Buenasera!

My dh and I are in Tuscany on vacation this week, traveling with a tea pot, of course. Actually, I hadn't intended to bring it, but my dh encouraged it for, as he says, "self-preservation." Unfortunately, the converters I grabbed at the last moment that came with my Palm Pilot aren't the right ones for Italy. So, I have a tantalizing selection of tea and an electric water boiler that aren't doing me much good today. This morning, I was thrilled to see some Twinings English Breakfast being served at our hotel (Il Guelfo Bianco). The water wasn't quite hote enough, but who cares! I was just happy to have a little tea in the morning. Now, I just need to find a converter!

Reviews - East Hampton, NY

Last weekend, my dh and I went to East Hampton, NY to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. The Hamptons is way too far to travel for the weekend from New Jersey and really isn't my scene, but we did have some wonderful tea that I wanted to mention.

We stayed at the Mill House Inn, which was delightful. The breakfast was unbelievable. Really. Second only to my Aunt Pixie's cinnamon rolls. But, I am here to talk about tea and the Mill House offered a decent selection. Everything was in a bag, which is not ideal, but I recognize that I live in a coffee drinker's country so I can't be too particular. What I did appreciate was the selection of Tazo teas (including my much-needed Awake) and a selection of other teas (I can't remember the brand) that included decaf Earl Grey. So, I had a cup of Awake in the morning and a cup of decaf E.G. in the afternoon with several yummy cookies that are always out in a cookie jar on the sideboard. Four tea pots.

Next, we stopped in at the Golden Pear Cafe for iced tea. Four tea pots here too because they offered a Paradise iced tea that was so good we bought a box to bring home.

Finally, I must mention the tea at the 1770 House where we went for dinner. I'll admit that I chose the restaurant based partly on the recommendations of friends, but primarily because of the tea selection I saw on the menu on their Web site. And, I was not disappointed. The 1770 House ranks my highest ranking so far, an almost-perfect 4.5 tea pots. If they add a decaf Earl Grey to the menu (which we did mention to our fantastic server) they'll have the highest 5 tea pot ranking sewn up. The 1770 House serves Harney and Sons teas with water that is scaldingly hot in a silver tea pot with silver tea service. Their tea menu includes a decaf black tea, a green tea option, several herbals, and other caffeinated blacks, including an Earl Grey. Thus far, it was, without a doubt, the best tea quality, selection, and service that I have encountered in a restaurant. (The food's amazing too. I had some gnocchi underneath an unbelievably moist chicken breast that rivals the gnocchi we had at this small, restaurant with no sign in the Marais in Paris.) It's a shame we won't be spending very much time in East Hampton.

I can almost hang up my blogging hat!

Thanks to an online tea group I joined, I learned about a site that has reviews of tea houses all over the country. If you want the list of tea spots in your state, or in a state you plan to visit, some of which have reviews from fellow tea lovers, check out Tea Guide. They just cover tea houses, cafes, and B&Bs that serve tea so, if I find a site with reviews of the tea offerings of local restaurants too, I can hang up my blogging hat!

Review - Inverness, Denver

I expanded beyond my normal territory this week and traveled to Denver for a corporate training, which allows me to post my first review from the state of Colorado. The training was at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Denver (actually, outside of Denver in Englewood). Since the hotel serves Starbucks coffee, the associated Tazo tea was also available, which means that the tea offering is better than most places. However, it still wasn't good enough to rate a full five teapots on the teapot scale. (I've been giving a lot of threes lately, which I will also give the Inverness. I suppose that means I am finding a lot of average tea being served.) Outside of the training rooms were break stations where you could fix your own cup of tea, however, the hot water never reaches the boiling point. (Good for safety and potential lawsuits, but bad for tea.) Also, Tazo doesn't seem to offer a decaf black tea for after dinner. (Why, to rant yet again, is it so hard for places to offer decaf options other than what I could pull out of my herb garden?!) So, all-in-all, not a terrible traveling experience at the Inverness, especially since I brought my mini Ibis and stash of P.G. Tips.

