Tea Blog

• A cup of tea with George Orwell; or how tea has, and hasn’t changed in 70 years.

    My sister sent me a link on Facebook today. A reminder, from 6312 miles away, of our reluctantly British mother’s many cups of tea. The link, which I will...

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• New research on why tea should be a part of your New Year’s Resolutions

    This is the time of year for resolutions. And although I don’t think I could possibly increase my tea drinking commitment, without seriously losing sleep, I feel responsible for...

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• Tahitian Vanilla Beans, DIY Vanilla Extract and Vanilla Sugar

    What prompted this post was a fresh batch of Tahitian vanilla beans that arrived to Tea and Chi this morning. It’s making my office/storage smell good enough to eat....

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• Roast root vegetables in ginger puer (pu-ehr) broth. Vegan and Gluten free.

    I make two soups on Tuesday and then have to run errands. When I get back in the afternoon Randy and Jaci look frazzled. School is back in session,...

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• Working twice as hard in the off-season

    It’s the end of July, the height of summer, the slow season in Vero Beach. Those of us that own small businesses have been looking forward to this since...

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• Hibiscus Syrup

    Hibiscus Festival, the last of the hibiscus bubble teas, and my personal hibiscus craze have finally come to an end. Or, so I thought until I got a text...

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• Hibiscus Salt

    Today is the day! it’s Hibiscus Festival in Vero Beach and the sun is shining, the breeze is cooling and it all looks just about perfect. If you are...

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• Hibiscus Ginger Chutney

    I was in my early 20’s before I realized that most people did not have chicken curry for Christmas. Mum made a chicken vindaloo that was famous far and...

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• Hibiscus Bitters

    According to wikipedia (and who can argue); “A bitters is traditionally an alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter such that the end result is characterized by a bitter or bittersweet flavor”. It...

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• Hibiscus cosmetics (all things Hibiscus Festival)

    Hibiscus festival is on Saturday and Vero Beach is buzzing with hibiscus excitement (at least among everybody that counts). We are starting our week (closed Sundays and Mondays so...

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• Hibiscus Spice Liqueur

    I can honestly say that the blinding migraine that stopped me from posting yesterday had absolutely nothing to do with the above mentioned liqueur! That being cleared up, let...

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• Hibiscus Tea Jelly

    I made two hibiscus jellys on Sunday and we got to taste one of them, and the hibiscus spice liqueur yesterday, on Chef Michael’s radio show. Tomorrow I’ll share...

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• The BBQ side of hibiscus

    If you know my husband Randy then you are probably familiar with his extreme fondness of all things bbq. So this one was put together with Randy in mind....

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• Hibiscus Chronicles

    So I live in the hibiscus city. And I own a tea shop that sells, among many others, hibiscus tea. And on the 12th of April is the Hibiscus...

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• Blended Black Teas and Scones

    When we were little mum would let us put up to 4 tsp of sugar in our mugs of tea and that’s what we did when she watched. The...

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• Drink hot tea in the summer if you’d like but it won’t cool you down!

    It’s officially summer and unsuitable for human habitation in Vero Beach today. 92 oF but feels like 107 oF so here we are sitting at  Tea and Chi’s “big...

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• Border Collies and Keemun Teas

    The chaos of season in Vero Beach not being enough, sometime over the holidays we decided we needed to rescue our third Border Collie. Don’t laugh. The rational went...

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• Yunnan Tea and complements

    One of our regulars has a habit of referring to anything I cook that he likes as “This is not too terrible”. The rest of the Tea and Chi...

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• About Ceylon Teas and Tea and Chi’s salad dressing

    The long event week is over and I am looking forward to just the regular type chaos that is “season” in Vero Beach. Now we re looking forward to...

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• Nilgiri Teas, Greek Orthodox Lent, Vegan Halva recipe and biting more than you can chew

    OK. I’ll admit it. February is kicking my behind! The 5th was our “All things matcha” tasting. The 6th was our Saturday in the Park with Authors and Artists....

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• Tasting notes on top grade oolongs

    What follows are my notes on the latest samples of top grade oolong teas, accompanied by pricing per ounce. Although detailed info on what makes oolongs oolongs will come...

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• “Those” kinds of teas

    Some people talk about remembering where they were when Kennedy was shot, when Elvis died or when they met someone special. I remember where I was the first time...

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• Valentine teas, winter seasonals and missed lunch

    It’s a Monday and I never could get the hang of Mondays. Perhaps it’s the break in the routine but Mondays just always seem a bit frantic. Maybe it’s...

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• Art, affogato, friendship and Henry…

    I’ve already updated my blog once today and this has nothing to do with tea but I just had to share! I left Tea and Chi (thank you Randy...

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• Iyerpadi, Sikkim and Nepal

    Three more teas to talk about today which will actually get us to just outside India, in the Nepal region. Although I had ambitions of tasting the entire selection...

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• Oothu Estate and Tea and Chi’s Vegan Coconut Lentil Soup

    Let me start off by saying I’m not a vegan. If I had to name my eating habits I’d be forced to acknowledge that the only category I might...

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• What’s in a name; random letters after tea

    Drizzly and cold in Florida today and I’m so looking forward to the fire and a pot of tea this evening. I know most everyone is unhappy with the...

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• Assams and Goblins

    This update was supposed to be about black tea grading and “Flushes” but then I realized today was Goblin day and that Flushes and grading could wait so I’m...

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• What’s a Darjeeling?

    First full day back yesterday and I was both pleasantly surprised at how much tea we sold over the last 10 days and dismayed at how many teas we...

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• New Year’s resolutions and Darjeelings

    The New Year’s resolution is to taste every tea in the store, with as little bias as possible, and comment on each via this blog, starting today. I planned...

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• Reflections on Tea

    A one year long commitment to again taste each of the 275 teas (last credible count) in Tea and Chi and comment about them. Along the way look for...

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