Long before he co-founded TWG Tea Co. in 2007, Manoj Murjani was an avid tea collector, keeping about 70 different kinds in his home at a time. Mr. Murjani, chairman and chief executive officer of the brand, which is sold in Dean & Deluca stores in the U.S. and Harrods in London, is a purist when it comes making and drinking tea.

When entertaining or dining with his family, Mr. Murjani often brews loose-leaf teas by the pot. He prefers large whole leaves and avoids using tiny tea balls, which he says don’t give the leaves room to unfurl and infuse the water with flavor. Instead, he places about two and a half teaspoons of leaves in a large strainer. “You don’t want the water to be boiling hot,” he says. It could “burn the tea leaves.” After about three minutes—or up to seven minutes for more delicate varieties like white teas—he removes the strainer. He generally avoids adding milk or sugar and feels lemon “overpowers the taste.”

Mr. Murjani likes to kick off his day by pairing a mint tea or light green tea with his breakfast. He sometimes sips tea during lunch and dinner; if he is having a light lunch of salmon or a salad, he usually chooses a fresh-tasting tea such as a green or white tea. “It’s light and balances well with the freshness of what you’re eating.”

With heavier foods such as steak, he likes to sip more robust or smoky varietals such as Pu-Erh or Lapsang Souchong. With spicy food, he likes to go with a more “daring” tea spiked with cloves, cardamom or ginger. Mr. Murjani says the smoky flavor of Earl Grey is a good accompaniment for chocolate. He likes to finish his meals with mint tea, saying it’s refreshing and helps with digestion.

Sometimes, he combines iced tea with champagne for a pre-dinner cocktail, using fruity black teas with berry or floral tones. “You don’t know what that extra something is, and that extra something is tea,” he says.

A new website has been launched offering “the biggest collection of chai teas on the web.”

Chai Buyer is aimed directly at those looking to buy chai tea, the delicious traditional spicy Indian tea made with milk. The website makes the final selection that much easier for those who already know they want to buy chai tea.

Chai Buyer is divided into simple categories to make browsing for chai tea straightforward. The categories are:

• Loose Leaf Chai Tea Blends
• Loose Leaf Black Chai Tea
• Loose Leaf Green Chai Tea
• Loose Leaf White Chai Tea
• Loose Leaf Pu-erh Chai Tea
• Loose Leaf Herbal Chai Tea
• Black Chai Teabags
• Green Chai Teabags
• White Chai Teabags
• Herbal Chai Teabags
• Chai Teabag Samplers
• Sugar and Spice…

There’s also an advanced chai tea search facility which allows you to pinpoint exactly what you want using keywords and category filters.

Chai Buyer plans to become the ultimate chai tea source on the internet, and many more chai teas have been identified for inclusion on the site over the coming weeks. Chai tea fans will be able to browse hundreds of products from the best suppliers around the world.

Manufacturers and retailers of chai tea are sought for possible inclusion on the site. For more information, please go to: www.ChaiBuyer.com

NYTimes.com By GREGORY DICUM

At Om Shan Tea, the air is filled with the clatter of small earthenware teapots, the sound of ethereal gongs and flutes and quiet animated conversation. Tea drinkers cluster on reed stools around low tables surrounded by antiques from tea-drinking lands.

Patrons can choose a Gong Fu presentation, with a stream of different vessels and cups. Oshan Anand, the owner of this year-old teahouse in the Mission district of San Francisco, sits at an antique tea table of dark wood and stone and pours tiny cups of pu-erh, the aged Chinese tea that, like wine, is often known by region and vintage.

Om Shan Tea is the newest of a breed of Bay Area teahouses that are reimagining the world’s ancient and diverse tea drinking customs for modern tea drinkers. Each is an expression of the founders’ sensibilities, and each draws fervid followers.

Samovar, in the Castro, makes tea drinking a stylish affair. Teas from around the world are served as they are in their home countries: Japanese maki bowls of rice and seaweed with ryokucha brown rice tea ($17), English tea service with scones and Devonshire cream ($19), Chinese tea with dumplings ($19) and masala chai with curry ($17). Russian tea is poured from a gleaming samovar ($9 for a bottomless cup).

“We bring the world’s tea traditions under one roof,” said Jesse Jacobs, who opened Samovar in 2001. “It’s contemporary and hip but also respecting tradition.”

Visitors to Numi Tea Garden in Oakland can enjoy a tea ceremony that involves small clay pots on a bamboo tray next to a Buddha figurine and a set of tools.