il Mondo Vecchio, Madison, NJ

So disappointed by the tea at il Mondo Vecchio! Up until that point, I had been confident that this was a restaurant where I would find a delightful cup of tea. The atmosphere is cozy and the food is marvelous. But, yet again, I was left unfulfilled at the end of the meal. il Mondo Vecchio gets just two, maybe three teapots on the teapot scale. The water for the tea was perfectly hot and very fresh. However, the water was served in the tea cup itself and my decaf tea option was a bag of Lipton. :-( Add il Mondo Vecchio to the list of places not to bother ordering tea.

Tea Guy Speaks

Okay, I'll admit it. This week, I am feeling a little lazy about finding something interesting to post. (I blame that on the sap-the-life-right-out-of-you job that I have at the moment.) So, instead, I'll post a link to the only other interesting tea blog I have found thus far. And, unlike me, Tea Guy actually manages to post on a regular basis.

If you are looking to expand your tea blog reading (as if anyone other than my DH is reading this blog), may I recommend that you check out what Tea Guy has to say.

Source for P.G. Tips

I need a source for P.G. Tips. My regular supplier, (dealer, if you will) Tealuxe, is fairly inconsistent in having P.G. Tips available on their site. So, I am looking for a reliable, online source for my morning brew. Any recommendations?

Tea Magazine

In addition to my Tea Tumbler mug, my husband also gave me a subscription to Tea A Magazine, which bills itself as a "A consumer quarterly magazine all about tea, both as a beverage and for its cultural significance in art, music, literature, history, and society. "

While I was thrilled to find a magazine devoted entirely to tea, Tea A Magazine isn't perfection and their website http://www.teamag.com looks like it was created by someone's teenage son in 1996 and hasn't been touched since (It might be time to look into a host with some free templates). The magazine is a quick read and the Winter 2006 issue has some interesting articles about tea growing in England, Walkers Shortbread, and an English tea room in Cornwall. I also like that the magazine generally includes pieces on tea implements and the use of tea motifs in art. The Winter issue profiles Charlotte di Vita and the collectible tea pots that she has made and has a brief article on tea caddies. My hope, however, is that they can sell more subscriptions to allow them the funds to update their website and publish a more professional magazine with more in-depth articles. The magazine could be so much more than it is now and I hope I'll see it get there.

Tea, the next big fad

The following snippet was published recently in the New York Times. I'll have to quote it in its entirety because my husband (also known as my clipping service) ripped it out and handed it to me and I have neither a page nor a date for reference.

"TEA FOR YOU. Mints on the pillow are now expected. You can find blow dryers and irons in even moderately priced rooms, and high-speed Internet access is widely available.

So what is there to look forward to during your next hotel stay?

'Capitalizing on the health trend, expect tea - which is loaded with healthful antioxidants - to be the next big fad,' Hotels magazine writes.

'Plus with travel becoming more global, it is important for Western restaurants to offer a more sophisticated tea option to accommodate Asian travelers,' the magazine adds.

Chefs predict more hotel restaurants will offer an afternoon tea service and a wider variety of teas on their menus. 'It seemed as though every time I turned on the TV or opened a magazine I heard about the wonderful flavors and benefits of tea. I couldn't ignore it any more,' says Bill Brodsky, executive chef at the Wequassett Inn Resort and Golf Club on Cape Cod, who plans to feature such things as warm goat cheese terrine with white tea gastrique and black truffle risotto scented with Pu-erh tea,"

My thoughts: It's about damn time! And, to Hotels mag, your "Western" visitors might like more sophisticated tea options too. It's not just Asians who drink tea.

Garlic Rose, Madison, NJ

I had some delicious lobster ravioli this weekend at the Garlic Rose in Madison, New Jersey. However, since I have had tea there before, I skipped the tea course. Like many other places, the Garlic Rose offers an acceptable selection of caffeinated black teas: Twinings Irish and English Breakfast. However, your decaf options are limited to Lipton for black tea and a blueberry or raspberry tea for herbals. The water is served in the cup, rather than in a pot of some kind, but, since I did not drink it, I cannot comment on the taste or temperature of the water itself. Based on the fact that I would have been really hard-pressed to find a tea in the basket that I felt like drinking, the Garlic Rose rates a 2 teapot ranking on the 5 teapot scale.

