Why Quality Water Is Important for Your Brew - The Wonderful Duet of Tea and Water
A famous tea scholar from Ming dynasty once wrote in his book, “that beautiful tea’s inner aroma is stimulated by water. No water, no tao of tea”. Water bears tea,...
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The Right Way To Brew a Great Cup of Shu Pu-erh Tea
Shu puerh tea undergoes a fermentation process which creates that unique shu flavor profile. While sheng puerh tea in general creates a stronger sensation, shu puerh in general is mellower...
Video: How to Properly Break Off Leaves From a New Tea Cake
Learn how to properly and safely break off the leaves of a new tea cake through this helpful instructional video featuring Victoria of Meimei Fine Teas.
Video: How to Brew A Great Cup of Green Tea
Learn how to get the most out of your green tea with this engaging instructional video from Meimei Fine Teas' Victoria outlining the critical elements involved in producing your most...
A Perfect Circle: Tasting the 2013 Fuding White Peony Natural Beauty Cake
History: Fuding County in Fujian Province is not just a core-producing area for white tea; it is the place that gave birth to the white tea we know today, beginning...
The Joy of Tasting a Pu'erh: Lao Man'E Ancient Tree, Sheng
Last week, we discussed what to expect when you venture into the exotic territory of pu’erh tasting. Unlike other forms of tea, it is pu’erh that usually has the most...
Caffeine and Your Tea: Myths and Misconceptions
There are a surprisingly large number of people with caffeine sensitivities. Even when exposed to low amounts, these people will experience the effects from it, suffering from sleep disturbances or...
Green Tea Steeping FAQ: How Long You Should Brew, Resteeping, Water Quality and More
In today’s post, we’re going to look closely at some of the most commonly encountered problems and questions tea drinkers have when attempting to brew green tea. If you’ve ever...
How to Drink Tea from a Gaiwan
Although the gaiwan remains the most widely preferred teaware for gongfu tea ceremonies, did you know that it can also be used more casually? Indeed, one reason it has retained...
The Complete Guide to Iced Tea, Pt. I: Flash Chilling
Summer is quickly approaching, and as the temperatures begin to rise, so do our desires for cooler drinks to combat the heat. A long-time favorite in this regard for many...
What Makes for a Good Green Tea?
Have you ever wondered what exactly makes for a good green tea? With so many options on the market, how can you tell which is better than which? Is...
A Brief Guide to Steeping Loose Leaf Teas
Some who turn to loose-leaf tea for the first time find it immediately distasteful. Perhaps the most frequent complaint is that their tea tastes bitter or astringent. No matter how...
Should You Use Bottled Water or Tap Water for Your Tea? It’s Complicated.
If you’re like most tea drinkers, you have a daily ritual that involves selecting your favorite tea, heating your water, and then infusing your tea leaves until it’s ready to...
How Can You Get the Most Out of your Pu-erh?
Pu-erh is beloved by tea enthusiasts worldwide. The pressed cakes, often wrapped in eye-catching packaging, come in a medley of beautiful colors, and the range of exotic, complex flavors...
Pairing Your Tea and Teaware, A Regional Approach
For some of us, selecting the teaware we plan to use on any given day is an emotional or aesthetic decision. We might feel good about a gaiwan one...
Do You Really Need to Preheat Your Mug or Teapot?
It’s really easy to get complacent when it comes to daily routines. We’ll leave our freshly laundered clothes lying around an extra day or two; we’ll worry about our kitchen...
Are You Waiting Too Long to Resteep your Tea?
On each of our tea journeys, we discover our own unique ways of preparing tea. Some of us prefer the gaiwan to the teapot, oolong to white tea, or unsweetened...
Essential Teaware Explained: Your Guide to Gaiwan and How to Use It, Part 2
Last week, we started to discuss the gaiwan, taking a brief look at its history and in what ways it differs from a teapot. Usually consisting of a small bowl...
What You Need to Know About Commercial Grade Tea
We’ve all been there. Whether you’re visiting a hip, local neighborhood for some window shopping or you’re strolling down the aisles in the grocery store, inevitably, you will find some...
If Your Tea Doesn’t Taste Right, You May Be Making One of the Most Common Mistakes
Following up last week’s blog on some of the most important elements that affect your perfect cup of tea, we decided to complement that advice by zeroing in on an all-too-common...
How to Make the Perfect Cup of Tea? Remember: WWTT
Sometimes no matter how hard you try, your cup of tea just doesn’t turn out right. Does it taste too weak? Too bitter? Maybe it doesn’t taste right? What could...
What You Need to Make Pu Erh Tea Like a Pro
We’ve spent the last few weeks extolling the virtues of pu erh, addressing some common misconceptions, and providing some advice for picking out good teas while avoiding bad ones. Inevitably,...
What is Gong Fu Style Tea and Why is it Special?
There are many enthusiastic tea drinkers who are already familiar with the term gong fu, believing that it denotes a form of tea preparation. This is somewhat true, and we’ve...
