Tea Blog

Forgetting to Time Your Tea

January 27, 2012 in Preparing Tea and Herbals | Tags: Tea Steeping, timer | by A.C. Cargill | 1 comment

Forgetfulness is not the exclusive province of the elderly. At least that’s what I keep telling myself, and thus am assured that being forgetful is not a sign of being over the hill. Many people — even some decades younger than me — forget things due to their busy lives, including attending to their children. I don’t have that excuse either. So, why do I often forget to time my tea? No idea, but I do know that it’s not a total disaster.

A big note on the teapot to remember to time the tea!

The good news is that forgetting to time your tea is not the end of the world. Nor does it mean that you have to dump the oversteeped tea down the drain (or water your garden with it). There are options:

If it’s a fairly strong black tea such as an Assam, you can add a bunch of sweetener and, if you are one who can stand milk in your tea, you can add some milk. That will take away the bitterness.
If it’s a green tea like gunpowder, I find that thinning it with some water heated to the proper steeping temperature helps.
A little lemon juice would be a help, with just the right amount of sour balancing out the astringency.
Ditto for a sprinkle of cinnamon or some other flavoring according to your particular taste. In fact, if you have typical chai spices on hand, turn your oversteeped tea into a spiced chai.
And then there are recipes where you can use strongly steeped tea in place of broth or water. Soups, stews, casseroles, baked goods, or more, are possibilities here.

Of course, the best cure is prevention. Time to implement a timer. Having a full set of fingers and toes, I nevertheless find using them as my instruments to keep track of the passing seconds and minutes for steeping to be a tad tricky. With so many timers available, from those shaped like mini hourglasses and filled with colored sand to high-tech apps for your iPhone or computer, timing your tea should be a no-brainer.

But, how do you remember to use the timer? Ah, as the Bard said, there lies the rub. You could enlist your spouse or other family member or a roommate to remind you, but who will remind them? This could end up being an infinite regression, like images in fun house mirrors, with Donny reminding Susie to remind Tiffany that she promised to remind Harry to remind you to set the timer when you steep your tea.

Hm… maybe a note on the teapot would be simpler.

A big note.

A big big BIG note.

Well, anyway, even if you forget to time your tea, you can save it with the options listed above. And don’t worry about your forgetfulness being due to old age. Blame it on insufficient sleep, your mind being occupied with deep thoughts, or some such excuse… uh, I mean legitimate reason.

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Jasmine Tea Roundup

January 26, 2012 in Tea - Flavored, Tea - Green, Tea Enjoyment | Tags: Jasmine Tea | by A.C. Cargill | 5 comments

A Jasmine using the tipmost leaves of the tea bush

Jasmine teas fall into what the tea experts call “scented” teas. I just call them “flavored” teas, since items used to create the scents usually affect both aroma and flavor.

Whether you call it “flavored” or “scented,” jasmine tea has been around a long while, starting some time during the Song Dynasty in China (960-1279). The best grade is supposed to be from the Fujian Province, but versions are also available from Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces.

Tea leaves are harvested in Spring and stored until the jasmine flowers are in bloom in early Summer. The flowers are then picked when the petals are tightly closed (usually in the early morning) and kept cool until night when they begin to open. It is at this time that the tea leaves and those little white flowers are combined and stored overnight while the tea gets infused with the scent of the blooms, a four-hour process that may get repeated as many as seven times.

Jasmine teas come in a bunch of forms, including:

Pearls (full leaves hand-rolled into little pearl shapes), also called “tears”
Needles (full leaves processed into long, thin shapes)
Blooming (full leaves and often flower petals sewn together in a “bud” that opens up as it steeps like a flower blooming)
Full leaf (often this is the two-leaves-and-a-bud picking from the very end of the tea bush branches)
Broken leaf (leaves from further down on the branch or that have been machine harvested and processed either by hand or machine and possibly further broken)
Fannings (machine processed tea leaves ground to smaller pieces but larger than dust)
Dust (machine processed tea leaves ground down really fine for easier bagging and/or steeping and usually flavored with jasmine oil instead of real blooms)
Compressed shapes such as hearts
Jasmine with Flowers Green Tea

Black, green, white, and oolong teas are all used as the tea base, although green tea is by far the most common. Expect to pay a bit more for the better quality jasmines from vendors with a good reputation like Golden Moon, Harrisons & Crosfield, and Harney & Sons.

