All Posts
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Temperature, Time, and Lying Kettles
So this guy walks into a tea shop… A joke? No, a story with a lesson in it. This fellow clearly knew what he wanted when he walked into my shop. What he didn’t know was that the boiling point of water changes with your altitude. Read more
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Blogging on a schedule
When I’m bored and not inspired enough to write something, I sometimes read silly things like blogging tips. They always seem to include the obvious, like “write interesting things” and “allow your personality to show through.” They also all seem to include, “always blog on a regular schedule.” Read more
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Earl Grey vs Black Tea
I see these questions all the time: What’s the difference between Earl Grey and black tea? How much caffeine is in Earl Grey? What are the health benefits of Earl Grey compared to black tea? Well, strap in and let’s see if I can cover it all in one article! Read more
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My dog ate my matcha whisk
We got a new dog. She’s about a year old, she’s a husky/bulldog cross, and I screwed up. I left a bunch of my teaware on a shelf that she could reach. She ignored the gaiwan, the matcha bowl, the pots, the cups, the gongfu tray — but not the… Read more
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Can you smoke tea?
My response to this question on Quora has gotten more views than any other tea-related response I’ve written, with over 100,000 views. Apparently, this is a question in a lot of people’s minds, so I’ve decided to expand upon that answer for my friends here on Tea with Gary. Read more
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An open letter to restaurants about tea
I love going out to eat, but the dining experience at most restaurants is less than stellar for a tea drinker. In this open letter, I lay out why and suggest how to improve. Read more
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World Tea Expo 2024
When I was running my tea shop, I looked forward to World Tea Expo each year. Now that I’m semi-retired, I’m getting back to my sorely-neglected tea site, working on a new tea book, and preparing to launch a tea-related podcast. And I’m heading back to WTE this month! Read more
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Phong Sali 2011 Pu-erh from Laos
I first wrote this post in October of 2013. As I wrote back then, this was a pretty good sheng pu-erh, but it needed to be aged more. With much going on in life, I ended up putting it away in the back of the tea cabinet and forgetting about… Read more
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Quick and Easy Peppermint Matcha Fudge
My wife, Kathy, decided that since it was almost Christmas, we should have a special treat. We have a brand-new peppermint matcha at the shop, so she decided to do a quick and easy matcha fudge. It’s a white chocolate bakeless recipe; Kathy calls it “cheater” fudge. Read more
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Curing your mate gourd
If you are inspired to try the traditional South American method of drinking yerba mate, you’ll need a mate gourd. Once you get it home, don’t just start drinking from it. Before using it for the first time, you’ll need to cure it for the best flavor and longest life. Read more
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Yerba mate
Yerba mate is a species of holly that contains caffeine. It grows in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, and is the caffeinated beverage of choice for many people who live in those countries. Read more
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Innovation in tea
A Quora user posted the question, “Why don’t you get innovative tea shops like you do with coffee shops?” I wrote a short response to it, and then decided that it would make the starting point for a good Tea with Gary article, so here we are! Read more
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The Evolution of Taste
What was the first tea you tasted? If you’re American, it was probably a cheap teabag filled with black tea dust, probably steeped for a long time and possibly drowned in milk and sugar. Now it’s time to leave that cruddy old Lipton behind and plow forth into the tea… Read more
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Start Spreading the News
I’m not leaving today, but I am heading for New York New York next month! I’m looking forward to drinking tea, telling tea stories, and signing tea books at a café in NYC called The Monkey Cup, where my friend and fellow tea blogger Linda Gaylard did a book signing last… Read more
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I’ve created a new Tea Cupping Journal!
Developing a good palate for tea really requires keeping notes. Remembering what teas you do and don’t like needs notes, too, for most of us. And I’ve been searching for a tea journal that I really liked for a while. There are some pretty good ones out there, but I’m… Read more
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Is Your Tea Gluten Free?
