Tea for Stronger Teeth?

Is the fluoride in tea guilty of dental problems?

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Inspiring enthusiasts to refine their taste in tea

Too Hot to Handle?

If you drink your tea very hot, that may increase your risk of cancer, according to a World Health Organization research agency.

Pile-fermentation: The Catalyst that Creates Shou Puer

The 45-day pile-fermentation process involves moistening large stacks of sun-dried crude tea leaves. The leaves are piled high and carefully monitored to produce a dark composted tea known as Shou Puer.

Puer Peanut Butter Cheesecake

puer and peanut butter, a combination made in gastronomic heaven that celebrates both the savoury and sweet profile of both ingredients simultaneously.

HARVEST REVIEW 2016

Tea Journey’s first annual harvest review gives you the big picture on the global tea business in 2016 along with insider information from local experts on some of the year’s most interesting teas. Especially for tea enthusiasts in the West, we hope this issue brings you a step or two closer to your favourite tea gardens – and your next new favourites!

Inside the Taster’s Practice

Experiencing the taste of tea and then describing that experience in spoken and written language is an art and a science, dependent on both inspiration and a lot of hard work. Professional tasters discuss some of the key questions about their craft.

Purnima Rai’s Nepal Garden

Smallholders are the backbone of the tea industry, especially in underdeveloped Nepal. Here’s the story of one Nepali smallholder: a widowed grandmother who has spent a lifetime in tea, nature, faith and family.

Teabags too Charming to Compost

Most tea connoisseurs will choose loose leaf over a teabag. But one New York artist is doing something wonderful with teabags that you can’t do with loose leaf.

Lepod Tea Brewer

A Shanghai company has invented a tea appliance that it claims can brew tea as well as a skilled gong fu cha artist but in a fraction of the time.

Nepal Kanchenjenga

Nepali Tea Opportunity

A lack of infrastructure, a lack of capital, natural disasters, a pandemic, and a very tough competitor at the border – these are the challenges faced by Nepal growers.

The Significance of the Utah Teapot

Tea—in particular, one special teapot—holds a special place of honour in the history and ongoing development of digital 3D modelling.

Two Centuries of Iconic Spode

Italian ceramics maker Spode celebrates the bicentennial of its trademark pattern with an exquisite limited edition collection.

Rock On: Designer Porcelain Dinnerware

American interior designer Kathryn Scott’s new line of porcelain tea ware is inspired by natural forms and the grand traditions of porcelain design in China.

Growers Hope to Revive Georgian Tea

For most of the past century, Georgia was one of the world’s leading tea producers, supplying the unremarkable brew that filled tea cups in the Soviet Union. The Soviet collapse and the country’s civil war virtually killed the industry, but it’s starting to make a comeback.

Tasting Notes: Georgian Tea

What kind of tea is coming out of Georgia these days? Well, it’s not your (Georgian) grandfather’s tea! We recently sampled a green and some black teas from producers reviving a tea industry that under the Soviet Union was once the world’s fourth largest producer.

HARVEST REVIEW 2016: China

The Chinese tea industry, responsible for a third of global tea production, will remember 2016 mainly for the challenge of recovering from severe spring frost. Early spring tea was hit hard but the late spring harvest made up somewhat for the early losses. It has added up to overall lower sales compared to 2015, especially for the higher grades.

Yongzhong Xie: Tireless Tea Master

Meet Yongzhong Xie: born into tea, raised by tea and to a great extent, defined by his tea. A tea master and a task master, Mr. Xie demonstrates the art of manufacturing fine Keemun tea.

HARVEST REVIEW 2016: Southern China

It’s never a bad year for tea in Southern China, home of Anxi and Wuyi wulongs and many more outstanding varieties. But a wet spring dampened this year’s harvest, especially in early May when heavy rain brought tragedy to the region. Recommendations from the region this year include two Dancong oolongs from Guangdong province, Rougui from Wuyi, and jasmine.

