Noble Fleming, who for nearly 50 years sipped and sniffed from teaspoons and fine china cups to ensure the quality of tea for millions of Americans, died on Feb. 24 at a nursing home in Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, France. He was 92.

His daughter, Anne Fleming-Smith, confirmed his death.

Mr. Fleming, an Englishman known in the industry as Toby, was head of Royal Estates Tea, the subsidiary that bought tea from around the world for the Thomas J. Lipton Company, whose brand is the biggest seller in the United States. In that capacity he was perhaps the industry’s leading tea taster, almost always fulfilling the role in a finely tailored suit.

“Toby was legendary; he held one of the most powerful positions in the industry,” said Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Association of the U.S.A.

For decades, starting as a teenage apprentice, Mr. Fleming traveled to tea estates of 1,000 acres or more — primarily in India, Sri Lanka and East Africa — searching for varieties with specific tastes in the way an oenologist knows a chateau wine. Based on soil, elevation, rainfall, temperature and how the estate was managed, he would make an initial assessment of the tea’s quality.

Back at the company’s laboratorylike tasting room in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Mr. Fleming and his handful of experts would study the tone of the leaves (brightness indicated enhanced flavor), place them in white bone china cups lined up in rows, steep them in purified water, add a precise amount of skim milk and then sip.

To clear his palate before tasting, Mr. Fleming would chew on an apple. To avoid bloating from the hundreds of sips in a day, he would use chrome-plated cuspidors.

Based on the taste-testing, he would tell his agents what to buy at auction.

By the time Mr. Fleming retired in 1983, Lipton held nearly 50 percent of the market share in the United States. That share has slipped in recent years as specialty teas have become increasingly popular, the tea association says.

But Mr. Fleming’s influence continues. “He was responsible for training many other tea tasters who went on to become renowned in their own right,” Mr. Simrany said. There are only about 25 “bona fide professional tea masters” in the country, said Peter Goggi, executive vice president of the tea association, who was a student of Mr. Fleming’s and worked with him at Royal Estates and Lipton.

Noble Fearnley Hutchinson Fleming was born in Wales on March 7, 1919, to Ruby and Noble Fleming. After serving in the Royal Indian Navy during World War II, he was sent to the United States by Lipton in 1946.

Besides his daughter, he is survived by two granddaughters. His wife, France, died in 2008.

Mr. Fleming was just 19 when he got into tea tasting, by happenstance. “I had been reading a lot of Kipling about Burmese temples and wanted to get out of rainy old London,” he told The New York Times in 1980. “So when Thomas Lipton’s top tea taster, who was a friend of the family, agreed to take me on as an apprentice in India, I jumped at it.”

I’m always in Chinatown during the weekends, only because I have an addiction to playing basketball at Columbus Park, which is located at the corner of Mosco and Mulberry Streets. To get there, I’m forced to navigate through the tons of tourists that walk down Canal and Mott Streets. I’ve grown accustomed to seeing some of them stand aimlessly in the middle of the sidewalk and look as if they’ve just entered a foreign land.

Sometimes, I can’t help myself but wonder what makes the neighborhood so particularly appealing to these foreigners. Is it the row of roasted ducks that hang from the restaurant windows? Or is it just the idea that you can’t find this many old-school Chinese residents outside of Manhattan? Some tourists and local visitors will tell you that the answer is neither. In fact, they’ll tell you that they’re in the neighborhood only to buy bubble tea, a beverage craze (milk tea with tapioca balls) that has become increasingly popular in the past several years.

The history behind bubble tea is unclear, although the consensus is that it originated in Taiwan during the early 1980s. From there, two stories have emerged. According to one story, in 1983, Liu Han Chie, owner of Chun Shui Tang teahouse in Taichun, experimented with cold milk tea by adding tapioca balls, fruits, and syrup. The drink became popular after a Japanese television show did a highlight on it. Another story, however, credits Tu Tsong He Hanlin of Tainan. Hanlin supposedly made the drink with white pearl-like fenyuan balls, giving the beverage the moniker, “pearl tea.” He later changed it to the black tapioca balls that are used in bubble tea today.

Most people who buy bubble tea are unconcerned with its history. After all, drinking it and sucking the tapioca balls through a jumbo straw is more interesting (and entertaining) than actually knowing the name of the person who invented it. Nowadays, bubble tea comes in a variety of flavors. Customers can either choose to have milk tea or fruit juice with tapioca. In some cases, they can have a bit of both (vendors can add fruit flavors to milk bubble tea by throwing in fruit syrup or extract to the mix). No matter what kind of bubble tea you prefer, perhaps the most enjoyable part is watching the silky (but flavor-less) tapioca balls move up your straw and roll onto your tongue. The mere idea of being able to eat something while drinking tea, to me, is mind-boggling, but it will definitely keep drinkers amused for awhile.

I bet that right now, in your pantry and fridge, you have everything you need to make this pretty little cake. It’s a Green Tea Cake, but there are no powders or potions required – just a few tea bags! And bonus points for those of you looking to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a semi-classy way, because with just a few drops of food coloring, this tea-flavored cake becomes super-seasonal.

I used Tazo Zen green tea, which is infused with lemongrass and spearmint. The resulting cake was lightly minty-fresh-tasting and not too sweet. The frosting balanced it out nicely and added some necessary sweetness.

A lot of people seem to think that as a cake-blogger, things in the kitchen always go well for me. This is sooo far from the truth! One of the best things about baking is getting creative and experimenting … which inevitably results in some super-successes, but also some major baking-fails. This cake was almost a baking fail, but one that I managed to salvage into awesomeness.

Let me tell you how things went down: I envisioned a green tea layer cake, with a light and sweet marshmallow frosting, so I doubled the cake recipe to make two layers. Then I started on the frosting. It takes a long time to get the sugar to soft-ball temperature, so I waited and watched and waited and watched … until I kinda forgot to watch and it got too hot and started to caramelize! I poured it into the egg whites anyways, hoping it would work. It didn’t. What was supposed to be light and fluffy marshmallowy goodness turned into an off-white sticky mess. Bah. I tried to salvage it, but finally wrote it off as a total waste, and to my dismay had to dump it all and start over.

Round 2 of the frosting I decided to stick to simplicity and just make a vanilla glaze. Though the cake didn’t turn out as I had originally envisioned, it did turn out delicious.

Green Tea Cake with Vanilla Glaze

For the Cake:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons Tazo Zen green tea leaves (about 2 tea bags)
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Green food coloring and green sprinkles (optional)

For the Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-4 tablespoons as needed

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Grease and flour a 9-inch baking pan.
• With an electric mixer, or by hand, cream together butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pinch of salt, and green tea. Mix on medium speed until the mixture is slightly coarse and sandy. This takes about 5 minutes.
• Add in milk, egg, and vanilla extract. And beat until incorporated and the batter is smooth. Drop in food coloring until the batter reaches your desired green-ness (keep in mind that color tends to dull in baking, so if the batter looks a bit too bright you’re probably OK).
• Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake for 22 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan to cool completely before frosting.
• To make the glaze: Beat sugar, butter, and vanilla. Add milk one tablespoon at a time until it reaches a glaze-ish consistency. Spread the frosting on top of the cake and decorate with sprinkles if you’re using them.

