Revolution Tea 3D Launches First in Arizona

Revolution Tea Blends Super Fruits, Multi-Vitamins & Premium White Tea for New Beverage Line
(from a press release)

Revolution Tea, known for its masterfully-blended whole leaf teas and innovative Infusers, announced today the launch of its new multi-dimensional beverage: Revolution 3D. Revolution 3D is a first-of-its-kind combination of antioxidant-rich super fruits, multi-vitamins, and premium white tea in an all-natural drink. Revolution Tea is releasing four refreshing 3D flavors: Green Apple, Blueberry, Mango and Pomegranate in sleek 12-ounce cans and four-packs.

Revolution 3D will be available in select Arizona retailers beginning in May, as well as online via the Revolution Tea website. For retail locations or to order online visit Revolution Tea.


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Not All Of The Tea In China

No, it's not all of the tea in China, just a few articles that I've run across recently that have to do with the subject.

Here's an article from the English language version of the People's Daily. It's about tea and tea culture in Hangzhou, probably best known for producing the Dragonwell variety of green tea.

Pu'er, China, is best known for another type of tea - guess which one. It was the topic of an article that recently appeared in the New York Times. Read it here. If you have trouble accessing that one, you can read the same article at the International Herald Tribune, here.

If you're looking to brush up on your tea knowledge, Tenfu Tea College, in Zhangzhou, might do the trick. Read more about it here.

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Guayaki Announces Opening Of First Yerba Mate Bar

Guayaki Announces Opening Of First Yerba Mate Bar
(from a press release)

The grassroots California company that pioneered the spread of South American yerba mate beverages across the U.S. is breaking new ground by opening a classic Mate Bar. The Guayaki Mate Bar is conveniently located in downtown Sebastopol in the big ‘gold’ building at 6782 Sebastopol Road (Route 12) in the heart of Sebastopol, and is open from 7 AM to 2 PM Monday through Saturday.

This unique ‘jungle lounge’ blends authentic South American yerba mate culture with delicious local artisan cuisine. Although the focus is on the celebration of yerba mate and its community-oriented culture, the Guayaki Mate Bar also offers a creative food menu that features light and healthy organic fare with ‘something for everyone’ including delicious gluten-free, wheat-free and vegan options.

The Mate Bar drink menu includes a wide variety of tasty organic yerba mate beverage styles such as mate lattes, cappuccino mate, mate mocha, mate chai, java mate, spicy mayan mocha mate, mate shakes, espresso shots, iced mate (seasonal), and drip brewed mate. Since a key objective is to help others discover the joy of sharing yerba mate, it is only natural that one of the features at the Mate Bar is traditional yerba mate sipped from a gourd and bombilla. You can even bring in your own gourd and the experienced staff will provide helpful advice.

Guayaki

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Snapshot - My Tea Shelf

It's been a while since I've done a proper tea review, but here are notes on a few things I've been drinking lately. What about you?

Mystery Assam
I'm always up for a good Assam. This loose leaf variety of indeterminate origin (purchased at a local grocery store) is not a great one, but it's suitable for daily use.

Saphara Premium Estate Assam
I couldn't resist trying this one, which is part of Celestial Seasoning's new line of high-end whole leaf teas. I especially couldn't resist since they sent a coupon for a free box. Would I pay for another box out of pocket? Probably not. "Premium" might be a bit too high-falutin' of a term for this one. Not bad, really, but not quite good enough that I'd go back to the well.

Two Leaves and a Bud Tamayokucha
I had high hopes for this Japanese green. Two Leaves refers to it as "extremely green" and claim that it's "incredibly full flavored." I didn't see it that way. No matter how I tweaked the brewing parameters I wasn't able to coax much flavor from it.

Sencha Shot
From Ito En - it's canned sencha. The strong sencha flavor of this one was completely overwhelmed by bitterness. Then there's the price - $1.39 for just over six ounces. That's the part that really left a bad taste in my mouth.

Archer Farms Golden Breakfast
This loose leaf Yunnan was a pleasant surprise and the best of this lot. Archer Farms is apparently a store brand for the Target chain. Which made me a bit hesitant to give their tea a shot but it turned out to be better than the average Yunnan. Perhaps not the best I've ever tasted but I would (and did) buy this one again.

