Thusly Tea

Orwell on Tea

2012-02-11T08:50:00.000-08:00

"I maintain that one cup of strong tea is better than twenty weak ones."

Read George Orwell's full opinions on tea here.

The tea made me feel peaceful and relaxed, and I went to sleep.

2011-12-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

From Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, translated from the Italian by Geoffrey Brock:

They brought me tea. The nurse had me sit up against my pillows and placed a tray in front of me. She poured some steaming water into a cup with a little bag in it. Go slow, she said, it burns. What do you mean, slow? I sniffed the cup and detected the odor, I wanted to say, of smoke. I wanted to see what tea was like, so I took the cup and swallowed. Dreadful. A fire, a flame, a slap in the mouth. So this is boiling tea. It is probably the same with coffee, or chamomile, which everyone talks about. Now I know what it means to burn yourself. Everybody knows you are not supposed to touch fire, but I did not know at what point you could touch hot water. I must learn to recognize the threshold, the moment when before you couldn’t and after you can. I blew mechanically on the liquid, then stirred it some more with the spoon, until I decided I could try again. Now the tea was warm and it was good to drink. I was not sure which taste was the tea and which the sugar; one must have been bitter and the other sweet, but which was the sweet and which the bitter? In any case, I liked the combination. I will always drink my tea with sugar. But not boiling.
The tea made me feel peaceful and relaxed, and I went to sleep.

Pipar og Salt

2011-11-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

Klapparstigur 44
101 Reykjavik

(+354) 562 3614

Pipar og Salt (lit. Pepper and Salt) is not just a Scandinavian comedy program, it’s also a store in Reykjavik (though the two do not seem to be related in any way). Anyone who has tried to find reasonable tea in Reykjavik knows it’s not easy. The supermarkets don’t carry many brands of tea and what they do carry is not very good. If you are thinking that a country so close to the UK would at least stock some PG Tips on their shelves, you are in for a major disappointment. Fortunately for the discerning tea consumer all is not lost.

Pipar og Salt carries a variety of kitchen items, many of them spreadable. Glass jarred preserves, marmalades, and curds abound as do tea pots, coffee pots, tea cozies, and bird houses. Amongst such odds and ends in this small store is a shelf dedicated to loose leaf tea. The tea comes in blue, 125 gram packages that show little more than the name of the variety (no descriptions, no stories, just a name and the Pipar og Salt logo). I decided to buy a package of Darjeeling mostly because I hadn’t had Darjeeling in years. The decision did not disappoint.

Brewing to a deep amber color, the tea has the light smoky flavor one can expect from a good Darjeeling. Strong, but not knock out strong, it is a worthy choice for a place of such extreme weather as Iceland. If brewed just right, the tea finishes with a touch of sweetness.

Due to the apparent lack of loose leaf tea competition in Reykjavik, Pipar og Salt could probably get away with carrying second rate stuff. If the rest of their tea stock is as good as their Darjeeling, it is safe to say that they do not.

Sacred Grounds

2011-11-15T04:16:00.000-08:00

Cupping, digital scales, stolen cherries. Have a look at how the other half lives in Kelefa Sanneh’s article about coffee. At no point in the piece does drinking coffee sound like fun.

Death March Skull

2011-11-12T05:45:00.000-08:00

Reykjavik, Iceland

2011-08-23T14:24:00.001-07:00

Bananas and Dragons

2011-07-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Bees

2011-07-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Poor Man Lost His Name

2011-03-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

From Nicholson Baker's novel A Box of Matches

I once saw the earl of Grey on The Merv Griffin Show, an afternoon program hosted by the always cheerful and always tanned Merv Griffin. The earl of Grey had three things to say: one, that you can’t make good tea in a microwave; two, that the water shouldn’t be boiling but just on the verge; and three, that he wished that Twinings had trademarked the phrase Earl Grey, which was used by everyone. The poor man had lost his name.

More bombillas?

2011-03-04T13:29:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Angela for the picture.

Review: Stash Green Tea Sampler

2010-05-23T17:30:00.001-07:00

18 Foil Teabags, $3.47, EnglishTeaStore.com

Anyone with a certain amount of musical hipness has made a mixtape (or CD or mini-disc or wax cylinder depending on who you are and what you believe in). From ancient Make Out Club threads to movies starring John Cusack, a lot of time has been wasted on figuring out how to get your mixtape just right.

As someone who used to be into that sort of thing I will say I always tried to use variety within a theme. For instance the theme of the tape you make for that slender legged gal that caught your eye on the L train might be I Want to Have Sex with You (preferably soon). The variety then might include a range from the playfully forward “Never Say Never” by Romeo Void to something a little more flattering like “She’s a Rainbow” by The Rolling Stones.

In this sense the tea sampler pack is a lot like a mixtape, there is variety built around a theme. The theme of this Stash sampler is green tea and the variety ranges from chai to decaf. What follows are some of my thoughts on the nine flavors included.

