Tea, like life, is an experiment - tweak variables, check outcomes and see what works for you. And remember, the experiment never goes bad, you just get a new experience and if you happen to steep too long with water that it hotter than usual, just remember, you’ve created a stronger heart tonic and all is well. Relax, enjoy and have fun in the world of tea!
In the world of tea, different teas are seen as having their own thermal nature. Cooling, neutral and warming. Green and white teas are seen as cooling, yellow and oolong as neutral, black, dark oolongs and pu’er as warming.
We have been hearing from some of our growers about the impact of climate change on their crops in China and Taiwan. With more droughts followed by too much rain, agriculture in general is having a harder time all around the globe. Here is an interesting article about what some in the tea world are looking into to keep tea growing despite climate change. We thought you’d like to read it.
We would add that while some of the article focuses on the soil degradation due to the use of inorganic spraying, as it does here in the US as well, that we look to growers who are not using sprays and instead are growing organically and biodynamically to supply us (and you). It is the large scale growing operations in the world that are using inorganic measures due to the fact that mono-culture growing is simply not sustainable at this poin and might not ever be. It’s simply not natural.
In the sitting in stillness with the object or subject of the haiku, I can let the poem write itself without feeling the agitation that grade school writing would sometimes bring up.
Summer’s here and the time is right for icing of the tea! Here are some easy to follow guidelines to play with to maximize your summer time with friends and family.
Yellow tea, the rarest of the tea variants, is oft lauded by many as less grassy in flavor than its close cousin, green tea, due to the yellowing “or sealing” process.
When we sit with another and share tea, we hold a space where we provide nourishment and bring comfort. In this great giving and caring about another, we also receive. It is a space of true connection and many good things can happen.
Hi folks! Amanda Leightner of Rochester Rising came by and we had a wonderful time talking tea on her podcast. If you’d like to listen to it, please click here. Wishing you great joy and vibrant health.
White tea - the least processed and mildest of all of the teas. Why is it called white tea and what happens to the leaf after it is picked? Let’s find out!
Oh, how we love the lore and legend that goes along with some of the teas we drink everyday. Since we are in the office sipping Da Hong Pao oolong right now, I’d like to share its story with you.
Have you been hanging out with your tea head friends and wonder what they mean when they speak of "grandpa style"? Maybe you overheard someone talking about the great experience they had brewing it "farmer style." What do these terms mean, you ask? Let's find out!
When I am preparing tea for others, I am often asked what the deal is with the "rinse" of the tea leaves. It would appear to the uninitiated that I am dumping perfectly good tea. So what is the rinse and is it necessary?
As the air begins to cool and the days shorten, already we see an increase in the sales of the darker teas here at Mandala. Almost as if by instinct, people begin to choose the ripe pu'ers, the black teas and the darker oolongs, gravitating toward the heartier and hotter teas.
