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In my former life as an IT trainer, I remember the first few days of training to become a certified Microsoft Applications trainer. Every class started with KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. The premise behind the acronym is when delivering a training course to ensure that you speak in layman’s terms: speak in a language that the audience can understand. Travelling around the world with my IT role forced me to do that in countries where English was the second language.
May King in action
Who’d have thought that my training skills would come in handy when talking about tea? With so many acronyms and tea terminology, it’s ever so easy to become daunted by them when you see them on paper, or online, but if explained with KISS, hopefully the audience can understand it better. Here are just a few Tea Terms you may come across.
In my Tea Appreciation classes, I have broken the class down into 6 simple modules:
- What is Tea? (In order to differentiate between tea and herbal infusions)
- Loose Tea Guideline – outlining the best way to store loose tea and tips for making tea
- Recognising Good Tea – This is probably self explanatory.
- Tea Processing Basics – explaining the journey of tea leaf: from the bush to the cup
- Tea Tasting Basics – how to fully appreciate tea in a similar vein to how wine or cheese is appreciated.
- Health Benefits of Tea – the most popular topic and one in which I separate fiction from fact. My favourite myth about caffeine is beau-tea-fully explained by the tea-lightful Stephen Fry.
Top 10 Tips to the Health Benefits of Tea
The best part of a Tea Appreciation Class though, has got to be the tasting. 
So tea lovers: when explaining tea terminology to someone new to tea. Remember to explain with a smile, but more importantly educate with KISS.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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As a tea consultant, one of the best parts of my business is offering advice to tea business startups and seeing them flourish. It’s rather like a mother or father waving their child off to school. Mary Cali from The Tea and Jazz House is one such ‘cool cat’. After offering business guidance, I was like that proud mother waiving her child off to school. These are a few points on what The Tea and Jazz House as an online tea business has done extremely well:
Branding: Mary has created an extremely strong brand identity in The Tea and Jazz House. The logo, the look and feel of the website clearly shows how tea and jazz are intertwined. The website’s philosophy, vision and passion are outlined on the home page which demonstrates how the two complement each other.
Products: After learning about tea from yours truly, Mary conducted a lot of research about her target market to come up with a range of flavoured teas and herbal infusions. In keeping with the tea/jazz theme the names of each tea are inspired by Jazz artists. The jazz style of each artist is reflected in each of the fusion of herbs, flowers, spices and tea. Products are always more compelling if there is a story behind it; which increases consumers’ emotional attachment to the products.
Tea and Jazz House Meet the Artists Page
Education: For novice drinkers, it can often be daunting looking at a website and what The Tea and Jazz House have done particularly well is to provide information to consumers. The steeping tea guideline on the Home page; the How They Make Tea section which provides pictorial tea education and information about the all Jazz artists helps to create a great online shopping experience.
Sharing is Caring: Consumers are embracing the notion that people buy from people in Social Media and The Tea and Jazz House has embraced Social Media extremely well by sharing other people’s blogs such as Tea Time with the wonderful editor of the English Tea Store blog, A.C. Cargill. Consumers can also follow Mary’s tea journey and passions via Twitter.
What are your thoughts on what makes a great online tea store?
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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“Tea is dehydrating, so if you want a hot drink then go for herbal tea instead.” I know: I nearly spilled my Travel Mug and spat out my tea when a speaker from the fitness industry made this bold statement. I bit my lip and wondered whether I should interrupt when the next claim was made:
“If you really need to drink a cup of tea, make sure you drink a glass of water to rehydrate yourself.”
Wah??? Right! That does it!!
Go ahead, get hydrated!
But as a Brit, I’m used to keeping that stiff upper lip (and moan to my hubbie when I get home) and growing up in a Chinese household, my parents encouraged us to avoid conflict at all costs. Conflicted between my British and Chinese upbringing, I finally raised my hand ever so gingerly. “Yes?” boomed the speaker. I politely informed the speaker and the audience that contrary to popular belief, tea is not dehydrating and can actually contribute to the daily two litres of fluid intake that the speaker was recommending. In fact studies have backed this hydrating claim although if people are really worried about caffeine in tea, they can limit their intake to eight cups a day. This is something I often mention in my tea talks.
