.
There’s a… Read More
2022-02-03 18:08
We have been getting a “moderate to heavy” snowfall, which began yesterday and is due to continue today. Despite promises that it would be neither fluffy nor super wet, the first… Read More
2022-01-25 22:37
The Decline and Renewal of Tea in Korea
When tea is part of a country’s culture early on, it’s interesting that it can fade from popularity. But such was the case in Korea, when… Read More
2022-01-20 15:02
Receiving new tea—especially something you’ve never tried—is always exciting!
Last month, my daughter and son-in-law surprised me with a gift set of green tea from Teas Uni… Read More
2022-01-13 19:17
A few months ago, Mindlake Tea offered free samples of their tea so that they could compare feedback from those who lived in areas more prone to having soft water (Japan, Taiwan) with those… Read More
2022-01-06 16:06
For all the information online, it’s frustrating when you come up short!
Last summer, I picked up this charming, diminutive, teapot at a yard sale. In pristine condition, it’s cl… Read More
2021-12-29 15:30
These days, the slightest sore throat necessitates Covid testing, but beyond that, what can you do to alleviate the scratchiness and discomfort?
At TeaHaus, we generally suggest a hot cup of… Read More
2021-12-14 15:48
I never meant to own a bunch of teapots, but somehow I do. Most came from yard sales, and some were given to me, like this gorgeous vintage tea set featuring a peacock and chrysanthemums.
M… Read More
2021-11-27 17:21
While pandemic fatigue has certainly set in, most of us are still forced to deal with it—whether learning that our child’s school has closed once again due to staffing shortages… Read More
2021-11-17 19:39
Selling a house is stressful. Selling a beloved house filled with joyful moments is even more difficult. Selling such a house due to circumstances and not desire is harder still.
Yet here… Read More
2021-11-03 19:16
Same tea plants, same tea name, different teas!
I previously compared two Tieguanyin oolongs—Modern Green Roast Grade II and Traditional Green Roast—from Life in Teacup, a compan… Read More
2021-10-20 16:50
We are bombarded with health claims about various herbal teas but, unfortunately, few of these claims have been conclusively substantiated by comprehensive research studies. However, what ab… Read More
2021-10-13 20:27
Since teas from Vietnam are spotty as far as purity and quality go, I was excited when TeaHaus was able get the oolong Oriental Beauty. But interestingly, many things come to play with this… Read More
2021-10-07 14:18
Although trying a new tea is always fun, sometimes you discover more when you compare a couple of teas. Today I tried two oolongs kindly provided by Life in Teacup, a company specializing in… Read More
2021-09-30 14:09
As fallout from the pandemic continues, many in the tea industry are using new tactics to maintain and increase their customer base; are adjusting to a changing market, especially as supply… Read More
2021-09-23 14:08
A Brief Look at Goldenrod
Beautiful plumes of goldenrod now adorn our fields, signaling summer’s ebb. Long blamed for allergies, this vibrant flower has been falsely maligned. The… Read More
2021-09-09 20:15
Simplest is often best. Less to figure out, less to maintain, less to break.
Take the tea strainer, for instance. All you really need is something that separates tea leaves from liq… Read More
2021-08-18 19:25
One of the savviest restaurant servers I’ve ever had was the fabulous woman who, after hearing us nix our young daughter’s request for soda, charmed our daughter by asking if she… Read More
2021-08-05 14:21
Being frostbitten is generally a negative experience—for you and for many plants. Much research goes into how to best protect tea plants from frost, and in some regions of the world, s… Read More
2021-07-29 17:55
If asked to name all the cooking herbs you have in your kitchen, does sencha make the list? Or lapsang souchong? Any tea besides culinary matcha?