Chai Green (Blended green tea, cinnamon, ginger root, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon flavor, clove, clove bud oil, and cardamom oil):

Never had Green Chai before, didn’t know it existed
Nutmeg and allspice make themselves known
The green smooths out some of the spiciness
Surprisingly pleasant

Fusion Breakfast (Indian Assam black tea, Indonesian black tea, Chinese green tea, Japanese green tea, African black tea, and Japanese Matcha):

Peachy green aroma
Dark amber brew
Generic flavor
Like too many stars crowded into a mediocre movie
Good but no big standout

Fusion Green & White (White tea, Japanese green, Chinese green, Assam green, Darjeeling green, and organic green teas):

Clean floral scent
Mild green tea flavor
Flavor could be fuller after such a rich smell

Ginger Peach (Green tea, ginger root, peach flavor, and Japanese Matcha):

Have you ever been punched in the nose by the ginger bread man while walking the peach orchard?
My least favorite of the sampler

Organic Premium Green (Blend of organic green tea):

They only give you one
Much like the Premium Green albeit a little lighter
Tastes the same as any other green tea in the box

Moroccan Mint (Green tea, spearmint, lemongrass, and peppermint):

Rich peppermint smell
Rich peppermint flavor
Just enough of a whisper of green
Top marks

Pomegranate Raspberry (Green tea, chamomile, hibiscus flowers, orange peel, citric acid, pomegranate flavor, raspberry flavor, and Japanese matcha):

Sharp pomegranate odor with a dash of hibiscus
Not too much raspberry
Tamer than your average pomegranate product
Not too much zing

Premium Green (Select blended green teas):

Grassy fresh odor
Light green liquid
Roasted green tea flavor
Very good for a bagged tea

Decaf Premium Green (Select blended naturally decaffeinated green teas):

Just like the real thing

Review: Calpico Lychee Drink

2010-05-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

1.5L (Amazon.com, $6.60)

There is an Asian supermarket close to me called Asian Food. For someone like me who has never really been in an Asian Supermarket there is a lot to see and touch and laugh at and be disgusted by. From the silly cartoon people on noodle boxes to the wads of tripe in the cold section to the 30 some odd types of tofu, it is easy to spend an hour and a whole spectrum of emotions in the store without really accomplishing anything. How am I supposed to figure out which Korean BBQ sauce will go best with my bok choy? What are you supposed to do with black duck eggs? Why is this herbal tea not safe for children?

Amongst the exotica there are all kinds of neat things to drink that I have never seen before, including this lychee flavored drink from Calpico. While trying to find more information about it on the internet I learned that it is a Hello Kitty drink. It is unclear as to why but sometimes this product comes with a Hello Kitty logo and sometimes it does not. A quick Google will tell you that some people only like it because of the Hello Kitty appeal. The one I bought (along with its sister flavors available in the store) did not feature any sign of Hello Kitty however it did show up on my receipt as “Hello Kitty Lychee Drink”.

Sans Hello Kitty (such as in the picture above), the product immediately reminded me of a prize you might come across in the Nintendo game Bubble Bobble. It would please one of those dinosaurs to devour a bottle of white sugar milk amongst their 8-bit cakes and pies. Make no mistake, dinosaur or not, there is a certain attractiveness to the packaging. It feels kind of good to look at and hold the bottle. The white plastic is not like a regular plastic water or soda bottle. There is something a little more futuristic going on. It’s the kind of plastic children of tomorrow will be familiar with, something they will recall as a fond part of Saturdays filled with Ultra-Comics and Hyperball. It’s a reward their parents will give them for walking Rex the Electro-Doggie all week.

Within this plastic the ingredients are pretty simple. Consisting mainly of water, sugar (52 grams), and non-fat dry milk it is a dessert kind of drink with a hint of lychee at the end. Kind of like drinking a melted sorbet it’s not exactly liquid candy, but it is a close runner-up.

Costa Rica

2010-04-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

10 Questions with Gentill Abdulla

2010-01-23T07:20:00.000-08:00

Gentill Abdulla is a young man with ideas for a time machine. You can read more about his project on CNN's iReport. You can also e-mail him directly at g_mobster2@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter.

1. Do you like tea? If so, any favorite type or brand?

I do like tea. I don't know what type of brand my mom buys but it tastes good all the same.

2. Could you give us a typical day in the life of Gentill Abdulla?

Wake up, shower, brush teeth, change clothes, go to school, eat breakfast, eat lunch, come home, do homework, eat dinner, and go to sleep.

3. If you could go back in time and have tea with any historical figure, who would it be?

I would go back and talk to Einstein.

4. What got you interested in time machines?

When I first heard about time travel in the TV series Dragonball Z.

5. When you first tell people you want to build a time machine what is their reaction like?

They usually don't think I'm all that smart first, so I really have to explain it a lot.

6. What has the feedback on your project been like?

Mostly good feedback. Lots of people have told me that I was smart and they hope for the best. Also some kids from my school keep asking me if they could be the first person to go back in time.

7. What was it like to be on Coast to Coast AM? Had you ever heard of the program beforehand?

I did hear about the program before, but I had never listened to it. I wasn't really nervous on Coast to Coast I think it was because it was just explaining what would happen and how.

8. If time machines already existed, what do you think you would be working on instead?

I would be working on getting to places faster than the speed of light.

9. If you could have tea with any living physicist, who would it be?

Kip Thorne.

10. Is there anything you would like to add?

Not really.

Reichel Talks Gourmet

2010-01-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

Just in case you are still not tired of hearing about the end of Gourmet, former editor Ruth Reichel talks about her post-Gourmet world with WNYC's Leonard Lopate.
A few notes:
1) Yes, the infamous David Foster Wallce lobster story is mentioned.
2) At one point Reichel starts to expound on the magic of a post-print world. I have to say I agree with WNYC listener Ihk who posted the comment "haha lose the new media guru hat keep the chef's"
3) In case you were wondering but do not want to listen to the show, Gourmet's cookbook collection is now housed at NYU's Fales Library.

The Agony of the Leaf to Shut Down

2009-12-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

Ridgewood, NJ's own Agony of the Leaf MeetUp group is set to close down in 11 days (and counting). The group organizer has resigned and none of the 123 "Teaists" (myself included) have yet to put the kettle back on the burner (so to speak). I joined the group fairly recently and so have never attended one of their meetups though group member Larissa testifies that "[It is a] good bunch of people definitely."