“You get the Buddha’s belly all wet for good luck,” said Ahmed Rahim, an owner of the Numi Organic Tea company who developed this whimsical take on traditional Chinese tea ceremonies.

The Bay Area loves its coffee, but there is a certain sameness to its coffeehouses. Its teahouses, though, all seem to have unusual offerings. Menus include rare teas and obscure herbs, with teatime snacks from around the world

via .

Press-Telegram

LONG BEACH — Brewing loose-leaf tea can take an elaborate setup, according to Mei Tung, of Long Beach. Her tea set sits on a large, hand-carved wooden tray and includes small, ornamental porcelain dishes. Most hold dried tea leaves of different varieties; others are for steeping them. She poured boiling water into one of the steeping dishes. Water dripped from the kettle and ran in thin streams around the tray. After a moment, she removed a perforated ceramic basket holding the tea leaves from the hot water and poured it into tiny cups. Again, the tea dripped from the dish’s lip and wet the tray.

“Because we’re tea lovers, we really wanted to design something for tea lovers who travel so they can enjoy their favorite tea on the road,” Tung explained as the tea steeped. So she began producing the Perfect Steeper, a small, portable device that brews loose-leaf tea.

The Eight Cranes Perfect Steeper is available online from Amazon.com

“I think bagged tea is OK but it’s not the right way to drink tea,” she said. She describes the quality of the tea in bags as lower and the flavor more bitter.

“I see western cultures enjoying tea, especially Chinese tea, and I really want to show them how to brew the tea,” she said. She placed the Perfect Steeper on the tray. It is a glass cylinder standing about eight inches tall with a metal base, top, and a metal strip around the middle. She twisted it and pulled the cylinder in half. The lower half was a glass jar – for the boiling water, she said – and the upper half held the tea.

She twisted the top part and pulled it in half, filled it with small, wrinkled black leaves, and screwed it together again. She then filled the bottom part of the steeper with hot water and put the two parts back together. She held it up and showed the top and bottom parts are separated by a fine screen. Then she turned the steeper upside down, letting the water flow into the tea leaves. She sat the steeper on the tray as an orange glow began to radiate up from the leaves. She picked up the jar and slowly tilted it. The lid exhaled rolling clouds of gold that filled the water.

She explained she likes her tea light, but to make it stronger she could turn it over for longer. She tipped the jar again, waited a moment and tilted it to let more golden plumes darken the water. She unscrewed the lid and poured the tea into two tiny cups. The taste of the tea was clean and sweet. This is great for traveling, she said, because the user can drink the tea straight from the steeper.

“I take it wherever I go,” she said. Unlike tea bags, which are good for a single use, loose-leaf tea is good for as many as 10, she added. So the user has no need to take extra tea. Though she perfected and manufactured the Perfect Steeper, her friend came up with the idea. She said she would rather not mention his name because, being a devout Buddhist, he avoids attention. Two years ago, he called Tung because he considers himself a bad businessman, despite being a creative inventor.

He knew Tung was business-savvy; her history proves it. She left China when she was 22 in 1983 to attend Smith College in Massachusetts. In 1989, she returned to China to open a high-end gardening tool factory. Her business know-how served her well. In 1990, she had five people working for her. Today, she employs 300. That is not the only reason her inventive friend came to her with his steeper prototype. He knew she has a passion for tea. In fact, she dedicated an entire room in her home to this traditional Chinese drink.

“Tea is my passion. I feel like I have endless energy and motivation to pass on my experience and knowledge,” she said. She opened the closet in her spare bedroom. From the wooden floor to the ceiling, barrels painted in classical Chinese artwork were stacked among piles of plastic storage containers, themselves stuffed with delicate paper boxes. They were all filled with tea. Sitting on a knee-high stool in front of a statue of Buddha, she recalled the first time she used the Perfect Steeper prototype.

“I really loved it, but it had a lot of flaws,” she said. So she put a metal base on its glass bottom, changed the threading on the top of the jar and changed the shape of the wire mesh keeping the tea leaves in the lid. Then she started a new company to make the Steeper and called it Eight Cranes. Eight is thought to be a lucky number in Chinese culture, she explained, and the crane represents good health. Even the word crane has a deeper meaning. In Mandarin, the word “crane” is made of two words: “xian” and “he.”

“Xian” means “immortal,” she said, and “he” means “drink.” So, naming a device that brews a healthy drink such as tea the “immortal drink” makes sense, she said. Currently, she is working on a “huggy,” or a foam rubber holder that will keep the tea warm, for the Perfect Steeper. 

