Rishi Interviews Japanese Tea Farmer

What does a tea farmer do? Get some insight into this question in this extensive interview with Mr. Nishi-san, a Japanese tea farmer who's been in the business for about four decades. There are also some great photos and video clips, all of it courtesy of the people at Rishi Tea.



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Trip To Visit Old Tea Trees In Laos

From the people at In Pursuit Of Tea.



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Test Your Tea Knowledge

How much do you know about tea? Oh, really? Well, then, try your knowledge out on this pair of tea quizzes from the About.com Coffee/Tea site:

Beginner Tea Quiz

Intermediate Tea Quiz

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Stop Smoking With Tea?

According to a recent UPI article, Chinese researchers have devised a "tea filter" that may helpers smokers who are looking to quit. I'm not completely clear about how it all works but it appears that tea leaves are actually part of the filter itself.

As the article notes, "when a smoker smokes using the tea filter, the inhibitors of the nicotine receptor in the tea filter are absorbed through the respiratory system and travel to the brain where it produces cessation effects."

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Yerba Mate, Yaupon & Rooibos

Here are a few bits from our Tea-like Substances That Are Not Camellia Sinensis bureau.

When it comes to the yerba mate market in these here United States it would seem that Guayaki has got a large chunk of it. But it's not all about money for this bunch of mate purveyors, at least not according to co-founder, Chris Mann, who recently shared some thoughts about other motivations for being in business.

If memory serves me right, Guayaki also operates a yerba mate cafe - appropriately enough. They are joined in this unusual venture by the Top Leaf Mate Bar, in Bend, Oregon. More about the latter here.

Yaupon tea is a new one on me. If you're also in the dark and you'd like to know what it is, check out an article that recently appeared in the The Gainesville Sun.

Looking for a Quick Fruit Loaf recipe that uses rooibos tea? You're in luck.

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Tea Pouring Tricks

Don't try this at home, kids.



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Lipton Yellow Label - A Sip Of Inspiration

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John Shuttleworth On A Box Of Yorkshire Tea

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Salada Tea Spokesperson Contest

Salada Tea Launches Search for National Spokesperson
(from a press release)

Salada Tea, the company that encourages tea drinkers to switch from bottled tea to freshly brewed tea made with tea bags because of the health, environmental and cost benefits, has launched a nationwide search for their first-ever consumer spokesperson. The selected spokesperson will help educate Americans on easy ways to live a healthy lifestyle using green tea, continue to spread the brand’s "Unbottle Your Tea" message, and will earn $10,000.

From May 3 through June 13, 2010, anyone who enjoys tea, lives a healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyle and wants to help teach others how to do the same will have the opportunity to tell Salada Tea why he or she should be chosen as the brand’s new spokesperson by filling out an application form at the Web site.

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Tea Time T-Shirt - One Day Offer

From the people at RIPT Apparel. No affiliation - just passing it along because it looked interesting in a tea-related way:

We are an online t-shirt retailer specializing in one of kind designs for $10 each. The catch is that we have a new design every day and only sell it for 24 hours.

The reason I am writing you is because I feel we have a design coming up that may interest you and your readers because it is a Tea related TShirt with a tea cup and tea bags. It is called "Tea Time" by artist babybubbleco from Cedar Hill TX.

It will be posted on our site on Wednesday, May 5th at Midnight CST.

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Independent Tea Tasting & Luncheon Huge Success

Independent Tea Tasting & Luncheon Huge Success at The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers
(from a press release)

Tea Extravaganza 2010, the first independent tea tasting of its kind in Boston, was a huge success at The Boston Park Plaza Hotels & Towers on April 23 and 24. Similar to a fine wine tasting, the two-day event was unanimously hailed by registrants as exceeding their expectations after tasting 14 of the finest, rarest, and most exquisite loose-leaf teas the from around the world. Tea Extravaganza 2010 attracted aficionados from around the Boston area and as far away as New York. The event was co-sponsored by The Boston Park Plaza Hotels & Towers and the American Tea Masters Association.

Tea Extravaganza 2010 was a unique, independent tasting event. None of the teas were available for sale. It was purely an experiential gathering for sampling three steepings each of the high-end, exquisite teas.

Chas Kroll, Certified Tea Master and Executive Director of the American Tea Masters Association personally prepared the menu for the two-day event. “We taste-tested and evaluated well over 200 loose-leaf teas over the past several months. We followed the tasting protocol used by the association for training new tea masters,” explained Kroll. “Several of the teas on the menu were harvested by hand on only one day of the year. This is important due to the influence of the terroir and growing conditions affecting their rarity, similar to fine wines. This also explains why the teas retail for $100 to $500 a pound.” The teas on the menu were all donated to the association by major tea vendors such as: PeLi Teas, Keiko-Tea, Metropolitan Tea, Tea Habitat, Shan Shui Teas, and The Whole Leaf.

Among the teas on the menu receiving the greatest praise from registrants: Yunnan Dian Hong Golden Buds (PeLi Teas), 1996 Collector's Pu-erh Super Grade (PeLi Teas), Tenbu (Keiko-Teas), Premium Winter Fu Shou (Shan Shui Teas), 1998 Honey Orchid Phoenix Oolong (Tea Habitat), and Tai Ping Huo Kui (The Whole Leaf).

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Waterbed Store/Tea House & Panda Tea

It's one of the world's oldest waterbed stores and one of the oldest futon sellers in the United States (well, someone has to be). Now the oddly named Temple Slug, located in Kansas City, has branched out and added a teahouse to the premises. Well, sure. Why not?

It's probably a pretty good bet that tea that's touted as being monkey-picked is not actually picked by our fine simian cousins. But it makes for a snappy name and a nice legend to grab people's attention.

Over at the Tea Trekker's blog recently they went one step further and wrote about Panda Picked Tea. Apparently a bunch of pandas went on a rampage recently, tearing up tea bushes and leaving workers there frantically scrambling to salvage some of the tea leaves. Sound a little farfetched? Well, it wouldn't be right there in print on the Internet if it weren't true.

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