My favorite jasmine is dragon tears (or pearls). For one thing, it’s easy to measure out the right amount. I just count the pearls (2-3 per 8 ounces of water) and toss them in a cup of hot water, watching them unfold as they steep. Blooming jasmines are alright, but I find they are more fun to watch than to drink and can often be overly strong on the jasmine. Which brings me to another issue…

The floral aroma of jasmines can be quite overwhelming to those of us with sensitive sniffers. While I enjoy the flavor, which is often much milder than the fragrance, I have to be careful not to inhale too deeply when preparing the tea so that my nose doesn’t go into overload mode. Of course, this also means that jasmine teas need to be stored properly, that is, in air tight containers away from your other teas, or you could end up with a whole cupboard or tea pantry full of jasmines, whether you intend it or not.

Jasmine tea is said to have numerous health benefits, including:

destroys free radicals and helps to slow aging
lowers the risks of developing cancer
helps keep bad cholesterol levels down
is effective for dysentery, influenza and cholera, and in preventing colds
stimulates the body to burn calories which encourages weight-loss
has a calming and soothing effect
Jasmine Blooms (Photo by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com)

Give jasmine tea a try and you could get a very pleasant surprise!

Disclaimer: This is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your physician for your particular needs.

Diving Into the World of Yixing Teapots — Part 3

January 25, 2012 in Teawares and Equipment | Tags: Yixing Teapots | by A.C. Cargill | 1 comment

Part 1 gave you some idea what Yixing teapots were all about while Part 2 showed how to prepare your teapots for use. It’s finally time to start actually steeping tea in your teapot to drink and enjoy!

The First Drinkable Potful — Once the teapots were ready for use, hubby and I selected one of them (eenie – meenie – minie – moe!) for our first steeping of drinkable tea. The “Dragon” teapot was the winner. Since we had designated pu-erh (pu’er) as the type of tea to use in the teapot, the selection of tea was simple. We went for Young Pu-erh, a tea we had tried some time ago and really liked.

We steeped some of this pu-erh in the “Dragon” teapot. Since this style of teapot has a “built-in strainer” comprised of tiny holes inside over the spout opening, so you can toss loose tea leaves in the pot and not need to use a strainer when pouring out the tea liquid.

I couldn’t photograph the holes inside the “Dragon” teapot, so here are the ones inside the “Cicada” teapot

Not having a tea boat (a special tray to collect any water and/or tea that overflows the teapot — all part of the steeping process), we made do with a cookie sheet and a cooling rack. Not pretty, but very utilitarian for now until we can shop for something appropriate. The teapot sits on the cooling rack which sits on the cookie sheet.

Make-shift teaboat setup

Right: The tea leaves are in the teapot and the hot water is poured in. Left: The water is let overflow the teapot (be careful, since the tea leaves will float to the top and may flow over the sides of the teapot — pouring more slowly as you get to the top of the teapot will help prevent this).

Time to steep

We were generally pleased for now, the flavor being what we had experienced in our earlier tastings. We are looking forward to the tea flavor deepening with each use of the teapot, though. A patina will build up over time on the teapots as we use them and will enrich their colors. All part of the joys of this type of teapot.

There you have it — the basics of our dive into the world of Yixing teapots. Your turn. Take the plunge!

Tea Pioneers of Great Britain

January 25, 2012 in Resources and Information | Tags: Britain, Thomas Twinings, twinings | by William I. Lengeman III | 2 comments

Thomas Twining

The British were not the first people to drink tea and they were not even the first Europeans to do so. They have never grown tea on their own soil, except in very modest amounts at one or two plantations, nor do they drink the most tea on a per capita basis. And yet when we think of great tea-drinking nations Great Britain is probably one of the first ones that will spring to mind. It would be beyond the scope of an article like this one to list all of the great British tea pioneers responsible for this state of affairs, but here are a few noteworthy ones.

Catherine of Braganza
It’s not completely certain when tea first appeared in England. It may have been a decade or more before the marriage of Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza to Englishman Charles II, in 1662, but it’s Catherine who’s typically credited with popularizing the drink among English royalty and upper classes.

Charles Bruce/Robert Bruce/Robert Fortune
While the British could supply their need for tea by dealing with the Chinese as time passed it became more and more to their advantage not to do so. In the early nineteenth century, the British decided to grow their own supplies in India and it was largely thanks to the efforts of Fortune and Scottish brothers Robert and Charles Bruce that it all came to pass. Read more about Fortune’s exploits in China, here.

Anna Maria Russell, Duchess of Bedford
It may be one of the many myths and legends of tea or it might just be true, but it’s the Duchess of Bedford who’s credited with coming up with the distinctively British custom known as afternoon tea.