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Tea Fights Anthrax, Star Trek Tea & More

Issue two of The Leaf is now available at digital newsstands everywhere. In other words, click here to read the full issue online. Good stuff.

Can tea fight anthrax? That's the good word nowadays, according to some American and British researchers. More here from the Telegraph and a tongue in cheek response from Graeme Wood at the Atlantic, here.

The record for the world's largest tea party was upped again recently in Indore, India, where 32,000 people turned out to take their sips. More here.

We've written about Zen Green Tea Liqueur, but recently the McClatchy-Tribune News Service had their say on the matter. Read more and check out the recipe for a Zen-tini here.

While undertaking research for a project I've been working on, I ran across some unearthly teas, including Cardassian red leaf, Pyrellian ginger and more. Don't rush out looking for them, since they only exist in the world of Star Trek. More here.

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Two Leaves and a Bud Introduces Organic Rooibos

Two Leaves and a Bud Tea Company to Introduce Organic African Rooibos Tea and the Trust Organic Small Farmers Co-op at The Natural Products Expo West Show
(from a press release)

Two Leaves and a Bud, the tea company with whole leaf organic tea sachets for "a better cuppa' tea", is pleased to announce the introduction of Organic African Sunset Red Tea. This rooibos (red bush or red tea) caffeine-free herbal tea will be supplied by a small farmers' cooperative in South Africa; it will be the first tea launched in North America from The Trust Organic Small Farmers Alliance (TOSFA).

The TOSFA is a unique initiative, founded by producers, traders and non-government organizations (NGOs) from around the world. The TOSFA works within existing Fair Trade labeling and organic certification procedures to help small farmers overcome the disadvantages that they face. African Sunset tea will debut at Expo West Natural Products Show, March 14-16 2008.

Other exciting company developments include the introduction of three new Super Fruit Teas and the conversion to Certified Organic of White Rose (White Peony) and High Mountain Chai.

African Sunset is a 100% organic herbal tea blend, which includes organic rooibos (red tea), organic lemongrass and lemon peel. Rooibos is a naturally caffeine free tea and like green tea, contains significant amounts of antioxidants, iron, potassium, magnesium, copper, calcium, manganese and fluoride.

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New Tea Pyramids From Choice Organic Teas

Whole Leaf Organics: New Tea Pyramids From Choice Organic Teas
(from a press release)

Choice Organic Teas, North America’s leading purveyor of exclusively organic teas, announces the launch of Whole Leaf Organics, the largest collection of organic, Fair Trade Certified tea pyramids on the market today. Packed in eco-friendly, biodegradable tea pyramids, this product line brings an artful new shape to the organic tea experience. Available May 2008, the first taste will come at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, CA from March 14-16.

Loose leaf teas are often considered by tea connoisseurs to be the finest way to enjoy a cup, as the unfurling of the full tea leaves allows complex flavors to come to the forefront. With extra room inside each tea pyramid, Whole Leaf Organics achieves this same quality but with the added convenience of a tea bag. The line includes eight varieties of traditional blends and new favorites — English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Estate Blend Darjeeling, Jade Green, Jasmine Green, Chamomile Citrus, Sweet Liquorice Mint, and Lychee White. The suggested retail price is $8.49 for a 15-count box of individually wrapped tea pyramids.

Choice Organic Teas

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Tea Bag Art, Teapot Worship & More

The New York Times ran a brief report this week on an interesting project that takes used tea bags, of all things, and turns them into little wee canvases with which artsy-fartsy stuff can be made.

Even the most avid tea fanciers among us probably stop short of worshiping tea or the paraphernalia associated with it. Not so for a group in Malaysia who once worshipped a giant teapot, or at least they did until the government there destroyed it. For more, read this recent article from the Telegraph.

Here's a nifty item called the Tea Control Teapot with Brew Stop Infuser. Whether or not it works as promised, it still gets points for looking nice.

Last up is an item that falls into the category of tea tourism. It's the Web site for the Tea Factory Hotel, in Sri Lanka, the land of Ceylon tea.


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Classic Tea Articles

From the New York Times, by way of QuickFound.net, here are some links to historical articles about tea.