So, I said my piece, and it was clear the speaker wasn’t going to be swayed and, as I didn’t want to interrupt the speaker any further, I bit my lip and kept schtum. I had a private chat with the speaker later which was somewhat challenging, but I did manage to persuade the speaker on one thing. Any beverage that is not derived from the Camellia Sinensis bush is not a tea and ought to be referred to as herbal infusions or tisanes. Dispelling myths about tea is a huge challenge bu,t cup by cup, tea talk by tea talk, my mission is making sure we’re on the right page when it comes to tea.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Tea Pot Wind Chime
I remember going to South Carolina to complete one of the levels to my STI certification class a couple of years ago and, after the study class, I thought I’d venture into the town. There I came across an arts and craft market. I love to browse arts and crafts markets, admiring the beau-tea of the designer’s works, be it clothes, photography, textiles, or art. One particular stall caught my eyes as the designer had recycled broken teapots into pieces of jewellery, jokingly telling me that a necklace I was admiring is a broken teapot from the Ming Dynasty. She had a very cheeky smile. Unfortunately, my budget was blown on tea on that trip, so I didn’t make a purchase, but it did get me thinking, how else could a teapot be reused?
I popped into a Garden Centre a few months ago and you can imagine my tea-lation when I came across this beau-tea-ful wind chime shown at right. The owner, it turns out is also the creator of this little gem who created the wind chime one day because she was bored. She created several of them and they all sold out. I love the sound the wind chime makes when the wind brushes gently past the teaspoons and the sun light catches on the crystal baubles.
A broken teapot would definitely not look out of place in a garden with a plant potted in it or herbs or flowers. This final picture has been shared with me with many of my Facebook friends and is guaranteed to make me smile. What better way to make use of one or several teapots?
Broken teapots care of www.greenrenaissance.co.za
Have you given a broken teapot a new lease of life and if so, how? Leave a comment here with your story!
See also:
How Crafty Can You Get with a Teapot?
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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My favourite phrase that I heard from a business owner is that “there is no competition, only collaboration” and with the big corporates working alongside each other I think that there is an element of truth in that. How about the independent tearoom which is not part of a chain? The answer is to work collabora-tea-vely of course!
I was extremely privileged to have been able to work in Melbourne recently with two wonderful tea companies. Although I sell my own line of tea, I don’t see them as competition. There is enough for everyone I feel, and as well as selling tea, I love talking about it and had a wonderful time sharing my knowledge of tea with those that are wanting to learn something new.
My first stop was with Tea & Sympathy where we I shared my knowledge of tea and terroir. Australia is a fabulous wine producing nation and whilst the seasoned wine drinker may have heard of the French term they may not realise that terroir can be applied to tea as well. So as we tried and compared two different green teas and two black teas, explained how the tea varietal, the processing techniques, elevation of the tea plant, growing conditions can all help to contribute to the final product in the cup, it was especially interesting to hear the crowd’s comments about the tea as some of them were tasting them for the first time. It was fabulous to hear the crowd share their memories, hear their sensory evaluations and their engagement with me as they asked many great questions and made it into such a tea-licious evening.
May King Tsang discussing Tea and Terroir
My next collaboration (TEAm work?) was with Storm in a Teacup: a modern teabar, where we launched part 1 of the Global Tea Discovery series to showcase some of their teas. Here we shared different stories behind tea including the $5000 for 1lb of tea (bought exclusively by Harrods) to crop-reliant countries reinventing themselves as tea producers (Sri Lanka and Hawaii). From colonisation which forced a tea culture to go underground (Korea) to older tea pickers being flown by helicopter to reach the high mountainous tea plantations (Taiwan). I look forward to going on another Global Tea Discovery journey with tea lovers later on in the year.
Forest White Hawaiian Tea
So there we have it. It is possible for tea companies to work collabora-tea-vely to help with the bigger mission to encourage people to drink better quality loose leaf tea.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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Whilst I have had unforgettable experiences with afternoon tea, I have also had experiences I’d rather forget! If you’re a café, restaurant or hotel that wants to provide a fabulous experience for your customers, these are just a tea tips of some Afternoon Tea no no’s:
Afternoon Tea – the clue is in the name!