According to the MeetUp group description:

Tea can be our breath during our busy lives...
Just a moment for the ritual of steeping fragrant leaves can be enough to exhale. And just another moment to inhale its intoxicating aroma.
Tea can steady us... bring our focus back to where it needs to be. In the moment.
Tea give us that breath to think and reflect on our path throughout the day.
We take Tea in the morning to awaken our senses to the world. During meals to enhance the flavors reminding us to taste each morsel. In the afternoon to remember to breathe. In the evening to relax before sleep takes us into the dream realm.
Tea IS liquid meditation. Please meditate responsibly. Drink good Tea.

Do you have what it takes to save the Agony of the Leaf?

Tea Auction November 19th

2009-11-13T12:42:00.000-08:00

The auction will also be online here. (Thanks to Tea Tour NY for the heads up.)

10 Questions with Jason Witt

2009-10-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

If you have been reading and/or writing a tea blog lately odds are good you have come across Jason Witt. The author of two books on spirituality and a weekly e-newsletter, his latest book deals with the spirituality of tea. The following ten questions were conducted via e-mail.

1. For those who have never read your newsletter, could you describe it?

I call my email newsletter “Teaternity” and it’s about the spirituality of tea. But this is often in the context of health so a lot of attention is given to the healing properties of tea and why it’s better than coffee, etc.

2. What would you like the impact of your newsletter to be?

I just want to reach everyone who’s interested in the tea faith specifically. That could end up being a lot of people at least here in America.

3. Could you give us a brief day in the life of Jason Witt? How much tea does it involve?

I get up at 3:00 or 4:00 am. In the morning I do certain tasks that change with time. Lately I’ve been getting my book “Spirituality of Tea” ready in the mornings. In the afternoon I do commenting on the 200 tea blogs that I follow. Throughout the day I drink about 5 liters of Puerh. And I could even drink more on many days if I didn’t slow down deliberately.

4. How has having written two books about religion influenced your tea drinking experience?

Jesus gave of Himself in the form of food (bread and wine) and He encouraged the devoted to bring their own offering to the table. I want to give of myself as if I were tea.

5. You say on your website that you like “tea-themed music of all eras”, could you explain?

The 20th Century and modern times holds a lot of music that mentions tea or puts it totally in the spotlight. I’m collecting these songs with my ability on the Internet to search lyrics databases. Right now I’m in the processing of collecting songs about a “cup of tea” and there are many because they make good love songs. Everyone wants to meet the person who’s their cup of tea.

6. What’s it like being a tea drinker in Minnesota? Any favorite spots or shops?

There’s one hip tea shop, The Tea Garden, Inc that’s in some cool neighborhoods. But since I’m a Puerh Guy, I just can’t get that locally in any variety like I want it. I like bringing Puerh with me and just getting hot water in coffee shops.

7. A major topic in your newsletter is choosing tea over coffee, when did you last (if ever) drink coffee?

A few months ago I realized that I may never again touch coffee, even for the rest of my life. There have been times when I’ve drunk my share of coffee but it’s been rare in recent years. In Fall of 2008 I quit all caffeine (including tea) for a couple months. That only served to open up to me my devotion to tea when I started drinking it again.

8. If someone wanted to make the switch from coffee to tea, where should they begin?

I would say to sample different kinds of tea a lot to find out what you like. Find stores online that offer samples and find out the difference between Oolong, green, and black. Sometimes I say to switch right to Puerh also, especially if the person was particularly fond of coffee.

9. What do you envision for the future of tea drinking in America?

I see the growth of the tea industry continuing at least until the Baby Boomers are all mostly gone. That’s because they’re driving the current obsession with health of the body as they age. That’s made tea more and more appealing.

10. Is there anything you would like to add?

If you’re interested in my book “Spirituality of Tea” then you can get a free copy of it in PDF by signing up for my newsletter. And so that it’s easier to read, I’ve priced the book at $12.95 so it doesn’t cost too much to grab a copy or two.

Tea Tour NY: Haamonii Smooth Shochu & Tea Tasting

2009-10-24T11:17:00.001-07:00

The Haamonii Smooth Shochu & Tea Tasting was my first Meet-Up. It was a plunge into that gray area where the internet and the real world collide. As more of us carry around the internet in our pockets it is a gray area that diminishes but never really goes away (at least in my opinion). There are always concerns. There could always be complications. Just because you have names and pictures and e-mail addresses does not mean you really know those people out there. Sure they have an avatar of their cat in sunglasses drinking a cola on a beach in Santa Barbara. You laughed about it. You commented. The cat’s name is Pickles you found out. But what else is going on there? Cats do not really need sunglasses and they sure as hell do not like going to the beach. Can you ever be really prepared for the in real life treatment?

MeetUp.com was introduced to me via this The Talk of the Town piece in The New Yorker. If you are unfamiliar with the site it works much as the name implies. The goal is to “meet up” with people who share similar interests. Someone starts a club, people join the club, the club has events, those people attend those events. Just like with any other social cyberspacing there is a copious amount of electronic messaging and digital picture trading but what sets MeetUp apart is that the end goal is always some kind of real world interaction. Unlike the Pandora’s Box that is The Facebook and its time annihilating brethren, the point of MeetUp.com is always, at some point, to meet up.

Pre-event organization for the Shochu tasting consisted of an RSVP system that stressed the very limited amount of RSVPs. To show that there was no kidding around the very limited RSVPs filled up very shortly after the event was announced, a good month in advance. Were people really that interested in Shochu or were we assembling for a much darker purpose? Was this like a meeting where you show up early to demonstrate your enthusiasm or was it more like a party where you show up late to demonstrate your hip-and-with-it-ness? I did not know who to ask and the gridlock of the RSVP system seemed to rule out bringing a friend along. The last thing I wanted to do was commit a MeetUp faux pas.

