Tea InfusiastA question from another tea lover on Instagram inspired me to write a post about how to get started and get what you need to steep tea gongfu style!
Gongfu cha (skillfully prepared tea) is a style of brewing tea that originated in China over 1,000 years ago. It involves using a higher ratio of tea leaves to water than Western-style tea brewing. Small steeping vessels–teapots or gaiwans–are used with small cups. (A gaiwan is a kind of Chinese bowl with a lid.)
Let’s talk about tea companies that sell loose leaf tea samples.
So, you are interested in exploring loose leaf tea. Perhaps you are even interested in brewing with a gongfu cha approach. But, you aren’t sure where to get the tea or how to start looking.
I have some suggestions!
This post shares a handful of tea-infused chocolates to delight your palate, especially if you enjoy oolong or green tea.
My monthly newsletter, Tea Infusiast News, is subscriber-only AND free.
In the January 2025 edition, No. 25:
The Tea Infusiast News No. 25 edition shares a subscriber-only tea giveaway in honor the second anniversary of the newsletter. It also launches my Winter Rest Kit for Tea Lovers (online kit) and my Tea with Your Inner Critic online workshop. The newsletter is also where I first announced some very exciting new about the Toronto Tea Festival. AND MORE.
The link to subscribe is below!
Join me at my online workshop, Tea with Your Inner Critic.
Are you tired of battling or feeling belittled by your “inner critic?” I was!
For some time, I’ve worked to pay attention to that critical voice I often hear inside my head–the voice that critiques, questions, and makes me feel or act small. What’s more, I’ve managed to befriend my inner critic.
Here are some tea pairings–black and green teas–to serve with cookies. I hope you will enjoy these and buttery cookie pairings as much as I do!
Winter is cookie season! Cookies are my absolute favorite dessert. Seriously, I could easily rattle off 10 or more “favorite cookies!”
Make it easy to enjoy restorative and mindful tea sessions with my online Winter Rest Kit for Tea Lovers!
Instead of posting a list of my top teas for the year–especially since I published something like this not too long ago in my Surprise Teas of 2024 post-I thought I’d share my top tea experiences of 2024.
Before I share the list, I would like to clarify what I didn’t include on it.
I had tea sessions with friends in person and via Zoom that were really fun and, often, deeply meaningful in ways that are hard to share on a list like this. I didn’t include those. They felt too personal.
Tea Lovers: Why not make attending one or more of the 2025 tea festivals a priority this year? This post shares 26 (and counting!) tea festival dates and locations in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Japan! [Last updated 1/16/25]
Tea festivals are wonderful opportunities to connect with all things tea and other tea lovers.
As I wrote in “5 Tips for Attending Tea Festivals“:
Tea festivals are events open to the public (often requiring attendees to purchase tickets) that feature vendors and artisans (sometimes even producers) who sell tea, teaware, accessories, and related merchandise. They also usually sell tea sweets or other food items.