Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has pledged $25000 in tea as well as $25000 in show of support for Haiti. While many countries cannot afford to send millions in support, its great to see them doing what they can. Read the press release at the Sri Lanka Government Web Site: http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20100124_02
There have been many changes in our industry of late, and as it grows — we must be sure to be mindful of our actions as consumers in this growing industry — demanding only the best, honest, fair goods. A store can only sell things if we buy them. The power is in our hands, especially as this industry takes off. Let me start by introducing three societal “movements” from where many of my ideas and opinions are sourced:
1. Slow Food
2. Free Knowledge
3. The end of mass-marketing
The slow food movement was started 20 years ago and is gaining ground in America fast. The slow food movement believes that food should be “good, clean and fair,” and strives to counteract people’s “dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world” [http://www.slowfood.com/].
The free knowledge movement is being made possible by the internet, with projects like Wikipedia that exist to “to bring [free] knowledge to everyone who seeks it” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About]– and with MIT recently opening up their online courses to the general public [http://ocw.mit.edu/] free of cost and without registration.
The end of mass-marketing is near, as Seth Godin writes: “You can no longer market to the anonymous masses. They’re not anonymous and they’re not masses. You can only market to people who are willing participants” [http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/04/first-ten-.html]. The internet has provided homes to many niche markets — these niche markets continue to grow, the concept of “long-tail” marketing (if you can even still call it marketing) will become more prevalent.
I’m willing to bet that there are more tea retailers in America than there are tea wholesalers selling to America. Undoubtedly there are two retailers out there selling the same tea under their own names. Just how prevalent is this?
As review blogs become stuffed with countless reviews, they will begin to lose meaning. Those writing for free tea as a hobby will fade from view, those writing with real rating “systems” and usable web interfaces in place will rise.
As for tea retailers, the days of rebranding for small retailers are coming to an end. Small retailers need to begin a policy of transparency, developing their brands around the companies, farms, and families that actually produce the tea that they sell. If many small tea retailers become transparent this may result in a price war with others that have, but in the end, both consumer and retailer will benefit.
On knowledge: many more projects will pop up selling tea courses or certifications which will mostly be touting regurgitated information we already have freely available. I’d like to see new information from tea producing regions — I’d like to see our available information of tea be expanded instead of being re-written and sold.
Its been a little under a month since I’ve written an article. But we all need a bit of a break here and there. It was a wonderful 2009 and I’m excited as the tea industry continues to blossom in America — to see what it brings. More and more of my close friends have been getting into tea, its very exciting to hear how they started, what teas they like, and where they are getting their tea from. This year I’m going to try to be more conscious of where the tea I buy comes from. I guess you can say that’s my new year’s resolution. Cheers to a new year, and more content coming soon!
-Tony
I had a chance to speak with Jason Cohen, president of Penn State’s new “Gong Fu Cha” institute. The institute aims to: “build a tea library in order to document the vintages of tea and to propagate through instruction the art of GongFu Cha.” If you go to Penn State, you can join the institute every Wednesday from 6-9 in the HUB-Robeson Center. I asked Jason a series of questions… here we go:
What got you started in tea?
I got started in tea in the summer of 2007. I was in China for about 2 months, during which I lived with a family in Kunming and helped build a school on the border of Sichuan Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Puerh craze was arguably in its height that summer and Kunming is the center of the Puerh trade. Tea was everywhere. I fell into it, it was part of a culture that I was trying to understand and absorb. I bought the Gongfu set p, and I watched others brew, but I did not fully understand until later that year after I started brewing consistently at home. Now I brew twice a day (almost) every day, and I am still by no means an expert. Tea is an art, not a science. I can rattle off the chemical composition of tea, but that does not make me a better brewer, I can pinpoint where most of the Puerh I drink was grown, yet that still does not make me enjoy the tea more. While the tea knowledge is part of the process, its the enjoyment of tea that make the pursuit worthwhile.
What made you start the club? Was tea being well received amongst your friends? Was it a growing hobby?
