Tea Places: Tea Dealers

There are so many tea places in NYC now that I sometimes have a hard time just choosing where to go. While this is an excellent problem to have, it sometimes means that I don't get to visit a shop for quite a bit longer than intended. Tea Dealers is a perfect example of this. They opened up in Brooklyn several years ago and although I was aware of their existence, I just never got around to visiting. When I noticed an address change to Canal Street, I made immediate plans to visit after the Pret-A-Matcha Launch Party. Jo from A Gift of Tea and Darlene from The Tea Lovers Archives came along for the fun. Lucky for me it was a good pick, especially considering how hot it was outside that day.

Friday Roundup: July 23rd - July 29th

Matcha Avacado Toast

It made my heart happy to see a post pop up in my feed from Alexis at Teaspoons & Petals. She's one of the hardest working and busiest gals in the biz but this week she gifted us with a delicious recipe. Impeccable, as always.

Pine Oolong - Golden Tea Leaf

Tea-Tography's posts always make me wish that I had a better setup for taking pictures. This week's entry proves that even tea bag tea can be beautiful. Her honeysuckle tasting notes definitely make me want to give this one a try.

Historical Thieves of the Tea World

The history of tea is filled with some pretty interesting stories. Tea Stacks penned a very interesting post about a trio of thieves, two of which I had only read about in passing. Robert Fortune usually gets all of the limelight but I'm looking forward to learning more about Jacobus Jacobson and Mohammad Mirza.

Pussy...By White2Tea

I've been waiting for the reviews to start rolling in for White2Tea's 2017 lineup. Despite the name, the tea definitely sounds like it would be up my alley. Cody's descriptive tasting notes (and excellent pictures) only added to the fun.

Tea Fest PDX

The western half of the country has way cooler tea festivals than we get here on the eastern seaboard. I'll be adding any posts I find about Tea Fest PDX here:

Hooty Tea Travels - Tea Fest PDX 2017 in Portland Oregon

Tea Fest PDX, a longer post!

Tea Fest PDX: A Great Celebration for Us All

Adagio Teas Snowbud

Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: jade green, downy buds with some larger leaves
Steep time: 30 seconds
Water Temperature: 180 degrees
Preparation Method: glass gaiwan
Liquor: very pale, greenish

When I had the opportunity to review some samples from Adagio Teas, I really dug through their website to find some cool stuff. It had been a few years since I wrote about anything of theirs and the direction of the blog has changed quite a bit. I was curious to see if I could find teas that fit into my unflavored specialty tea focus. That led to discovering some hidden gems like their Hunan Gold. The description of this one being their lightest white tea automatically made me add it to my cart.

How Does Tea Affect the Brain?

As many of you know I'm pretty strict about not covering health benefits here on the blog. They aren't why I drink tea and in most cases, I think they are overemphasized for marketing purposes. That being said it is undeniable that tea does affect our bodies in many ways. I thought it might be interesting to dive a little deeper into what substances in tea have an effect on the human brain.

Friday Roundup: July 16th - July 22nd

THE TEA EXPLORER, Interviews with Jeff Fuchs & Andrew Gregg

Rita at Adventures in Tea Land recently had the opportunity to interview Jeff Fuchs (of Jalam Tea fame) and Andrew Gregg. I am so looking forward to watching their feature length documentary. Canadian tea friends can catch it on the CBC Documentary Channel, Sunday July 23, 2017 at 9 PM. EST.

Western Tea Culture & Tea Hermits

James at TeaDB raises some excellent points about the habits of western tea drinkers and the effects of isolation. It can be hard to find others who are passionate about tea as we are but things are changing. Living near NYC, I have the advantage of being close to a quickly developing gongfu culture.

Mao Feng vs Mao Feng: A Lesson in Pick Dates

Tea friend Dylan has been sharing his tea adventures in China on his blog and I've been reading avidly. This week he shares how a tasting in a tea house led to an important realization about the importance of when a tea is harvested.

Gongfu is not always better
MarshalN focused on the not often discussed downsides of gongfu brewing this week. Some teas really do better when brewed in other ways so it's worth experimenting. In this post, he advocates drinking aged oolongs and even puerh teas grandpa style.

A Flight Through China with Teavivre

Mel Had Tea has really been stepping up her tea review (and photography) game lately and I'm loving it! This week she takes us on a tea tour of China through three awesome selections from Teavivre. I've got a few of these in my "to be reviewed" pile and I can't wait to try them.

Pre-A-Matcha Kickstarter Launch Party

It's not often that a Kickstarter impresses me but as soon as I saw Pret-A-Matcha, I knew that I needed this bottle in my life. Matcha is a constant in my routine and I rely on it a lot to get me through a hectic work schedule. Not long after I discovered Pret-A-Matcha on Instagram, tea friend Alexis of Teaspoons and Petals reached out with an invite to their Kickstarter launch party.