Ingredients: Organic green tea, honey, sugar, salt, lemon and (not shown) coconut water  Hello!  It's been a loooong while since I've posted anything. A lot of life has happened since, and I'm also posting frequently on Instagram @stephwtea. But here I am with a bit more time on my hands, planning to share occasional musings on tea and life here once again. (Are blogs dead? Possibly - still, I write.) I've transitioned out of my 25-year corporate career. So what have I been doing? Walking - a lot! (Plus cocooning and putting the foundation in place for my work going forward.)  ..read more

  If you're looking for gifts for the tea lovers in your life, here are a few that I recommend. These support small businesses, people whom I know personally and respect deeply. TEA Young Mountain Tea - Try the tea bundles! 15% off sale through Dec 12. Support sustainable futures for Himalayan tea farmers and families. Jasmine Pearl Tea Company - Among many great choices, they have just released a Sampler Set, blended in partnership with Young Mountain Tea. Jasmine Pearl has a wide range of herbal options for those in your life who prefer caffeine-free deliciousness.  Floating Leave ..read more

  During the pandemic, daily walks have been a means for me to find sanity, comfort and even joy. Sometimes all three in a day, sometimes just holding tightly to sanity.  I occasionally add a breakfast picnic to the outing, and it's definitely a boost to my well-being. It typically works like this:  I pack up my backpack with a very simple breakfast (muffin, scone, etc.), a cup and saucer (maybe two), a thermos of tea and maybe a tablecloth.  Then off I go for my walk, ending where I can sit and have a quiet moment.  Even if it's on your patio or front steps, cons ..read more

  Today, the latest season of The Crown was released (Netflix). To celebrate, I made homemade crumpets. They're not difficult, basically a yeasted pancake. But they do take an investment of time, and I make them infrequently.   I made crumpets to celebrate, but also (mostly) to distract myself. As COVID cases rise, we do our part to protect one another. For me, that means the continuation of staying home and not traveling to see my family. This is very hard, but I believe it's necessary. So I distract myself as best I can. I enjoyed tea and crumpets in the sunniest corner ..read more

  My copy of the tea set used by Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, commissioned to raise funds for the suffrage movement.  More info This month in the US, we mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted some women (mostly white women) the right to vote. The hard truth is that it took another 45 years for women of color to be guaranteed voting rights with the passage of the Voting Rights Act.  Tea was a fueling beverage for the women a century-plus ago, laboring for suffrage. As we note the hard-fought victory of the 19th Amendment, let us also drink in the bitterne ..read more

How do you spell it?  Tea Cozy (common in the US) or Tea Cosy (common in the UK).  I appreciate both styles.  :-)  Anyway you spell it, they're handy. I dislike cold tea, and a cozy/cosy helps!  Especially this one, which has a thermal lining in the middle.  I used these instructions to make one sized for my smaller teapots. I wanted to feature the Darjeeling text, and on the other side, Ceylon, so I fussy cut the fabric. This fabric was a gift from my "room friend," affectionately called Rose MacGyver due to her cleverness in devising solutions to al ..read more

The Portland Tea Festival is launching an online Tea School!  The classes are really awesome and really affordable! I hope you'll take a look. I'm teaching a class on Bowl-Style Brewing this Wednesday, 4/29 at 1 pm PDT.  It's a brew-along, and will be lots of fun!  ..read more

Tea and books help sustain me in these unprecedented times.  (OK, Star Trek too.)  I buy my teas from small specialty shops, and they need our help right now.  So do the independent bookstores.  Below are some of my favorites. If you are in the fortunate position of financial security, perhaps you can send some love to yourself, your mom, your neighbor, your favorite nurse, in the form of tea and books... Jasmine Pearl Tea Company: A wide range of quality teas, including herbals.  I'm a fan of Bombay Breakfast, African Grey and Yoga blend. Floating Leaves Tea: A shop that specializes in e ..read more

Woman plucking tea in Darjeeling Thank you AM for snapping this photo! A workmate pointed out that I used the word heaven three times in one sentence, as I was describing my trip to Darjeeling, India and particularly Glenburn Tea Estate. Beautiful tea fields, majestic mountains, ethereal mists, scrumptious meals, plenty of exercise and time for day dreaming, good friends (old and new), and of course -- Darjeeling tea!  On the way to Glenburn, we stopped for a picnic next to a tea field. The fogged-in field was other-worldly!  The path to Glenburn is, quite literally, over the river ..read more

I have been studying Chanoyu, commonly referred to in English as the Japanese Tea Ceremony, for 7.5 years as of this writing. While my sensei considers me an intermediate student, in many ways I feel like a beginner.  I'm almost universally met with a "Wow!" when I share that I've been studying for this long. And what most folks are too polite to ask is, "What's taking so long?" :-)  It's a fair question! First, there isn't one "tea ceremony." There are many variations, based on numerous factors such as season, guests, occasion, utensils, location and much more. Also, the further into my st ..read more