The impetus for starting the institute was twofold. It is not actually a club per-se, I am currently working with the student organization to be recognized as a University Institution. My goal is to teach the art of Gongfu Cha in order to preserve it for future generations, and to start the worlds first (and so far only) Academic Tea Library. Right now there is no central depository, or reliable catalog for tea. We don’t know what the 1950’s hong yin tasted like in all its stages of maturity. We don’t know how the amount of roasting has changed over the years for Taiwan’s high mountain Oolongs. The general consensus is that they have gotten greener, yet that begs the question of how have the flavors and the prevalent amount of roasting changed. How much greener have they become? when did this trend become noticeable? There are wine libraries scattered throughout Europe. It is not so far-fetched to build a Tea Library, especially with the backing of a University such as Penn State. I started talking, and then presenting on tea about a year after I returned from my first trip to China. At first I was surprised at how well it was received. Now I have found that most people have an interest in the cultural aspect and a desire to learn more. We can see this in the general population with the spread of Teavana and the like. While the spread of tea into the general population is good, part of the institutes goals is to rectify the spread of false information and make sure that “biscotti almond monkey picked Oolong” never becomes a standard.
Will you only be focusing on Chinese teas and the Gongfu Tea Ceremony?
The Institute’s focus will be on Gongfu Cha. It is a Superior method of brewing for the enjoyment and “connoisseurship” of tea. As a followup to my research on tea in China, I lived on a the Makaibari tea plantation in Korsong (Darjeeling), India. I harvested my own crop of tea and had a chance to compare the tea culture and methods of the two Countries. I have found the Chinese Culture and Methods to be superior. That is not to discredit Indian tea, it is to say that the China was the originator of tea culture and it was only through the British that India became a tea producing and drinking country. The majority of the institute’s time will be spent with Chinese Tea and Gonfu Cha, but as we expand we will include and learn about Japanese Cha Dao, Korean Darye, Tibetan yak butter tea (I may be the only foreigner who has ever enjoyed the potent mix of rancid butter, sour milk, Pu’er tea, and salt), and tea from India (which does not have a tea ceremony).
Where will you get your teas from? What companies have you been using or are you sourcing them yourself?
I source all of the teas myself through friends and acquaintances who I trust throughout China. Although I cannot endorse any company because of my position and affiliation with a future university institution, I will say that Scott Wilson of Yunnan Sourcing, Jake & Rob of Andao, Hobbs of the “Half Dipper Blog”, and Stéphane of “Tea Masters Blog”, have all been a huge help in all of my tea endeavors.
What do you do when you meet? Do you run through tea tastings?
A normal meeting consists of a brief lecture on a type or aspect of tea, Followed by a extended tasting of one tea, or a comparative brewing of two teas. I have created flavor maps to help our members describe the tastes and aromas, and we are constantly adding new ones to the list. During a comparative brewing session we talk about each tea during each brew. During a extended tasting, we are silent. We each get a note card and write down our own review. After the session we discuses each others reviews. It can be enlightening how similar or different each review can be. Often members will exclaim at a certain point “That’s what I was tasting!”. Once we have permanent facilities, I will begin to hold Teaching sessions for members to learn to brew themselves. Currently we Have 40+ members on our list serve (our newsletter), And thankfully we constantly have 8 members present per meeting (I don’t have the equipment to brew for more than 8).
You said you are going to build up a library of teas, does this mean a Pu-erh archive as well?
The Tea Library will Include exemplary examples of all kinds of tea. We are aware that it would be impossible to include every tea in the Library. Instead of going the “Library of Congress” route, We have decided only to include the teas that exemplify the qualities of its type.
This gives me hope for the youth of America.
I looked this back up because I will be there next week. 
I had a chance to read an advance copy of Roy Fong’s “Great Teas of China” — a book where Roy (of Imperial Teas) takes us on his lifetime tea journey as he rediscovers tea in Hong Kong and travels China to find the best teas. He discusses ten of his favorite teas in the book and explains the stories behind them and the processing methods involved. The book is a great insight to Chinese teas as there is still a lot of information that has never been translated to English on the subject. Roy also realizes the breadth of the subject as he says: “Tea is one subject that you can safely declare cannot be learned in a mere lifetime.” Here is the press release: Roy Fong, a leading tea expert and proprietor of San Francisco’s renowned traditional Chinese teahouse, Imperial Tea Court, has published Great Teas of China, a compact, readable guide to the top teas from the land where tea was first cultivated over 3,000 years ago.