Tea In China - August 19, 1854
Tea-Growing In India - March 23, 1862
For Drinkers Of Tea - December 11, 1870
Tea Growing In Ceylon - October 7, 1888
The Tea Ceremony In Japan - July 17, 1892

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Tetley Photographic Competition Winners

I wasn't aware that Tetley sponsored a photo contest, but they recently announced the winners of the sixth incarnation of that annual competition. The contest was held in association with Nikon and ePHOTOzine. This year's winner - and very well-deserved - Lou Hardless of Stevenson College, Edinburgh.

Due to possible copyright-related issues I haven't posted any photos here. See the winning entry and the runners-up at the ePHOTOzine site.

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Sonic Boiler, Teabag Bin & More

From the news archives, here's an assortment of somewhat offbeat tea-related items.

For the gadget lovers, the New Zealand press reports on an inventor and saxophone player who's whipped up with a "sonic boiler," a device that supposedly boils water very quickly.

I'm not sure why you'd need a bin set aside specifically for your used tea bags, but if you do, the Teabag Bin is tailor-made for you. From the manufacturer's blurb:

"This stylish little container made from high grade steel or plastic sits happily next to the kettle and swallows up used teabags keeping your kitchen mess free. Available in chrome, brushed steel and a selection of colours the Teabag Bin is a must have item for your home."

Not content to simply drink your tea? According to this article - Things You Never Thought You Could Do with Tea! - you can use it to tenderize meat, polish furniture, freshen stinky carpets and more.

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Green Tea Toothpaste

(Update)
For more on the connection between tea and dental health, check out this article about TEAth Floss.

Here's the blurb from the manufacturer's Web site:

"Developed by a dentist to aid in the prevention of periodontal disease. TEAth FLOSS™ is made from the finest quality dental floss and infused with natural tea flavors. This floss is tantalizing to the taste buds."

(Original Post)
I've been trying to think of consumer products that don't contain green tea and the list gets smaller every day. I have yet to see green tea butter or margarine, green tea breakfast cereal or green tea motor oil and I'm really surprised that nobody's dreamed up a green tea hair loss tonic yet.

But green tea toothpaste? No problem. Check out Dr. Ken's Web site, where you'll find it, along with green tea chewing gum (more on that here), mouthwash, dental floss and breath strips.

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Yerba Mate Espresso & Beer

Yerba mate company Guayaki announced recently that they've introduced "the first espresso yerba mate designed for preparation in a coffee maker." Here's the link to the product at the Guayaki site and here's an excerpt from the press release:

"Gaucho Fuerte allows people that prefer the convenience of automatic coffee makers over traditional South American gourds and French Presses to enjoy the full potency of yerba mate like the gauchos enjoy it. Simply brew 1-2 tablespoons of Gaucho’s Fuerte per cup of water. This new product is available in a 1-pound bag for $12.00 and a 5-pound economy size bag for $52.50. The improved form of brewing and extraction provided by Gaucho’s Fuerte increases the yield per pound and is a cost-saver for customers."

According to a recent piece in the Beer Advocate, Brazil's Dado Bier Ilex is the first beer in Brazil to be made from yerba-maté. The article also asserts that it's "the first beer with yerba-maté," though that distinction should probably go to Mateveza, which we've reported on here.

Speaking of Mateveza, here's a link to a Mateveza ringtone.

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New Tea Magazine - The Leaf

The Leaf recently rolled out the first issue of a Web-only magazine about tea and it's certainly worth a look. Here are some of the articles:

Lu Yu; Soul Man by James Norwood Pratt
Romancing the Leaf by Aaron Fisher
Puerh Allows Us to Go the Long Haul by Chen Chih Tung
China’s Legendary Green Teas by Mary Lou Heiss
Recreating Legends with Zhou Yu
Gong Fu Tea Tips with Master Ling Ping Xiang
The Conscientious Tea Consumer by Thomas Leons

The magazine is free of charge. Check it out here.

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Teapots & Teazer Tea Tumbler

Here are a few more interesting bits about tea - actually they're mostly about teaware and accessories - that I've run across lately. As noted in my last entry, TGS is on something like a brief hiatus while I wrap up a tea-related project.

Here's some information about teapot design from the Appalachian Center for Craft at Tennessee Technological University. It appears that they give a course in teapot design, but I'm not completely sure about that.

Speaking of teapots, here's an article from the International Herald Tribune called The Tale of a Teapot and Its Creator.

If you've ever struggled with the problem of how to have a decent cup of tea while traveling, the Teazer Tea Tumbler might be worth investigating. Here's a review of this nifty little gadget.

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