All my life, whenever I’ve had a little patch of dirt available to me, I’ve been a gardener. If somebody ever asks me why I have a garden, I’ll tell them it is to grow tomatoes. As I’ve learned more about tomatoes, I’ve discovered types of tomatoes that you can’t buy in the store because… // MORE
In Tong Mu Village, high up in the Wuyi Mountain range, Wu Jianming is weeding his tea garden. We know this because we called his wife and she told us he’d be gone all week with his hands in the dirt. It’s the seventh Lunar month of the old agricultural calendar, there. In Tucson, it’s… // MORE
My first experience with puer tea came in an alley outside the Victoria Hotel on Shamian Island surrounded by the Pearl River in Guangzhou China on a fall morning in 2002. I had just registered my business in Tucson, Arizona and was in Guangzhou looking for tea. I was having dim sum. I was… // MORE
Newsletter Archive Dec. 30, 2022 Dang! It’s been a weird, scary, challenging, and amazing year. We always say this at the end of every milestone, but it’s always true – it’s a gift to still be here, doing something we care about, and getting to share it with so many people we care about too.… // MORE
Newsletter Archive Dec. 23, 2022 The cold weather, the long nights, the holidays – now is when all the signs are telling us to take a pause. But really, most of us are rushing and working as much as ever. We crank away under year-end deadlines and crises, the peak hospitality season, and the holiday… // MORE
Newsletter Archive Dec. 1, 2022 This Saturday is the grand opening celebration of our new teahouse with a ribbon cutting, a lion dance, and martial arts and musical performances from 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The lanterns are hung, the red ribbon is knotted, and we’ve even got a sign on the front of the… // MORE
Newsletter Archive Nov. 4, 2022 This weekend only, you can get 20% off three black teas, one from each of China’s most celebrated and historic centers of black tea production. Each is made from spring leaf from this year, unbroken and unblended for a true picture of their origin. Tongmu Lapsang Souchong: The very first… // MORE
Newsletter Archive Oct. 28, 2022 This November marks a full 20 years since Seven Cups officially started business. Let’s honor the occasion by going back to where we started: green tea. We’re showcasing four green teas: the prestigious Xishan Bi Luo Chun, the little champion Mengding Maofeng (Feather Peak), the singular and inimitable Ming Qian… // MORE
Newsletter Archive Apr. 29, 2022 2022 Spring teas are here at a last. As per our tradition, we’re immediately offering a discount on Shifeng Longjing for the first weekend. This discount comes with our gratitude to you. If you’re reading this, you’re likely as excited to see these teas show up as we are. Along… // MORE
Newsletter Archive Apr. 15, 2022 This is the first anniversary in two years since the teahouse has been open for table service. This has us reflecting on how fortunate we are to be there in the first place. The story of how it all came together is one of no small amount of hard work,… // MORE
Newsletter Archive Apr. 1, 2022 This weekend we’re featuring three teas from three unusual tea bush cultivars: one new, one old, and one downright prehistoric. That’s Huang Guanyin wulong tea, Tieguanyin Baicha white tea, and Laoshu Dianhong black tea. In the span of these three teas, you’re in for a tour through humanity’s long history… // MORE
This new year is the year of the water tiger. It will be a year full of challenges and changes that will take courage, curiosity, spontaneity to solve. That sounds pretty good to me. It also marks twenty years that Seven Cups Tea has been in business, twenty-one years if you count the year I… // MORE
Newsletter Archive Oct. 8, 2021 With a supply chain crisis in the news, it may not surprise you to find a number of your favorite teas out of stock. Fortunately, we have an optimistic forecast. For those interested in the buzz around the tea supply chain, read on. If you’re just here for the tea,… // MORE
With the holidays’ approach, I’m filled with sadness that our teahouse continues to be closed for service. It looks as if that may be the case for the rest of the year. The first year we were open was also challenging, but December filled us with hope for the future.
Chinese black tea spread to every continent around the world to become the most popular beverage next to water before it was noticed by Chinese tea drinkers. It was always considered damaged tea until the 21st-century tea renaissance. Chinese are drinking black tea for the first time. The quality of the tea being produced now… // MORE
The best of the Chinese green teas have arrived in Tucson. Spring is always an exciting time for us. We love green tea, and as a category, it is our best seller. Along with our green tea, our best yellow and white teas are also arriving. This year has given us a chance to validate… // MORE
Trade War With China From the beginning of American history China has been an important trading partner. One of the causes of the American Revolution was the monopoly of the East India Company that made it illegal for us to trade with China directly. Tea was the key element in that trade, helping to make… // MORE
Puer tea, a 21st century phenomenon, is going to take a big hit in 2019. Climate change has had a direct impact on the quantity and quality of puer tea. 2019 has been especially bad.
Shi Feng Long Jing Spring teas arriving brings a lot of joy to our little warehouse in the desert. It is bittersweet this year because of the passing of Weng Shang Yi, the maker of our Shifeng Longjing. He lived to be 90 years old. He started making Longjing when he was fourteen, 1943. During… // MORE
After 17 years of bringing specialty tea to Tucson from China, I am amazed to still be here sitting at my desk at Seven Cups. It’s been a while now since I have written a blog post, and remarkably I have not been fired. The new year is upon us, and having recently… // MORE
This year’s tea tour marks 11 years of Seven Cups providing professional-level education on the ground in China. Every year is different, and every detail gets planned by our own Zhuping Hodge. So, after months of planning, it’s exciting to see the trip take off. 2018’s tea tour has just passed its first leg, traveling… // MORE
Where the Indentation in a Puer Cake Comes From This brief under-two-minute educational video is packed with information. If you’ve ever wondered how puer tea cakes are made or just where that funny indentation comes from, then take a couple minutes to watch this video. The video takes off from the point where mao cha… // MORE
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The Tea Industry and its Misuse of the Term “Quality Tea” There is no definition for specialty tea. The dictionary defines specialty as “ a product of a special kind or of special excellence”. The tea industry uses the word as a descriptor for tea that has no relationship to quality. The tea industry uses… // MORE
Standards for excellence would give tea makers a goal to shoot for while giving buyers and consumers the tools to determine whether or not makers had reached that goal.
‘Specialty Tea.’ must be defined to establish value and give meaning to the term.
We’re honored to be included in Kevin’s quarterly box. The following press release explains it all. Tucson, Arizona (PRWEB) December 23, 2014 Kevin Rose is known as a Silicon Valley guru, venture capitalist and partner in Google Ventures. In 2009 he traveled with Seven Cups founder Austin Hodge to the rainforests of Yunnan in southwest… // MORE
Speciality Tea has never been defined nor have standards for quality ever been established. Now’s the time to do it.
November 2013 was the tenth anniversary of my tea blog. When I first started the idea of blogging was relatively new. There were just a few political blogs, and many of these were focused on reporting.
Since the middle of May I have been on the road, traveling in China, the US, and Europe, and for Zhuping it was three months in China. Finally we are enjoying our sanctuary in Tucson, with a lot of welcome home cooked meals.