I ended up arriving at the apartment high rise in Hell’s Kitchen about a half hour after the designated meet time. It seemed like a good compromise between punctual and absentee. Where I had expected a small apartment and a large crowd, I found quite the reverse to be true. About seven people or so hung around the Sochu table (pictured above) in a well kempt space quite possibly big enough to play basketball in. Some thirty stories below the Hudson chugged along, maintaining the necessary space between New York and New Jersey. The view was gorgeous and even wrapped around to include some of the surrounding neighborhood (including historically exciting New Yorker Hotel).

Canada, Australia, Maine, and Brooklyn were all represented in the crowd. We snacked. We chatted. We tried two different types of Sochu. Sometimes it came alone, sometimes with a combination of tea. I found the Shochu to be best when mixed. A particular standout was lemon flavored Shochu with ice cubes made of lapsang souchong. The smokiness of the lapsang glided nicely over the Shochu as the ice melted. Sanchang ice cubes in scotch were also recommended. I made a note to try it.

We talked more, sometimes about tea. Some people left, some new people arrived. Full RSVP capacity never seemed to be fully attained. We talked about places we had been. I made sure to tell people that I went to Iceland last year.

“It was beautiful,” I said. They nodded, having heard that Iceland is very beautiful. I told them about the truly excellent Russian Caravan blend I purchased there. We admired the view, watching the lights go on in New Jersey. Had anyone ever been to New Jersey?

“Just the airport,” someone said and some others nodded, most of them having only been to the airport. We drank more Shochu though some people came exclusively for the tea and, presumably, the conversation.

Afterwards I met up with some friends. One of them had been to a taco MeetUp recently.

“We ran around and got tacos” she said. “It was great.”
I told her about the Sochu tasting, the tea people, the view of the Hudson.

“Free booze in a beautiful apartment? Who wouldn’t like that?” she said.

Goodybe, Gourmet

2009-10-21T05:38:00.000-07:00

In the latest issue of Gourmet there is a story about $1,000 eating spree in New York City entitled “Having a Grand Time, New York City”. If editor Ruth Reichel had $1,000 to spend on dining out in New York, the article dares to ask, how would she spend it? The idea seems a tantalizing romp through the city for some though a sign of a disconnected media for others. As web a commenter calling themselves Fruitbats wants to know, “Have you lost your touch, Gourmet?” Did Fruitbats know perhaps that soon enough Gourmet would lose its magazine as well?

If you are reading a food related blog, odds are good you already know that after a 68 year long run Gourmet has gone the way of Life and Stuff, which is to say, to that big magazine rack in the sky. Odds are good you also have an opinion on the matter. Did she jump or was she pushed? Reading through articles and editorials regarding the passing, most people tend to fall into two camps, neither of which seem to be all too shocked. There are the Glad It’s Gone/They Got What They Deserve (that magazine was always too snobby, their recipes were too hard to make, Reichel ran it into the ground) and the Not Glad/They Don’t Deserve This (their taste was refined, the recipes were fascinating, Reichel was taking it in the right direction).

Regardless of your personal feelings about the magazine and whether or not they got what was coming to them, we have lost a professional magazine devoted to quality food writing. If you can find another publication that would let a David Foster Wallace riff on the ethics of lobster festivals (extensive foot notes and all), I would like to see it. Gourmet certainly had faults but not being another magazine devoted to celebrity chefs and/or supermarket moms who "chop and drop" (to use Michael Pollan's phrase) was not one of them. Though I was never a subscriber, I personally found their travel writing entertaining, their photography excellent (though one eGullet.com user called it “pornographic”), and their branching out to non-culinary writers like Wallace (and their non-traditional culinary views) refreshing. That being said, I think it is safe to say that we can now move on.

As a friend pointed out to me recently, it seems that everyone with a mouth and a computer has a blog devoted to cheeseburgers (or in some cases tea). Joe Hamburger is dutifully informing the internet about every burger stand he can get his grease spattered paws on. After all, people have always had opinions on what they eat, now it is just a whole lot easier to share them with everybody else (though if anyone else actually reads them is a whole other story). Whether this is a good or bad thing is really a non-issue. Like the proliferation of text messaging and the lasting popularity of reality TV, it’s just something that is. It’s how things are now but most likely not how they will be forever.

Now, assuming you didn’t crash your Rolls-Royce or faint into your Faberge egg collection when you heard the news about Gourmet, you are probably OK. I am sure Ms. Reichel and her staff will survive without too much devastation. Even if they have to resort to pillaging the Bon Appetite offices and picking their teeth with their adversaries’ bones, I am sure they will be able to stay warm this winter. What I find to be more important now is the new role of Joe Hamburger pushing those grease spattered paws over the keyboard. Can he and you and me fill this ever widening void of good culinary critique? Should we give up on taste just because Conde Nast canceled one of the more legitimate outlets of food writing? Are we all going to roll over and take whatever sort of wretch the culinary world wants to jam down our (literal) throats?

In short, no.

We may have lost a well edited (and decent paying) source of criticism but that does not mean good criticism has to fall by the wayside. The challenge for those who want to tell the world about their adventures in cheeseburgers or tea or whatever else has merely been increased. Keep in mind Elegant Bride was also canceled but you have not heard of anyone changing their wedding plans or mourning the loss of good weddings. For those who care about these sorts of things we are now living in a post-Gourmet world, one in which we must type more accurately, and (in a way) more bravely.