New Boku Super Matcha Green Tea is a proprietary, “whole leaf” powered blend of 100% USDA organic green teas from a unique micro-climate region in Japan. It’s completely non-GMO, grown entirely without pesticides, and tested to ensure no contamination with fluoride, radiation, bacteria or heavy metals.

Artificial “energy” drinks and snacks laden with sugar, stimulants and fillers face competition as consumers reach for healthier, natural alternatives. With recent studies pointing to the antioxidants in green tea as key in helping prevent cell damage that can lead to a wide variety of diseases, researchers are proving green tea’s positive effect on a wide range of health problems. Lynn Rolle, Boku Super Food CEO, predicts as American consumers become more pro-active about their health, Matcha green tea will become the “go-to” energy drink and first line of defense to power immunity and fight sickness.

“We’ve created the first-ever Matcha green tea proprietary blend, which maximizes functional ingredients like calming amino acids and powerful antioxidants, while also emphasizing Matcha’s rich, unique and satisfying flavors; the result is a delicious, powerfully functional tea that naturally optimizes energy levels without typical caffeine jitters. Matcha also stabilizes blood sugar levels and offers many other amazing health benefits,” says Rolle.

Long the secret weapon of the Samari, Ninjas and meditating Buddhist Monks, Matcha green tea is the finest tea in the world. Translated as powdered green tea — “ma” meaning powder, and “cha” meaning tea in Japanese, it is produced from shaded tea bushes and meticulously picked for the finest leaves. After drying, the entire leaf is ground with a special granite wheel, to form a fine, jade-green powder that’s added to hot water for drinking. Since the whole tea leaf is ingested, a higher potency of healthy amino acids, catechins, antioxidants and chlorophyll is delivered compared to teabags only steeped in water. Unlike acidic coffee, Matcha green tea is alkalinizing and contains anti-bacterial properties that freshen breath and help prevent tooth decay.

What makes proprietary Super Matcha Green Tea Super?

• Matcha Green Tea has over 500% more antioxidants than goji berries by weight. It’s one of the highest ORAC-value superfoods known to man.
• Matcha Green Tea has roughly 10 times the nutritional potency of brewed green tea.
• Matcha Green Tea is well known to boost mood, enhance concentration and improve cognitive function.
• Matcha Green Tea is made using the “whole leaf” of the plant, so it’s higher in chlorophyll, minerals and phytonutrients than teas only steeped in water.
• Matcha Green Tea is a healthy caffeine replacement for coffee.
• Matcha Green Tea is slowly stone-ground at very low temperatures. This helps leave its rich phytonutrients intact.

For more information about Boku Super Matcha Green Tea, visit www.bokugreentea.com . To learn more about Boku, visit www.bokusuperfood.com and follow the company on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/BokuSuperFood .

About Boku International, LLC

Founded in 2007 by Lynn and Reno Rolle, and Headquartered in Ojai, California, BoKU® Super Food products are USDA certified Organic, Kosher and Vegan. They are completely free of GMOs, fillers, wheat, dairy, soy and gluten and are 100% natural. According to the renowned Hippocrates Health Institute, “There is more nutrition in one tablespoon of BoKU® Super Food than the average person will consume in several days”.

Boku manufactures a full line of the world’s leading superfood products including revolutionary BoKU® Super Protein powder, BoKU® Super Food, BoKU® Super Food Bars, and has garnered numerous awards and thousands of loyal customers in 70 countries throughout the world. BoKU® products are available online at Bokusuperfood.com, and at select medical wellness centers, spas and resorts.

Stash Tea, one of the largest specialty tea companies in the USA, announces the release of six great tasting new teas made with a rare, naturally caffeinated herbal tea known as Guayusa (gwhy-you-sa).

Guayusa is a stimulating herb native to the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador where it has been part of the indigenous culture and cultivated for more than 2000 years. Guayusa is delicious. It has a naturally smooth taste and a rich and earthy aroma and slightly sweet finish.

Guayusa is also naturally caffeinated and has an energizing effect similar to coffee or Yerba Mate, but unlike coffee or Yerba Mate, Guayusa provides a slow release of caffeine for alertness and energy, without the jitters or sudden caffeine crash.

Guayusa also supports small farms in Ecuador and it helps the Amazon Rainforest thrive, as Guayusa is shade-grown.

Stash Tea offers a Pure Guayusa Tea, as well as five signature blends, all organic and 100% natural.

• Guayusa Tea with Chocolate — Natural chocolate combines with refreshing Guayusa for a dessert-like tea that’s rich and stimulating.
• Guayusa Tea with Chai — Ecuador meets India in an aromatic blend of smooth Guayusa and spicy Chai.
• Guayusa Tea with Yerba Mate & Ginseng — are paired for an invigorating blend that is sure to awaken the senses.
• Guayusa Tea with Lemon — Lemony herbs and natural lemon oil combine for a slightly tart, refreshing taste.
• Guayusa Tea with Mint — Peppermint and spearmint are paired for a refreshing, rejuvenating taste.

Each package contains 18 individually wrapped tea bags. All natural ingredients. QAI and USDA certified organic. Guayusa is also fair trade certified. Suggested retail is $4.95. The new Guayusa line is now available on the Stash Tea website, http://www.stashtea.com, and will be available at select Grocery and Specialty retailers nationwide.

Stash Tea prides itself on providing superior quality teas. Based in the Portland, Oregon area since 1972, Stash Tea uses only pure, 100 percent natural ingredients in its full line of traditional black, green, white, oolong, flavored, spiced, herbal and specialty iced teas.

For more information about the new Stash Tea line of Guayusa teas, or for samples, please contact Megan Rolerkite at Stash Tea.

Green tea‘s status as a superfood is growing gradually, as a new study has claimed that drinking the beverage could help you fight bad breath and even mouth cancer. The study by a team from Israel’s Institute of Technology found that antioxidants found in green tea, called polyphenols, destroy a number of compounds in the mouth that can lead to bad breath, tooth decay and even mouth cancer.

The new findings will add to green tea’s status as one of nature’s so-called “superfoods” , the Daily Mail reported . Past studies have suggested that green tea helps prevent cancer and heart disease and lower cholesterol – and even ward off Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s .

In the latest study, the researchers examined the properties of the polyphenol called epigallocatechin 3 gallate (EGCG) in particular.

“EGCG constitute the most interesting components in green tea leaves,” the researchers reported in the journal Archives of Oral Biology.

“All together, there is increasing interest in the health benefits of green tea in the field of oral health,” they said. Green tea is made from the same plant as black tea but processed in a different way that means it retains less caffeine and more polyphenols . It has been drunk in China and the Far East for thousands of years and is fast becoming popular in UK because of its health benefits. It’s drunk without milk, sugar so it is low in calories.