The answer to this question should be easy. Tea leaves come from the Camellia sinensis plant. It is not grain. It contains no gluten. For those casually following the gluten-free lifestyle, that answer should be enough. But for those with celiac disease, a bit more detail may be required. Read more
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How to be an awesome indie tea shop customer
The U.S. doesn’t have a “coffee culture,” but there’s a Starbucks culture, and people are so nervous about it that they read blog posts about how not to be a bad Starbucks customer. They don’t want to embarrass themselves. We need to make sure this never happens in the tea world. Read more
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World Tea Expo 2015 – Day 1
Yesterday started out with the return of the bloggers to World Tea Expo (it’s kind of like the return of the swallows to Capistrano, except noisier)… Read more
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The Iron Goddess of Mercy – Part 1
The Iron Goddess of Mercy Part 1 — China, 1761 — It was the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, the sixth emperor of the Qing Dynasty in China, but our story concerns no emperors, warlords, or nobles. It is just a tale of a humble farmer by the name of… Read more
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The Iron Goddess of Mercy – Part 2
The Iron Goddess of Mercy Part 2 — China, 1761 — It was the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, the sixth emperor of the Qing Dynasty in China, but our story concerns no emperors, warlords, or nobles. It is just a tale of a humble farmer by the name of… Read more
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Myths & Legends At Last!
Since I first announced I was working on a book called Myths & Legends of Tea, a lot has happened. The project got delayed, interrupted, and re-prioritized for almost two years. For another, it was broken into four volumes. I am pleased to announce, however, that Volume 1 is done! Read more
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Tea Around the World
I came across a fascinating article the other day with pictures (and short captions) of tea as they drink it in 22 countries around the world. Obviously, picking one tea — and one way of drinking it — to represent an entire country is difficult, but they did an admirable… Read more
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Tea Shops for the Younger Crowd
I came across a Quora question asking, “What advice is there for starting a tea shop … that is targeted to a younger crowd?” I’d been thinking a lot about that demographic since my Millennials & Tea article last month, so I wrote an answer and then expanded and transformed into this… Read more
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Jasmine Tea
Even purists who eschew “flavored” teas will often enjoy a cup of jasmine green tea. Perhaps it’s because there are no visible indications that your tea leaves have been adulterated. Perhaps it’s because the jasmine is delicate and subtle. Perhaps it’s the rich history of jasmine teas. Read more
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NEWSFLASH! Most Brits don’t know how to make tea!
Cor, I’m gobsmacked! The world’s gone barmy! The Telegraph, that bastion of Britishness, has declared in no uncertain terms that 80% of Britons don’t know how to make tea! Not only that, it’s scientists that say so. Scientists! Read more
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Five bits of tea trivia that are WRONG!
Tea trivia is like any other kind of trivia. The most fascinating trivia may also be the least accurate. I did a little bit of searching for tea trivia, and found some that were a little off, some that were badly phrased, and some that were flat-out wrong. Read more
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The Dream and the Dancer
Robert Godden and two other studly tea bloggers have a blog called “Beasts of Brewdom: The Men of Tea. Huzzah!” Godden issued challenges to grizzled specimens of manhood such as myself to write a blog post using the title of a British romance novel. I drew The Dream and the Dancer. Read more
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Millennials & Tea
When a study comes out, it’s interesting to see who spins it how. YouGov released a survey comparing American consumption of tea with coffee. Their headline was “Coffee’s millennial problem: tea increasingly popular among young Americans.” World Tea News reported that same survey with the headline, “America’s Youth Embrace Tea.” Read more
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OMG! Twins! Tea With Gary and Gary With Da Tea
Every now and then, I check my site statistics. That’s how I discovered “Gary Wit Da Tea,” a.k.a. Gary Hayes. It’s understandable that Mr. Hayes had escaped my radar. After all, he’s only been doing his radio show for a couple of decades. Read more
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Fine Words Butter No Parsnips – and I’m not talking about Tibetan Yak Butter Tea
I have some strange friends. One of them is a rather … unique … tea blogger from Australia named Robert Godden. One day, I signed on to Facebook and saw that Robert had tagged me in a post challenging tea writers to write a post titled “Fine Words Butter No… Read more
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Tea Lattes
The coffee industry would have you believe that the word “latte” means espresso with steamed milk, but “latte” just means milk in Italian. Tea lattes are every bit as much lattes as coffee lattes, and the popularity of masala chai lattes has made that point to coffee drinkers lately. Read more
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What’s the Healthiest Tea?
Unlike some of the other questions I address here, this one has a very straightforward answer. The healthiest tea is the one you’ll actually drink. Read more
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Organic, Fair Trade, and the Ethical Tea Partnership
Ten years ago, I had a pretty simplistic view of the word “organic.” I figured there was some set of guidelines you had to follow, and *presto* — you could put the word organic on your product. As it turns out, things are much more complicated than that. When my… Read more
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How much caffeine is in my tea?