New Product: Eight Cranes Perfect Steeper

2009-10-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

Full disclosure: I do not own this nor have I tested it, but I honestly like the modern, almost Bauhaus design. There are no reviews posted yet on Amazon.com where it is going for $39.99. What follows is the official press release:

As the second-most consumed beverage in the world, tea has garnered an image of civility and natural simplicity. Steeping loose tea provides a healthy alternative in comparison to the fructose, dyes and other manufactured additives that dominate popular drinks throughout the US. Eight Cranes’ Perfect Steeper™ gives the everyday consumer an opportunity to indulge in the taste and fragrances of loose tea and experience its innovation on-the-go.

The Perfect Steeper’s design and manufacturing provide casual tea drinkers and connoisseurs easy functionality and carefree consumption. The exterior includes double-walled chambers with high tempered glass and polycarbonate allowing accidental drops and boiling water to be handled with ease.

The removable polycarbonate brewer, located at the top of the product, can steep loose tea up to 15 times without the mess or waste of traditional teapots. The brewing system of the Steeper keeps the loose tea separate from the water chamber until the user is ready to create the perfect brew.

A full demonstration of the product can be found at http://www.EightCranes.com.

from Fort Lee, NJ

2009-10-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

I brought my camera along to a Korean BBQ place in Fort Lee, NJ. I thought that maybe they would have some kind of tea on the menu I'd never seen before. Well, there wasn't any tea but I did get these two silly pictures. Note menu item E-12 in the first photo.

Review: FUZE Green Tea

2009-09-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

547mL (Stop & Shop, $1.34)

Part of the fun of writing a tea blog is that it gives you license to try anything even remotely related to tea. Products that would otherwise be deemed as reckless spending are just new things to write about. Someone needs to keep the tea drinking (and reading) community informed. Who knows what sort of tea related diamonds lurk in the vast roughage of our global marketplace? That being said, it’s hard to call any company owned by soft drink king Coca-Cola as “roughage” but for the purposes of this review the phrase will suffice.

Started in 2001 by “health enthusiast” Lance Collins (see video above) FUZE was created, according to the FUZE website, to be “a breakthrough beverage that not only pleased taste buds alike, but incorporated real health benefits too!” In 2003 the company branched out from light, fruit flavored beverages to include tea flavored drinks. Currently endorsed by twangy country seductress Julie Roberts (not to be confused with the actress of a similar name) and easily found in most any corner store, supermarket, or big box mega-market (at least in my area), FUZE seems to have done well for itself over the past eight years. Not to mention of course, being purchased by Coca-Cola in 2007 for a reported $250 million.

The bottle of FUZE Green Tea does a lot of boasting about the health benefits of tea. Polyphenols, Folic Acid, and Antioxidants are all given mention ensuring the consumer that the contents of this bottle rival the health benefits of fresh vegetables. It all sounds like a good way to kick back with your health conscious friends after a rousing match of yoga right up until you get up to the taste.

Both tasting and smelling something like watered down Herbal Essence Shampoo with a dash of sweetener, Green Tea FUZE is not only unpleasant, it bears absolutely no resemblance to any type of green tea I have ever had. “Green Tea from Tea Leaves” is listed ninth on the ingredient list (behind essentials such as Green Tea Extract and Natural Flavor), but nowhere is it made clear what type of green tea is involved.

Opinions on the internet about FUZE drinks in general seem to be pretty split. Rumors circulate that FUZE products are in fact harmful to your health while supporters maintain that not only are they good for you, the $1.50 or so price range is a steal. Either way, I am unlikely to try any other FUZE products, nor am I likely to try and listen to any more music by Julie Roberts. I tried to make it through “Men & Mascara” for this article but I found the YouTube comments much more interesting. Consider the unfortunate case of commenter darrenmcoy65:

yes it is very true it is a two sided road! i was with someone that i thought was a lady ! im goin to b 25 in octber an i have only bein with two ladys in my life time! an all i ever wanted out of either one was there trust an heart! one just walked a way! an the other well was to much in to cheatin an drugs! sex is fun yes! but i could live with just a ladys heart an trust! so it really is two sided roads!

Tea 101

2009-08-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

About 1/3 general tea promo and 2/3 catalog, this pdf file from The Tea Spot will leave you wondering why you would ever drink anything else. Interspersed with images of healthy looking young people, it has some useful information for the tea newcomer (such as correct brewing times) as well as some suggested purchases from the Tea Spot catalog. No scientific data is presented to back up quite a few scientific claims such as the statement on page 5 that “Puerh [tea] can lower the alcohol level in the bloodstream” though on a whole Tea 101 is a worthwhile read for gems like the one on page 3 “It takes no more effort to produce an extraordinary cup of tea than it does a mediocre one!”

Take Tea 101 here.

Take a Moment to Enjoy

2009-07-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

As Guba.com user Rickydude writes

"Next to Citizen Kane,this must be the best movie ever made.What a wonderful film."

Buzzed

2009-06-30T14:14:00.001-07:00

Bees make the honey and cocaine certainly helps.

Shouts & Murmurs: Buzzed: newyorker.com

Shared via AddThis

Review: Alvita Catnip Tea

2009-06-18T04:10:00.000-07:00

30 tea bags (Vitacost.com, $3.06)

Present in all fifty American states but Florida and Hawaii, the plant nepeta cataria (also known as catnip, catmint, catsword, and field balm) is attributed with a variety of health benefits. A quick search on the internet reveals that it may help to suppress and/or treat cough, headache, sore throat, insomnia, colic, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, and miscarriage. Whether or not this member of the mint family can do some or all of that has yet to be confirmed by anyone official. Of course in that same internet search you are likely to come across devotees. (For instance this site offers advice on using catnip to treat colic however I could not find any testaments to catnip’s prevention of miscarriage.)