Reviews - Danielle's, Chatham; Maison du Chocolat, Manhattan

This past weekend brought two opportunities for public tea drinking: Danielle's Restaurant in Chatham, New Jersey and the Maison du Chocolat on Madison Avenue and 78th street in NYC.

At Danielle's, I ordered after-dinner tea to drink with my incredible mango sorbet. On the teapot scale, Danielle's ranks a medium-level three teapots. The water was not filtered so it had that public pool taste and the decaf black tea (Lipton or Tetley) and even herbal tea selections were not overwhelming. However, the water was served hot in a separate stainless steel pot and Danielle's does present a good selection of caffeinated black teas, including an Earl Grey. With the caffeinated options, Danielle's might be best for a cup of tea after lunch rather than after dinner.

In all fairness to the Maison du Chocolat, one should not expect the tea to be perfection. After all, their specialty is chocolate and I can certainly vouch for the absolute decadence of their chocolate pastries. However, in terms of their tea, they rank four tea pots, not perfection, but not very bad either. The menu included only four or five tea selections, most of them caffeinated. Since we were there for tea time, however, caffeine was not an issue. The tea they served was of very high quality with good water and it was served already brewed in individual ceramic pots. What keeps the Maison du Chocolat from garnering the ultimate, five tea pot ranking is that the water was only lukewarm and the tea was not strong enough for my tastes (the downside of tea that is served already brewed). On the whole, though, it was a very pleasant place to drink some afternoon tea (and have some afternoon chocolate cake!).

My great new Christmas gifts

This was the tea Christmas! Several of my loved ones, who clearly know my passions well, gave me Tea Tumblers for Christmas this year. If you have not yet encountered the Tea Tumbler, well, you are in for a treat if you are a serious tea drinker! It's a travel mug, specifically designed for tea, with a stainless steel basket for loose tea leaves, a well-designed drinking lid, and a feature that I have never before seen on a travel mug - a stainless steel, screw-on lid that covers the drinking lid and essentially turns the mug into a thermos. I have tested it driving in rush-hour traffic on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey and can confirm that nary a drop of tea was spilled either in my car or down the front of my shirt, which I can't say hasn't happened with other mugs. I have not yet tested it in true travel, but, if you've read my previous post on traveling, you will likely have determined, as my husband did, that the mug will be perfect for brewing my much-needed morning beverage on the road. REI, Eastern Mountain Sports, and other stores carry them. Happy Travels!

STUDY SHOWS TEA HELPS PREVENT OVARIAN CANCER

From Honest Tea, in case you need another reason to drink tea:

"STUDY SHOWS TEA HELPS PREVENT OVARIAN CANCER
One thing we know about tea is that it's just about the healthiest drink out there. Historically, tea has been shown to help curb obesity, decrease risk of prostate cancer and even fight bad breath. More good news comes to us in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine , which suggests that women who drink two cups or more of tea per day had a 46% lower risk of ovarian cancer, compared to non-tea-drinkers. The data was derived from a 15-year study involving some 60,000 women and is exciting news for those of us already drinking loads of tea. As for the earlier claims about tea fighting bad breath? Probably too early to give up the Tic Tacs."

Are you drinking enough tea?

"It offers a boost but no burn, and can even make you healthier. Are you drinking enough tea?" This is the subheading from a nice article about the benefits of tea in the January issue of Runner's World. http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-53-0-0-9209,00.html
The article also includes one of the better discussions that I have seen of the different kinds of tea. Enjoy!

