TeaCast.org

Teaze Tea Infuser

teacast — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:15:39 +0000

The Teaze Infuser is quite a nice product. It works quite well and the material and design are top notch. I can see it being used heavily at restaurants and upscale cafes, lounges and tea bars.

Sitting Down and Enjoying Tea with David Lee Hoffman

teacast — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:35:41 +0000

We have a nice chance to sit with David Hoffman to try a small set of his vast collection of pu-erh teas. David Lee Hoffman is one of the pioneers in bringing artisan, handcrafted tea to America. He has been steadily building a personally selected set of loose and cake form puerh teas. As you may know, tea all comes from the same tea plant, Camillia sinensis. Puerhs are slowly fermented over time. As the microbes interact with the stored tea, the flavor of the tea begins to mature and develop.

We tasted about 15 teas in our visit. Our visit was soon after the Chinese New Year in 2010, which is why you see the traditional candied winter melon and licorice watermelon seeds.

David prepared some hand made flatbread, made with locally grown wheat. This was topped with spanish boquerones, homemade tomato sauce. We also sampled some locally made soft cheese and lamb sausage. David generously accompanied this with a sweet, chilled Riesling.

It has been over 6 years since we first had a chance to visit David’s home. Much has changed and much continually is being developed.

We could have spent hours talking about his other interests in tea and sustainable agriculture.

We hope you enjoy the Teacast broadcast. The other voice you hear in the background is Suzie, his new business manager.

Hatsugama 2010

teacast — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:30:17 +0000

Each year we have the pleasure of attending Hatsugama, the Japanese tea ceremony of the year. What a nice tradition to experience a tea ceremony among friends and to enjoy a high quality Japanese bento lunch as well. To the right is a picture of some of the colorful kimonos worn as part of the ceremony.

Conversation with Winnie Yu, Founder, Teance

teacast — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:55:40 +0000

We speak with Winnie Yu, Director, Teance, a specialty, direct from garden wholesaler and retailer of Chinese and Taiwanese teas. Ms. Yu has been instrumental in the reemergence of tea as a beverage of cultural and historical significance in the United States. Her writings, lectures, and interactive demonstrations have encouraged us to position tea as a lifelong study of the mind and spirit.

Ms. Yu also provides insights into her personal efforts to identify remarkable family operated tea gardens as she pursues buying high quality teas for a thirsty and inquisitive American population.

Life on the Farm: an interview with ArtFarm

teacast — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:05:29 +0000

We’d like to thank Margit and Victor for visiting with us on our TeaCast program. Life on the farm seems like a dream. Margit and Victor enjoy a rich and rewarding lifestyle on the farm – blending their passions with the vitality and unpredictability of Mother Nature. If you enjoyed the show, please let us know.

Visit ARTFARM for more information and visiting hours. A selection of Margit’s ceramics can be found at http://www.margitnellemann.com.

I also mentioned on the broadcast that I would look up the Gourmet magazine article that featured the Cowichan Valley. The article appeared in Gourmet Magazine’s August 2009 issue.

Interview with Jonathan Kane, The Naked Leaf

teacast — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:51:33 +0000

Jonathan Kane started The Naked Leaf in Calgary, AB, Canada about a year ago. The Naked Leaf reintroduces tea as it was meant to be – all natural and unhurried. From their premium selection of teas, to their inspired art on their custom labels, they offer a unique combination of personalized, truly artisan products for gifts and individual consumption alike.

We’ll be featuring The Naked Leaf next week on our TeaCast broadcast.

Interview with Manik Jayakumar, President, Qtrade Teas & Herbs

teacast — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:10:55 +0000

We had a unique opportunity to sit with Manik Jayakumar and discuss his interests in tea, organic and biodynamic farming methods, and the growth of Qtrade Teas & Herbs, the leading importer of organic and conventional teas, herbs and spices.

We always enjoy hearing firsthand about living and working on a tea plantation. We hope you will enjoy this upcoming broadcast on Teacast.

World Tea Expo East 2009 – Qtrade Teas & Herbs

teacast — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:48:54 +0000

We spoke with Manjiv Jayakumar, Director, Qtrade Teas & Herbs, during the World Tea Expo East 2009, part of the Natural Products Expo East show in Boston, MA.

Join us as we hear about the conference and three new product areas featured at the World Tea Expo East show as well as share our thoughts on the CoffeeFest Seattle conference.

CoffeeFest 2009 Seminar – Tea & Coffee Dashboards for Decision Analysis

teacast — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:35:45 +0000

I just finished presenting at the CoffeeFest 2009 – Tea & Coffee Dashboards for Decision Analysis. In terms of small business, especially in the quick service and specialty retail areas, I’ve seen a deficiency in ability to monitor and respond quickly to changes in business performance. Dashboards, especially when propagated with data from a Point of Sale (POS) system, dramatically influence a company’s ability to adapt business practices in a volatile economic environment. Even in the steady growth industries of specialty coffee and teas, one would think it’d be easy to keep your eye on all the key indicators – particularly those related to beverage menu selection and optimization.

Those who attended my talk may have noticed I didn’t spend much time explaining how I created those fancy charts and mini dashboards. I purposely glossed over this because mostly I use Excel and it’s a little too involved to be explaining formulas, combo boxes and range names to a broad audience. Suffice it to say, if you learn Excel well, these view shouldn’t be difficult to reproduce.

If you don’t want to learn Excel, give me call and we might be able to work something out. Bare in mind, dashboards should be built specific to your organization and business problems. The data needs to selected and presented in the context of your business and your pending decisions in the near future.

NPR Kenya Tea Auction

teacast — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:46:46 +0000

NPR’s morning edition featured a podcasted interview at the Mombassa Tea Auction by Gwen Thompkins – In Kenya, Tea Auction Steeped In Tradition, Gentility.

This gives you a feel for the traditional method of auctioning teas, which has occurred weekly for many years.

While many teas from Kenya are CTC, they do offer some limited, high quality, whole leaf tea, including oolong and black teas. Kenyan teas are bold and distinct from teas from India and Sri Lanka. In our retail environment, we felt it was beneficial to offer teas from a variety of countries to demonstrate its true international appeal and heritage.

At the retail level, Infusions of Tea (www.infusionsoftea.com) offers a Kenya Black. At the wholesale level, Kopius Teas (www.kopiusteas.com) has brought in some excellent Kenya oolongs and blacks. If you have some other suggestions on where to purchase or learn about Kenya teas, comment us here.