I wish there was a simple answer to this question. It would be ever so cool if I could just say, “black tea has 45 mg of caffeine per 8-ounce cup.” In fact, a number of people say it actually is that simple. Unfortunately, they’re wrong. Read more
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Tea Bloggers Roundtable 2015
Once again, WTE attendees have an opportunity to share in the wacky (and occasionally educational) world of professional tea bloggers. You’re all invited to the Tea Bloggers Roundtable on Thursday, May 7. It will be a panel discussion featuring some of the names tea aficionados just might recognize. Read more
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Scottish Breakfast Tea
Have you ever sat down to a cup of hot, energizing breakfast tea and wondered what the heck makes it a breakfast blend? You never see anyone selling lunch teas or dinner teas. Why breakfast tea? And what’s the difference between Scottish, Irish, and English breakfast teas? Let me explain! Read more
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The Logic of Tea Bar Redesign
It all started simply enough. Gwen looked at the jars of tea and said, “This cubbyhole-based system is too constricting. We have space for nine oolongs. If we want to add a new one, we have to drop one. What if we went to a more open system?” Read more
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Masala Chai Molasses Cookies
Sometimes when you’re cooking with tea, the objective is to be subtle. In this case, it’s not. Kathy wanted to add ginger to her molasses cookie recipe, and it takes something strong to stand up to all of the flavor in these cookies. She selected a strong masala chai. Read more
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Tea and Beer
I’m a fan of beer. I even took a seminar at World Tea Expo about pairing tea and beer, looking for common flavor characteristics in different styles of the two beverages. A conversation with fellow tea blogger Robert Godden, however, got me thinking about the possibility of actually combining them. Read more
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Comparing Apples and … Tea?
I stopped at a stand selling fresh apples in Washington. They had about 50 cultivars of apple, and I was completely overwhelmed. Then it hit me: The deer-in-the-headlights look on my face was just what I’ve seen on people’s faces the first time they walk into my tea bar. Read more
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Canon cameras and oolong tea
Why should you drink oolong tea when you’re taking pictures with a Canon camera? Let me explain… Read more
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Tips for reading news about tea studies
As you read articles about tea and health, it’s important to keep in mind that the person writing the article is usually not the person (or people) who actually performed the study it references, and that the author may have read only the summary, not the whole study. Read more
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A Matcha Mill at World Tea Expo 2014
Have you ever looked at matcha powder and wondered how it’s made? Oh, it sounds very simple: take some high quality Japanese steamed green tea and powder it. But how do you powder it? Read more
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World Tea Expo 2014, Day 3: Revenge of the Pu-erh
The third day of World Tea Expo 2014 started rather unexpectedly, as we pulled into the parking garage and encountered Harley Quinn. On roller skates. Yes, it was cosplay time at a comic book convention. Read more
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Tea Bloggers Roundtable 2014
Last night at World Tea Expo 2014, we had fun on the Tea Bloggers Roundtable. The moderator, Naomi Rosen asked us questions, guided discussion, and took comments from the audience. Nicole Schwartz live tweeted questions and answers for those who couldn’t attend, and Geoffrey Norman heckled us from the audience. Read more
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World Tea Expo 2014, Day 2: Attack of the Clonals
Traditionally, humans have farmed using seeds. That involves mixing DNA, which can have unpredictable results. Taking cuttings, though, means the new plant is identical to the parent plant. This process, whether it entails planting cuttings or grafting varietals onto different rootstock, is known as cloning. Read more
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World Tea Expo 2014, Day 1: The Saga Begins
Day 1 at World Tea Expo 2014 didn’t start that well. I’ve been attending expos and trade shows for decades, and this has to be the hardest one to find ever. We arrived late, there were problems with my badge, and we didn’t get breakfast. But we found BACON TEA! Read more
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Tea plants as props? Thanks, #TeaAcrossAmerica!
When we first joined #TeaAcrossAmerica, I had visions of a big bushy tea plant in the front window at the shop. I still think we can build a neat window display around it at some point. When our tea plant, Tea H. White, arrived, the temperature outside was well below… Read more
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Tea Blogger’s Roundtable in Long Beach
Last year at World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, I attended a Tea Blogger’s Roundtable. It was a great opportunity to talk with some of the big tea bloggers, share experiences, and discuss challenges. This year in Long Beach, California, I’m pleased to be one of the panelists. Read more
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Tea H. White arrives in Montana
Back in November, I wrote about #TeaAcrossAmerica, a program that’s putting tea bushes in all fifty states plus the District of Columbia. By joining the program, I agreed to host Montana’s tea plant, which arrived at my tea shop yesterday. The plant, which we named “Tea H. White,” is a… Read more
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Caffeine Math: How much caffeine is in a tea blend?