Thomas Twining
While there were undoubtedly British tea merchants doing business before Thomas Twining started a tea shop in 1706, it’s probably a good bet that none of the companies they started have survived and thrived to this day, as is the case with Twinings of London. (See products.)

Thomas Lipton
Arguably one of the most recognizable names in the tea business, the man who lent his name to Lipton tea was a relative latecomer to tea selling. Read a brief overview of his exploits here and get more on the whole thrilling saga in his most recent biography, A Full Cup: Sir Thomas Lipton’s Extraordinary Life and His Quest for the America’s Cup.

Diving Into the World of Yixing Teapots — Part 2

January 24, 2012 in Teawares and Equipment | Tags: Yixing Teapots | by A.C. Cargill | 2 comments

When you first dive into the world of Yixing (“Ee-sheeng” or “Yee-sheeng”) teapots, you need to be sure to get the real deal and a good deal (see Part 1). That accomplished, you are then faced with the scary question: “Now what?”

To that end, I spent several days after our three teapots arrived on researching how to prep them properly for use and then how to use them.

Far Left: “Dragon”; Far Right: “Simplicity”; Center (Blue): “Cicada”

Prepare for First Use — There is a ton of info online about how to prepare your Yixing teapot for its first use of steeping tea. Some involve several days of your time, but hubby and I found the one below to be sufficient.

A simple preparation process:

Rinse the teapot and lid in cold water. DO NOT USE SOAP.
Put the teapot and the lid in the bottom of a pan large enough so that the teapot and its lid aren’t touching each other.
Cover both the teapot and the lid completely with cold water.
Bring the water slowly to a boil. (Quick temperature changes could crack the teapot.)
Reduce heat to medium-low.
Simmer for about 30 minutes to remove any wax and to sterilize the teapot.
Carefully remove the teapot and lid from the water.
Let them cool completely and air dry. Caution: do not put the lid on the teapot until both are completely dry to assure that mold does not start to grow inside them.

The “Dragon” teapot ready to be simmered

Assign a Tea to Your Teapot — Yixing teapots are not glazed, so they are not sealed and therefore tend to absorb flavors and odors around them into the clay pores (microscopic spaces between the clay molecules). They especially absorb the flavor and odor of the tea steeped in them. For this reason, you should ideally use your teapot for only one general type of tea (and also keep your teapot away from anything with a strong scent such as scented candles or a package of cinnamon flavored tea).

The teas I designated to each teapot:

Green teas for “Simplicity”
Oolong teas for “Cicada”
Pu-erh teas for “Dragon”

Steep a Seasoning Potful — The all-important first potful will affix that type of tea to that teapot. This tea is not to be drunk. It is to season the teapot, so steep it up extra strong.

Here is one recipe:

Place 4 teaspoons of loose tea leaves in the teapot.
Fill the teapot with boiling water. Caution: The tea leaves will float to the top, so be careful as you pour.]
Put the lid on the teapot. (Be sure there are no leaves around the rim so that the lid will sit properly and seamlessly on the teapot.)
Steep the tea until it and the teapot are cool (be patient — I had to let my teapots sit overnight to cool thoroughly).
Empty the teapot, discarding the tea liquid and leaves.
Rinse out the teapot with water.
Repeat steps 1 through 6.
Allow the teapot and lid to completely air dry before putting the lid back on the teapot (a good practice every time you use your Yixing teapot).

Fill to the brim and beyond

Once this is done, you are ready to steep that first drinkable potful, as you will see in Part 3.

Diving Into the World of Yixing Teapots — Part 1

January 23, 2012 in Teawares and Equipment | Tags: Yixing Teapots | by A.C. Cargill | 5 comments

Some of the most treasured teawares are made from a special clay called “zisha” by artisans who train for years. The clay and the best artisans are from the province of China called “Yixing” (pronounced “Ee-sheeng” or “Yee-sheeng”). I have always been a bit leery of taking the plunge and buying one or more of these little gems, but have finally decided it’s time to dive into the world of Yixing teapots.

Tea lovers have written of their treasured versions of these steeping wonders. Lainie Petersen and many others have waxed rhapsodic about theirs, and so when I saw some for sale online, I couldn’t resist. It was a bit of a gamble to buy such a thing sight unseen. There are, after all, certain things one needs to look for.

Getting the Real Deal — As with anything that achieves a certain status of value and collectability, Yixing teapot fakes abound, so know what you are buying and how to tell if you are getting the “real deal.”

