May

31

Featured items are 10% off.

salima.jpg

1. Featured Tea: Salima Orthodox
An excellent large-leaf black tea from Malawi, Fair Trade Certified. Smooth taste, mild bite, with a full rounded body. Great self-drinking tea, can take sweetener if preferred, but really shines without milk. A very unique offering, it quickly became one of our favorites!

20090519234751_tea1.jpg

2. Featured Book: Tea, Aromas & Flavors Around the World
I love this book! One of my absolute favorites on the subject, this book is a perfect balance of history, culture, preparation techniques, technical & botanical info., etc. With lots of nice photography, this book really captures the romance of tea in a way that will have you heating the kettle immediately after reading. A joy of a book!

20090519234806_tea3.jpg

20090519234759_tea2.jpg

20090519234813_tea4.jpg
—————————————————————

Cold and drizzly here the past few days. I’ve actually enjoyed it!

Looking forward to a performance of the Camera Lucida chamber music series tomorrow evening, June 1st, at UCSD. One of our favorite customers, Charles Curtis will be performing with fellow musicians at the Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, 8 pm on the UCSD campus. They will perform Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire (1912) and Schubert: Quintet for Strings in C Major (1828). If you haven’t been to any performances, the UCSD Music Department always seems to have something interesting happening.

As always, thanks for checking in!

- James

May

29

As we make room for new tea arrivals, it is time to move out the remaining stocks of a few teas. Quantities are limited. You may see one you already love, or it could be a good way to try something new. So, 25% off the remaining stocks of these gems:

Sencha Shan Izumi
8 oz. left of current stock. New crop now available.

Huang Shan Mao Feng
Only 3 oz. left of current stock.  sold out New stock now available.

Tung Ting
8 oz. left of current stock.  sold out New stock now available.

Jade Tikuanyin
5 oz. left of current stock.  sold out New stock now available.

Limited, right? We keep a pretty tight ship here. We stock just the right amount of teas to maintain consistent turnover. This means better quality, fresher teas for you.

Hope you all are well. Thanks for checking in.

- James

May

28

newteas.jpg

Come in and see them up close. Better yet, come in for a taste!

Sorry for the quick photo, but we are really excited about these new teas. We are also expecting more new teas tomorrow, and even more over the next few weeks. Several of the teas are top tier grades of selections our customers have already fallen in love with. The teas pictured above are in stock, and many of you have already purchased them. I’ve already talked about the Darjeelings, but I thought a quick overview was in order. So, starting with the teas shown above (L to R):
1. Silver Needle Reserve Grade
Exceptionally clean, crisp body, fruit notes with a lingering smooth sweetness.

2. Dragonwell Early Harvest
We have a small amount left of this first batch. Excellent example of a perennial favorite with buttery smooth body, mild nuttiness and sweet finish.

3. New Harvest Sencha Shan Izumi
This is our favorite Japanese green, the same we carry throughout the year, but this new batch incorporates the early harvest Shincha. The result is an incredible Spring-green freshness with a more pronounced crispness.

4. 1st Flush Darjeelings: Margaret’s Hope and Puttabong Queen
I mentioned these in prior posts, but they are worth listing here. Incredibly floral, top tier offerings. For more on these, check here and here.

Coming Soon:

New crop Huang Shan Mao Feng
Have you had this yet? Clean, subtle sweetness, lingering mouthfeel.

Tung Ting winter harvest
Formosa Oolong, even lovelier than the Spring version

Jade Tikuanyin Special Reserve
Anxi Oolong, handcrafted gem

Iron Goddess of Mercy Special Reserve
Anxi Tikuanyin, it doesn’t get better than this

New Dragon Pearl Jasmine
Incredibly aromatic, less astringent than our prior offering. Handcrafted heaven for Jasmine lovers.

Stay tuned, there’s more to come. Thank you all for checking in!

- James

May

20

image18.jpg

Our dear friends Candice and Rafael López are two of the most dynamic people you will ever meet. Seriously, I do not know where they get the time and energy to do everything they do, but it is always inspiring. Check out these photos below that I lifted from Rafael’s blog. They are from a new mural project recently completed for their son Santiago’s school. Rafael designed the mural, and kids, parents, teachers, etc. all worked together to make it happen. The power of community in action. If you think Candice and Rafael are amazing, you have to check out their son’s blog (scroll down past the mural photos when you get there). Santi is 7 and already wields a mean Sharpie, among other creative tools. I want to be like him when I grow up. Enjoy!

muraltracing3.jpg

image7.jpg

image21.jpg

mural4.jpg

This type of work has a clear impact on its surroundings. Who wouldn’t want a brighter, more inspiring space to be and learn in everyday?