Your family doesn’t have to drink green tea to enjoy its health benefits. Now you can put green tea in food, thanks to the powdered version called matcha. There’s a bundle of recipes offered at Matcha Source, which also details the ways in which this Japanese supplement is so good for you.

Matcha powder green tea cupcakes

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons Matcha

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour cupcake pan.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each.
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl, then add to batter and mix to combine.
5. Mix matcha and milk in a small bowl, then add to the batter and mix until combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
6. Remove from pan when cool.

Buttercream frosting:
1 tablespoon Matcha
2 tablespoons light cream
1 stick butter, at room temperature
3 cups sifted powdered sugar

1. Mix matcha powder with cream to create a paste.
2. Beat butter in a bowl with an electric mixer briefly, scraping bowl. Add powdered sugar and matcha paste. Beat until smooth.
3. Spread frosting over the cupcakes and top with decorations.

Billy Corgan is proving to be a man of many talents these days, with the latest news that the Smashing Pumpkins frontman is planning a tea house in Highland Park, Chicago. Corgan lives in the area and told the Web site that he decided to pursue the venture because there’s a “lack of culture for someone in their 30s or 40s.”

A lease has already been signed and the opening is planned for March or April. The tea house will offer lectures, cultural programs, rotating exhibits and teas from around the world. In other words, it’ll be the anti-Starbucks, which Corgan called “cookie-cutter culture.”

“I don’t want to hang out with those people,” Corgan told Eater. Corgan says he won’t be running the day-to-day operations of the business.

CNN Go, By Eddy Chin, Jan 2012

Go to Hangzhou’s Longjing Village in spring or summer to pick dragon well tea alongside local villagers

If Marco Polo had traipsed through Hangzhou in a single day, he probably would’ve left the city remembering three things – West Lake, beautiful women, and dragon well tea (龙井茶). Fast forward about 800 odd years and that still holds true.

One of the most prized and expensive teas in China, dragon well green tea has a light yet unmistakable fragrance and calming taste.

Known locally as Longjing, the best harvests are traditionally reserved for government officials and the wealthy elite. And the best way to laugh in their faces and cop free samples of the stuff is to skip the storefronts and teahouses and head straight to the source — Hangzhou’s Longjing Village (龙井村).

Drink Longjing tea in the garden that was favored by Emperor Qianlong.

Longjing Imperial Tea Garden (老龙井御茶园)

The most famous tea garden in the village is Longjing Imperial.

Located at the rear of the village, the tea garden is surrounded by incredibly idyllic terraces roamed by straw-hatted harvesters who pick each leaf by hand.

The grandiosely named garden is something of an out-of-the-way tourist spot, but that in no way diminishes the sheer beauty and tranquility of the place.

The compound covers a tranquil Jiangnan-style (south of Yangtze River) garden, a restaurant serving dishes cooked with Longjing  tea leaves, indoor and outdoor teahouses, and a namesake well.

More on CNNGo: The 5-minute Hangzhou guide

Legend has it that the land occupied by Longjing Imperial was one of Qianlong’s favorite stops on his several trips to Jiangnan, and the Qing Emperor even planted 18 tea trees on the hill by himself.

Great tea, even better garden

Upon entering the garden, you’ll find yourself at the foot of the hill into which the entire garden has been landscaped.

The outdoor space is flanked by a giant teapot and a pair of traditional-style buildings looming overhead, stone stairways crisscrossing upwards and beckoning the visitor to ascend further.

Once inside, you’ll find the grounds very thoughtfully laid-out, with narrow stone paths twisting alongside creeks and under traditional wooden walkways. All of these are amidst heavily forested environs that make visitors feel as if they’re wandering through somebody’s private hideaway.

The origin of Longjing tea‘s name, the dragon well, is near the entrance. Although this is not the exact well the green tea was named after — the tea took the name of the whole village — the resort uses the spring water from the well to irrigate its renowned tea leaves.

More on CNNGo: Longjing Manor: Hangzhou’s most famous restaurant

Grassy terraces set with tea tables made of lacquered tree trunks sit adjacent to small teahouses and the garden’s tiny museum, which displays photos showing the company receiving high-ranking officials.

Follow the paths back as they wind up steps and into bucolic tea plantations that just simply scream to get lost in.

My first visit to the garden was actually in the late evening, with the trees, narrow stairways, and secluded tombs and pavilions subtly illuminated by carefully placed nighttime lighting.

It left such a deep impression on me that I ended up returning six years later to celebrate my wedding there. A lazy afternoon’s visit certainly won’t disappoint.

A walk throughout the garden takes about 30 minutes.

Make yourself a cup of tea from scratch in Longjing Village.

Picking tea leaves at Longjing Village

To head home with some fine green leaves, you can buy Longjing tea directly from any of the villagers, who will try their best to lure you into their homes.

Prime tea harvest season is generally from late March to end of summer, with the March/April harvest fetching upwards of RMB 6,000 per kilo.

The other option is simply plucking the tea leaves yourself.

There are two ways to do this: either join a tour of Longjing with tea-picking included (the cost for an English-speaking private tour guide is around RMB 800 per day) or simply climb up into one of the surrounding plantations and politely ask one of the tea farmers if you can pick alongside them.

More on CNNGo: 12 secrets from a kung fu tea master

If you’re lucky enough, you may even be invited back to the plantation owner’s home to watch how the tea leaves are prepared by hand, a practice that takes years to perfect.

Getting there from downtown Hangzhou:

By bus: from the bus stop on Tiyuchang Lu (体育场路) in front of the post office just east of Wulin Square (武林广场), take No. 28 bus to Qu Yuan Feng He stop(曲院风荷站); walk south a few meters to the Yu Quan stop (玉泉站); transfer to No. 27 bus and ride to Longjing Cha Shi stop(龙井茶室站); walk west to the last fork in road, turn right and go to the end to find the tea garden.

By taxi: fares from downtown should be about RMB 35-45.

Spring and autumn are the most pleasant times to visit.

From Shanghai: catch the high-speed train to Hangzhou from Hongqiao Railway Station, take taxi or B2(区间) bus to Wulin Square, then follow previous directions.

Longjing Imperial Tea Garden (老龙井御茶园)
148 Longjing Lu
龙井路148号
+86 571 8798 0905, +86 571 8796 0843
8:30 a.m.- later
Latest reservation for dinner is 7 p.m.
Admission: RMB 10

A little more than a decade ago, two Iraqi American siblings were vacationing at the Grand Canyon when they decided to create a tea company that prized art and social justice. Today, Numi Organic Tea in Oakland is the leading brand importer of fair-trade certified teas in the United States.

For co-founder Ahmed Rahim, the desire to build a people-focused company came out of his experience as a child growing up in Cleveland, the son of Iraqi immigrants. For Reem Rahim, his sister and co-founder, a near-fatal car accident as a college student studying biomedical engineering led her to embrace what she really loved – art. And so it was that the two came up with the idea to start a business named after the dried lime tea they had drunk as children, Numi.

