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Our Tea blog
Welcome to the Grey’s Teas blog. It focuses on high-grade loose leaf teas from around the world. We hope these will be of interest to you and help you discover more about the teas you enjoy most. Please use the drop-down menu above to choose the category of post that interests you most or feel free to just browse using the post snippets on this and the following pages.
Where poll results got it wrong!
Read more: Where poll results got it wrong!Of course, your poll results must have been correct! We have long run a tea poll on various tea-related issues. These polls are sometimes run with the intention of better understanding the needs of loose leaf tea enthusiasts and those who enjoy single-origin teas. Sometimes we just want to offer a bit of entertainment once…
Chinese Tea Ceremony
Read more: Chinese Tea CeremonyChinese Tea Ceremony: celebrating the ordinary serving of tea. Gongfu Cha is the original Chinese tea ceremony, designed principally for the preparation of oolong tea. This developed in Chaozhou in Guangdong province. There is a reverence shown to the tea: its delicate aroma is appreciated and its lingering taste is experienced in small cups where…
Tea Chests
Read more: Tea Chests18th Century Tea Chests: for a valuable new commodity Tea first exported from China to England in was extremely expensive and was stored in ceramic Chinese caddies, frequently blue and white. Soon tea chests were made in which to keep these tea caddies under lock and key and to be placed in the drawing room.…
Serving Tea
Read more: Serving TeaServing tea: loose leaf tips for tea rooms When serving tea it is important to follow a few points to ensure that your good loose leaf tea is given due justice in its preparation. Too often tea can be disappointing when drunk away from home and so we have noted these points – which may…
What is Yellow Tea?
Read more: What is Yellow Tea?Yellow teas can be compared with green teas and white teas. Yellow tea is little known because little is now made as its production is expensive. It is worth the trouble and expense however as ‘spring tea’ as it is known, is indeed fresh and aromatic. The name is taken from the appearance of the…
Earl Grey Tea and the Man
Read more: Earl Grey Tea and the ManEarl Grey Tea and the Man: Discover more about his marvellous tea and the great man. Earl Grey tea is the most famous blend but who was the man and how did the tea come about? Earl Grey was not, surprisingly for some, in the tea business. He was born at the family seat of Falloden in…
Tea Clippers
Read more: Tea ClippersTea Clippers: Not beaten for speed until air-freight. In the 1850’s there was huge competition to build ever leaner and faster tea clippers to bring the harvest from China to Europe and north America. This was epitomised by the Champion of the Seas which in 1854 sailed 465 miles in one day – a feat…
Iced Tea
Read more: Iced TeaIced Tea: How to make it. Iced tea is perfect on a hot day and is easy to make. It may be made hot, then cooled or be cold infused. The latter takes longer but cold infused tea better carries the lighter, fresher more floral flavours into your glass. This is especially important when making…
Oolong Loose Teas
Read more: Oolong Loose TeasOolong Loose Teas: complex semi-oxidized teas Oolong teas, or wulong as they were known, translates as Black Dragon and these teas account for around fourteen percent of Chinese tea production. Highly acclaimed in China, they are semi-fermented, in that the leaf is partially oxidised and therefore lye between green tea which is not oxidised and black…
Darjeeling Tea History
Read more: Darjeeling Tea HistoryDarjeeling Tea History: from 1859 The name Darjeeling (Dorje ling) is derived from the Tibetan name, \’Land of the Thunderbolt\’ due to its close proximity to the peaks of Kachenjunga. From around Darjeeling comes one of the most famous teas in the world, celebrated for its muscatel character which makes it highly sought-after as an afternoon…
New Tea Growing Areas of the World
Read more: New Tea Growing Areas of the WorldNew Tea Growing Areas of the World: from lesser-known producers of good tea. Arunachal Pradesh, India Tea is famously grown in China, Japan, India and Sri Lanka, but what of all those new tea growing areas, especially in the Far East – are they any good? Essentially tea requires warmth, high humidity, high rainfall and acidic,…
White Tea
Read more: White TeaWhite Tea: the sublime tea drinking experience. In the China Dynasty of Song (960-1279), white tea was revered. Chinese people used to ground the white leaves into a silvery powder. This was an inspiration for the Japanese tea ceremony “Cha No Yu” with Matcha. This method had been abandoned in China for several years now.…
Oolong Tea – Answers to your Questions
Read more: Oolong Tea – Answers to your QuestionsOolong tea answers about these diverse and rewarding teas Oolong teas to will give you much interest and enjoyment. Here we supply oolong tea answers to questions you may have. Oolongs are still not widely known but deserve to be better appreciated. We hope you discover some great new teas. Q. What is oolong tea? A.…
What is Oolong tea?
Read more: What is Oolong tea?What is oolong tea? Oolong or Wu-long means Black Dragon tea in Mandarin. It has been said that it refers to the shape of oolong teas which resemble the silhouette of the mystical Chinese Dragon. They are mainly manufactured in China and Taiwan provinces. The latter is known as Formosa in tea terminology. Those teas…
Russian Caravan: the origins of a great tea blend
Read more: Russian Caravan: the origins of a great tea blendRussian Caravan: a long-established and popular, aromatic blended tea Nizhny Novgorod, today a UNESCO heritage site Russian Caravan tea is traditionally prepared in a samovar and it became a national drink for all sections of Russian society. There was considerable demand for this tea which was imported by land from China. It was frequently served…
Tea Etiquette
Read more: Tea EtiquetteTea Etiquette: Tea dos and don’ts An unwritten tea etiquette (until now). Have you ever wondered what is the correct way to drink tea? Have you ever looked at others and thought \’they shouldn\’t be doing that!\’ or even, embarrassingly, others looking disdainfully in your direction whilst you are enjoying tea in a grand hotel.…
The Flavour of Herbal Teas
Read more: The Flavour of Herbal TeasThe flavour of herbal teas: appreciating the taste Herbal teas are more accurately described as herbal infusions or tisanes in that they are not based on the tea plant, Camellia sinsensis. Rich in antioxidants, there are a huge variety of them, many long acknowledged for their health benefits. Many also have a very attractive flavour.…
Assam Tea Introduction
Read more: Assam Tea IntroductionAssam Tea: an Introduction to these malty teas Let us give you an introduction to Assam tea. It is from Assam Province’s Brahamaptra valley of northern India. Assam teas are renown for their strength, body and maltiness and have a real depth of taste that is becoming increasingly appealing to those who demand flavour in…
The Best Loose Leaf Teas
Read more: The Best Loose Leaf TeasWhat are the best loose leaf teas? Da Hong Pao oolong. One of China’s famous Teas. Are you on a mission to discover the world’s best loose leaf teas? These teas are generally from countries famous for tea. We all know of India and China but there is Japan too and many tea producing countries…
Tea and Food Pairing
Read more: Tea and Food PairingTea and Food Pairing: which tea to pair with your food? In many societies, particularly in Asia, tea is consumed with meals and a wide variety of food whereas in Britain we tend to limit our culinary horizons, as far as tea is concerned, to scones, hot buttered toast and crumpets and all manner of cakes, pastries,…
Chinese teas (8) Herbal teas and their health benefits (2) How to make a good cup of tea (3) loose tea (4) New Tea Growing Areas of the World (2) tea general knowledge (7) tea history (4) What is English Tea (3) What is Oolong tea (2)