I decided to try catnip tea as a sleep aid (“a cup of hot catnip tea taken at bedtime insures a good night’s sleep” one website advertises). Whether or not I slept any better than I usually do after drinking I can’t really say. What I can report with certainty is that this stuff tastes terrible.

From experimenting with different teas (and their herbal counterparts) I have to say that whenever the term “earthy” is thrown around, a red flag should go up. In this case, as in others, the term “earthy” actually means “awful”. Best compared to trying to drink old clothing that doesn’t fit, if you really want to use catnip for medicinal purposes, by all means, find a different way to do it.

Whittard of Chelsea

2009-06-11T02:27:00.001-07:00

The General's Tea

2009-02-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

Grow tea, not guns? Check out this story from Gourmet about growing tea in Thailand.

Sanctuary T

2009-02-20T10:44:00.000-08:00

Sanctuary T
337B West Broadway
New York, NY 10013
(212) 941-7832

Despite being described by the New York Observer as catering to a “more disheveled crowd” (more disheveled than the average Four Seasons customer presumably), a recent visit to Sanctuary T revealed very little dishevelment. Tending more towards tucked in shirts and square glasses, the crowd lacked the clouds of dirt and patchwork clothing of a good dishevelment. The patrons blend in so well with the blonde wood and wicker chairs in fact that it is not uncommon to mistake the place for one of the many similar looking dimly lit SOHO apartments nearby.

As the name suggests, tea is the name of the game at 337B West Broadway. The menu includes a wide selection of tea blends and tea infused cocktails alongside short explanations to dispel any confusion. The Midnight Flower, for instance, is “A string of Jasmine flowers with a lily blossom wrapped in black tea” ($5) while the Rise and Shine cocktail is a mixture of “pear, green tea, vodka, lemon” ($12). Each table features a color coordinated cube with sand timers (available for $18) to ensure proper brewing (an explanation of which can be found on the wall opposite the bathroom). Hot tea is served with a stick of rock candy and at least one hot water refill per cup can be expected.

I went with the Pineapple Sencha cup ($4) which proved light and pleasant however without as much pineapple flavor as I expected. The Cava de Cama ($12) which combines elderflower, chamomile tea, and cava in a wine glass was sweet though hardly distinguishable from any other fruity, bubbly concoction on the market. A dining companion who was feeling under the weather asked our waiter for a recommendation. His advice was the Dragon Well ($4) for its promotion of “general well being”. Did he know what he was talking about, or did he just suggest it because it had Well in the name?

I asked her afterward if she was feeling any better. She said while her condition had not changed immediately, she was confident things were improving.

The FM3 Buddha Machine

2009-02-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already experienced the FM3 Buddha Machine this review from popmatters.com sums it up:

The Buddha Machine, then, is a little plastic box that plays music. Specifically, FM3 constructed nine drones, varying from two seconds to 42 seconds, which repeat endlessly in the listener's ear until the "track" is switched to the next drone (or the two AA batteries run out). The machine has its own built-in speaker, in case one would like to fill a room with the drones, but there is also a headphone jack for more personal meditative experiences. There's a switch on the side that allows for traversal of the tracks, and a DC jack (though an adapter is not included) for those who would like the Buddha Machine experience be truly endless. In a way, it's like the cheapest pre-loaded IPod you'll ever be able to buy. It even comes in a number of different colors, for the fashion-conscious experimental music aficionado.

If you're like me and this sounds awesome but you're unlikely to actually buy it, check out the Zendesk Buddha Machine Wall. I turn this thing on at work whenever public radio starts talking about musicals and serenity soon follows. It's great with tea.

There's also an iphone app.

New Barbies for tea?

2009-02-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

I came across this ad on the NYC Craigslist:

TEA TEA TEA (QUEENS)

I HAVE A LOT OF TEA, 9 DIFFERENT PACKAGES,7 ARE 20-24 TEA BAGS EACH, AND 2 ARE LOOSE TEAS, AND I DON'T DRINK TEA. THE BRANDS ARE: AHMAD TEA LONDON, BAYCE, EXOTIC TEAS CHELSEA, BIGELOW, SELECT, STASH, UNCLE LEE'S TEA. WOULD LIKE TO TRADE FOR WII GAMES, CARTOONS DVDS, COIN SORTER, NEW BARBIES, OR ANYTHING INTERESTING. THANKS

It really raises more questions than it answers. Where did they get all that tea? Why do they want new barbies?

See the original here.

No Time for Tea

2009-02-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

National Public Radio's Studio 360 checks out the state of the Japanese tea ceremony in modern Japan. Is there even time for tea in Japan, what with cell-phone novels and such?

Review: McNulty's Elderberry Blend

2009-02-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

McNulty's Tea and Coffee Co. ($5.50, 1/4 lb.)

Assuming you can make it past the raunchy sex shops and equally raunchy NYU students that populate the area around McNulty’s, you can get to a really great tea shop (a full review of which is coming soon). McNulty’s not only has a lot of teas, they have a lot of teas available for seeing and smelling (I’ve never asked about tasting). Based purely on the merits of sight and smell I decided to give their Elderberry Blend a try.

If looking at this stuff doesn’t make you want to drink it maybe you should stick to rain water or gasoline or whatever it is that has ruined your good sense. There is no hiding the enticement of those dried elderberries and hibiscus flowers. They look more like additions to a high level granola mix than the beginnings of a relaxing drink. If you can bring yourself to pour hot water over these delectable elements, things get even better.

