After a long wait our 2010 wulongs have arrived. We have only tasted one so far (cupped if you are English), a Monkey Picked Anxi wulong. (For the people at PETA that called me a few years ago to inquire about the well being of the monkeys, no monkeys were actually used in the harvesting…
You had to have been living in a cave for the last 10 years not to know that drinking tea is good for your health. There are many tea research projects going on in many countries. We used to publish on our blog and newsletter all of the outcomes of ongoing tea research many years…
It is just about that time of year when we start asking ourselves why we started a tea business in Tucson. The monsoons are hovering in the evening, sparing a drop or two, providing just enough humidity to stop evaporative coolers from working. Today it is raining hard and roofs all over Tucson are leaking…
I was asked many months ago to write about my experience with the tea industry for this blog; I have had so little time and it has taken me a long time to put my thoughts together… even now I am not sure I have done the best job, but this is more or less the story of what happened with my blog, authori-tea.com.
There are few books about tea that add to the discussion about tea in any meaningful way, but Mary Lou and Robert Heiss’s new book, ‘The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook’ is one of them…
In the Gu Zhu Valley rests the origins of documented Chinese Tea Culture, for it is the place where Lu Yu managed the Emperor’s tea factory during the Tang Dynasty. He did so for twenty years while he wrote the first book about tea and tea culture…
So while we here at Seven Cups have been like kids in a candy store with the new spring teas arriving, you, our beloved customers and friends, have been pressing your noses against the glass, waiting for the moment when it’ll be your turn. That moment is now. The best, freshest green tea available is… // MORE
I am a green tea lover, so there is nothing that gives me more of a thrill that the arrival of the first green teas. For the last two years I have been here in Tucson waiting like everyone else for the tea to arrive…
Seven Cups was the first to import Anji Bai Cha five years ago. It is a rare green tea that was lost for eight hundred years. When ever you hear about white tea being mentioned during the Song Dynasty, it is Anji Bai Cha, which means white tea…
The oolong tea tour is underway now despite the problems caused by the eruption of the volcano in Iceland that stranded our travelers from Denmark. They are in the air even as we speak, and will meet up with the tour in Wuyishan.
Yvonne Russell offered us some feedback and photo’s from the Green Tea Tour and gave us permission to publish it. Yvonne is a customer of the Seven Cups Tea House in Denver. Since it makes us sound good, we thought we would.
Huangshan is one of those places that for millennia has drawn Chinese artists. It is also a center for tea culture. The area was instrumental in the development of modern tea making techniques that developed during the Ming Dynasty.
I’m behind on posting for the Green Tea Tour. Please forgive while I catch up. The tour stayed in Hangzhou for a couple of days and sent these photos back. The tea was just beginning to be harvested because of temperatures way below what is normal for this time of year. Hangzhou is the modern center of Chinese Tea Culture.
Friday and Saturday I decided to do things a bit differently and made a variation of the following recipe for the free tea tastings at the Botanical Gardens. I got the idea from one of my favorite frequent guests at the main Seven Cups location when she came in the preceding Wednesday and made me tea…
Just south of HuZhou is the ancient town of Nanxun. It is a small town that is built around the canals that crisscross the area below Tai Hu. Life on these canals is prehistoric….
Yellow tea is rare, but the rarest is Mo Gan Huang Ya. The fifth day of our tour was visiting Mo Gan Shan where this tea is made. Mo Gan Shan is next to the city of Deqing about 30 minutes from Hangzhou. Also it is rare in China for the tea maker to be woman. Wang Qiang Zhen is one of the very few women that is master tea maker…
“Little known and seldom advertised, this tea room has been elevated to cult status by the people who visit regularly.”
The tour was in Yixing on the four day, famous for it’s earthenware tea pots. Yixing is on the northern edge of Tai Hu. Pottery has been found in this area dating back to 10,000 years ago…
It is a milestone for our small company to be accepted as a vendor in the tea section at Whole Foods. In fact we are featured in their stores here in Tucson.
Our little band of travlers made it to Jiangsu Province today to visit the gardens where Bi Luo Chun is grown. Bi Luo Chun is one of the most prized Chinese green teas. The growing area is small and this tea is often faked. The real thing however is spectacular.
The tour today was in Anji. Anji Bai Cha is one of the great green teas. Bai cha means white tea in Chinese but this tea is green. This tea was the favorite of the famous Song Dynasty emperor, Song Hui Zhong.
Our Green Tea Tour is underway and here are some photos that Tang Le sent me last night. They are in Changxing in Zhejiang province. Changxing is just south of Tai Lake about 1.5 hours west of Shanghai.
This morning it rained in Tucson! For many people living in many places this would be a dreary event; but here in the desert it’s cause to celebrate. Our water-harvesting barrels become full, and our few plants receive a much-needed dusting…
A couple weeks ago I experienced a personal tragedy. Aside from my partner and best friends, the most immediate outpouring of love and support came from the tea community…
I’ve just returned from a whirlwind trip to China. I was sent a ticket by a Chinese corporation that is thinking about opening a chain of retail tea shops. Their plan is to create a ‘tea beverage’ and they want a trustworthy supplier…
Welcome to our tea and tea culture video podcast with Zhuping Hodge, tea master and owner of Seven Cups. Last year we launched three very successful tea tours to China. Many hours of video were taken and we want to share them with you. In the previous podcasts Zhuping toured the rock oolong tea factory. Now watch as she sits down with famous tea master Mr. Liu. Please note this is part 3 of 3 videos with the famous rock oolong master.
What a great way to start the new year with the birth of a baby girl to our beloved friend and long time tea house manager, Keiko Naito and her partner John Archer. Here is the email announcement from Keiko who is currently living with her family in Kyoto…
There are thousands of anecdotes and stories about tea being used to open the mind and spirit, and there is plenty of research that confirms tea’s benefits for the brian. Recently, however, I had tea open my mind in a new way.
Sometimes I am amazed at how much bad information there is out there about tea. I can’t even tell you how many people come in to Seven Cups or the Botanical Gardens with their friends and want to look intelligent by saying something about tea, and it turns out that what they say is completely wrong…
At the teahouse we tend to get what Zhuping calls “tea people,” those who know tea and drink tea for the sensual experience, the taste, the aroma, the story. It seems that most of the people who come into the Botanical Gardens tea room, however, are more interested in the health benefits than anything else…
Welcome to our tea and tea culture video podcast with Zhuping Hodge, tea master and owner of Seven Cups. Last year we launched three very successful tea tours to China. Many hours of video were taken and we want to share them with you. Follow Zhuping as she tours Mr. Liu’s rock oolong tea factory…