Afternoon Tea should be very much to do with the tea as well as the dining experience. Unfortunately I have been disappointed by a large number of hotels, cafés and restaurants that offer Afternoon Tea but offer a very limited choice of tea bag. I suppose selecting a tea from two offerings is still a choice (she says begrudgingly).
Tea Bag at Afternoon Tea – Definite No No
The picture above brings me to another point which is where to put the tea once it has been infused? I commend any café, restaurant or hotel that serves loose leaf tea with an infuser, but please, could I have somewhere to put the teabag (if you insist on using them) or an infuser tray once I’ve finished infusing please?
Loose tea and infuser, but what, no drip tray?
Sandwiches:
These should be dainty little things with crusts taken off. Triangles or rectangles, the shape doesn’t matter but we shouldn’t have to use two hands to eat the sandwiches. Could we stick to the tradition that Anne Russell, the Duchess of Bedford introduced? Dainty sandwiches on elaborate tea ware please?
Small Dainty Sandwiches rather than large cumbersome ones if you please
Venue and Atmosphere:
This would be a room with high ceilings, tastefully elegant surroundings with natural light if possible. Music can really enhance the atmosphere of the room so whether that is a harpist, violinist, pianist or classical music gently playing in the background, I’m sure you’ll agree that dance music even if played quietly, is not conducive to creating the perfect afternoon tea atmosphere.
Extra finishing touches: How about adding one or more of the following finishing touches to make that memorable afternoon tea experience? A glass of champagne upon arrival; endless plates of sandwiches (but do remember to leave room for dessert!); warm scones (there’s nothing more enjoyable than seeing the cream and jam slip off a warm scone) or a tea sommelier to assist you with your tea selection.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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What better way to build your tea business than to collaborate with an organisation or a movement whose values your tea company identifies with. Here are just a few ways a tea business can work with charitea.
DisabiliTEA High Tea 105
Monetary Donation
When a natural disaster occurs such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami what was wonderful about tea companies around the world, was that they donated a percentage of tea sales. Some companies donated a percentage of sales or profits for a fixed period and some donated a percentage of sales or profits for specific teas.
Donation of Time
Donation of time is much appreciated by chariteas raising awareness for a specific event or cause. I have been invited to talk about tea as part of fundraising events or annual social gatherings to bring volunteers together as a way of saying thank you. Other ways to help is to volunteer for the event on the day.
Donation of Tea
Many tea companies donate tea or teaware to a cause or event. The charitea can then use the teas on the day to make cups of tea and use the products to sell cups of tea as part of the fundraiser.
Fundraising with a Tea Event
A Tea event can be a combination of all the above: donation of time, product, and/or a sales or profit donation although organising a morning tea (a popular ritual in Australia, equivalent to the British tradition of “elevenses”) or a High Tea is extremely popular although it can be time consuming. Here are some tips to help save time and energy when organising such an event:
- Find a business owner who can donate a venue if you’re not a tearoom owner.
- Find a company or companies who can donate foods and desserts.
- Appeal to other businesses for gift donations and have a raffle as part of the fundraiser.
- Treat the charitea event like any other event for your business and use marketing techniques to attract attendees for example a flyer drop, direct marketing, a press release for the local press and radio, email marketing and use of Social Media.
- Appeal for plenty of volunteers to help on the day but give them specific roles.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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During my speaking engagements I often mention my mission statement (to bring back the teapot and to encourage people to take time with tea) and what better way to uphold my mission statement than to relax with a book of tea poetry (or as the author beau-tea-fully puts in ‘Poetea’).
Enjoying Dong Ding Oolong whilst reading Distinguished Leaves – Poems for Tea Lovers
I “met” Elizabeth Darcy Jones through the wonderful world of Twitter and after several tweetersations, emails and a couple of handwritten letters (I do enjoy putting pen to paper now and again), I waited eagerly for Mr Postie to deliver Distinguished Leaves — Poems for Tea Lovers.
It is such a special book as not only is the foreword by a very distinguished actor (recently seen in the hugely popular Downton Abbey), but there are notable mentions of tea artisans whom I have had the pleasure of meeting or tweeting with.
What I love about this book is that just as a tea jumps out of my tea cupboard every morning to greet me; each tea poem takes on its own persona and jumps out of the book to greet you too! You will never see an Earl Grey tea quite in the same light after reading the poem by the same name and I couldn’t help but smile into my cup as I read about Dong Ding.