Great Teas of China is a unique blend of detailed factual information about artisanal practices for growing and processing the teas it discusses, as well as personal anecdotes from Fong’s twenty-year career as a tea merchant traveling around fast-changing China. The book covers over a dozen of Fong’s favorite classic teas, ranging from hand-picked West Lake Dragon Well and expertly crafted oolong from Wu Yi Shan, to patiently aged Yunnan puerh. Also included are Fong’s insights on choosing, brewing, and savoring each selection, plus background information on tea farming, local history and culture of tea-growing regions, and artisanal techniques for processing the leaves of Camellia sinensis, the flowering perennial at the heart of Chinese culture.
Fong’s fateful encounter with tea began at age six, when he would interrupt his walk to school to watch Hong Kong day laborers’ impromptu gong fu brewing sessions. Later, a chance visit to Hong Kong’s teahouse district unexpectedly set his life on a new course. He began importing Chinese tea to the U.S. and, in 1993, he and his wife Grace opened the original Imperial Tea Court in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Since then, Fong has enlightened and inspired a generation of tea enthusiasts, who visit from all over the world to enjoy the finest Chinese teas available in America. Great Teas of China is a very personal and accessible introduction to contemporary tea connoisseurship. 88 pages; illustrated with color photographs and maps; includes glossary.
The book is now available on the Imperial Tea website: http://www.imperialtea.com/
Going to the website now. Awesome coverage, the book sounds amazing
My copy is on the way and I am really looking forward to it as I am just beginning my journey in the world of Chinese green teas.
I’m glad to hear the good report on Roy’s book. I’ve been anxiously awaiting it!
Great review of what is a very important new resource for the tea community. I had the opportunity to attend Roy’s OMG class in San Francisco where we tasted several of his most rare teas. He is a true teacher.
Got the book. I do have some mixed feelings about it. The data in the book is good, but the book itself is so puny. Only 80 pages?! I hoped Roy has something more to say about tea. What was the problem? So difficult to put it on the paper?
I got the book and have read it. I respect Roy Fong for his knowledge and like his tea; he is definitely an expert on Chinese teas. However, I found the book to be unsubstantial. It has some insight and some of his personal stories, but not very much unique information that hasn’t already been covered by the vast variety of tea information books and blogs already out there. For a project that he has been working on for a while, and with his knowledge of the tea world, this book left me disappointed – especially with its $18.95+tax+shipping price tag.
I began watching “The Meaning of Tea” tonight. There was a lot of footage from Morocco, and the sweet mint tisane they refer to as “tea” there. I’ve had Mint Tea before, and it was always just “okay” but what I saw in the film intrigued me. I literally paused the film, ran outside into the garden, pulled out a ton of mint, came inside — and brewed it up with a lot of sugar. And it was AMAZING. I re-enacted the events and photographed them for your viewing pleasure:
The mint growing in my yard in Chicago:
Giving the mint a rinse:
The pot is stuffed with mint, now I’m adding 1/4 cup of raw sugar:
The mint tisane:
Ah! So that’s how it is made! I’d always been told it used a gunpowder green as a base before adding mint leaves, but gunpowder always seemed too base a flavor to match the taste of good mint teas I’ve had at Moroccan restaurants in Seattle. The secret is no tea at all!
Though it may taste good, this is not the real way to make Moroccan tea. After living in Morocco over the summer and learning from natives there, Moroccan mint tea is absolutely brewed with green tea leaves. Where else would the caffeine come from? Put the tea leaves in first, then the mint. Brew the tea over a stove and then add sugar (lots of it) to taste, pouring tea into a little glass and returning it to the pot multiple times to mix the sugar around.
