Steep Stories

Category: Tea Features

  • A Mabian, Sichuan Tea Flight

    This may come as a surprise (to no one), but I’m a bit of a lurker in the tea community. Various social media groups exist celebrating our beloved beverage and the many facets therein. On Facebook alone, I keep a keen eye out for interesting posts by some members of these groups. Particularly if someone…

  • A Series of Single Origin Tea Sonnets

    In the Spring of 2017, I met this eccentric chap.

  • Tea, Coffee, and the Arakai Estate Terroir

    The family Collins, purveyors of the Arakai Estate, have had a busy year. Which is a bit of an understatement.

  • Tea Grown in Peru

    Spoiler alert: there’s tea growing in Peru. I know, that’s not a surprise to anyone. After all, the country is considered the 28th largest tea producer in the world. However, until last year, it was completely new news to me. But let’s begin with where I began in my pursuit for Peruvian tea.

  • A Wild Darjeeling

    This is an awkward statement to make right now . . . but . . . I’ve been on a bit of a Darjeeling kick, lately. Especially given recent (at the time of this writing) news reports. And I’m not going to delve into any of that. This is a tea blog; I tell tea…

  • A Kazuo Kit of Sencha from the Land of Bears

    Let’s get right to the point, I’ve been a fan of the sencha brand, Mellow Monk, for years. Pretty much since the early days of my tea blogging career. The only one who seemed unaware of this, however . . . was Mellow Monk.

  • Singpho Phalap

    Back in 2015, I was reading one of Nicole “Tea For Me Please” Martin’s weekly roundups. In those, she lists off her five favorite tea blog articles of that week. I happened to be reading it that day to . . . see if I made the cut. (Yes, I’m narcissistic.) But I soon got…

  • Heicha Happy Hour

    For most of this spring, I’ve been on a bit of a heicha kick. Not puerh . . . heicha. As in, dark (or fermented) teas not from Yunnan province, China. I’m not sure when it all started, but I have a feeling this dude had something to do with it.

  • A Single Origin Georgian Tea Flight

    To date, I’ve had three or four experiences with Georgian teas. As in, teas grown in the country of Georgia; not the U.S. state. However, there was one type of tasting session I had yet to do. That being, to try all the wares from one farmer/producer, in order to enjoy their individual quirks and…

  • Rou Gui’s Revenge

    I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Rou Gui was the first Wuyi oolong (or Yancha) that I ever liked. Before a certain Da Hong Pao back-flipped my palate, I never really took a liking to Wuyi rock oolongs. They always tasted like . . . well . . . roasted rocks. In leaf form.…