“We’re not really businesspeople,” said Ahmed Rahim, 43, who at the time of that fateful vacation had just returned home from living in Europe, where he managed tea houses in Prague and studied film in Paris.

The tea company they crafted in 1999 was focused on offering organic, premium quality tea leaves without flavorings. There’s no Earl Grey in their selection, or fruity herbal drinks, which Ahmed Rahim said are largely produced by spraying on natural and artificial flavors.

Growing movement

Over the years, Numi Organic Tea has become known in the tea marketplace for its business practices, despite the emergence of other high-end tea brands.

“When we started, there wasn’t much talk of fair trade. The movement has grown as we’ve grown,” said Ahmed Rahim. “So, it’s been easier for us to incorporate these principles into our business because we did it starting with a smaller scale. Doing it the other way around, when you’re bigger, is much tougher.”

Recently, news of a breakup between Fair Trade USA and Fair Trade International has created controversy, with critics arguing it could result in a watering down of regulations. Fair Trade USA, however, said the move could enable greater impact, as they change guidelines to allow for fair trade with large-scale farms and estates.

Brian Durkee, vice president of operations at Numi, said it’s far too early to determine what the move will mean.

“People who are more involved in the details recognize that it’s not a watering down,” he said. “The bottom line is that it’s trying to increase the amount of suppliers who can get certified as opposed to decrease the requirements of the certification,” he said.

Tea is still a small component in the world of fair trade, Durkee said. Last year, the United States purchased more than 110 million pounds of fair-trade coffee and only 1.8 million pounds of fair-trade tea.

For Numi, fair trade has become a critical component of the business.

Time with workers

Durkee, who has been with the Rahims for eight years, said the company works with several fair-trade organizations to ensure they’re reaching as many people as possible. His job includes visiting remote parts of rural China, Africa and India, spending mornings hitching a ride in the back of a truck and randomly surveying 100 workers for hours in the field as they pluck tea leaves. Workers have seen their wages increase by 20 percent, he said, once their employers go organic and fair-trade.

“You can’t go to your suppliers with a stick and demand low cost and expect them to be socially or environmentally conscious. So, we don’t go just for the cheapest option. We’re looking for good quality, a fair price, along with social and environmental impact,” Durkee said. “My job as a supply chain expert is to take on that challenge.”

That knowledge of their suppliers is reflected in the packaging, which showcases the farmers they work with.

Reem Rahim, 45, who spent months testing patterns for the boxes, ultimately decided on spiritual designs, a sharp contrast to loud branding labels. The aim, she said, was to remind customers of the soothing effect of tea and the art of drinking tea.

Prefer to pair your food with refreshing tea rather than heady wine? Enter the Golden Dragon in Chennai, India.

Pairing wine with European and even Indian food is fairly common at many restaurants today, but Golden Dragon, the Chinese fine-dining restaurant at the Taj Coromandel, Chennai, likes to do things a little differently. Besides a glass of red or white, it also specialises in pairing food with tea, seen by many as a healthier option. Its tea bar has long been the focus of the restaurant, but until now the brew has never really been paired with the food. Now, with 14 different teas on offer, diners can look forward to more than just the popular Jasmine in Chinese tea.

A range of tea variants is got by infusing natural flavours of fruits and flowers through the process of steeping.

FRAGRANT COMPANY

A minute or two after the green and white tea with flavours of peach and chamomile was placed on the table, its sweet fruity fragrance filled the air. It made the earthy spinach dimsum feel light and complemented it perfectly.

The Chun tea with citrus and Ginseng tasted less sweet but was just as fragrant. This well suited the delightfully light Crackling Spinach with Candied Walnuts that was served next. A never-ending stream of starters appeared on our table — water chestnuts and Chinese bread tossed in Kung Pao sauce; stir-fried mushrooms; and the beautifully presented Song of the Dragon, a dish of chicken or baby potatoes fried with potent, dried red chillies and served in a white ceramic pot said to contain the dragon song. Thankfully, there was the smooth, slightly sweet and wonderfully aromatic green tea with Madagascar vanilla flower to punctuate the spicy sauces and chilli in these dishes.

MAIN COURSE MUST-HAVES

The main course was fairly simple with rice steamed in woven bamboo containers, crunchy French beans with pickled Chinese vegetables, tender chicken in hot garlic sauce and perfectly cooked duck in sweet bean sauce. The accompanying floral oolong tea did not have any distinct aromatic notes but the smoky, full-bodied Monkey Pick tea complemented the woodiness of the bamboo rice. The silver needle tea or Dancing Tea, so named because the leaves “dance” from the top to the bottom of the pot, was too light to make any impression.

As was the Fortune Ball with Lotus, an elegant tea served at celebrations, as the opening of the dried flower is said to bring good luck to all who witness it. The flower opened prettily when dropped in the pot of water but did not add more than a hint of floral aroma. The aromatic white tea, on the other hand, was medium-bodied and a lovely pink in colour with notes of peaches and tangy raspberry.

PU-ERH DELIGHT

A pot of Pu-erh then arrived and, while I pondered how to pronounce it right, dessert was brought in.

A smooth, chocolate-filled dimsum garnished with slivered almonds made me forget about pretty much everything else, but the earthy yet slightly sea-like aroma of the Pu-erh forced its way into my chocolate coma. The Pu-erh is celebrated as a dieter’s dream with mysterious slimming properties. Grown on hills near the Yunnan coast, it is infused with a slightly fishy depth.

It is full-bodied with a rounded taste, making it a great accompaniment to the Malai Gao, a roulade made with sponge cake and red bean paste.

The tea tasting menu was well prepared and researched, making for a satisfying and educational experience.

Focus Taiwan, By Lin Heng-li and C.J. Lin, Jan 2012

Taiwan’s tea exports to China grew noticeably this year compared with last year, mainly because of a trade agreement that was signed between the two sides in 2010, the Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) said Wednesday.

In the period January to November this year, Taiwan shipped 596 metric tons of tea from Taiwan to China, with a total value of US$8.15 million (NT$247 million), which represented an annual increase of 11 percentin quantity and 52 percent in value, respectively, said Su Mao-shiang, secretary-general of the AFA at a tea promotion event in Nantou County.

Taiwan’s tea exports to China are expected to increase further next year, as China will lift all tariffs on the product in 2012 under the terms of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with Taiwan, Su said.

Currently, there is a 5 percent tariff on Taiwan tea imports to China.

Taiwan tea producers have also benefitted from a government program that offers advice in areas such as packaging, which has helped to increase domestic and international sales, the AFA said.

For example, farmers associations in parts of Chiayi and Nantou counties that participated in the program have become more creative, incorporating geographical and cultural characteristics into their packaging, the AFA said.

The Meishan Township farmers association in Chiayi, for instance, has included images of Alishan on its packaging, the agency said.

To monitor the quality of Taiwan tea, up to 13 special tea zones have been established by the AFA throughout Taiwan. A total of 174 tea manufacturers in certain townships have received AFA verification of their products.

