Blogs

My friend Sarah Trench posted an excellent article about tea and caffeine. She writes that tea has less caffeine than coffee and each type of tea has variables, including how it's brewed, that influence how much caffeine you get from the cup.

Camellia sinensis is one such plant. Originally, caffeine in tea was called "theine" until it was discovered that the two were actually identical and the name was dropped. In sweeping generalizations, it is said that black tea contains about half as much caffeine per cup as coffee, green tea, half of that, and white tea, even less. Though as with most generalizations, there's more to it than that.

I've long enjoyed the high quality teas from Silk Road Teas and this month's newsletter mentions one of my favorites:

Anhui is also famous for its Keemuns. The streams and rivers of the region have created soil conditions that feed these tea bushes high levels of nutrients. The results are blacks teas such as our High-Mountain Keemun and Keemun Mao Feng - that are full-bodied with hints of smoke and fruitiness and, of course, very tasty. 

The New Tea Book: A Guide to Black, Green, Herbal, and Chai Tea

by Sara Perry

Sara covers a lot of ground and is an excellent book for someone just starting to enjoy tea. I might generally shy away from book about tea that takes the subject into recipes for scones, but Sara packs plenty of god information into this book.

This is a flavorful daily drinker. While I have long admired what Numi does as a company especially their sustainability efforts, the tea must taste good. Numi delivers with this black breakfast tea - full flavor (especially considering it's in a teabag) and a rich aromatic profile. A great tea for mornings as the name suggests.

I've enjoyed the teas from Silk Road Teas for years, but usually limited my purchases to their excellent selection of oolong and pu erh teas. Recently I ordered a selection of black teas to sample and I must admit I'm impressed.

Check out this video from Numi Tea - all about Pu erh Tea

The Book of Tea

by Okakura Kakuza

This simple little book explains so much, and with poetic ease.

All the Tea in China

by Kit Chow

A must have book for those going beyond casual interest. Kit Chow covers a lot of ground and takes it to details in a very matter of fact way.