The poem to Jasmine Pearls is a tribute, the sweet notes of a Fancy Oolong is sui-tea-bly matched to a genteel prose whilst the strength of an Assam tea is matched to an equally full-bodied poem.
There is an author’s note to put the novice tea drinker at ease about using loose leaf tea, and each section has its own tea category description. For the seasoned drinker, sipping a tea whilst reading the poem of the same name will be a joy as one sits back to imagine the persona of the tea in full character. It doesn’t stop there. If you have a look at the reviews on Amazon you can see how this little book has polarised readers with some wannabe poe-tea writers to boot! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend taking some me time with a cup of tea and enjoy Elizabeth Darcy Jones’ Distinguished Leaves – Poems for Tea Lovers.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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The Chinese New Year is a celebration of change which equates to the familiar saying, “out with the old and in with the new”. I celebrated Chinese New Year for the first time in Brisbane, with these 10 points in mind.
- Make Time for family – I ventured down to Chinatown with my husband to watch the festivities and shared a cup of a Chinese Herbal containing Chrysanthemum flowers, Goji berries and Red dates.
Chrysanthemum flowers, Goji berries and Red dates herbal
- Accepting Gifts Red envelopes (Lei See) are given as gifts where the red colour of the envelope and the money inside symbolizes good luck and is said to ward off evil spirits.
- Year of the Dragon / Dragon or Lion Dance – A dragon or lion dance is performed on New Year’s Day to bring luck and prosperity for the coming year. People born in the year of the Dragon are said to be strong, self-assured and loyal. What Chinese zodiac animal are you?
Double Dragon, Double Luck
- Kumquats, Peanuts and candies – Kumquats represent prosperity; peanuts, long life and eating fruits and candies are encouraged to symbolize having a sweet and abundant life.
- Imagery / symbolism - Chinese New Year is all about decorating the house with signs and posters on doors and windows with the word for luck (Fú).
- Negative Chi –To ill fortune and negative chi, one must reconcile differences, forget any grudges and sincerely wish peace, love and happiness to all!
- Good Fortune – One must sweep away ill fortune on New Year’s to make way for incoming good luck for the coming year.
- Traditional foods – Many traditional foods served throughout the festivities because the name or look of the food sounds/looks similar to a lucky word. One of my favourites are tea eggs, symbolizing fertility.
- Evil Spirits – As well as wearing red fire crackers are set off to ward off spirits and a way to send out the old year and welcome the New Year.
- Ancestors – Temples are visited to pay respect to ancestors, and food and incense is brought to please the spirits of the decreased.
See also:
Tea and the Chinese New Year
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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I decided to take the opportunity to revisit my tea cupboard and whilst there were some teas that had kept well despite years of storage (one of which I had written about in a previous post), there were other teas that were not as fortunate.
Green Tea and Essential Oils
Having enjoyed a sample of Dragonwell green tea I went online and purchased some from the vendor. Unfortunately, upon arrival, the tea had already faded in colour and in aroma. I should really have informed the vendor, but as a typical Brit I don’t like to complain, preferring instead to keep it in the cupboard. I couldn’t bear the thought of throwing away the tea despite the fact that it wasn’t at its best.
I looked at the faded tea and after several conversations with a Twitter friend of mine, we decided to spruce up the tea by adding essential oils. We started by adding a quarter of a drop of peppermint oil to the dragonwell. As I have had very little experience with essential oils, it was felt that one full drop might be too much for me to ingest hence the quarter drop (which we controlled through the use of a tooth pick). The peppermint cut through the astringency of the green tea yet lifted the tea’s natural nutty sweetness. The tea and oil blend was extremely pepperminty on the nose but didn’t come through in the taste of the tea. It was an amazing combination.
We then decided to add a quarter of a drop of lemon essential oil and I felt like Violet Beauregarde (the girl who chews gum all day in Roald Dahl’s children’s books Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) as the taste of the Dragonwell was followed closely by the peppermint and the lemon came through on the taste right at the end. One flavour didn’t overwhelm the other but were equally complimentary to each other: tea-licious!
So the next time you open up your tea cupboard and find some tea that is past its best, why not spruce up the tea with some essential oils? You may be amazed with your tea-search )
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
