Category: Blog

January Sip & Listen: Story of a Teacup

Post author By Traci Levy
Post date October 13, 2022
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If you have bought your ticket, please join us for our rescheduled “Sip & Listen” edition of Story of a Teacup on January 14, 2023! We will join together online, settle in, steep tea together, and listen to four members of the #CommuniTEA share a story about a special piece of their teaware. (This event was rescheduled from November 2022.) I’m thrilled to welcome Taniya from Yoga, Tea, and Poetry as our special guest for this event! Nazanin from Tea Thoughts and Jeff from UNYtea will be joining Taniya and me as featured storytellers.

The proceeds, ALL ticket sales, have been donated to a nonprofit organization in Chicago, Erie Neighborhood House. This organization supports low-income and immigrant families. Among the many things it does, Erie House has also been providing direct assistance in Chicago to hundreds of people who have been bused in from Texas under Governor Abbott’s inhumane policies against immigrants legally seeking asylum at the southern border.

White and gold teacup with blue flowers on a crimson tablecloth. Traci's Sip & Listen story is about this teacup. — *This lovely teacup has an even more beautiful story.*

Blog

Turtle Tea Pets and the Potter Who Creates Them

Post author By Traci Levy
Post date September 11, 2022
2 Comments on Turtle Tea Pets and the Potter Who Creates Them

Meet the potter who creates turtle tea pets that have brought so much joy to the tea community.

Herb, the Instagram-Famous Tea Turtle

If you follow tea accounts on Instagram, you may have seen the handiwork of potter Michell Hovey. She created the ceramic tea pet, Herb, and a number of other turtle tea pets that show up in the Instagram photos of various tea lovers.

A tiny, smiling ceramic turtle teapet with unglazed shell perched on top of a blue and gold gaiwan. A magenta flower is in the background. — *Bonsai, a sibling of Herb, on top of my gaiwan. Bonsai is one of two micro-turtle tea pets created by Michell Hovey.*

Tags tea pet

Blog

Compass Tea in Luray

Do you enjoy loose leaf tea, bubble tea, rainbows, lots of purple, handmade jewelry, and fair trade clothes? What about a business with a front door that proudly proclaims the location an LGBT “safe space?” If you answered “yes,” then let me introduce you to Compass Tea in Luray!

A room with purple and cream arm chairs, a gray loveseat with throw pillows, and purple curtains

Tags tea rooms, teahouses

Blog

Teahouses in Portland

This post provides impressions of four teahouses in Portland, Oregon. I visited Enthea Teahouse in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Portland, Smith Teamaker on SE Washington Street, and Portal Tea Company (previously known as Tea Chai Té) in Sellwood. I also spent an afternoon at the teahouse operated by The Tao of Tea inside the Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Wide-angle shot of one of the rooms inside Enthea Teahouse. There are cozy upholstered wooden chairs, tea tables with gongfu teaware, and a fire place. — *Inside of one of Enthea’s tea rooms. Photo kindly provided by Enthea Teahouse*.

Tags tea rooms, teahouses, visit Portland

Blog Tasting Notes

Tasting Notes for 3 Teas from Tea Vivre

Post author By Traci Levy
Post date July 7, 2022
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This post shares tasting notes for three teas from Tea Vivre. I have bought and enjoyed many teas from them. These impressions, however, are for three teas that they sent me for free. Per my review policy, I had no obligation to review unless I sincerely enjoyed them. I certainly did! Read on for my thoughts on their award-winning 2019 Bai MuDan, their Fuding Shou Mei White Tea Mini Cakes, and their Phoenix Dan Cong.

I appreciate that Tea Vivre offers both gongfu and western-style brewing suggestions on their website. I tend to alternate, as you will see below.

Square compressed tea cake with different shades of brown and green tea leaves on a blue and white dish sitting on a table beside a tea towel and a magenta orchid

A fairness cup of golden-amber Bai MuDan tea held up. A white orchid is in the background

Blog

Resist the Cult of Productivity

Post author By Traci Levy
Post date June 21, 2022
2 Comments on Resist the Cult of Productivity

We need call out and push back against the cult of productivity. Too many spaces promote time scarcity and encourage us to behave as if we were robots. This cult is terrible for our minds, bodies, and creative energies. Two experiences recently underscored how relentlessly we can focus on productivity. This post identifies some pernicious aspects of the cult of productivity. It also shares ways to resist. Calling out inhumane elements of work culture (including those we have internalized) is important. Likewise, cultivating restorative personal practices like intentional tea sessions can help, too.

Sunshine reflecting off glass pitcher of golden tea on a table next to a purple viola — *We can resist the cult of productivity.*

Blog

What Can a Tea Pet Add to Your Practice?

Post author By Traci Levy
Post date June 1, 2022
5 Comments on What Can a Tea Pet Add to Your Practice?

What can a tea pet add to your practice? So many things! I’ll focus on three here, and then share about a special tea pet, Herb the Traveling Tea Turtle, that visited me.

clay tea pet in shape of a ram — *Rocco, my first, and so far only, tea pet.*

Tags gongfu cha, Herb the Traveling Tea Turtle, tea pet, tea practice

Blog

How to Make Sparkling Matcha Two Ways

Post author By Traci Levy
Post date May 6, 2022
2 Comments on How to Make Sparkling Matcha Two Ways

Would you like to learn two ways to make a tall glass of iced and sparkling matcha? A Matcha Fizz was the first sparkling tea I ever made at home. Now that spring is here and summer is approaching in New York, I’m making more iced teas again. I love sparkling teas in particular.

A Matcha Fizz is still one of my absolute favorites for a warm spring or hot summer day. And, it’s easy to make. This post will go over how to make sparkling matcha two ways. It will explain and compare the paste-concentrate method and the direct-powder method. The results actually surprised me!

Glass of sparkling matcha with a paper straw — *Matcha Fizz (made using the paste concentrate method)*

Blog Events

Story of a Teacup Virtual Event

Post author By Traci Levy
Post date March 2, 2022
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The teaware nestled our cupboards and on our shelves can evoke memories. They can transport us to other times, places, and people. Sharing those memories can help us better understand and connect to each other in the present, too.

Do you have a piece of teaware—a teacup, for example—with a story that you would like to share? It could be about how that teacup came into your hands. It could be the details of its former life, something that happened when you used it, and so on. If you have such a story, we’d love to hear it! Keep reading to find out more about how to sign up for the Story of a Teacup event on April 2, 2022. [NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS PASSED.]

Blog

How to Get Started with Loose Leaf Tea

Post author By Traci Levy
Post date February 15, 2022
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What are the practical considerations to start using loose leaf tea? It’s relatively easy to use once you know a few basics! This post provide advice on how get started with loose leaf tea.

It explores: what to use to steep loose leaf tea, how much tea to use per serving, and how long to steep.