Tea or coffee? – You decide

Yet another one of Naoto Fukasawa’s minimalistic designs, who has also designed products for the oh-so-beloved Muji in the past. This Coffee and Tea Maker can make up to 6 cups at a time! It takes 10 minutes for the water to pass though a double activated charcoal filter and the beverage to be done. The maker also has an automatic switch-off function which kicks in after an hour, letting you save some energy and the environment.

I can’t say much about how practical it is in reality, however you can clearly see that the design in a few years old. I’d like to draw some attention to the cup scale on the container – something I think is a very useful for most of us, but rarely seen on products. It makes it easy to see how much water you will need to prepare your tea. Tea AND Coffee Maker – one can argue, should you ever mix the two? I guess you would need to properly clean this device every time, if you choose to brew both beverages in it.

Available in Japan since 2007, where it received a Good Design Award, this handy gadget can now be bought in the UK as well, at the Design Museum Shop only for £149.

Global Tea Events

As there is a lot going on around tea, here is a list of some of the global tea events, which usually take place anually.

Europe

Festival du The - France

Asia

Hong Kong International Tea Fair – Hong Kong
International Tea Expo - China
International Tea Symposium – Moscow, Russia
International Tea Expo – Taipei, Taiwan
China Tea Expo – Beijing, China
India International Tea Festival – Guwahati, India
Da-hyang Tea Festival – Boseong, Korea
International Tea Convention & Expo – Changsha, China
Speciality Tea & Coffee Convention – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Uji Tea Festival – Kyoto, Japan
Shanghai Tea Expo – Shanghai, China
Busan International Tea & Craft Fair - Busan, Korea
Tea and Health Dubai – Dubai, United Arab Emirates

North America

World Tea Expo – Las Vegas, United States
Northwest Tea Festival – Seattle, United States
Canadian Tea & Coffee Show – Toronto, Canada
Victoria Tea Festival –  Victoria, United States
Tea Extravaganza – Chicago United States
Coffee & Tea Festival –  New York City, United States

Various Locations

Tea & Coffee World Cup

Spirituality of Tea

I’m not a believer myself, but if you are and you see a connection between God and tea you might enjoy this new book written by Jason Witt entitled ‘Spirituality of Tea’. I do believe in tea’s relaxing, healing and meditative properties however, and these aspects are tackled in the three chapters of this book.

It points out and describes tea’s heath benefits and how they affect your body to keep younger for longer. Tea is viewed here as a life-giving substance, that thanks to its chemical content is able to put us into a reflective state of mind and lets us connect with ourselves on a higher level.

The book is now available on Amazon and you can find it here.

Winter Book Vol I and II

I wanted to feature this product mainly because I was excited about the idea of its look. There is good and bad news.

Good news – Whereas all Basilur Teas tend to look quite tacky, I think for Christmas a little tackiness won’t do any harm. This new Basilur Christmas Tea Winter Book collection comes in tins in the shape of books! And they are almost like fairy-tale books, with beautiful ornaments, golden accents, with a wintery landscape on the cover and they open like a real book. Inside, the tea is packaged in a bag that looks like pages of a book. There are two volumes available, both are Ceylon black teas. Volume I has additions of cornflower, papaya, jasmine and almond flavor. Volume II on the other hand is with papaya, safflower, marigold and sunflower.

For the bad news – these teas are really no good. They are of poor quality, but worst of all the aromas are quite repelling and not well composed. They are certainly drinkable, and the experience is like drinking regular black tea that has a somewhat strange smell, but they are by no means comparable to fine teas. If I had to choose between the two I would go for Volume II, because Volume I honestly smells like a tomato cake.

I have to admit though, that I absolutely love and adore the book packaging – it’s a great idea that could be taken even further.

A New Christmas with Dammann

Dammann Freres has given their Christmas Collection a new look. The tins have now the shape of classic Dammann tins, however this time there is quite some bling bling involved, as they are decorated with rhinestones. But don’t worry, the festive colors are still present and the blends remain the same.