For some reason, it seems like I write a lot about caffeine on this blog. My three-part series on the subject is the most popular thing I’ve ever posted. My recent post about theanine talked about caffeine as well. One thing I haven’t addressed in detail is what happens to… Read more
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Tagged! A tea background story
Oh, these silly tagging things that go around. Normally, I ignore them, but Geoffrey Norman (a.k.a. the Lazy Literatus) tagged me for a tea-related Q&A and it’s hard to resist when he looks at you with those big puppy dog eyes. Read more
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Joining Tea Across America
The more I learn about tea, the more I want to learn. The more I experience, the more I want to experience. I experiment, I read books, I read blogs, I attend tea conferences, and I take classes. I buy tea from all over the world, and try out different… Read more
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Gold Nugget Pu-Erh
We went to Portland, Oregon for a book show last week. I was there to roll out my new book (Who Pooped in the Cascades?) and to take a look at interesting books from other authors — not to mention a whole lot of networking. While we were there, I… Read more
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Tea and theanine
L-theanine is an amino acid found in tea, guayusa, and certain mushrooms. It acts as a relaxant, helps to improve concentration, and adds a savory (umami) flavor to whatever it’s added to. Most important—at least when we’re talking about tea—is what it does when combined with caffeine. Read more
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Tea, Hydration, Elevation, and Good Moods
I have heard it since I was a kid: Drink plenty of fluids means water. It doesn’t include caffeinated beverages like tea. That statement didn’t come with much explanation when I was little. Later, Mom explained that only clear liquids count. I couldn’t figure out why 7-Up was okay when… Read more
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Making traditional masala chai at home
I would never presume to tell you the RIGHT way to make a cup of tea. As I’ve mentioned so many times before, there is no single right way to do it. In this post, however, I will talk about one of the TRADITIONAL ways to make masala chai. Read more
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Tea blends you can’t put in a bag
When I’m having fun with tea blends at home (or in my case, at the tea bar), I’m often faced with a conundrum. I want to combine significantly different teas, but they require different steep times or water temperatures — or sometimes both. How can you steep that blend? Read more
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Kombucha: A Tea Guy’s Perspective
Several times in the last couple of years, people have come in to the tea bar and asked if we have kombucha. The first time, I did a quick Google search, looked at the process required to brew it, and said no. After the third time, I figured I should… Read more
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The intimidation factor in tea
In terms of consumer education, the tea industry is where the coffee industry was a couple of decades ago. Nobody went into a coffee shop in the 1970s and ordered a vente half-caf no-foam skinny vanilla latte with a shot of white chocolate and a half-pump of peppermint. Read more
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Tea Dragons
Sometimes my wanderings around the Web are a pure waste of time, and sometimes I end up finding something delightful. This is one of the delightful ones. Read more
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Making sweet tea on demand
If my tea bar was in Georgia, sweet tea wouldn’t be a problem for me, but here in Montana, the demand for sweet tea is pretty low. Why is that a problem? Because properly-prepared sweet tea is made in advance. Read more
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Random observations from the tea bar
Looking for something pithy and educational about tea today? Well, you picked the wrong blog post. Today I am just posting a free association of recent observations and happenings at the my tea bar. Read more
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Vietnamese Lotus Tea
If you walk into an average tea shop, you’re not likely to encounter much Vietnamese tea, if any at all. Vietnam, however, is the sixth-largest producer of tea in the world, with annual production approaching 200,000 tonnes — over double that of Japan, which has fallen to tenth place. Read more
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Tall Montanan is Tall?