Some ways to determine whether your teapot is authentic or not:

There will be a potter’s chop mark on the bottom of the teapot and the lid.

Chop mark on the bottom of the teapot body

Chop mark on the bottom of the teapot lid

When tapped lightly against another Yixing teapot of the same variety, the ceramic should make a metallic sound.
The fit of the teapot’s lid should be seamless, and there should be a little air hole in it; to test the seamlessness, fill the pot with water, put the lid on, place your finger over the hole on the lid, and tip the pot over to see if the flow of water is halted — if it is, the lid is seamless.
Avoid the fake clunky looking teapots made of yellow clay that first became available around 2007. These are usually shaped like bamboo shoots/stalks, dragons, or Chinese coins; the clay is rough and crude and has a strong, unpleasant odor that can affect your tea’s flavor.
Antique Yixing teapots are a bit trickier to authentic; consult an expert.

Getting a Good Deal — Check the general condition of the teapot, looking for cracks, chips, and other imperfections. How vital these things are depends in part on why you are buying.

Some key reasons people buy a Yixing teapot:

Primarily to steep teas — you will probably want teapots with a more simple design and minor chips won’t be an issue.
Because it strikes your fancy — your own aesthetic will be your guide here (some snobs calls this type of purchasing “garbage collection”).
To have as a collectible (antique and/or master craftsmen’s works) — check out very carefully what makes a teapot collectible and only buy from reputable dealers.
For the symbolism of the design — again some study is in order so you know what is being symbolized; for example, the cicada means long life, resurrection, and spirituality while the bamboo stands for nobility and growth and the dragon by itself is beauty and wisdom (when shown with the phoenix, the dragon is the Yin and the phoenix is the Yang, that is, male and female).

Cicada close up with shining black eyes.

If you, too, want to dive into the exciting world of Yixing teapots, you can find hundreds online. Better yet, find someone who has one and see where he/she bought it. Do your homework and be sure to check out the return policy of the online store in case your teapot arrives damaged or turns out not to meet your expectations.

Hubby and I have determined that we want to use the three teapots we acquired. This led us to the next steps in the world of Yixing teapots, as you will see in Part 2.

Profiles in Tea: Queen Marie of Romania

January 23, 2012 in Resources and Information | Tags: Queen Marie, Romania, tea | by teaguide | 1 comment

Marie, admired as the most beautiful princess in Europe

The story of how a British princess brought tea to Romania begins in 1874 when Queen Victoria’s son Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, married the daughter of Russia’s Tsar Alexander. The duke and duchess’ eldest daughter, Marie, was born a year later. A bright, free-spirited girl, Marie was blessed with exceptional beauty and was gifted with talents for writing and art.

Admired as the most beautiful princess in Europe, Marie had many suitors. Her mother was determined to see her eldest daughter on a European throne, and so Marie was married off at age seventeen to Prince Ferdinand, nephew and heir to King Carol of the far-away country of Romania.

The transition to a new country, language, husband, and family was difficult and lonely at first for the young princess. She found solace in solitary tea times in a private corner of the palace.

By the early 1900s Princess Marie had entered the royal social scene, hosting English-style afternoon teas at the royal palaces. Knowing her fondness for both the beverage and the ceremony, Marie’s wide circle of friends and admirers would often arrange teas in her honour, and afternoon tea became popular amongst Romania’s upper classes.

Marie’s children grew up with tea just as their mother had done, with a blending of English and Russian tea customs. Each day Marie would set aside time for tea with one or more of the young princes and princesses, with either the teapot or the samovar.

Ferdinand and Marie became King and Queen when Carol died in 1914 on the eve of The Great War (WWI). During the war Marie distinguished herself as a nurse, establishing a hospital and visiting the most seriously wounded and gravely ill soldiers of the Romanian army. She taught her youngest daughter Ileana the English custom of bringing tea to the troops.

When the war ended, Marie was sent to help represent Romania’s interests at the Versailles peace conference in 1919. From Paris, Marie went to London to plead Romania’s case directly with her cousin, King George.

Marie had another reason for visiting London. “I was especially very much in need of tea!” she wrote in her memoirs. “Romania had quite run out of tea since there was no more communication with Russia, whence it was formerly imported.” Marie met with Mr. Twining, “the best man for tea,” and explained to him that she wanted a tea that tasted “neither of smoke, scent, nor hay.” To this Mr. Twining replied, “It is Darjeeling tea Your Majesty wants.” After tasting several samples, Marie agreed that “I found the mixture of which I dreamed!”