You have a quite beautiful teapot. Is that Sterling Silver? I have one myself and just love what it does to the flavor of the tea. I use it whenever possible as it represents spiritual purity for me.
What variety of mint are you using here? It looks like peppermint. I’ve read that Moroccan mint tea is usually brewed with spearmint + gunpowder green tea. However, in other parts of the Arab world black tea + mint is also common. I’ve visited a few Arab-run coffee shops in the U.S. that served outstanding blends of dried spearmint with black tea…often they are brewed very strongly so that you continue to taste the mint all day long!
I grow many varieties of mint, including peppermint, spearmint, apple mint, orange mint, and many other species in the mint family that I use for tea, such as lemon balm and several of the Monarda sp. (bee-balm/wild bergamot/oswego tea). I love mixing all of these plants with tea! I wonder if orange mint is closest to the traditional mint used in Morocco…it’s native to the Mediterranean, whereas many of the other mints are native to wetter climates.
Awesome!! I’ve grown mint in Ohio, it literally took over and I could not control it! I may have to try again now that I am in Missouri.
That is an awesome looking teapot… just gorgeous!
Due to a bad sugarcane crop, Pakistan is facing a massive sugar shortage. As tea is a daily staple in Pakistani life, tea with large amounts of sugar, the people of Pakistan have resorted to adding candies to their tea to sweeten it: “As Pakistanis face an acute shortage of sugar, some families have found an easily available alternative to sweeten their tea: instead of a spoonful of sugar, they dissolve sweets in their tea.” Read the whole story at Reuters.com.
That’s not really such a bad thing. Jams, preserves, and such have often been used as an alternative to pure sugar because of their sweetness in mixing with tea.
Oh, not a bad thing at all, can you imagine a nice black tea with a peppermint candy dissolving in it! oooo YUM, the possibilites!
“Brand X’s Tie Guan Yin Oolong” — Have you ever asked yourself what did “Brand X” do to make that oolong their own? What differentiates this tea from Brand Y’s Tie Guan Yin Oolong? We first must assume that they even purchased the tea from different sources. I challenge you to question every tea purchase you make, to look into the history of that tea, to inquire about where it came from, when it was harvested, who it was harvested by. Moving along…
The way things used to be in America — are the way things still are in many third-world countries.
Where did American farmers sell their produce in the past?
In local farm markets before the rise of supermarkets. These markets used to be the lifeblood of America, in many third-world countries, they still are the lifeblood of the culture and of capitalism where they exist. Enter supermarkets. As supermarket chains spread throughout America the demand for staple produce outgrew the production of small family-run farms. Large factory farms entered the landscape of American food-production, acres and acres of land that would not normally produce a viable crop — now produce viable crops due to genetically modified seeds, and the rampant use of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Are these crops better? Not necessarily, but in order to meet the demand of supermarket chains, and fast food restaurants, this must be done. The small family farms fade out of view, and we have become a society that has forgotten about where our food comes from. If you were to ask someone where their vegetables come from, they will likely name their local grocer.
Where do small family tea farms sell their tea?
They take it to local markets and sell it. Sometimes they will trek hundreds of miles just to make a transaction. An important historical account of this is the Ancient Tea Horse Road. As tea demand grows, traditional methods of farming, hand-cultivation, and hand-processing will also fade from view. Tea “factories” are popping up all over Asia. Where puerh was once compressed by stone molds, it is now done by machines. Where tea was once plucked by hand, it is now chopped off by hedge-trimming devices. Where tea was once rolled by hand, it is now done by large machines. To meet the demand, these things are wonderful they create a consistent product, enable large-scale output, and put money in the bank.
Today’s method of agricultural production is not sustainable.
Ask Questions
Please ask questions, try purchasing tea from sustainable sources. Low quality tea reached a saturation point when tea-bags came about, but as people asked questions and discovered their tea-bags were filled with no more than dust and fannings they decided to strive for a better tea. I feel as if to meet demands, much of the high quality loose leaf tea we drink is factory-produced. Only by asking questions and making wise purchasing decisions can we sustain a market for smaller family-run farms. Become part of the slow-food and sustainability movements, become aware.
it’s so important to know what you are drinking, I just did a bit of a spoof taste test with Lipton, do new tea drinkers even know what is in Lipton? How it’s made? Processed?