I was perusing a post from a fellow tea blogger about World Tea Expo. Perhaps I shouldn’t call it a “post;” it’s more of an essay. Or perhaps a minor tome. If you bound it in creepy leather and added some demons, you could even call it a small grimoire. Read more
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Champagne, Tequila, Darjeeling, and Dark Tea
If you make a carbonated white wine, it’s called a “sparkling wine,” unless you are producing it in the Champagne region of France. Then, and only then, should it be called Champagne. I say “should” because there are a number of countries that didn’t sign (or don’t honor) the treaties… Read more
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Why I Use a Tea Timer
Whether I’m having my favorite tea or experimenting with something new, I time my brew. I do the same at home, in hotel rooms, and (quite discretely) in restaurants. Why do I do this? Read more
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If I learn just one new thing…
Back in my days in the software industry, I used to put on a lot of educational seminars. One day, I was teaching an all-day session and noticed one of my customers, a gentleman by the name of Ken Combs, sitting about fifteen rows back in the audience. At the… Read more
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Joining the Association of Tea Bloggers
I (well, technically this blog) have been accepted for membership in the Association of Tea Bloggers. If you don’t work in the tea business, this probably doesn’t mean much to you, but I am very excited about it. The association has been around for four years this month. It is… Read more
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Tea + sweetener isn’t the same as sweet tea
Here’s a tip for my fellow Yankees: if a Southern friend asks for a cup of sweet tea, do not hand them a glass of iced tea and a couple of packets of sweetener. Sweet tea and sweetened tea are simply not the same thing. Read more
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The Perfect Cup of Tea part 2 (Royal Society of Chemistry)
Today, we’ll look at Britain’s Royal Society of Chemistry, and a 2003 press release they issued called How to make a Perfect Cup of Tea. I’m not sure why the RSoC consider themselves tea experts. Perhaps it’s just that they are British. That must be it. Read more
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Making the perfect cup better?
I believe that standards organizations perform an important service. We may laugh about silly standards from time to time, but where would we be if people couldn’t agree on a standard way to make a cup of tea? Read more
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The Perfect Cup of Tea part 1 (ISO 3103:1980)
Everybody wants to brew the perfect cup of tea. Well, except those silly coffee drinkers, but we usually ignore them on our tea blogs, don’t we? Today, we’ll take a look at what the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has to say about it in the ISO 3103:1980 standard. Read more
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Argentina and Yerba Maté: Stop 8 on the World Tea Tasting Tour
While Europe was getting hooked on coffee and Asia was drinking tea, the people of Argentina and Paraguay were enjoying their own indigenous source of caffeine: yerba maté. Yerba maté comes from a plant called Ilex paraguariensis, a species of holly which contains caffeine and other xanthines. Maté is a… Read more
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The Rooibos of South Africa: Stop 7 on the World Tea Tasting Tour
If you’re looking for a drink with all the health benefits of tea, a similarly great taste, but no caffeine, look to South Africa! Rooibos is made from the South African red bush (Aspalathus linearis). Using rooibos instead of tea is a great way to enjoy a caffeine-free hot (or… Read more
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The Oolongs of Taiwan: Stop 6 on the World Tea Tasting Tour
Taiwan may not have originated oolong tea, but it is definitely at the forefront of oolongs today. At this stop on the tea tour, attendees learned about what oolong tea actually is, and tasted a variety of Taiwanese oolongs, including Bao Zhong, White Tip Bai Hao, and of course Tieguanyin,… Read more
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Deepest Africa – The Tea of Kenya: Stop 5 on the World Tea Tasting Tour
When you think of tea, Africa probably isn’t the first place to pop into your mind, but Kenya is the largest exporter of tea in the world. Tea has revitalized their economy, and tea lovers everywhere became winners. Red Lodge Books & Tea works with family owned plantations in Kenya,… Read more
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Kenyan Tea in the News
For some reason, there seems to be a lot going in in the world of Kenyan tea this month! Kenya is the world’s largest exporter of tea. Not the largest producer, for they consume less than a tenth of the 345,000 tons of tea they produce each year — as… Read more
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Chanoyu: The Way of Tea
This is part two of my article on the Japanese stop of our World Tea Tasting Tour. Part one was posted a few days ago. The Japanese tea ceremony has been around for a very long time, but it was solidified into its current form in the 1500s by a… Read more
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Announcing Myths & Legends of Tea
Most writers don’t like to talk about their work in process. I guess I’m not most writers, because I like to talk about pretty much everything. I do usually hold back, though, until I’m really sure the book is going somewhere. At this point, I’m far enough along that I’m… Read more
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Japan – Bancha to Matcha: Stop 4 on the World Tea Tasting Tour