Your Guide to Ultimate Iced Tea - Cold Brew Pomelo Flower Dan Cong Oolong
Making iced tea can sometimes be a little tricky. Between monitoring your infusion times and calculating the amount of ice to use, there is a lot of room for mistakes....
Two Tips for the Perfect Cup of Tea in the Spring
For so many of us, our desires for food and drink mirror the mood of the season. As the temperature cools, for instance, we tend to reach for warmer foods...
A Beginner’s Guide to Purchasing Loose Leaf Tea
If you’re shopping for loose leaf tea for the first time, it’s easy to make some rookie mistakes. How much tea should you purchase? Is one bag enough or will...
Your Guide to the Tea Cup – Part II
Have you ever noticed that some tea cups are really tiny and others are larger? Maybe you’ve wondered why some tend to be slender and tall while others are...
Your Guide to the Tea Cup – Part I
Contrary to popular belief, wine connoisseurs have only discovered recently the importance of the wine glass and the role that it plays in enhancing the taste of their favorite...
Making Tea? This is the Most Important Thing to Have - Part II
So what else do you need to know? In general, you want to think carefully about the kind of tea you intend to prepare. Teapots or gaiwans crafted from...
Making Tea? This is the Most Important Thing to Have - Part I
One of the most exciting elements of being a loose leaf tea drinker is the beauty of the entire tea drinking experience. And if there’s any one thing that can...
A Beginner’s Guide to Loose Leaf Tea
Loose leaf tea makes for some incredible cups of tea, especially if you know what you are doing. So many people, used to the convenience of bagged tea, let these...
The First Thing to do with Your Loose Leaf Tea
If it’s your first time purchasing loose leaf tea, things can seem a little overwhelming once you have the leaves at home for yourself. Many of us were raised on...
That One Tea Steeping Trick : Leaf Agitation
Today, we’re going to look at a step that might be more even neglected than the water pouring, and that is agitation. If you have ever observed any of the...
Make Your Tea Instantly Better – The Art of Pouring
Whenever you pick up a skill for the first time, the attention is usually given to the basics before moving on to more advanced techniques. At some point, however, that...
Ranking the Top Three Teas to Help Keep you Warm
Not many people enjoy frigid temperatures, but there’s no denying that it brings some exciting smells, flavors, foods, and drinks. So with colder weather finally beginning to settle in, we...
How to Measure Your Loose Leaf Tea
It can be a little difficult transitioning from bagged tea to loose leaf tea. Bagged teas can make things convenient for tea drinkers because they have already separated the tea...
The Secret to a Good Cup of Tea
Purchasing loose leaf tea for the first time can be an exciting experience, but it can also be overwhelming. After all, loose leaf demands more of our attention, and though...
The History of Tea Bags
For the past several decades, we have lived in a culture of convenience. Contributing to this trend has been the emergence of the tea bag. The use of...
Celebrate Summer: How to Throw a Tea Party
Do you need an excuse to get together with some friends and family? Consider a fun, retro idea: throwing a tea party. A tea party creates an excellent event for...
Should You Microwave Your Tea?
Articles have been making their rounds across the internet recently, such as one by Huffington Post, which appear to be citing an Australian study from the University of Newcastle that...
Tea Storage 201: Properly Storing Your Tea
In our previous two posts, we looked a little at what oxidation means and at how tea is processed and prepared. In today’s post, we’re going to continue to apply...
The Importance of Water Quality in Brewing Tea
Has your tea ever tasted “flat”, bitter, or like chemicals? While purchasing inferior or questionable tea can certainly make for a poor tea drinking experience, another thing to consider is...
Caffeine Levels in Tea
Have you ever wondered about the caffeine content in your cup of tea? There’s a lot of misinformation out there regarding the relationship between you, your tea, and caffeine, and...
Tips on Drinking Tea: Don’t Let Milk Spoil Your Tea
It is a common practice amongst the English to drink their tea with some milk and sugar. While this might be an English tradition, it is certainly not the way...
Art of Preparing Tea II
In the Art of Preparing Tea I, we discussed why different tea preparation techniques can be useful and introduced two of them. Today’s entry will focus on Gongfu Style and...
The Tao of Tea: Part Three (Art of Preparing Tea )
In the previous entry, I wanted to set up the parameters for how to brew tea well. While much is permitted, there are still ways in which one can go...
The Tao of Tea: Part One (Philosophy of Preparing Tea)
Preparing tea is like contemplating the perfect circle. What is a perfect circle after all? To a philosopher like Plato, it is because of the perfect form that things come...
The Connoisseur’s Tea Tasting Guide
So you feel like you’re somewhat familiar with the differences in tea by region and you have a grasp on more advanced tea tasting guidelines, but now you’re wondering how...
The Secret to Amazing Iced Tea - Cold Brew!
Beat the heat with a great home-made cold brew! For an amazingly refreshing, full-flavored and healthy iced tea experience, we recommend a cold-brew of our premium Anji Bai Cha green...
Is Decaf Tea Good For Me?
Decaffeination is the process of removing caffeine from tea leaves. One would assume that decaffeinated tea would not contain any caffeine; however, the decaf label only means that caffeine has...