Of the many Romanian royal palaces, Marie’s favourite was Bran. This imposing medieval fortress sits atop a hillside overlooking a pastoral village surrounded by a sprawling park. (Bran is passed off to tourists as Dracula’s Castle.) In an area nearest the castle she built a teahouse where she regularly had tea with family or visitors, gazing out on the park’s gardens and small pond.

Marie, Queen of Romania, died in 1938. In many ways she was the Princess Diana of her day. Even today, Romanians hold a place in their hearts for the memory of this extraordinary queen for her beauty, talent, and tireless service to those in need in her adopted country.

The Queen's teahouse at Bran in Romania (photo taken by the author)

It’s Steep Off Time — Two Teapots Go Spout to Spout

January 20, 2012 in Preparing Tea and Herbals, Teawares and Equipment | Tags: tea steep off | by A.C. Cargill | 3 comments

Keeping the peace among the teapots in my bevy can be a bit tricky. One teapot tends to get a bit envious when another teapot gets to steep a particularly special tea. They also can develop a competitive instinct, challenging each other to steep offs.

“Bruno” on the left vs. “Little Yellow Teapot” on the right

It’s my fault, probably. I tend to favor some teapots over others for steeping certain teas. My Blue Betty, for example, is the teapot of choice to steep my heartier black teas — Scottish Breakfast, English Breakfast No. 1, CTC Assam, and so on. A little 2-cupper teapot is just right for some Snow Dragon, Gen Mai Cha, or a nice oolong.

The steep off challenge this time around was between my “bruiser” teapot “Bruno” from Louisville Stoneware and the much smaller but much feistier Little Yellow Teapot. It’s all in good fun, since they are best buddies, but it’s still all about the tea, and the steeping is serious business.

On with the steep off:

The tea: Mim Estate Darjeeling (2nd flush Darjeeling)

The selection of tea was pretty important here. We wanted something that could be steeped in large amounts and be as tasty as when steeped in smaller amounts. This is essential when comparing a 2-cup teapot with a 6-cup teapot. Some teas seem to steep differently when done in different quantities.

The process: This was a broken leaf tea, that is, one where the tea leaves were not whole but that also had not been ground to fannings or dust. Also, being a 2nd flush Darjeeling, this tea had a strong Muscatel aroma that we wanted to be sure would come through in the final tea liquid. So, a cooler water temperature was used — 190°F. We also stuck with a 3-minute steeping time.

The proper amount of dry tea went into each pot (about one teaspoon of tea leaves for each 8 ounces of water), the water was added to each pot, and the timer was set. Time for hubby and I to do our little tea steeping jig — just a little bit of fun to pass the time. Step to the left, step to the right, left, right, left, left — oww!! Ok, enough jigging here.

The results: Here’s where the difference in size mattered, but not in the way I thought it would. I expected the larger teapot that was also thicker and held the heat in longer to therefore steep the tea up stronger than the smaller teapot; this was not so. The larger teapot (“Bruno”) steeped the tea up lighter so that the full Muscatel character did not develop. The smaller teapot steeped the tea up stronger and yet not overdone, with the tangy Muscatel character coming through loud and clear.

I think I have to declare Little Yellow Teapot the winner here. Sometimes smaller is more powerful!

Honeybush: The Other Red “Tea”

January 20, 2012 in Herbals | Tags: honeybush | by William I. Lengeman III | 1 comment

Honeybush

There’s no such thing as red tea, at least not in the strictest sense of the word. But there are some beverages that have come to be referred to as “red tea” over the years and will probably continue to be referred to as such by anyone but the most exacting sticklers for accuracy. Take China, for instance, where the tea most of us refer to as black is often called red tea, a name most likely refers to the reddish color of the finished product.

But some of the most popular red teas are not tea at all, at least not in the sense that they are derived from Camellia sinensis, the tea plant. The most popular of these “teas” is rooibos, a distinctive herbal beverage that only produced in a certain region of South Africa. Rooibos, also known as redbush, is known for the red color of its processed leaves and also for the deep red color of the steeped liquid, but it’s actually not the only red “tea” that hails from South Africa.

The distinction of being South Africa’s second most popular red tea goes to a product known as honeybush (Cyclopia spp.), which is also known as heuningbos, in the local Afrikaans language. The name of this beverage is said by some to be derived from its taste and by others due to the fact that its flowers smell something like honey, so take your pick as far as that is concerned. Honeybush is typically not as “red” as its South African cousin, whether in the form of processed leaf or finished product and it tends to have a more delicate taste than rooibos, which can be an acquired taste for some (as the editor of this blog will certainly attest).