Among the products that have been verified are brands such as Taiwan’s Lugu Township’s Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Alishan High Mountain Oolong, Wen Shang Baozhong Tea, Ruisui Township Tianhe Tea, Beipu Township Pengfeng Tea, Sun Moon Lake Black Tea, and Hehuan Mountain Tea.

Darjeeling tea producers are all set to cheer. The year 2011 has brought smiles to them as the average price of Darjeeling tea in the domestic market has shot up by Rs 35 per kg. Even the end-season Darjeeling teas, being offered at auctions now, are fetching Rs 267 per kg as against Rs 204 per kg in 2010 end — a rise of 31%.

This augurs well for the Darjeeling tea industry which generally depends on exports for revenues.

CTC and dust tea prices have risen by Rs 8 a kg compared to the previous year. Western India companies , Tata Global Beverages and HUL are active in the market which has pushed up the prices of end-season teas.

J Kalyansundaram, secretary of Calcutta Tea Traders Association (CTTA), said: “Darjeeling teas have fetched good prices this year. Even the end-season teas are fetching good prices. There is a demand for Darjeeling teas in the domestic as well as the export markets. Companies and exporters are buying Darjeeling teas.”

Darjeeling tea production has increased by at least 25% compared to the previous year. “Last year, production was affected by a drought-like situation . We lost the premium firstand second-flush teas, which fetch maximum revenues for tea companies. But this year, the weather has improved and this will have a good impact on the production,” said Ashok Lohia, chairman of Chamong Tee.

Chamong Tee is the largest Darjeeling tea producer. Last year, Darjeeling produced 8 million kg tea, the lowest in the last decade. There is an expectation that production this year will be around 10 million kg though the final figure is yet to be published by Tea Board. The appreciation of Euro has helped Darjeeling tea exporters as most of Darjeeling teas are exported to European Union countries.

“This will be definitely a good year for the Darjeeling tea companies . We are happy that the domestic consumption of Darjeeling tea has increased,” said Sanjay Bansal, chairman of Ambootia Group. Generally, 40% of Darjeeling teas, which have the unique muscatel flavour, are exported. The rest 60% are considered as rains teas and do not make much headway to export markets.

But this year, there has been no lull in Darjeeling tea offtake. The CTTA secretary said CTC and dust teas have fetched better prices even at the year-end sale. “Companies are buying tea for the present season and for the Februray-March period. They have been strong this year and bought good quantities of teas,” he said.

Tea farmers in Kenya have in the past struggled to sell their produce abroad, and whenever they were lucky, the yields were low. But their fortunes could soon change following a partnership deal between Iria-Ini tea factory in Nyeri and Marks & Spencer’s to sell Kenyan tea. The supermarket is based in the United Kingdom.

Drinking just three cups of black tea a day can slash the risk of a heart attack by 60 per cent and dramatically reduce the threat of diabetes, experts say.

When I first Googled “tea smoking,” most of the results pertained to a recreational activity that had nothing to do with barbecue, although they were pretty damn edgy. Tea-smoke cooking does involve the munchies, but it won’t mellow you out or treat your glaucoma. Sorry to disappoint. What it will do is give a unique flavor to your smoked meat.

This take on Chinese tea smoking was so straightforward, I only needed two plates for the ingredients. It’s a style of smoking that hails from China’s Sichuan (formerly Szechuan) region, which is known for its hot, spicy cuisine.

Serious Chinese food geeks may be familiar with Zhangcha duck—a tea-smoked Sichuan delicacy that’s a bitch to make but impressive as hell to anyone who’s never had it before.  I was going to make one for this article, but the cops at the park kicked me out of my blind and confiscated my shotgun before I could pick off the Mandarin Duck I wanted. Oh, well. It was from the wrong province of China anyway.

A ticket and a body cavity search later, I was at the supermarket looking for an alternative. Tea smoking a chicken sounded a little bland, they had no duck, and I’ve had bad luck with Cornish game hens in the past. That pretty well left me with pork—the other white meat. Swine and I have a long history together, going back to my college days at USC when my roommate Jim Skinner and I invented the leftovers festival affectionately known as Questionable Pork Day.  But that’s another story.

I headed home with 3 pounds of country-style pork ribs and got down to business. Because I’m a tea-smoking virgin (don’t spread that around, BTW), I kept things pretty simple. I started by mixing up the sauce, then let the ribs marinate in it for four hours.

Yes, I know. The smoking mix looks like potpourri. No, you can’t have my man card.

While that was going on, I created the tea mixture. It’s a combination of the tea, some brown sugar, dry rice, cinnamon sticks, and orange zest/peel. Most grocery stores have an Asian food section where you’ll find some inexpensive black Oolong tea; black teas are what’s used for this type of cooking. It’s great if you can find loose leaf tea but if not, cutting open a bunch of tea packets and pouring them into a measuring cup isn’t exactly brain surgery. The rice acts as filler to keep the tea burning longer. Cinnamon and orange zest are pretty standard ingredients for this sort of smoking. They provide aromatics in the smoke. You could also toss in some other whole spices—like fennel seeds or whole cumin—to put a different spin on the process. I made four batches of tea mixture: one loose in a bowl and the others wrapped in aluminum foil pouches. Leave a gap on top of each pouch for the smoke to escape.

Three hours later I was off to my charcoal smoker.  I hot-smoked the ribs over a water pan, adding fresh tea mix to the coals every half hour. First I tried pouring loose mix onto the coals, but it burned faster than a telemarketer in the afterlife. The packets worked great, though. Since the smoker was open anyway, I also brushed more sauce on my ribs during these little interludes. Yes, I know it adds 20-30 minutes to the cooking time whenever you pop open your smoker, but I had all day and figured the taste would be worth it.

While potpourri and tea smoke mix share some ingredients, here’s the difference—potpourri comes in a sack, Szechuan tea smoking has one.

And I was right. The sauce alone turned the ribs into salty, sweet, deliciousness with a spicy kick. The smoke was distinctly different than the wood chip variety I’ve come to know and love. It has a much more herbal kick to it than hardwood smoke. I’m definitely making this again. Hell, I may even go crazy and share it with other people next time.

Tea-Smoked Country Style Pork Ribs
This is the recipe I used for my rib experiment.  For as simple as it is, I loved it.

Rib Sauce
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dry crushed chile pods
3 pounds country-style pork ribs

Smoking Packet Mix:
1/2 cup black tea leaves (roughly 17 teabags for you infidels)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup raw, long grain rice
2 cinnamon sticks, broken into small pieces
4-6 slices of fresh orange rind, 1 inch wide and 2-3 inches long

Mix up the rib sauce, coat the ribs, and let them soak inside the fridge for three to five hours.  Meanwhile, mix up the smoking mix and prep your smoker. Once the coals are ready, you hot-smoke the ribs until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. (this will take roughly two or three hours).  I made four packets of smoking mix and changed them every half hour while brushing more sauce onto the ribs.

Serves 2-3
Heat Scale Mild

Zhangcha Duck
This bad boy involves three different cooking processes, so if you’re a college kid living in a dorm or a creepy guy dwelling in Mom and Dad’s basement, chances are you don’t have the space to make this.