In 1191, a Buddhist monk named Eisai brought tea to Japan, and the tea world has never been the same. In Japan, when you say “tea,” you mean “green tea,” and that’s what we focused on. Japan is known for its grassy steamed teas, so we started this event there.… Read more
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It’s Always Tea Time in India: Stop 3 on the World Tea Tasting Tour
India: the world’s second-largest producer of tea. Our third stop on the tasting tour explored the world of Indian estate teas, focusing on three large and well-known tea regions in the country: Darjeeling, Assam, and Nilgiri. Red Lodge Books & Tea imports directly from estates in Darjeeling and Assam. We… Read more
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Tea. Earl Grey. Hot: Stop 2 on the World Tea Tasting Tour
Update: The story of the origin of Earl Grey tea is one of the chapters in my book, Myths & Legends of Tea. Check it out! England may not grow many tea plants, but the United Kingdom has had a massive impact on the development and popularization of tea since the… Read more
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Cooking With Rooibos: African Rooibos Hummus
Hummus is currently thought of as a Middle Eastern dish. Lebanon is pushing the European Commission to declare hummus a uniquely Lebanese food. In Israel, hummus is a staple. You can find it anywhere in Turkey or Palestine. But that’s not where the dish originated. Read more
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Fun Blends: Terracotta Army Chocolate Pu–erh
Oh, how I love having fun with blends and logos. This one started out as a custom blend for my wife, Kathy. She is a chocoholic who loves tea. She doesn’t like chocolate tea blends using mild-flavored tea. She likes to be able to taste the chocolate and the tea. Read more
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Far Too Good For Ordinary People
Part of the fun of the tea business is the names. The names of the teas themselves are wonderful — from classics like Iron Goddess of Mercy to house blends like Mr. Excellent’s Post-Apocalyptic Earl Grey — but the industry terminology is fun as well. Let’s take the “orange pekoe”… Read more
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The World Tea Tasting Tour
Over the next couple of months, I will be taking you on a world tour of tea with a series of tastings and classes focused on teas from all around the world. The events will be at our tea bar on Fridays from 5:00 to 6:30. At each session, we’ll taste… Read more
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Active vs. Passive Tea Consumption
There’s a big difference between the way tea is usually served in U.S. tea shops, and the way it’s served in Asia. I’ve been trying for a while to come up with the right words to describe it, and my friend Kory did the job for me last week. Read more
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Seasons of Tea
As my tea bar does more direct tea buying (as opposed to buying through distributors), I have an opportunity to taste some absolutely fascinating teas. As I tasted some estate-grown Darjeelings the other day, I was reminded of how much difference the picking time makes on the character of the… Read more
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Teas, Tisanes, and Terminology
Language evolves. I get that. Sometimes changes make communication easier, clearer, or shorter. Sometimes, however, the evolution of the meaning of a word does exactly the opposite. The subject of this blog is a good example. The word “tea” refers to the tea plant (Camellia sinensis), the dried leaves of… Read more
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Quick and Easy Masala Chai Rice
Sometimes you want to add flavor to a dish without doing something complicated. A perfect example is plain white or brown rice. Here’s a nice trick, especially if you’re cooking Indian food. Read more
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Fun Blends: Fifty Shades of Earl Grey
At the height of popularity of the Fifty Shades of Grey books, I was designing Earl Grey recipes, and thought it would be fun to do a Fifty Shades parody. I didn’t think it would earn a permanent spot on our menu, but it became one of our top sellers. Read more
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What’s the difference between Japanese and Chinese green tea?
As I did last month and the month before, I took a look at some of the search terms that brought people to this blog and found a question that I didn’t really address. This time: “What’s the difference between Japanese and Chinese green tea?” The obvious smart-aleck answer is… Read more
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Tasseomancy
While perusing the Tea Guy Speaks blog, I came across an entry from last May about reading tea leaves (a.k.a. tasseomancy or tasseography). William does a great job of presenting a bunch of books about fortunetelling with tea leaves without really stating how he feels about tasseomancy. He doesn’t judge.… Read more
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Whole Leaf Tea
I try not to be a tea snob (or a Tea Nazi). You drink what you like and I’ll drink what I like. But being a part of the tea industry means I hear from a lot of people with — shall we say — very strong opinions. One thing… Read more
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How Are Samovars Used?
A traditional samovar has two parts: the water heating unit and a small teapot on top. Originally, the water was heated by coal or charcoal, with a chimney rising through the center. Nowadays, electric samovars are common — as much as you can call a samovar “common,” anyway. Read more
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Old familiar blends vs. creative house blends
It’s a dilemma for anyone who owns or manages a tearoom: how many different teas shall I carry and how many of them should be funky house blends versus the traditional stuff everyone else carries? Read more
Tea With Gary 