I think as you grow as a tea drinker and your taste clearly changes you will begin to question the who’s what’s and where’s of our T’s!
You may find it hard to mix tea and work. The hustle and bustle, lack of hot water, inability to bring in high-quality tea-ware all scream: TEA-BAG! But that doesn’t have to be the case, new technologies, and a little brain-power can go along way in helping you enjoy tea at work, and thus — have a calmer day. We’re not going to go into these ideas at this point, but I wanted to share with you some interesting articles from the Guardian that have showed up recently.
The most recent suggests making tea for your colleagues at work: “Offering to make your colleagues a nice cuppa marks you out as a team player, and if you’re the boss it shows that you’re willing to get your hands dirty. Bear in mind though that any goodwill this generates can quickly evaporate if your PA is spotted filling up the kettle.”
I cannot agree more, many work-areas are separated by cubicles, offices may be split upon many floors of a building, a challenging problem in management as a corporation grows is team-building, and encouraging employee interaction. Tea just may be an solution to this problem.
The article also suggests tea as an important networking tool: “Making tea is also a great way to network. At the tea point or in the kitchen you can meet people from all over the organisation, and shared banter over the rising cost of tea bags or the smelliness of the fridge can help grease the wheels next time you need to ask a difficult question. For the non-smoker, the kitchen or tea point offers an opportunity for impromptu gossip – and it’s much warmer than that spot just outside the back door of your building.”
And not only will tea help bring people together, an earlier Guardian article told of a study that found warm beverages to encourage warm feelings: “The warmth of a drink also influenced whether people were more likely to be selfish or give to others, researchers report in the journal Science. A team led by John Bargh at the University of Colorado set about testing whether hot and iced drinks influenced perceptions of others after noting how frequently “warm” and “cold” are used to describe personalities.”
Oh and what a way to network with the co-workers and just pay it forward by being kind When I think of tea, I think of kindness and love and warmth.
Ayup. I was the “tea-lady” at work, and it gave me plenty of opportunity to educate folks about tea, and to spread the joy.
Health experts in claim that drinking eight cups of tea daily can be good for you, claiming:
“Caffeinated drinks have been unfairly demonised. Black tea, in particular, contains polyphenols, which are natural plant antioxidants. These have beneficial effects on many biochemical processes in the body because they protect cells against harmful free radicals. Flavonoids are thought to be especially useful, with a number of studies reporting a link between them and lower risk of heart attack.”
This mostly applies to black tea, having more caffeine and thus — masala tea — which is a principle beverage in India. Read more:
hmm only 8, I’m in trouble! Great article
virgiltexas (dorothy barker): BREAKING: ERIC MASSA ADMITS TO J/O WITH RAHM EMANUEL IN CONGRESSIONAL SHOWER http://bit.ly/69WAd5#tcot#ocra#sgp#gop#ucot#tea#hhrs#p2
silversidechica (Meghann Manella): drinking Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish Honeybush from 52teas: http://bit.ly/bAzbqT#tea#steepster
coffeesister (Dorian |_|)): back @ Hotel Mirabelle after braving a single excursion into a windy #SanFrancisco - the tostaditas were worth it but so happy w/my #tea now
silversidechica (Meghann Manella): drinking Scorpio (The Zodiac Series) from Adagio Teas: http://bit.ly/bd9JiT#tea#steepster
wassupakshay (Akshay Arora): Believe it or Not..One Cup of #Tea iz d prettiest thin in d morning..It refreshes the whole *body!!
Well said. I’d like to add a few comments if I may:
1. The problem doesn’t start with retailers. Most wholesalers in the US buy from other wholesalers in the US and sell the same tea – only marked up. REAL transparency through the supply chain, will bring down the cost of GOOD tea AND raise profits for retailers.