MWF Seeking DEG

What do I want from restaurants and cafes? Decaf Earl Grey. My frustration about tea stems largely from an inability to find a cup of decaf black tea to have after dinner in a restaurant or with my dessert in a cafe. As a coffee drinker, the decaf alternative to your normal beverage is ubiquitous. But, if you are a tea drinker, "decaf" generally means choosing between an herbal tea and a tea of inferior quality to the caffeinated teas offered. Why is this? If you are a restaurateur and you offer me caffeinated Earl Grey, why not offer me decaf Earl Grey too?

This diatribe introduces the first of my restaurant reviews. In May, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary with an amazing meal at Scalini Fedeli in Chatham, New Jersey. The food, the service, and the atmosphere were all perfect, but the meal ended in disappointment with the tea. On my teapot scale, Scalini Fedeli receives four pots (The scale ranges from one pot, which designates a tea bag of poor quality "dust" grade tea tossed in a coffee mug of lukewarm water, to five pots, which designates a tea service offering a range of high quality, loose tea served in a teapot of boiling hot water.) Scalini Fedeli rates highly for their preparation of the tea by serving boiling water in a small ceramic teapot. They offered a medium-quality black tea in bags, but they lose teapot points for selection. For decaf options, they offered a standard range of herbals (peppermint, chamomile, etc.), but only one, low-grade decaf black tea. My scrumptious lemon tart would have been vastly improved by a little decaf Earl Grey.

The Best Cup of Tea This Side of New York City . . .

Honestly, I haven't found it yet. Thus far, of all of the places I have had tea in New Jersey, Starbucks is probably your best option. The selection of teas there is not enormous, but at least they're consistent and the water is hot. I will steadily provide my reviews of the cups of tea I have in restaurants and cafes, but, for now, if you happen to be traveling to Boston, may I suggest that you try Tealuxe (http://www.tealuxe.com). They have three cafes in the area: Harvard Square in Cambridge, Newbury Street in Boston, and Thayer Street in Providence. Each day, they brew several choices of regular and decaf black teas and herbals, generally both hot and cold. Plus, they have a wall of loose tea choices that you can take home with you or have them brew you a cup or a pot on the spot. Each cafe has a cozy atmosphere that makes you want to stay and linger over your brew, which I suggest you do. The people watching in all of their locations is top notch.

Tea and Travel

I don't know about you, but, if I don't get a decent cup of tea in the morning (and lots of it), I am grumpy and mean. Yes, I realize that I am addicted to caffeine, but there is more to it than that. The sheer pleasure of a steaming mug of tasty, full-bodied tea cannot be eliminated from my morning. For me, tea is like a hot shower. I could substitute a latte or a cup of lukewarm "tea" from a teabag of dust, but, like a cool shower with limp water pressure in the morning, it just doesn't satisfy me.

For that reason, my mornings (and those of the colleagues with whom I have been traveling) were saved by my discovery of the Bodum Mini Ibis water boiler (http://www.bodum.com). The Mini Ibis is short and thin and packs easily into a suitcase for travel. The entire top lid pops off, making it easy to save a bit more space in the suitcase by packing the tea inside of it. Now, I no longer have to pray that I will find a decent cup of tea on the road. Instead, I buy a bottle of water and make my own in my hotel room. (I sometimes pack a travel mug too, but most hotels these days have a coffee maker that I never use and a few mugs in the room.) Business travel has become a lot less risky now that I have the Mini Ibis in my bag!

Purpose

My company recently asked me to participate in a project on blogging, so I decided to join the blogosphere myself. I've never been tempted before because I doubted that anyone wanted to read my rants or hear about how I spent my day. (I have a journal for that at home that's not in the public domain.) To start a blog, I needed to have a purpose, some point to spending the time typing. To that end, I have decided to share my knowledge of, and passion for tea. During the course of this blog, I will share my reviews of tea offerings in the restaurants and shops in which I dine, tidbits on the history of tea, suggestions for equipment, directions for brewing perfect pots of tea, and maybe even a recipe or two. The audience is intended to be tea devotees like myself and novice tea drinkers who want to know where to find or how to make a good cup. I hope that you find it useful.