Category: Tea Features
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Ukrainian Ivan Chai . . . from Canada
Back in June, I was tagged in an Instagram post by O5 Tea. It featured a very familiar plant. Pedro, one of the tea outfit’s co-owners referenced my first Ivan Chai article to go along with something they just produced for their brick-‘n-mortar shop and website. I remember having a conversation with Pedro right after…
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Bordering on Sheng Puerh
Let’s talk about border sheng. As long-time readers already know, I’m a bit of an old hat (and advocate) of sheng cha produced outside of Yunnan province, China. I’ve devoted the last decade or so to trying sheng cha from countries along (or near) the Yunnanese border. The Phongsaly region of Laos, the Kokang region…
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Ivan Chai from Tver Oblast
One of the nerdy pursuits we in the tea community like to pay attention to is origin. Single origin teas are the bread-‘n-butter of tea geekery. However, outside of good ol’ Camellia sinensis, herbal infusions aren’t really given the same consideration. That is, unless the herb in question can’t be found outside of a certain…
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The “Aera” of Nepalese White Tea
One of the (few) benefits of this whole quarantine/lockdown thing we’ve endured so far in 2020 has been the chance to get to know new people. Granted, not in real outdoor life, but in an online capacity. During this period, I had a video call/tea session with one Joe Stanek, co-purveyor of the company Aera…
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An Ivan Chai Diary
At the beginning of May (of 2020), I received a box from Moychay . . . A blogger friend saw the write-up I did on Ivan Chai a couple of months prior, and recommended I get in contact with this Russian-based vendor. Apparently, they had a whole slew of Ivan Chai products, highlighting the many…
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Heralding the Rose of Wuyi
This is Dan. Dan’s a pretty solid dude, and a darn good friend. Dan is also married to my matcha dealer. Dan’s a lucky sonuva- . . . I’m getting off-topic already, aren’t I? Let’s start over.
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The Fairhope Tea Plantation
As I’ve said many times, it often takes a mere photograph to grab my attention, and to remind me of something I’ve neglected. For instace, this one. This was posted in August by blogger compatriot (and all-around great guy) Eric of One Man’s Tea Journey. In the spring of 2019, he paid a visit to…
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The Age of Honey Orchid
If there’s one kind of oolong that has the most fantastical origin story, it’s Dan Cong. A name that translates as “single bush or tree”. The story of this tea has its roots in the last days of the Southern Song dynasty. Around 1279 C.E., Zhao Bing (or Song Di Bing)—the final child emperor—had fled…
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Why I Talk About Indian Teas . . . A Lot
There’s a question I always get from fellow tea heads, and it’s one that has increased in frequency over the last couple of years: “So, what’s the deal with Indian teas?” Or some permutation of that. I’m not sure when it happened, but I became known (peripherally) in a few tea circles as the “Indian…
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The Legend of Ivan Chai
A couple of years ago, I tried a unique herbal “tea” from Latvia. It was called “Rosebay Willowherb”. The sample was sent to me by a now-defunct company, and what intrigued me most was the processing method. While the purple flowers of the plant were dried in the typical tisane manner, the leaves were almost…