Many of us who love tea also love tea things, and often build collections of teapots, teacups, and various tea accoutrements. I myself must have at least thirty or forty teapots and about as many teacups, along with gaiwans, aroma cups, and other “stuff.” No doubt many of you do too. A couple of years …
Continue reading 2 Great Books to Get You Started Collecting Teapots
There are lots of articles everywhere you look about things you can do with tea – loose or in teabags – besides drink it. I’ve written several of these myself, and certainly it’s a topic that has been visited more than once here on The English Tea Store Blog. When it comes to beauty, tea …
Can you believe that it’s been six months since I wrote about my kitties? Well, good news: It’s time for an update! When last we visited the feline menagerie ‘way back in June, we had just lost our sweet Piţi, three months before his tenth birthday. He, along with his brother Sami and sister Shana, …
There are very few things I do that are not accompanied by a cup of tea (and no, I’m not going to tell you what those things are!). For most activities, tho’, there’s a tea that nicely complements it. Take holiday gift-wrapping for example. I always enjoy giving and receiving gifts that are wrapped so …
The process of glazing ceramics is pretty straightforward: a silica-based blend of chemicals and minerals is applied to porous ceramic (porcelain, earthenware, stoneware, china, raku, or any other type) and then fired, or baked, in a super-hot oven, or kiln, until the mixture melts and adheres to the ceramic surface. When it cools, this process …
Everybody knows that nobody likes fruitcake. We all secretly fear opening up a beautifully wrapped gift and finding “it” inside. Or being served a slice and surreptitiously wrapping it in our napkin and stuffing it … somewhere. Anywhere. As long as we don’t have to eat it! Let’s face it: Fruitcake has gotten a really …
Continue reading Cooking with Tea: Fruitcake You’ll Actually Want to Eat!
Jewish people around the world will be celebrating Chanukah this year from the evening of December 8th to the afternoon of December 16th. While the eight-day long holiday normally falls in December (the dates are designated according to the Jewish lunar calendar), and there is a tradition of gift-giving, Chanukah is not – as some …
During the post-World War II years, the USA spent a great deal of money and manpower to help our former enemies rebuild their economies. One of these projects in Japan was the re-establishment of ceramics production. While Japan had a centuries-old tradition of ceramics (stoneware, china, porcelain) ranging from functional to decorative before the war, …
Yesterday was another one of those days … a day when I had so many errands to run that I never got around to having tea. On a normal day – that is, a day when I’m working at home, or can finish my errands in short order – I consume between 24 and 72 …
Is conversation really becoming a lost art, as some folks claim? Are we as a culture no longer able to discuss diverse topics rationally, intelligently, and charmingly? After the recent screeching election cycle one might reasonably wonder … For centuries, ladies and gentlemen – starting at very young ages – were taught by mentors, tutors, …