The Eight Cranes Perfect Steeper is available online from Amazon.com. For information, visit the Eight Cranes Web site.

by alexis

British magazine, Waitrose Food Illustrated, took a close look at their nation’s beverage of choice, tea, by commissioning a survey that sought to discover what made the perfect cup. In order to gain true insight, the magazine questioned a 70-person panel, dubbed the Tea Council, which was made up of ”top chefs, food and drink writers, tea experts, etiquette gurus, builders, hoteliers, cabbies, vicars and teachers.” Each panel member was asked the seemingly simple (but obviously complicated) question, “how do you make the perfect cup of tea?”

The British Panel specifically described their perfect cup as:

• English Breakfast loose leaf tea
• In a mug
• Steeped for 3 1/2 minutes exactly
• Made in a China pot, which must be pre-warmed
• Tea In First
• Splash of milk
• No sugar

I was most shocked to read that a mug was preferred by 56% of the panel, as opposed to a cup (only 31% preferred a cup and 13% were undecided). As a teacup collector I am quite biased, although, there is something so very elegant and special about sipping tea from a delicate cup as opposed to a hearty mug.

My perfect cup changes on a daily basis, so I am sure I would prove to be a poor panel member. Cool mornings call for a warm cup of Masala Chai with milk, and humid afternoons are soothed with an iced white peony, etc, etc.

Do you have a perfect cup?

Tea lovers around the world can now learn the secret behind the perfect cup of tea with Bigelow Tea’s (www.bigelowtea.com) newest online video. Hosted by Cindi Bigelow, President, this short clip explains the unique differences between black and green tea leaves and offers specific step-by-step tips on how to prepare the respective brews.

Charming and informative, Bigelow explains the importance of using fresh, aerated water and describes the significant step of steeping, or covering, the cup before consumption. With a vibrant and useful demonstration, Bigelow walks viewers through the necessary, and different, steps for both black tea and green tea, bearing in mind the health benefits that accompany each cup.

Steps on the Perfect Cup of Black Tea:

1. Start with cold, aerated water
2. Use water as soon as it boils
3. Steep, or cover, 2-4 minutes
4. Don’t wring out the tea bag!

Steps on the Perfect Cup of Green Tea:

1. Use an open pot rather than a tea kettle
2. Use cold, aerated water
3. Use water as soon as it boils
4. Steep 1-3 minutes
5. Don’t wring out tea bag!

Tea fans around the world are encouraged to check out the videos on the Bigelow Tea-V channel on our website as well as our blog that has tea facts, recipes, celebrity tea sightings and more.

About Bigelow Tea Company

Bigelow Tea was founded by Ruth Campbell Bigelow over 60 years ago in 1945. The company continues to be 100% family owned and managed by the Bigelow family with a special blend of pride and enthusiasm. Today the company is one of the nation’s leading producers of specialty teas which include more than 80 varieties of flavored, traditional, green, organic green, herbal, decaffeinated, and iced teas. One of Bigelow Tea’s best-known products is America’s number one specialty tea flavor — Constant Comment® — flavored with a delicious blend of oranges and spice. It is available in black tea, green tea and decaffeinated versions.

Bigelow Tea products are available nationwide and every variety can be found on the company website (www.bigelowtea.com). Tea lovers will also enjoy the company’s blog (www.bigelowteablog.com).

As more than 30,000 people Sunday raised their designer cups and took a sip of tea, Indore city of Madhya Pradesh set a new record for hosting the largest tea party. Citizens responded with enthusiasm to the novel event and started arriving at a stadium, the venue for the function, well ahead of the scheduled time of 3.30 p.m. and within an hour all seats were taken.

The stadium was divided into four sections and people were given entry only on the basis of their registration passes.

After singers Shreya Ghoshal and Krishna entertained the gathering with their melodious songs, the gates were closed at 4.30 p.m. and volunteers started serving tea to the guests in designer cups – which were later gifted to participants as mementos. Twenty minutes later, a new record was created.

At 6.30 p.m., a Guinness Book of World Record representative announced Indore to be the host of the biggest tea party with over 30,000 people sipping the Brook Bond Red Label tea, breaking the previous record of 14,718 people taking tea in Nishiao city of Japan in 2006.

The event, organised by the Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar, also raised funds to the tune of Rs.50 million for city development.