Cheers to everyone involved! It’s beautiful.

Thanks for checking in.

- James

May

18

puttabong09.jpg

More Darjeeling has arrived! We have re-stocked the 1st-Flush Margaret’s Hope after completely selling out of it. In addition, we ordered a small quantity of phenomenal 1st-Flush Puttabong Queen Organic. This tea is very green with an abundance of unbroken silver tips (from the tender leaf buds). The aroma of the infused leaf is exceptionally fresh, clean and bright. The flavor is crisp and light on the tongue with pronounced fruit notes and little to no astringency. The aftertaste just lingers on with a hint of sweetness at the back of the mouth. When you nail the perfect infusion…oh man it is incredible. You’ll have to come in for a taste to believe it. If you like the Margaret’s Hope, you will love this very fine limited offering.

We look forward to the second-flush Darjeelings and will keep you all posted as details develop. Starting this week we will have a very limited amount of new crop Dragonwell along with the 2009 Japanese teas. Full of anticipation, this is indeed our favorite tea time of year!

A bit cold and cloudy with fog here at home today. Time to put the kettle on.

Thanks for checking in!

- James

May

11

billevanscomposing.jpg

The cure for the Monday blahs? Make that your day off. I like to take the first part of the day with a pot of tea and a little Bill Evans Trio. Whenever I want to downshift around the house, Bill Evans is what I often reach for. Most of his work on the Riverside/Fantasy/Verve labels is a safe bet. I’m particularly drawn to his work from the late 50’s to the mid 60’s

The water is rumbling, the kettle is about to boil, so I’ll leave you with this live performance from 1965 for your listening/viewing pleasure.

Happy Monday, and thanks for checking in!

- James

May

9

Best wishes to all of you for a most wonderful day! May you all get breakfast in bed with a fresh pot of your favorite tea, flowers, and whatever else makes you feel special. Sit back, relax, and let us take care of you. It’s your day!

Love,
James & co.

May

7

Featured teas and teaware are always 10% off.

nilgiriglendale1.jpg

1. Featured Tea: Nilgiri Glendale Extra Special
I have really been enjoying this Indian black tea lately. I tend to get into different modes at the shop, and once in a while I re-discover a tea I haven’t had in a while. I have been drinking this tea consistently during the past couple of weeks. It is an interesting combination of light and mellow, yet mildly rich with a nice round body to it. Excellent with my favorite tea biscuits.

tenmon1.jpg

2. Featured Teaware: Tenmon Dot Teapot
This elegant Japanese porcelain pot is excellent for get-togethers, tea parties, book clubs, or for those who just like a larger teapot. Its 30 oz. capacity makes tea for up to six people. It features a built-in strainer at the spout to block the loose leaves from spilling into your cup. The raised dot pattern adds a lovely tactile quality that gives dimension to the radiant white surface. Made by Saikai Japan.

It has been a wonderful time here at the shop. We were honored to take part in the recent Taste of the Nation event held at the San Diego Museum of Art’s sculpture garden. Alchemy, the wonderful restaurant across the street from us, tasked us with creating a beverage using Japanese yuzu juice.  We came up with a really nice iced tea blended with yuzu juice, Ceylon Venture black tea, and agave. We worked with the Alchemy mixologists to refine the proportions and the result was sooo good! We had people coming back for seconds, thirds, fourths. And this was at an event with lots of free beer, wine, mojitos, etc. The drink paired perfectly with Alchemy’s ceviche and plantain chips. It was a blast to work the event and share a table with Ron, Ricardo, and Naomi. If you haven’t yet been to Alchemy, make it a point to check them out soon.

More Darjeeling to come. We are nearly sold out of our First Flush Margaret’s Hope. It proved to be even more popular than anticipated. With a limited supply of excellent first harvest Darjeelings this year, we are happy to have more of this tea on the way. We also have another first harvest offering coming with it. We’ll tell you more when it arrives, but we are excited to say the least.

Thanks so much for checking in!

- James