Cold Brew: Hou Kui

Hou Kui is probably one of the most aesthetic teas available, its long flat leaves seem virtually intact and are a bright, translucent green. Upon opening the package, a strong seaweed smell wafted out and reminded me a lot of seaweed chips! The very marine smell kind of surprised me and I wasn’t sure what […]

Cold Brew: Keemun

Black tea is the least favored in the “true tea” world because it tends to be associated with mundane teabag culture. When people think of black tea, they think of a run of the mill tea bag widly consumed in Europe, America and other non-Asian cultures. Yet, not all black tea is created equal, when […]

Raspberry Leaf (Rubus idaeus)

Raspberry leaf is the perfect herb to begin your exploration with “gong fu herbs” The taste is surprisingly similar to a black tea. I had read this before but was a bit skeptical since I’ve had raspberry leaf many other times, yet it was always in a blend with other things so I hadn’t really […]

Cold Brew: Honey Orchid

I love this tea, it tastes as lovely as it sounds! When I first brewed up this tea hot, I was a little disappointed at first. The smell of the wet leaves was amazingness, like honey, peachy, molasses cookies but when I drank it, it wasn’t as nearly as over powering as the smell. Yet, […]

What Does it Mean to Free Your Gaiwan?

The concept of “Free your Gaiwan” is simply to explore infusions outside of Camellia sinensis. I came to true tea first out of my interest in other herbal infusions or tisanes. As I shared in my previous post (Free your Gaiwan (Part one) My Story) my favorite “teas” in the beginning of my tea journey […]

Green Tip Mao Jian (Hot and Cold)

Many people claim they don’t like green tea because of its bitterness, the reason is often times because they have never had a properly prepared cup of green tea. While tea aficionados may know that green tea thrives best at a brewing temperature much lower than boiling for only a few seconds, this is not […]

Cold Brew: Genmaicha

Summer is a perfect time to try cold brewing your favorite teas! Every time I have a tea I really like, I wonder what it would taste like cold and I do a little experimentation. Tea is sensitive to temperature so depending on the temperature of the water, you could potentially get a very different […]

Free your Gaiwan (Part one) My Story

Herbs tend to attract a certain kind of people, mainly, women (moms, wives, grandmas etc..) or very “new age” people whose main focus is connecting with the Earth and living in harmony with everything. But there is a group of people who I believe would be fascinated by herbs- tea drinkers. I am not referring […]

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HospitaliTea

Tea, Camellia sinensis, can take on many different shapes, colors and characters. It can be offered loose leaf, in small bags or as part of an herbal cocktail. From Morocco’s mint green tea to Britain’s black tea to the USA’s Lipton tea bags, tea can be found all over the world and is loved by […]