One 2 to 2 1/2-pound duck
1 1/2 tablespoons Sichuan pepper*
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons rice wine
1/2 cup black tea leaves (preferably Oolong)

First you want to clean the duck and open a slit about 3 ½ inches long at the back of it so you can remove the guts. Then, mix everything but the duck and the tea. Marinate the duck in that concoction in the fridge for several hours. Place the duck into boiling water to tighten the hide. This ensures that your duck will have a crispy skin after you’re done cooking it. While that’s going on, you should start preheating enough vegetable oil or peanut oil in a separate pan to deep-fry the duck later on. Drain the water from the duck, and move it over to your heated wok. The tea sits in the bottom of the wok while you smoke the duck in it for 10-15 minutes. After that, steam the duck for 10 more minutes. Think you’re done? Not quite. Let the duck cool off, then deep-fry it in the oil until the skin is crisp. It goes great with rice, veggies, and Chinese dumplings.

Serves 2-4
Heat Scale: Medium

Tea-Smoked Sichuan (or Szechuan) Bacon
Anything that is good for smoking pork ribs has to be worth a go for bacon. Here’s my take on what might be a cool Chinese twist on my favorite breakfast meat.

1 5-pound slab of pork belly, skin on, neatly trimmed
2 tablespoons Sichuan pepper*
2 tablespoons ginger
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 teaspoons Morton’s Tender Quick or equivalent pink salt cure
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Mix up all the non-swine ingredients and use the mixture as a rub on all surfaces of the pork belly. Place it in the fridge inside a Ziploc bag or in a covered, non-reactive container just large enough to hold the pork belly. Flip the belly every day for seven days, then wash it off, and let it dry on a rack in the fridge overnight. Hot-smoke it the next day until it reaches 165 degrees F. at its thickest point. Then, remove the skin while the finished bacon is still warm.

Serves up to 8 people
Heat Scale Mild to Medium

*Note: this is not a chile pepper, nor is it related to black pepper. This from Wikipedia:
Sichuan pepper has a unique aroma and flavour that is not hot or pungent like black or white pepper, or chili peppers. Instead, it has slight lemony overtones and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth (caused by its 3% of hydroxy-alpha-sanshool) that sets the stage for hot spices. According to Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking (second edition, page 429), they are not simply pungent; “they produce a strange tingling, buzzing, numbing sensation that is something like the effect of carbonated drinks or of a mild electrical current (touching the terminals of a nine-volt battery to the tongue). Sanshools appear to act on several different kinds of nerve endings at once to induce sensitivity to touch and cold in nerves that are ordinarily nonsensitive. So theoretically, this may cause a kind of general neurological confusion.” Woot!

Have a good one…

Tea, and especially Darjeeling tea, spells magic for me. It’s the world’s most expensive tea, one with an intensely exotic flavour; Darjeeling is to tea, what Champagne is to wine. Many a summer vacation has been spent in the tea gardens, sipping this “champagne of teas”.

And although I personally prefer my tea unadulterated, there is enough to suggest it is a heady concoction when mixed with a few strains of alcohol.

Interestingly though, one can actually combine tea with alcohol. Not many are aware that tea mixed with alcohol proves to be a potent stimulant. A splash of your favourite alcoholic beverage in tea can be a great combination. The aroma is so strong that a whiff is enough to intoxicate the senses. Depending upon the blend of tea one is using, a variety of liquors including vodka, rum and whisky can be paired with it.

Rum might be a safer choice to begin with, though I know for a fact some have even tried vodka and tea. Not many know that the content of monoterpene alcohol — present in the essential oils of plants — in Darjeeling tea is five times higher than other Indian teas. So it’s already quite potent!

But if you are planning to marry the two beverages, then be a little more creative. Pour your drinks in elegant, funky glasses, add bright stirrers and serve them with colourful garnishes. Basically, the cocktail is likely to be termed rather eccentric and many purists might turn their noses at it, so at least have fun as you serve it. They too may give in.

Preparing the perfect cup of Darjeeling tea is important. It is an elaborate ritual and you cannot afford to go wrong. Your palate is the best guide when having a cupful. But make sure you go about preparing it the right way. Ensure you use fresh water each time while you boil. Never add tea leaves to the boiling water. Pour the tea into a teapot, one teaspoon of tea leaves per cup, add it to the boiled water in the pot. Steep it for about five minutes or so.

Strain the brew into your cup and the tea is ready. Generally, tea is consumed black, but milk or sugar may be added as per choice. A useful tip: Never boil Darjeeling Tea directly, as it will cook the leaves and make the tea bitter. If you are adventurous, add any type of alcohol.

The author is a food writer.

Taipei: The final of an inaugural cross-strait tea competition took place Sunday in Chiayi City, where some of the country’s best tea is grown, with teas from both Taiwan and China each showing specific strengths.

Based on the evaluation of five judges — two teas from China and three teas from Taiwan - Taiwan had the most varieties enter the final of the high-mountain tea category, for teas grown in areas with altitudes over 1,000 meters. But Chinese varieties dominated the tieguanyin category. Tieguanyin is a type of oolong tea.

Co-organized by two tea associations from Alishan in Taiwan and Xiamen in China, the winter tea final came after two preliminary rounds were held in the two countries on Dec. 1. It also marked the first time that China-grown tea leaves had competed in Taiwan.

The competition was part of Chiayi County’s efforts to further promote Alishan tea in China, where it is already one of the favorite Taiwanese souvenirs, said Wu Jung-hui, secretary-general of the Chiayi County government.

(By Chiang Chun-liang and Kendra Lin)

Taiwanese bubble tea is the world’s 25th most delicious drink, according to a ranking of the world’s top 50 drinks posted on the CNN travel website. The list, unveiled Saturday, was topped by plain water, Coca-Cola, and Ethiopian coffee. Taiwan’s bubble tea drew attention for its variety and the popular chewy “pearls” made of tapioca.

“More bubble than tea, this is a tea-slash-milk-slash-fruit drink and its most famous variety includes chewy ‘pearls,’ resembling oversized frogspawn, at the bottom that you suck up with an oversized straw,” CNN said of the drink. “It sounds weird, but it has become a favorite drink snack among Asia’s millions of young shoppers,” CNN added.

Water was chosen as the most delicious drink because “as the base of every other drink on this list, of every food in the world and indeed of all life, nothing beats a glass of pure, unsullied water for its thirst-quenching, revitalizing, life-giving properties.”

Filling out the top 10 on the list was beer (global), tea (global), air mata kucing (or longan drink) from Malaysia, American orange juice, red wine (global), gin and tonic (England) and hot chocolate with marshmallows (U.S.).

Japanese sake was ranked 15th and white wine (global) finished 18th.

(By Hsiao Chien-yun and Sofia Wu)

Guwahati: Tea Research Association, the oldest and largest of its kind in the country, at Tocklai in Assam has played a pioneering role in tea research leading to pathbreaking initiatives subsequently adopted by the industry.