While there are nearly two dozen types of honeybush plant there are really only two at the most that are used as an herbal beverage. Honeybush has seen something of an upswing in popularity over the course of the last decade or so, with about a tenfold increase in production from the years 1997 to 2004 and will undoubtedly continue to do so.

For more in-depth information on honeybush, look here and here. Here’s a honeybush review I wrote at my own site a few years back.

Cat Lovers and Tea

January 19, 2012 in Tea Enjoyment, Teawares and Equipment | Tags: cat, tea | by A.C. Cargill | 1 comment

Chester the Cat Teapot

Cats have a reputation for liking fishies, birdies, and other tidbits. They have been known to try to sip from teacups, too, especially if you use milk in your tea, and to nibble on whatever goody you are eating with your tea. Many tea lovers are also cat lovers, so it’s pretty natural to think of the two, that is, cats and tea, together.

Accommodating Your Feline Guests
Cats seem to like to occupy their humans’ lap while those humans are sipping tea. They also need to check out what you are drinking and eating, and if they like what they sniff, they will most likely help themselves. Or try to. The solution here is simple. Keep some of their favorite treats on hand to distract them away from your stuff. Also, when you need to get up to refill the teapot, be gentle with that kitty that has been keeping your lap warm and soothing you with its purr. Don’t just stand up abruptly so he/she has to jump down. Lift the kitty up in your arms and then stand and set him/her back down on the chair. Reverse this process when you return to your seat (to avoid sitting on the poor kitty, of course).

Add a Touch of “Cattiness” to Your Tea Time
Cattiness is usually thought of as a negative thing —exchanges of the nasty kind between women, such as “That dress is so last year!” Of course, you can always make your tea time “catty” in a nice way by using cat-shaped and/or cat-decorated teawares.

Delft Blue Cat Shaped Teapot 6.5"

Cat-shaped teapots abound, ranging from cute to kooky. There is a Chester the Cat Teapot that will inspire grins among your tea time guests (including those of the furry variety). Then, there’s the classy 6.5” tall Delft Blue Cat Teapot, or you can go for a more sleek look with the 19-ounce Yixing Clay Chinese Cat Teapot. Romero Britto went angular with their Yellow Cat Square Teapot, and traditional Polish designs inspire Ceramika Artystyczna Signed Polish Pottery from the Boleslawiec region of Poland.

Don’t forget the cat tea cozies (including this pattern for a crocheted one), cat tea towels, and coasters with cats on them. Cat cream pitchers, mugs, and teacups are additional options.

Cats and Tea and Health
Is tea good for cats? I couldn’t find a real consensus here. Some veterinarian sites said the caffeine was an issue and could cause diarrhea, among other things. Other sites said a few drops would not hurt. In fact, Kevin Rudd, Australia’s Foreign Minister, got his cat Jasper to drink tea from a dainty pink teacup. It was his own special blend that he had hoped Twinings would add to their line-up. To be on the safe side, you should limit your cat to only a very small amount (a lick or two) of tea. The same goes for milk, since cats tend to be lactose intolerant.

Yixing Clay Chinese Cat Teapot

Teas that have peppermint in them should not be given to cats, and teas flavored with other essential oils can be poisonous to them since some cheaper essential oils have other ingredients added to thin them out. Avoid tea tree oil around cats, too. For a longer list of things to keep away from your most precious furry friends check out this list.

Tea and Cats Online
Check out The Cat-Tea Corner, a site full of recipes, cat photos, cat and tea themed clip-art, and other great info, including a tea time guide. Don’t miss the web site of the Calico Cat Tea House in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada; it’s a place where you can enjoy afternoon tea time and then get a reading of the tea leaves (reservations required). You can also look into The Cheshire Cat Tea Company with their mismatched china and other teawares (mismatched is good in case you’re having tea with a kitty and something gets broken).

Romero Britto Yellow Cat Square Teapot

Tea Blog

Forgetting to Time Your Tea

Jasmine Tea Roundup

Diving Into the World of Yixing Teapots — Part 3

Tea Pioneers of Great Britain

Diving Into the World of Yixing Teapots — Part 2

Diving Into the World of Yixing Teapots — Part 1

Profiles in Tea: Queen Marie of Romania

It’s Steep Off Time — Two Teapots Go Spout to Spout

Honeybush: The Other Red “Tea”

Cat Lovers and Tea

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