Indore mayor Umashashi Sharma and Ramesh Chandra Agarwal of the Dainik Bhaskar group received a certificate for the record from the Guinness Book representative amid an impressive show of fireworks and festivities.

By Brandice

LiveJournal is generally a great place to generate conversation about specific interests, so I am a member of several tea communities. Recently, a new one caught my interest, because it involves the actual exchange of tea with a special tea penpal. From their community description:

This is a community for tea lovers to share their favorite teas with other members, as well as make friends/penpals! This will work just like any penpal community – post an intro, comment on ones that interest you and exchange info between yourselves. You can work out what you want to send between you.

Please only accept penpals/swap partners if you are serious about sending mail. There’s nothing worse than penpals who never write back!

Are you interested in finding some tea penpals? If so, hop over to LiveJournal’s Great Tea Exchange and swap some teas.

By Chris Welsch

FIRST, ditch the tea bags. Tea in bags tends to be the lowest grade of leaf, and the bags impede steeping. Buy loose-leaf tea and brew it in a pot or cup that allows for free circulation. That means no tea-ballers, either.

In China and Japan, tea drinkers use the smallest possible pot for the number of people to be served and keep a thermos of hot water handy for re-steeps. That’s so they don’t have to leave water standing on leaves. That can create bitterness.

For brewing greens and oolongs, I follow the example of my Japanese and Chinese tea mentors: Fill a thermos with just-boiled water. Get the teapot and cup ready. Pour some water from the thermos into the cup to warm it. Let it rest for a few seconds, then pour it over the leaves and steep according to the variety of tea and your taste preference.

This plant is a beloved plant. Southeastern Native Americans used the leaves to brew a highly caffeinated tea known as the Black Drink. Today, the plant is called Yaupon Holly, but long ago Creek Indians called it the “beloved plant.” The leaves were a prized commodity among all the Southeastern Native American tribes. The leaves were roasted then boiled to produce the Black Drink. The Indians consumed Black Drink much like Americans consume coffee, but with a few minor differences.

The Black Drink was served as an emetic during purification rituals that took place before councils convened or warriors went off to war or hunt. The natives believed that a physical purity led to a spiritual purity, and the Southeastern natives possessed a religious zeal for purity. Before a man could proceed with any important undertaking, he would first purify himself by purging with the Black Drink. Yaupon Holly became so closely associated with the purging ritual that botanists gave the plant the Latin name Ilex vomitoria.

Today, this plant is sold in different varieties as a landscaping shrubbery and can be found gracing the sidewalks of new developments such as offices and apartments. It grows wild in abundance around the Moundville Archeological Park, where archeologists have recovered ancient Black Drink ceremonial cups.

In 1564, the French explorer Rene Laudonniere witnessed a Native American Black Drink ceremony in what is now north Florida. He wrote: “They esteem this beverage so much that no one can drink of it … if he has not already proven himself a warrior. Moreover this drink makes them break out in a very heavy sweat … and they do not hunger or thirst for twenty-four hours thereafter.”

There are some accounts of the natives even using the beverage as a purgative.

Some anthropologists question whether it was the beverage or those who drank the beverage that induced the purging. Creek descendant and cultural interpreter Butch Fuller allowed me to try a cup of Black Drink. I suffered no ill effects. The beverage looked and tasted much like a cup of green tea.

The Black Drink ceremony was a solemn occasion. Special singers and dancers gathered in the village council house and performed as the Black Drink was brewed over a fire in a large, earthen pot. They would sit for hours drinking, talking and purging. As the Southeastern natives were decimated, the ceremony died.

But the name Black Drink lives on in a strange form. With the removal of the natives came the influx of whites and the snake oil salesmen. These swindlers peddled all kinds of toxic elixirs that promised to cure every disease known to that point. More often these elixirs did more harm than good.

When I was a child, my grandmother was a fan of the Black Draught elixir. Its main ingredients are casanthranal and senna. I distinctly remember her forcing spoonfuls of the vile laxative down my throat when she felt my system wasn’t running like water. Very soon it would. Today I thank my grandmother for my lack of weight control issues.

Black Draught can still be purchased, and the makers promise a movement in six to 12 hours. They must not be making it as strong as they used to because I don’t remember it taking that long. One thing is for sure: I hope to never have to drink any more Black Draught. I’m sticking with the Black Drink — locally produced for more than 800 years.

Michael Palmer is a staff photographer for The Tuscaloosa News. He can be reached at michael.palmer@tuscaloosanews.com.