Tea Blog

10 Super Things to Toast with Tea in February

February 1, 2012 in Holidays and Events | by A.C. Cargill | Leave a comment

One month of the year down already! Amazing how fast time flies, especially for those of us busy learning about, enjoying, tasting, and writing about tea. Time for another round of fabulous things in life that deserve a lift of the teacup and a cheery “Salute!”

Celebrate Cherry Pie Day (February 12th)!

First, let’s forego the obvious, such as Groundhog’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day, which are already given sufficient recognition. I’m also skipping over sad events like the plane crash in 1959 where Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper passed on (known as The Day the Music Died).

Let’s begin with a toast to any New Year’s resolutions you’re still keeping, such as your resolution to drink more tea. Clink! Now, on to the list.

Wave All you Fingers at Your Neighbor Day — February 7th — Set your teacup down first, or a true disaster could ensue. It’s also a full moon day, so your tea time can go late into the evening with all of that wonderful moonlight.
Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day — February 11th — A bit of milk spillage is just part of life, so there’s no need to raise a fuss over it. Unless, of course, it’s the last bit of milk in the house and you’re the type to add a bit of it into your tea. Then it’s an utter (or should I say “udder”?) catastrophe!
Plum Pudding Day — February 12th — Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum… or some such thing! Anyway, plum pudding, typically a treat served during winter holidays, can be perfect anytime and makes a splendid tea time treat.
National Battery Day — February 18th — Get your charge on with some high-voltage tea!
Cherry Pie Day — February 20th — No need to chop down that cherry tree. Just pick those sweet cherries, bake ’em into a pie, and serve it up all warm and fruity at tea time. A hot cuppa Keemun tea might be a good accompaniment here.
International Mother Language Day — February 21st — No, we’re not talking about the cooings you say to your newborn or the shout outs to young Johnny or Susie to come in for lunch. We are talking about the language you grew up speaking. So often it shapes us and how we see the world. Just be sure to include the language of tea in that lexicon!
Walking the Dog Day — February 22nd — In addition to your normal implements for cleaning up whatever your lovely doggie leaves behind, take along a nice travel mug of tea.
National Tortilla Chip Day — February 24th — You might want to serve your tea chilled or iced on this date to go with those chips and the super hot salsa they pair with so well.
No Brainer Day — February 27th — Tea + hot water + teapot = a great cuppa tea! Total no brainer.
Leap Day — February 29th — Don’t miss this once-in-four-years event, an extra day you can enjoy as you please, whether it be a special tea time, a wild tea party, or a cozy tea for two.

Don’t forget to toast birthdays and anniversaries of any of your loved ones and such events of major importance as the arrival of that latest order of teas. Get those teacups clinking. Salute!

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“The Chinese Art of Tea” by John Blofeld

February 1, 2012 in Resources and Information | Tags: John Blofeld, tea book, The Chinese Art Of Tea | by William I. Lengeman III | Leave a comment

Once upon a time, you could safely say that the art of tea and the Chinese art of tea were the same thing, given that the Chinese are credited with being the first people to drink our beloved beverage. But even though tea drinking eventually spread to other countries it’s worth noting that the Chinese culture of tea drinking is still a strong one. There’s also the fact that the Chinese are the world’s top producers of the stuff, including a number of varieties that are considered by many to be among the best available.

The Chinese Art of Tea

Over the course of the last decade or so the Western world has seen a considerable rise in interest in tea and tea culture, be it Chinese or otherwise. But this was not the case in 1985, when lackluster tea bags still ruled the roost in many parts of the West and the notion of drinking tea that was actually recognizably Chinese would have been considered very exotic.

It was in this landscape that John Blofeld published his pioneering book, The Chinese Art of Tea. A scholar who lived in and traveled extensively throughout Asia, Blofeld published a number of books on Buddhism, Taoism and other aspects of Asian religion and culture, with this particular volume the last of his works to be published in his lifetime.

It’s a work that would have been considered impressive even today, when tea scholarship is arguably a more common thing, but in Blofeld’s day it was quite a striking accomplishment. He starts off with a chapter on Tea in History and Legend and then explores such classic works as The Emperor Hui Tsung’s Treatise on Tea and A Ming Dynasty Tea Manual. There are chapters devoted to tea gardens and teahouses and also the relationship between tea and ceramics.

On the more spiritual side of things are chapters devoted to Poems and Songs of Tea, A Manual for Practising the Artless Art, and Tea and the Tao. Blofeld winds up things with a chapter devoted to tea’s potential health benefits, a chapter that predates much of the flood of interest in tea and health that we’ve been deluged with over the last decade or so.

Blofeld’s book was an important pioneering work on tea and tea culture in China, but it’s interesting to note that it was hardly the last such work. In 1990, authors Kit Chow and Ione Kramer released the appropriately titled All the Tea in China. More recently, in 2011, Daniel Reid, another noted scholar of all things Asian, released a volume titled The Art and Alchemy of Chinese Tea. For more on that work, look here.

“A Popular Treatise on Tea” by John Sumner

January 30, 2012 in Resources and Information | Tags: John Sumner, Typhoo | by William I. Lengeman III | Leave a comment

Typhoo tea

If you head out to the Internet looking for tea books from yesteryear, you’ll find enough to keep you occupied for a very long time. I’ve written about quite a few such works in these very pages, but to the best of my recall I can’t think of one that was written by an author who later went on to found a well-known tea company.

Until I recently ran across a book called A Popular Treatise on Tea: Its Qualities and Effects, that is. This particular tome first saw the light of day in 1863 and its author was John Sumner. Along with his father William, Sumner later founded a grocery business that went on to become Typhoo Tea, though it was apparently John Sumner, Jr., who took the firm into the territory of tea selling. Trivia fans, take note: the name Typhoo is apparently derived from a Chinese word for doctor.

Sumner opens the book with the bold statement that “the great Anglo-Saxon race are essentially a tea-drinking people.” Which is a matter that could probably be disputed, given that Europeans had only been drinking tea for about two centuries. But there’s no disputing his further assertion that among said people tea was now considered “one of the necessaries of life.”

From there the book is broken down into a structure that’s fairly typical for these kinds of works, starting with a chapter on the history of tea and moving on to one that looks at various botanical aspects of the plant. From there it’s a chapter on the assorted and sundry varieties of black and green tea that were popular at the time, many of which (Twankay, Hyson Skin, Imperial) will be unfamiliar to tea drinkers nowadays.

Chapter four tackles an unusual topic, looking at various tea substitutes used in other parts of the world. Among them are coffee; Paraguay Tea, or what we know today as yerba mate, and enough other items to fill a large chart. Other chapters look at the chemistry of tea, in which Sumner remarks on the beneficial compound theine, or what we know today as theanine.

Sumner also looks at the medicinal properties of tea and summarizes the various pros and cons regarding its consumption. He winds things up with a chapter on the social influence of tea, where he quotes an earlier writer who goes so far as to make the grand statement “tea and the discontinuance of barbarism are connected in the way of cause and effect.”

Here, here.

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.

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 | 6 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)

Tea Blog

10 Super Things to Toast with Tea in February

“The Chinese Art of Tea” by John Blofeld

“A Popular Treatise on Tea” by John Sumner

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

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