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Tea Blog

Official Blog of the English Tea Store


  • Tea Elegance on a Budget, Part Two

    What a wonderful feeling to face the day with a hot cup of tea warming your hands.  You are sure to cherish the memories of friends, food and tea all wrapped up in an elegant party.  You have done your prep work and today, the day of the event, you know you can remain calm… Continue reading

  • Tea Room Charm Is Not Dead

    There’s been a lot of discussion lately about attracting more men to tea rooms—and whether that shift has somehow diminished their charm. Some suggest tea rooms need to feel more like “man caves” or workshops to appeal broadly. While it’s true that a few modern tea rooms have adopted a more minimalist or industrial aesthetic,… Continue reading

  • Tea and the Tea Trade, circa 1850

    An American merchant who spent much of his life in China, Gideon Nye wrote several works on Chinese commerce and culture, many of which are now available digitally. One of the most notable is Tea and the Tea Trade: Parts First and Second, published in 1850. Originally appearing in Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine, the material was… Continue reading

  • Teas of the World: “Tippy” Teas

    Tippy is a term that describes a tea which has many golden tips (the newly budding leaf). It usually designates a higher quality of tea, especially as part of the Orange Pekoe grading system. For example, there is TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) which represents some of the most precious tea in the world.… Continue reading

  • Korean Ginger “Tea” (Tisane)

    Featured as one of the five herbal infusions that I would like to explore more, Korean Ginger “Tea” is a deliciously sweet, invigorating ginger brew that I often feel I can’t get enough of. As the quote marks in the title (and its inclusion in my previous article) indicate, it is technically a herbal infusion… Continue reading

  • Time to Temper That Tea Temper

    Flowering teas deserve proper brewing… Why Do Tea Lovers Lose Their Cool? Common Tea Frustrations Explained Tea is often associated with calmness, relaxation, and quiet moments. So why do even the most devoted tea lovers occasionally lose their composure? As it turns out, there are quite a few situations that can test the patience of… Continue reading

  • On the Downsides of Free Tea

    One of the things you might find, after you’ve been operating a tea blog for eight years or so, is that you’ll probably be sent lots of free stuff. I sure have been. One of my regrets about operating such a site is that I didn’t keep track of this impressive outpouring from the beginning,… Continue reading

  • The Confusion of “Purple Tea”

    Purple tea from Kenya What Is Purple Tea? Trend, Marketing, or a Truly Unique Tea? The rise of “purple tea” raises an interesting question for tea lovers: Is this a genuinely new category of tea—or simply clever marketing? With tea drinkers always eager to explore something new, it’s worth taking a closer look at what… Continue reading

  • Thoughts on the Term “Matcha”

    I don’t claim to be an expert on tea. I’ve learned a few things in the years I’ve been writing about it, but just enough to make me realize how much more there is to learn. From the time I learned of matcha, I was under the impression that it was a powdered green tea… Continue reading

  • Tea Doughnuts

    The warm embrace of your tea creates visions of cakes, scones and pastries dancing through your mind. Whether you’re a Queen or simply your average tea lover, I am sure on a few occasions you have indulged in this wonderful marriage of food and drink. Putting tea in your food will help to enunciate the… Continue reading