Tag: green tea
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Vietnamese Green Teas from Ha Giang
A few years ago, I tried “Snow Shan” green tea from Vietnam . . . And I hated it. Okay, maybe “hate” is too strong of a word; “touchy” would be better. It was really difficult to brew. If I went out-of-bounds on the steeping parameters, the leaves imparted a bitter and astringent brew, not…
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Tea from Jersey. (Not THAT Jersey.)
Let’s talk about Jersey. No, not that Jersey. This Jersey. The island of Jersey—better known locally and colloquially—as the Bailiwick of Jersey is one of the larger islands located in the English Channel. In fact, all such islands are considered “Channel Islands”, collectively. And, like the Bailiwick of Guersney, Jersey is considered a dependency of…
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The Nilgiris in Winter
I’ve written about the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu a couple of times, now. But there’s one period of time I haven’t yet quite covered. Mainly because . . . it’s not really a growing season, in the traditional sense. In fact, the issue of seasonal “flushes” in the Nigiris gets a little confusing, especially come…
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Green Tea from Bhutan
Did you know they grow tea in Bhutan? Well, until a few months ago, neither did I.
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There Once Were Two Teas from Huiming
Sometimes, in my search for new teas to try, I get drawn in by mentions of particular producers. This is Wei Zhong He. I first learned of him through my dealings with Kevin Gascoyne (Camellia Sinensis Tea House’s “Darjeeling guy”), and he particularly caught my attention for one reason. He experimented with using Darjeeling first…
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How My Brain Made Me Love Chinese Green Teas (Again)
Well, it’s spring again, and with it comes warmer weather. That’s how it is in the Pacific Northwest. I’m . . . not a fan. The reason? With warmer weather comes seasonal chronic migraines; a fun little diagnosis I received back in 2017. And it puts a heck of a damper on my routine tea…
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Tea at the Temple Gates
On the odd occasion, I leave the house to hunt for tea. It’s a rare occurrence—much like a hermitic groundhog hailing the arrival of spring—but it’s been known to happen. Sometimes that urge falls upon me at night, on a Friday. And on one such night in the spring of 2018, I found myself at…
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Should Sheng Cha Be Considered Heicha?
In May of 2017, I asked tea peers on social media a simple question: Is Vietnamese sheng puerh style heicha a thing? At least . . . I thought it was a simple question. That query sparked a minor debate about the nature of heicha, and whether or not sheng puerh (or sheng puerh-style tea)…
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A Tea Leaf on the Wind
In the hierarchy of tea businesses, monthly tea subscription services are like man-buns. Unless you have a really good reason for starting one—or your name is Toshiro Mifune—it is usually best not to. Since 2014, there has been a veritable surge of tea start-ups, and the route they’ve all chosen? You guessed it, the monthly…