Brewing to a highly fragrant, deep purplish-red this blend is not fooling around. Deep on berry flavor, the smell makes you feel as though you might be head first in a sambucus nigra bush and the taste that follows only emphasizes the notion.

Simply put, the berry flavor is strong. With a slightly bitter twinge at the end this, as far as I can tell, is a real elderberry experience. One often comes across teas in this world that smell great only to find their flavor a muted disappointment. This is not one of them.

Thusly Tea Joins All Your Recipes

2009-01-30T06:46:00.000-08:00

Thusly Tea has been added to Allyourrecipes.com a "blog roll for a delicious world". The site features an assortment of international food related sites.

Highlights include Cakeitaly.com featuring recipes and pictures of Italian delicacies and The Foodie List with vital information about food throughout the UK.

The Best NYC Tea Spots

2009-01-26T05:14:00.000-08:00

The New York Observer recently published a top ten list of places for tea in New York City. Geared towards the hip-and-with-it crowd, it features some enticing venues such as Sanctuary T which appeals to a "more disheveled customer".

For the more sophisto crowd, there is this article from The New York Times published last March.

Creating the Perfect Cup of Tea

2009-01-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

If you happen to live in the greater Rochester, NY area check out this class at the Pittsford Wegmans on January 28th. According to the Wegmans website:

If you’ve avoided trying loose leaf tea because it seemed too complicated, relax. Simplicity is the key! We have learned so much about tea, we’re excited to share our methods and techniques for making a great cup! Our tea experts will help you understand the vocabulary of teas, how to properly prepare it, what tools you need, and will answer many frequently asked questions about tea. You’ll also enjoy a light dinner along with a variety of our new whole loose leaf teas from around the world to complete this unique learning experience.

More information can be found here.

Plucker's Pick Tea Critic's Club

2009-01-15T06:12:00.000-08:00

The online retailer Plucker's Pick is offering an interesting deal. For $5 you can join their Tea Critic's Club. This involves receiving a 1 ounce sample of their tea plus four samples from competitors such as Bigelow and Tetley. After drinking you can post your review on their website. The response so far seems to be small but positive. I intend on joining soon.

Sign up here.

PG Tips Christmas Message

2008-12-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

With no mention of the product.

Review: The Guayaki Bottled Line

2008-12-20T15:49:00.000-08:00

Mixed Case of 12 ($39.99, Guayaki.com)

Along with their line of Yerba Mate and Yerba Mate related implements, the people at Guayaki put out a line of bottled drinks designed for cold consumption. Looking conspicuously like Snapple bottles (aside from the euphoric rain forest creatures on the label) the lineup features fierce minimalist names such as Pure Endurance and Pure Heart. Toting heavy organic/fair trade/kosher/sustainable credentials each drink (save for the Unsweetened Yerba Mate and Traditional Mate) contains yerba mate blended with flavors like mint and citrus. Though I haven’t yet seen any of these drinks available in local stores, I was fortunate enough to try all but the Pure Mind Blend (a full review of which can be found here).

Generally speaking these drinks are very good. Refreshing but not overpowering, they combine light flavoring with a slow and steady yerba mate kick. Lacking the high sugar content (and corn syrup content) of most similarly shaped drinks, they are a pleasant alternative to what is typically found in the cold drink aisle. One notable standout is the Empower Mint which climaxes in a genuine mint finish without the sticky sweetness of other mint beverage competitors.

Will bottled yerba mate begin to change the face of the convenience store drink section? We will just have to wait and see.

Review: Guayaki Yerba Mate Pure Mind Pomegranate Clarity Blend

2008-12-19T14:58:00.001-08:00

Case of 12 ($39.99, Guayaki.com)

Guest Reviewed by L.S. Sacks

With a deadline looming on some schoolwork I decided to give the Clarity Blend from Guayaki a try. Having never experienced any sort of yerba mate related product before, I can say that this first endeavor was delicious, but with a bit more of a caffeine punch than I expected. The gentle flavor may not betray all the energy that the Clarity Blend carries with its earthy, fresh brewed quality.

The natural type flavor combines subtle pomegranate with an aftertaste of bitter mint leaves. The balance of sweetness and tartness is nice, without anything overwhelming on either side. What I particularly liked about this drink is that it doesn’t leave you feeling thirstier like other, sweeter bottled beverages. It is a happy divergence for those seeking more flavor than water, but without all the sugar of the soft drink market.

My only side note is that if you are normally sensitive to other energy drinks this may not be a suitable alternative! I personally can drink tea but the caffeine in coffee is just too much. While I really enjoyed the flavor of the Clarity Blend I will most likely not be drinking it again, as it was a little too much for my system to handle.

A Polish Take on the Mate

2008-12-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

According to YouTube user Etheliel, "it's Polish but he's joking as a stupid".

Please Explain: Tea

2008-12-06T10:57:00.000-08:00

This past Friday's Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC featured a section about tea (part of their Please Explain series).

Listen to it here.

Review: Archer Farms Dragon Well Green

2008-12-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

15 tea bags (Target, sale price $2.98)

As I've said before in this blog, my experience with most Archer Farms products have been good ones. Another case in point is their Dragon Well Green Tea. Much like a mediocre first date, it neither impresses nor disappointments allowing for an acceptable, civilized time that may or may not be related to friends.