The black tea in the red tin has fruit bits and orange peels and is blended with caramel, maraschino and pineapple aromas, creating a sweet and fruity experience. The green tea comes from China and contains apple bits, orange peels, vanilla and spices – its final aroma is like a combination of marcipan and mint, making it more refreshing. Exciting, right? These are hight quality teas that are sure to enhance the spirit of Christmas this year. You can also compare to last year’s look here.

The Art of brewing Pu-erh

Here is a very detailed and very ceremonial video of how to handle and prepare Pu-erh tea, starting with roasting of leaves, to brewing them. It also gives tips on what water to use and some customs surrounding the tea. At the end it feels very rewarding to see the ready tea being poured into cups, with its nice, saturated color – looking just delicious!

Tea in a Tube

Here is a product that I wanted to write about for quite some time, but I was a little sceptical about the quality. Now when I finally have the chance to hold the product in my hands and see it for myself, I became more then pleasantly surprised and impressed.

Thelicatessen is a brand which offeres their tea in brushed silver aluminum tubes. These are filled to the top with fragrant oolong tea from Taiwan. The teas in stock are only available in limited quantities, for a limited time – usually there is one tea available at a time, and the offer changes after a while. The tea is in fact gourmet, it’s very subtle and delicate and the leaves are tightly rolled into clumps that are even smaller then most oolongs.

If you like oolong tea or if you want to experiance something new, this is definatly the thing to try. The tubes are fabubous, they have a modern, clean design and they are perfect for refilling and travel, if you want to take a bit of your own tea with you. They are very light and won’t take up much of the oh so valuable kgs in your suitcase. These tea tubes make an elegant gift, especially for a guy. They have that whole masculine cigar feel going on. My three tubes arrived in an also elegant black cardboard box – I love the simplicity and the overall look and taste of this product.

100% Damn Fine Teas

A new discovery – funky and hip like Pop Art is the limited edition Damn Fine Teas. And they are indeed limited editions, you can even track the amount that left on their website. These selections seem like a less uptight and more relaxed take on tea, with is both very pleasing and fun to see.

Currently offered teas are loose leaf blacks and greens and they come in cute, colorful, 55 g (2 oz) tins. Teas like ‘Jackee Muntz’ and ‘Thomas Sampson’ are some of the things you may find among the selection. I’d like to sit back and watch the brand becoming more strange with every new limited edition. The teas are guaranteed to be ‘100% Awesome’, so perhaps they are worth at least a look!

Month’s Reviews | November 2009

This month the following teas were reviewed in the Tea Colleciton

 

• Mozums Linden Flower Tea
• Canton Tea Co. Jasmine Tea
• Naturavita Sage Herbal Tea
• Shine Clump Tie Guan Yin

Warming Christmas Tea

You can buy many different Christmas Tea blends, but sometimes it’s just much nicer and more fun to make it yourself – and it’s also very easy! Christmas teas usually contain a lot of warming and aromatic spices, because these are the things that remind us of christmas most. However, there are no set rules of how much and what exact ingredients you should use – you are free to use your imagination and improvise.

Below you can find some suggestions on how to get started with your tea and some ideas for creating your own blend

Basic Ingredients

• Black tea (ceylon and assam work great, you can use other tea types, however black is the classic version)
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Cardamon
• Sugar

Optional Ingredients

• Red wine or brandy
• Cranberry Juice
• Lemon Juice
• Lemon or orange zest
• Apple pieces

I don’t recommend adding all these ingredients listed above into your tea, you should try your way and see what works best, or what is most suiting for the current mood.

Usually you start with the basic ingredients – use a pan to bring water to a boil along with the ingredients, make sure the sugar dissolves completely. Change to medium heat and add remaining ingredients from the optional list. Cook for a while to bring out the aroma of the ingredients and then you’re ready to serve your home-made, hot Christmas Tea!