2. I hope we get some real tea reviews. I’m tired of seeing people say, “Well, I don’t normally like Darjeelings but I thought I’d try this one. I don’t like it.” Ahhhg. That’s not a useful review!!! The one problem with this is that, with orthodox specialty tea, every “plucking” (one day’s harvest which is processed from beginning to end as a unique lot) is DIFFERENT. Sometimes remarkably so. So unlike wine where you can rate a season at a time, there may be 100 or more unique harvests just within the category of First Flush Darjeeling Puttabong 2009. So the reviews are only useful on flavored teas (assuming the blender is uniform in their approach) and in identifying which retailers/wholesalers consistently carry top quality teas.
3. I believe there will always be opportunity for retailers to create private label custom blends, but I agree that a classic tea should be “branded” by it’s source. You don’t see each liquor store or wine shop tearing off the labels and putting their own on there.
4. I’d love to see real educational opportunities. In fact I’ve been in talks with several industry leaders about making this type of thing happen. Even the widely popular and respected certification courses are often led by volunteers who can’t agree on the correct answer to some key questions. There is no uniformity of information and there is NO WAY that I can see to learn in a short period of time what you need to know to be successful in this business – unless you take a job with a tea company. Most educators (not all) are people who failed in business and so decided to teach. I know MANY of these people!! While I respect them and their intellect, they simply cannot know whether or not the information they provide is that which will make the student successful.
I’d like to say AMEN to what Charles has said, and add my response to the “free information” part of both his comment and the main article.
I have been studying tea for 15 years, and been a professional teacher (but never a tea shop/wholesale business owner). I agree that most of the certification and education for tea out there in English is laughable. But the free information movement has some problems too–for example, the state of English language tea information is dreadfully poor. I have a tea information wiki that used to be open and free like Wikipedia. However, about 95% of the information added were either blatantly commercial (”This company makes the BEST tea ever!!”) or blatantly incorrect with no source citation. Since then I have made the wiki for members only and the average quality of information has increased directly as a result of making the information NOT free.
The other problem with the free information idea is that information from producing countries is, in many cases, not in English. I know a number of translators and they are not cheap. So again getting GOOD information has very real costs involved. Note that MIT may have opened their online classes for free–those classes are, in essence, underwritten by the money paid by the students who go to in-person classes. Also, not all classes are available online, so the online classes may function as a marketing tool for MIT’s paid classes.
I am working on building a tea school, drawing on expertise from producing countries (currently building relationships with producers in Taiwan and a Chinese agricultural university specializing in tea, as well as the aforementioned translators) to provide accurate tea information. But I worry that the idea that “information is free” will undermine serious students’ willingness to pay for the accurate and well-researched information when there is so much wrong-and-free information available.
Are researchers, translators, and professional teachers–not tea business owners who teach on the side–destined to a life of poverty? If the “information is free” philosophy is correct, then these professions will die a painful death, doing long hours of hard work for no financial return.
Personally, I think there’s another option: recognizing that GOOD information is worth paying for, and that most of what you get for free is worth what you pay for it.
Oh I LOVE THIS>. I am SO against Fast Foods!
Yes I see how concepts from slow food will increase consumers’ desire for knowledge about the source and quality of the tea they drink. Some of that knowledge and info will be free, because consumers will expect it.
Re- tea reviewers: The “I like/don’t like it” reviews never did have much value, unless you found the reviewer with your exact tastes in every tea. Charles’s comment about the usefulness of reviews has some truth, but the day could come when premier reviewers become the Robert Parkers of tea. Tea consumers actually wait to hear the reviews before purchasing tea. As a result, tea retailers would rush their new teas to those premier reviewers to get the word out. Along with the tea reviewer, you will also see the rise of the one-stop comparison shopping for tea. This will beat the current model of going to each tea retailer to collect product information before making a purchase. An online marketplace will put all the Ming Qian Dragonwells in one place with reviews there to help consumers make the right choice.
Michael- Agreed. Good, thorough research and information is hard work and will have to be bought in some form. The NY Times is finally catching on to this. Ad revenue models no longer fully support free content.