If your answer is no, then you might be surp… Read More
2021-07-22 14:30
Have you ever been in a situation where you’re doing a wine tasting and you hear:
“I love that hint of cassis“
and while you’re thinking “what’s cassis… Read More
2021-07-14 20:14
Being vaccinated and eager to engage in any activity that resembles pre-pandemic life, attending the recent World Tea Conference & Expo 2021 felt decidedly indulgent. And so very norm… Read More
2021-07-05 14:20
I spied this little set at a garage sale and immediately thought espresso. (For scale, the saucers are three inches in diameter and the cups just over two inches.)
But the seller quickly di… Read More
2021-06-21 13:12
EWW was my reaction when I initially heard of the TeaHaus tea blend Strawberry Mint Lavender. This was well before I joined the TeaHaus staff, at a time when my daughter first started raving… Read More
2021-06-10 21:15
A blank canvas transforms simply with an artist’s stroke. So, too, a plucked tea leaf.
With expertise and mastery, such leaves may retain their vegetal nature and striking green hue.
O… Read More
2021-05-20 20:41
With some in the U.S. pretty much declaring the pandemic is about over, that’s really the case only for those vaccinated—and it’s far from true in many other places. T… Read More
2021-05-14 15:57
With the Revolutionary War won, and with teapots no longer politically fraught (see prior post), Paul Revere made at least 49 teapots from 1783 to 1797, according to his books. Then, as now… Read More
2021-04-28 19:34
Continuing with a look at silver teapots, the most famous of our American silversmiths is, of course, Paul Revere Jr., who lived in this relatively modest house in Boston.
Immortalized in H… Read More
2021-04-21 14:32
Ann Arbor is home to one of the largest outdoor art fairs in the country, an event that townies either love or hate. I personally love it and have been to many an artist’s booth over t… Read More
2021-04-15 16:08
One of the best perks of my job? Drinking tea!
So today I tried a tea that was new to me, a sample of Jin Jun Mei kindly provided by Life in Teacup.
And wow, this is a gorgeous tea! The fluf… Read More
2021-04-01 15:39
There’s a seasonality to the teas we drink—perhaps most pronounced for those of us who annually enjoy four distinct seasons. Whereas a full-bodied, steaming hot tea comforts duri… Read More
2021-03-23 20:50
I have a terrible habit of saving tea for the “right” time. A time when I can fully engage, when life is less hectic.
You’d certainly think that a year of mostly working fr… Read More
2021-03-16 17:22
Buying a product—any product, including tea—is based in trust. Trust that the product is what it’s advertised to be. Trust that it’s safe.
So how safe is our tea… Read More
2021-03-09 14:37
Research is exciting!
It’s also generally very slow. Although the incredibly fast development of the COVID-19 vaccination may lead us to believe that science moves quickly—and it… Read More
2021-03-01 22:28
For mint lovers, a potent mint tea is a delight! That blast of coolness is like nothing else—so much so that it’s even hard to describe the experience of mint without using the w… Read More
2021-02-18 18:29
Give my husband some old milk bottle and he’ll spend hours looking up its history. It’s amazing what interesting—albeit esoteric—information you can dig up onlin… Read More
2021-02-10 14:51
There were, in the early 1600s, women who “by the use of chocolate had correspondence with the devil.”
Riiiight.
But this claim, as related by A. Saint-Arroman in his 1852 book… Read More
2021-02-03 14:53
My late mother-in-law chided me for being skeptical, a trait I attributed to:
–my science background (must be data-driven and reproducible!)
–the fact that my mother was an… Read More
2021-01-24 18:10
I love to watch tightly rolled tea leaves open up as they brew!
And I definitely re-brew certain loose teas, especially those with intact leaves, because they’ll continue to release… Read More
2021-01-13 16:40
The pandemic has passed its one-year anniversary as many of us still hunker down, venturing into public places only when necessary. Unprecedented numbers of us are working from home, and in… Read More
2021-01-08 21:42
The Question
You have an excruciating headache. Someone tells you to have a cup of tea. Do you want to comply or do you want to throw the kettle at them?