The research organisation, which began its existence as the Tocklai Experimental Station in 1911, concluded its year-long centenary celebrations on November 22 by holding a World Tea Science Congress inaugurated by former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

TRA Director Mridul Hazarika said the research station had launched a decade-long scientific effort to give something unique to the tea industry and undertaken research in several non-conventional areas along with conventional research.

The research institute has emerged as one of the major biotechnology research institutes of tea in the world.
A major centenary highlight of the TRA was launching of a tea based non-carbonated soft drink promoted as a health drink along with Plant Growth Promoting Microbes to be made commercially available to the tea industry.

Hazarika pointed out that the significant results of tea research by the organisation had led to release of 30 Tocklai Vegetative (TV) clones, 14 biclonal seed stocks and 151 region-specific garden series clones to the tea industry.

Hazarika claimed it was due to the efforts of the TRA that the industry introduced extended pruning cycle in lieu of annual prune for higher productivity and better distribution of crop.

Optimisation of plant population, new techniques of bringing up young tea, reducing the gestation period from planting to full bearing, land planning, drainage and balance manuring for higher productivity and soil Amendment techniques have been some of the highlights of tea research initiated by the TRA.

Research by the TRA also established the necessity for a light canopy of shade for tea plantations in the plains of Northeast, Hazarika pointed out.

The TRA has also successfully invented several tea machinery adopted by tea gardens, like the MacTear Rotorvane, Borbora Continuous Leaf Conditioner, Continuous Tray Drier, Continuous Fermenting Machine, Borua Continuous Roller, Tea Breaker-cum-Stalk Separator, Green Leaf Storage Device, Continuous Withering Machine Electronic Monitoring and Control System for Withering.

Another major contribution of the organisation has been in the field of safer pesticides for effective pest and weed control, with emphasis on integrated pest management and generation of data on pesticide residues in tea from multi-locational supervised field trials.

The TRA has also successfully introduced bioagents – Trichoderma and Bacillus for control of certain tea diseases and their formulation for commercial application.

Thais enjoy little more than a strong coffee made the traditional way and are happy to sip their java juice at coffee shops, at home and in the office. Today though, many in Thai society are turning to English tea as their preferred tipple.

Tea is nothing new in this country, but lounging around a tea garden for a balmy afternoon tea over Earl Grey and cucumber sandwiches has never been a much-cultivated practice in Thailand unless you come from an aristocratic clan with a proper English education.

But Twinings of London, with its 300 years of expertise, believes the concept of English afternoon tea along the lines of its creator Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford, will go down well with Thais. So last week the leading English tea brand launched its first Twinings Tea Garden at The Nine Centre, Bangkok’s newest semi-outdoor lifestyle mall.

The tea garden is quintessentially British – with vintage decor, a white octagonal garden pavilion, classic furniture, top-quality tea and table accessories, plus such British icons as a classic red telephone box and big teddy bears dressed in the Great British Guardsman costumes.

Tea lovers have plenty of English tea blends from which to choose. There’s the 1706 blend in the original flavour and aroma created 300 years ago. Then, there’s Mulled Spice tea, which is blended especially for this year’s Winter Edition by scenting black tea with special aromas of cinnamon and cloves. Then, of course, there’s Earl Grey, which is light, fragrant and with a distinctive bergamot flavour. Tea lovers should also not miss the English Breakfast tea, which is full-bodied and full of flavour due to the robust blend of the finest Assam and Kenyan leaves.

Twinings will serve baked delicacies by chefs from Le Cordon Bleu, including soft scones with mango jam and macaroons, almond cookies with a touch of Britain.

The tea garden is the brainchild of Piyapong Chitchumnong, Twinings’ business unit manager at the AB Food & Beverages (Thailand).

“The widespread popularity of Twinings teas across England dates to 1666. To commemorate Twinings as part of English tea heritage, we have created the “1706 blend” of finest teas from various sources.

“In Thailand, tea drinking is regarded as a very interesting social culture. Twinings has therefore created this tea garden to give tea lovers a lovely place where they can take full pleasure in a cup of fine tea in a London ambience. Besides, profits from the Tea Garden will go to the Chaipattana Foundation to celebrate HM the King’s 84th birthday.

A glance at Twining tea heritage.

1662

Tea was officially introduced to England by the young Portuguese wife of Charles II, Catherine of Braganza. She served it to her aristocratic friends at the Royal Court and soon tea became the fashionable drink of the day.

1701

Thomas Twining takes a job working for a wealthy merchant handling the first shipments of tea to English shores from around the world.

1706

Thomas Twining opens the first Twinings shop on London’s Strand.

1784

By the time of his death, Thomas Twining was serving customers with royal connections. Hs son, Daniel, was the first Twining to export tea.

1837

Queen Victoria granted Twinings its first Royal Warrant for tea – she appointed Twinings as supplier of teas to her household.

1901

Twinings develops the recipe for its English breakfast blend.

1904

Twinings opens its first Paris shop

The American Tea Masters Association proudly announces its special upcoming Certified Tea Sommelier Course – conducted entirely in Spanish.  This course will be conducted January 21 - January 24, 2012 (inclusive), in San Diego, California.  Diego Morlachetti, Certified Tea Master and Executive Director of the Escuela de Te inArgentina, will teach this course.

Chas Kroll, Executive Director of American Tea Masters Association and Certified Tea Master announced, “This course is a great opportunity for Spanish-speaking people in the USA who wish to take their passion for tea and its health benefits to a professional level.  There has been so much interest in the US, that for the first time, ATMA is offering the course in Spanish.”

The Certified Tea Sommelier Course is suited to restaurant and tea court owners and managers, wine sommeliers, tea aficionados, industry suppliers, and others who wish to incorporate tea mastery skills into their personal or professional lives.

Margo Seymour, owner of the Denver Tea Room in Colorado, became a Certified Tea Master in 2010 and opened her shop.

Now she confidently knows her teas as well as how to best market her tea room.  Seymour expects that her business in 2012 will double that of 2011.

“I bring out trays of 30 teas and sniffing boxes.  Scent will lead them to a tea they like,” says Seymour.

As the profession expands there is growing demand for Certified Tea Sommeliers.  Respected hotels, traditional and modern tea rooms, high-end restaurants, and teashops, create an important base for a professional tea sommelier.

The Certified Tea Sommelier Course provides a thorough foundation for those interested in managing the tea service, including:  vendor selection, creating tea menus, seasonal tea rotation, managing guest preferences, and providing accurate background information on myriad teas.

The course starts with a 4-day intensive training at the Liberty Station Courtyard by Marriott.  This is followed by home study utilizing online tutorials led by Morlachetti between February and September 2012.

About American Tea Masters Association:

Founded in 2007, the American Tea Masters Association promotes education among individuals aspiring to achieve excellence in the world of premium-grade specialty teas.

The association’s prestigious Certified Tea Master™ designation is awarded following completion of the Tea Mastery Certification Course™, to deserving Tea Masters and Tea Sommeliers dedicated to promoting the experience of quality, loose-leaf specialty teas grown around the world.