Hawaii: the Spirit of Tea is alive

A community of artisanal tea growers has taken root in Hawaii and it’s finding success in niche tea markets internationally. For one Chinese-American couple, their new career keeps them connected with their art and their family’s tea heritage.

Hawaii: Lifegiving Terroir

Hawaii’s climate, soils and topography make it a natural place to grow tea. But the rich physical and biological diversity of the islands pose both opportunities and challenges for the first generation of Hawaiian tea producers.

HARVEST REVIEW 2016: Australia

2016 was a good year for the growing tea industry in Australia. Australians have a history of being black tea drinkers and following their mostly British heritage, but that is rapidly changing. Gardens there specialize in Japanese and Taiwan style teas with a reputation for high quality and distinctive taste from the continent’s varied terroir.

Harvest Review: Jiangbei China

Photographs by Huiling Liang Jiangbei (literally means River North, refers to the area north of the Yangtze River in eastern […]

Hobbyists Building a Tea Industry

Hawaii is experiencing the birth of a new cottage industry: tea farming. The American state is taking advantage of favourable terroir to build an environmentally sustainable industry. Its development approach is based on research, innovation and cooperation.

HARVEST REVIEW 2016: Japan

Tamiko Kinezuka: “We make tea with great effort, and hope you will drink our passion with your tea. As my father says, ‘Please taste the tea in one half of your cup, and the heart of its farmer on the other.’ “

Taiwan: Off the Beaten Path

With Taiwan’s compact size and its modern transport and communication infrastructure, one can easily visit a tea grower anywhere on […]

Destination: The Wisteria Teahouse, a Cultural Treasure

Taiwan has teahouses of every sort, from Laoren (old man’s) style where common tea leaves are steeped in ordinary drinking glasses, to quiet Daoist establishments, to modern shops where scanning social media sites on mobile phones and laptops is OK.

Beginner’s Bonsai

Bonsai master Bob Langholm offers these instructions for caring for a miniature C. sinensis plant in your own home. Leaves from the beautiful little tree on your table also make a fine cup of tea.

Bonsai: Master of the Miniature

Just as in the world of tea, there is a gulf between mass-produced and master-produced bonsai. A true artist’s worth is measured by how well he manipulates a plant to make it a thing of enduring value, a work of living art that evolves and changes over time.

Regal Rituals

The English, says author and tea historian Jane Pettigrew, “have forgotten a lot of the importance, significance, and history of our tea drinking habits.”

Keemun Black Tea and mushrrom risotto

Keemun Mushroom Risotto

This Keemun Mushroom Risotto is so hearty and satisfying that you’d never think it’s completely vegetarian. There are 2 star […]

A Summer Barbecue

As the weather warms and you fire up your grills, it is second nature to reach for an iced tea or Tea Sangria, but tea isn’t just great accompanying grilled food, it can play a role within that food as well.  Consider Matcha and White Bean Dip, or upgrading your S’mores!

Can Tea Lower Your Risk of Diabetes?

The benefits of tea may be due to its influence on the digestion of glucose (blood sugar), the ADA noted, or because of tea’s high polyphenol content.

Modern Future for Ancient Remedy: Tea

Evidence dating to antiquity attests to the medicinal powers of tea, but Tetley foresees a future where “remedy teas,” teas […]

aged pu'er

The Aroma of Pu’er

Originating in Yunnan’s large-leaf species, pu’er tea can be stored for many years. Its aroma diminishes gradually.  A latent note is uncovered as volatile aromatic compounds with a low boiling point dissipate. A quality piece of new raw pu’er cake with proper storage will develop a clean and robust grassy aroma and then flower, fruit, honey, plum, almond, and woody aroma, finally expressing the epitomic vintage notes.

Harvest Review: Southwestern China

China’s southwestern region includes Tibet, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Chongqing. The southwestern region is the oldest tea producing region in […]

Harvest Review: South Korea Ujeon-Sejak (Early Season)

Many tea connoisseurs wait for this first harvest each year, which is usually only available in very small quantities, and will most likely be gone within the first few months or even weeks of its harvest.