Well, anyone who’s had a reall… Read More
2020-12-31 17:25
My recent posting frequency hasn’t been stellar as of late. Along with many of you, I’m weary.
Of loss. Of grief. Of the long winter stretch ahead of me, with little to motivate… Read More
2020-12-10 16:51
Back about a lifetime ago, in February, I bemoaned that my year had begun badly.
Understatement of the year.
As 2020 winds down amid global tragedy, my own year brought not only the pa… Read More
2020-11-25 22:01
The Issue
I know the season of thanks–giving probably isn’t the best time to rant, but I was recently asked yet again to send someone a sample of tea with “medicinal qua… Read More
2020-11-07 16:50
Making tea should always be easy. Pick a tea, heat the water, steep, and pour. For each particular tea, if you keep brewing parameters the same and use a neutral teapot, such as glass or por… Read More
2020-10-23 19:11
There’s nothing in the world like a newborn.
Photo by Kristin BartlettEach baby attests to the astounding miracle of life! And reminds us how this most vulnerable of beings is yet… Read More
2020-10-15 16:42
“Decaffeinated” with “tea” is an ill-suited pair in my mind. Because no, I can’t live without caffeine (my family will attest to this).
Still, there are several… Read More
2020-10-05 19:33
The great thing—or the downfall, depending on perspective—about being a fan of tea is that you can justify buying lots and lots of tea ware!
Sure, you only need one vessel that w… Read More
2020-09-16 14:04
Who doesn’t want to eat tea bubbles?! And I’m not talking about tapioca pearls, fruit jellies, or popping boba that are commonly added to bubble tea.
Lisa (owner of TeaHaus… Read More
2020-09-10 19:08
As the pandemic grinds on, many of us are seeing sometimes unexpected consequences. Odd items are out of stock at the grocery stores. Local contractors can’t find lumber. Some Eur… Read More
2020-08-31 17:25
Despite the fact that summer stretches a full three weeks into the month, September has long signified the start of autumn, the school year, harvest time, warmer clothing. It’s the end… Read More
2020-08-25 21:38
Why are we sort of gratified when we hear about experts being stymied?
Is it because we find certain experts somewhat intimidating, or irritatingly self-assured, and so we enjoy seeing the p… Read More
2020-08-19 16:58
I recently purchased some Ya Shi Xiang oolong from Zerama Tea, figuring I should try some Dan Cong as I haven’t had any. I really love the oolongs that I typically drink and haven&rsqu&hell…Read More
2020-08-10 16:04
Do you have a favorite cup, and if so, what makes it your favorite? My dad has a favorite coffee cup based on its shape and how the lip curves in just the right way. My husband’s favor… Read More
2020-08-03 16:02
While pretty much everyone knows that there’s black and green tea, and many know about white and oolong, far fewer are familiar with yellow tea. And that’s rather a shame because… Read More
2020-07-23 22:10
Continuing my informal guide to selecting tea, we’ve come to black tea, the most oxidized of the tea types, and oolong, which falls between green and black tea in oxidation. If you&rsq&hell…Read More
2020-07-14 16:39
Continuing my informal guide to selecting tea—having gone through the caffeine/no-caffeine decision and having looked at low- and no-caffeine options (see New to Tea? Start Here)&mdash&hell…Read More
2020-07-09 18:29
Step into any tea store, in person or online, and the choices are staggering. If you’re new to loose tea, the range of options can even be paralyzing. Where do you possibly begin?
Add… Read More
2020-06-30 20:25
Passionfruit may evoke a steamy romance in the sultry tropics, but that would be totally off base. In fact, the fruit may actually tranquilize rather than excite:
The pulp, leaves, and flow… Read More
2020-06-22 16:29
Tea and wine taste nothing alike.
Yet are these wine or tea descriptions?
lush, buttery floral and vanilla notes
floral aromas of jasmine, orange blossom and honeysuckle
flavors of spiced p… Read More
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