Further information is available at www.TeaMasters.org

About Escuela Argentina de Te:

Headquartered in Rosario, Argentina, the school is licensed and accredited by American Tea Masters Association.  Launched in June 2010 by Diego Morlachetti, a Certified Tea Master of American Tea Masters Association.  The school is responsible for training and certifying Spanish speaking registrants residing in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Spain.  Additional information is available at www.EscuelaDeTe.org.

Media Contact:
Catherine Milsom
(954) 600 5250 Central Time
Milsom@att.net
Se habla espanol.

SOURCE American Tea Masters Association

The expectation of the tea industry to touch the magic figure of 1,000 million kgs in 2011 may remain elusive. Latest analysis shows that the total tea production of the country this year is bound to be restricted somewhere near 985 million kgs.

Revealing this, sources in the tea industry said as per the January to September figures, the tea production of the country has soared by 41 million kgs in North India and dropped by 4.6 million kgs in South India, compared to the corresponding period last year. In all, India could produce 966 million kgs of tea last year.

This generated a hope in the Indian tea industry that this year it would be able to record an all time high production with 1,000 million kgs.

But, unfavourable weather condition from mid-October affected production this year and hence the above estimate has received a beating. Now, the revised estimate has hinted that the country’s total tea production is going to be limited to around 985 million kgs by the end of this season.

Till 2010, the all time high production of the country was 986 kgs in 2007. In 2010, China recorded an all time high tea production with 1,370 million kgs.

In 1895, India overtook China. Since then, it continued to be the world leader in tea production till 2006. In 2006, China overtook India after a gap of 111 years. It took more than 175 years for India to reach the current area of 5.79 lakh hectares under tea cultivation, and in the contrary, China added an area of more than 6 lakh hectares under tea during the last ten years. In fact, during the last ten years, the global tea area got expanded by 8 lakh hectares and of this, China accounts for 75 per cent. Kenya and Vietnam together increased 1 lakh hectares, while in India, the additional area brought under tea was around 89,000 hectares and that too mainly in the small tea growing sector.

Mighty Leaf Tea is my most favorite tea, mostly because the flavors are incredible and interesting. I’ve had them on my top ten list for years, but I never knew they did anything besides tea.

Turns out they also have a very clever travel mug specifically for tea users, which they were kind enough to send me to review. Putting tea in a normal travel mug isn’t that great—there’s no easy way to get the bag out, so the tea brews too long and ends up tasting bitter. If you do pull the bag out, there’s no easy place to put it and you end up making a mess.

The TeaTop Brew Travel Mugis the first travel mug specifically made for tea I’ve ever tried, and it is very cool.

What it is: a travel mug designed for use with tea bags.

The good: It’s so clever! Allows you to pull the bag out of the tea once it’s done brewing, but keeps the bag inside the cup so there’s no mess. It also keeps your beverages warm for a long time.

The less good: It’s not spill proof, so don’t turn it upside down or knock it over. It also doesn’t really work with non-Mighty Leaf bags.

How it works: Fold the tea tag in half and slide it through the slot so the bag is underneath the lid. Drop the bag into the cup full of hot water and close the lid (picture 1). Brew your tea for the specified time, then pull on the tag to get the bag out of the water (picture 2). The tea bag stays in the indention in the lid, keeping you from over brewing your tea (picture 3). Genius!

The fourth and final madeleine recipe from the book… you can tell Dorie lives in Paris!  The original recipe calls for an Earl Grey tea infusion to give these cookie/cakes flavor, but I usually only have one or two types of tea kicking around my cupboard at a time, and the Earl wasn’t one of them.  So I used chai (from a teabag actually…I tore the bag open and sprinkled the bits into my hot butter to infuse; then I put it through a very fine strainer to remove any sediment).  I thought the chai spices would be nice with the honey that was already in the ingredient list.

I could really taste the tea in here.  They were delicious, and I amped up the spicing even more by tossing them in a cardamom sugar while they were still warm.  I made big, full-sized madeleines… I didn’t really get the pronounced madeleine bump with these, but they had rounded backsides and great texture and taste, so I guess I don’t mind so much.

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

The benefits of drinking green tea are numerous, as various studies have shown that compounds in green tea help to mitigate conditions like obesity, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and cancer (more). And a recent study published in theJournal of the American Dietetic Associationadds to this body of evidence, as it reveals that consuming green tea or green tea supplements regularly can help naturally lower LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol levels.

For their study, Olivia Phung, an assistant professor of pharmacy at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Cal., and her colleagues analyzed data from 20 clinical trials on green tea that included more than 1,400 adults. They found that participants who consumed green tea or green tea supplements every day experienced a five-to-six point average drop in LDL cholesterol compared to those taking a placebo.

The various trials included in the evaluation lasted anywhere from three weeks to six months, and the benefits of green tea were most apparent in participants that already had high cholesterol prior to joining the studies. Green tea in beverage form was reportedly more effective than green tea in capsule or supplement form at lowering cholesterol levels.

Green tea contains polyphenolic compounds known as catechins, which in previous studies, has been shown to promote weight loss (http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000…). These same antioxidant compounds are believed to be what is responsible for green tea’s cholesterol-lowering effects.

“Green tea catechins have been studied fairly extensively as preventive agents for cardiovascular disease,” writes Tori Hudson, ND, in her bookWomen’s Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine: Alternative Therapies and Integrative Medicine for Total Health and Wellness. In one cited study, “flavanoid-rich green tea extract (375mg) for three months along with a low-fat diet decreased total cholesterol by 11.3 percent and LDL by 16.4 percent in men and women with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia.”

Not all cholesterol is bad, however, and the jury is still out as to whether or not having “low cholesterol” is a good thing. It appears as though cholesterol itself is not the culprit in heart disease and artery hardening, but rather the accumulation of oxidized cholesterol, which is a result of other dietary factors.

Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, for instance, recently found that women with high cholesterol levels actually have fewer heart attacks and strokes than women with lower cholesterol levels (http://www.naturalnews.com/033975_h…).

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/034279_green_tea_bad_cholesterol.html#ixzz1hVTF3opk

The latest in bizarre dresses has arrived. After paper napkins, newspapers, and even condoms, we now have a dress made of tea bags. This one was made by a 16-year-old from Kuala Lumpur, and she used a whopping 4,000 tea bags to create her masterpiece. She won the top prize at the Green Awards 2011 held in Kuala Lumpur in October.

Suraya Mohd Zairin is a science student from SMK Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam. She says that she chose to make a dress out of tea bags because they were easily available to her. With the help of her friends, she was able to collect the 4,000 bags and then it took her three months to complete the dress. The theme followed by the budding designer was ‘flowers’, because their shapes have always mesmerized her.

Suraya says that people tend to take flowers for granted, and through her dress she wanted to highlight the significance of nature, especially that of flowers. She was the youngest contestant in the category, and never expected to win. Needless to say, she was quite shocked when her name was announced as the winner. The two categories of the award where wildly creative and totally active.

She received RM4000, which is approximately $1,700, along with a trophy, for her efforts.