Sold in state-of-the-art, pyramid style tea bags both the smell and flavor of this tea tends towards the light side. Going down smooth and without much bitterness, the tea is mellow and slightly smokey. Not as full bodied or deep as a higher quality Dragon Well, the experience is good but not great. While it is certainly more complex than the average generic bagged green tea, it fails to really enforce some of the claims found on the packaging. As far as being "delicately tinged with sweetness" as the box suggests, I could distinguish no such subtlety. This tea is fairly straightforward from start to finish, tending to lack in any delicate tinges advertised or otherwise.

For convenience and price the Archer Farms Dragon Well tea is not a bad deal. It may not suit a true connoisseur but for those looking to go beyond generic bagged green tea it makes an excellent first choice.

Whittard of Chelsea Holiday Sale

2008-12-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

I've been getting all kinds of wild deals on tea via e-mail. Check out this one from Whittard of Chelsea. They have a different sale every day of December.

Review: Ricola Natural Herb Blend

2008-11-24T04:14:00.000-08:00

200g instant (Lehmans.com, $7.95)

From the makers of the Swiss cough drops comes an instant dissolve herbal tea of sorts. Boasting a combination of a dozen some odd herbs (each handsomely illustrated on the package), preparation is as simple as combining the crystallized pellets and hot water. The end result is a drink akin to, for lack of any better comparison, a liquid candy cane.

Both smelling and tasting strongly of peppermint, none of the other herbs involved can really be distinguished. While I trust that Ricola has not forgotten to say, add the hysop or thyme, if your intentions were tasting them you should take your business elsewhere. For all intents and purposes, this is a peppermint flavored drink.

Along with this simplicity is a fair amount of sugar. With a content of 9.6 grams per serving of the stuff, this drink is very, very sweet. Though the instant dissolve formula is convenient, it prevents the removal of any of those grams, confining your options to either take the sugar or leave the drink entirely. That being said, if you don't mind sugar and peppermint, the taste is not all that bad.

I will admit that while going through a mild cold recently I found myself drinking this stuff on a regular basis. It does not contain the kind of potent strength to dissuade a truly treacherous sickness but the candy-like feel is soothing, particularly on a cold day. Depending on how sugar and peppermint factor into your personal belief system, Ricola Natural Herb Blend can either be a handy cold season friend or a menacing toothache disguised as an instant dissolve formula.

Russian Tea HOWTO

2008-11-20T06:27:00.000-08:00

Zima is upon us. Consult this Russian Tea HOWTO for appropriate instructions.

Afterward check out this Russian rap song which appears to be about winter, or is the blond girl the one who is truly cold?

A Japanese Tea Commercial

2008-11-15T17:41:00.000-08:00

We don't often think about what happens in the field.

Review: Archer Farms Organic Blueberry White

2008-09-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

39g loose (Target, $6.99)

Through Archer Farms (a Target exclusive food brand) Target now carries a small selection of loose leaf teas. Regardless of the Starbucks-ification / White Noise-ification of America that Target encourages, for the most part Archer Farms products tend to be pretty good (and many are organic if that's what gets your goat). Coinciding with this trend, their Blueberry White tea is just that: pretty good.

Billed by the people at Archer Farms as “a refreshing combination of sweet, juicy blueberries and wholesome white tea” the initial of the tin lives up to the description. Any fan of blueberries could happily burn a few minutes just smelling this stuff.

The purplish liquor that follows keeps much of the enticement. Unfortunately when it comes down to the flavor this excitement is somewhat diminished. Extremely light, with a slight trace of hibiscus, the flavor is pleasant though it lacks much force or complexity. Granted white tea is supposed to be delicate but this tea lacks a certain fullness you would expect after such a seductive introduction. What happened to that cascade of juicy blueberries? Were they deemed too much for the masses?

The Town of Tea

2008-08-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

Unrelated to the beverage of the same name, the town of Tea, South Dakota is arguably just as interesting.

Read about their history here.

Understanding the Japenese Tea Ceremony

2008-08-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

Informative but not over familiar.

Aya Matsuura Iced Tea Commercial

2008-07-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

The star behind those insane Pretz commercials also pitches iced tea. Enticing, though equally confusing.

Review: PG Tips

2008-06-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

40 Tea Bags (Britishdelights.com, $3.25)

Crisp, not too pungent, widely available, and with a dash of nutty advertising PG Tips are easily one of the top mass produced teas on the market. Simple yes, but pleasing to anyone just looking for a decent cup.

Why their advertising has centered around monkeys for decades I do not know. Check out a whole smattering of their old ads here.

The Korean Tea Ceremony

2008-05-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

Watching this is strangely relaxing.

How to Drink Yerba Mate

2008-05-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

What this video lacks in production value it makes up for in information.

Review: Whittard of Chelsea English Rose

2008-05-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

125g loose (Herbalteasplus.com, $8.99)

For those seeking strength as well as whimsy, English Rose from Whittard of Chelsea is a good place to begin. Strong enough for a man, yet floral enough for a sissy man this is a complex combination of black tea and fruit.

Known by fans as 'dream flavored', English Rose combines Keemum and Assam black tea with touches of mango, papaya, and rose petal. The resulting product is an enticing mixture that pleases the senses from the get go. Lacking the overbearing perfume like quality that tends to plague more haphazard blends, all the ingredients in this medley make themselves accounted for in their own way.

The initial smell can certainly be described as dream like, assuming of course that your dreams tend to be gentle frolics through private gardens of spring time delight and earthly pleasure. From this frolic though comes a liquid that is somewhat more serious. Its deep, malty appearance is more like the result from a standard English Breakfast or no nonsense Earl Grey. We are playing with Keemum and Assam after all, not just flowers and love.

The resulting flavor is a neat combination of all the forces at work. The black teas work to make a strong undercurrent for the dotting of mango and rose. Overall this is a fine cup and easily one of the best black tea blends I have ever tried.