Tag: chinesetea

Bamboo Pu’er, Beyond the Novelty

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

There’s a certain novelty factor to bamboo pu’er – sheng or shou pu’er packed and (usually) aged in a bamboo tube. It’s not the way we usually acquire our pu’er, and it can be both challenging and fun to crack open the bamboo log and see what’s inside. But aside from the novelty, are bamboo pu’ers worth exploring for serious tea drinkers?

To look inside the bamboo log a little more deeply, we’re joined once again today on Talking Tea by John Wetzel, founder and owner of Stone Leaf Teahouse in Middlebury, Vermont. Specifically we’re focusing on one bamboo pu’er, a 2016 sheng from Naka Shan. 

Continue reading “Bamboo Pu’er, Beyond the Novelty” →

Tea & Daoism: Adjacent Connections

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

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Today we’re exploring connections between tea and Daoism, the millenia-old Chinese religious and philosophical tradition that has had such a profound influence on culture and history in and beyond China. We’re joined by Robert Coons, who straddles both the tea world and the world of Daoism. Robert is a well-known tea vendor based in Canada and China and is also a writer, teacher and podcaster on Daoism, qigong and Daoist meditation.   Read the full show notes

Sensory Immersion Into Tea

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

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In this episode we’re at the 2020 Toronto Tea Festival and its kick-off event, Kevin Gascoyne’s Rare Tea Tasting. Kevin is an internationally recognized leader and innovator in the tea industry,  a co-owner of the Montreal-based Camellia Sinensis Teahouse and a frequent guest on Talking Tea, and this is just the second time Kevin has presented a tasting in this format.  Read the full show notes

Talking Teapots, In-Depth with Scott Norton

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

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When a listener requested an episode about teapots. we realized that this was a topic we haven’t really delved into on Talking Tea. And having attended one of tea blogger, writer and teacher Scott Norton’s incredibly comprehensive seminars on yixing teaware, we invited Scott to join us for an in-depth overview of teapots, their design elements, their history and how to best match your teapots with your teas.  Read the full show notes

Gender, Empire and the Making of the Western Tea Market

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

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We’re delving into some sticky topics today on Talking Tea as we look at the roles mass marketing, gender, racism and modern British history have played in shaping tea markets and tea culture in the West. Joining us is historian Erika Rappaport, author of the recently published book A Thirst For Empire: How Tea Shaped the Modern World. Erika’s work as a historian focuses in the areas of gender, consumer culture and British history, and “A Thirst for Empire” delves into all of these areas in looking at the forces that shaped tea culture and tea markets in the West.   Read the full show notes

A “Tea Cave” in Vermont

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

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Today Talking Tea is in Middlebury, Vermont, at Stone Leaf Teahouse, a unique tea space in this bucolic town. Joining us is John Wetzel, founder and owner of Stone Leaf.

The town of Middlebury may be best known for being the home of Middlebury College, but since its founding 10 years ago Stone Leaf has also become well-known in and beyond Middlebury for the quality of its teas and for the warmth and tranquility of its teahouse.  Read the full show notes

Pairing Tea and…Cheese?

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

 

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Most everyone is familiar with pairing wine and cheese, but pairing tea and cheese is much less well known and less understood. (By the way, that’s tea in the glass in the photo above, not wine.) Some tea drinkers may even find the idea of tea and cheese pairing a bit counterintuitive, if not a bit, well, odd. But at Talking Tea we’ve experienced some delicious pairings of tea with cheese, so we wanted to explore the issue more in depth.  Read the full show notes

Chaxi: Harmony, Art & Expression in Tea

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

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We’ve been wanting to explore chaxi on Talking Tea ever since we visited the Tea Institute at Penn State University back in 2016. Tea was prepared and served to us by students in the Chinese tea track at the Institute with a degree of artistry and calm precision we had never quite witnessed anywhere else, and when we asked some of the students where they learned to prepare tea in this way, they suggested we speak with one of their teachers and mentors, Stéphane Erler, to learn more about chaxi, an artistic expression of tea originating in Taiwan.  Read the full show notes

Dark Tea Comes Out Of The Shadows

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

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Today we’re chatting with Zhen Lu and Phil Rushworth of Zhen Tea about a category of tea that’s not widely understood outside of China or even within China, and that’s heicha, or “dark tea”, hailing from outside the pu erh region. You may remember Zhen and Phil from our earlier episode “Lapsang Souchong – Beyond the Smoke”, and today we’re chatting at the Zhen Tea headquarters in Ottawa, Canada.  Read the full show notes

Choosing Teaware for Flavor, Aroma and Experience

by Talking Tea, posted in Podcast Episodes

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Today we welcome back to the show Kevin Gascoyne, of Montreal’s Camellia Sinensis Tea House, to chat with us in depth about how our choices of teaware impact the flavors, aromas and overall experience of the teas we drink. Kevin is often seen sporting his signature Royal Albert teacup, and that prompted us to ask Kevin what’s the deal with this oh-so-English-looking cup. His initial answer inspired us to want to explore more fully how our choice of cup and brewing vessel affect our enjoyment of tea.  Read the full show notes