Interview: Tatjana and Tom of Teapro UK

Tatjana and Tom, photo courtesy of Teapro UK

Instagram is by far my favorite way to connect with tea people, I love looking at all the creative tea photos! One account that always entertains and amuses is Teapro UK. Founders Tatjana and Tom are incredibly whimsical and artistic. They do a great job of illustrating the joys of tea. Teapro UK is a virtual tea shop where you can browse tea and teaware, or order tea subscription boxes. Our interview below gives you a peek into the life of two tea-entrepreneurs, and how they keep the creative juices flowing.

The Tea Happiness 2018 Holiday Gift Guide

It's that time of year again! Big family feasts, jingle bells, festive lights, and of course gift giving! I've created a new post of tea gifts for just about everyone on your list. Pay close attention, as I have a few discount codes listed with some of the items! Also stay tuned, as I have a few related giveaways coming at you in the next two weeks! Now, on to the gifts!

Ippodo Tea Set, glass not included

For the Beginning Tea Enthusiast
One of the most common questions I get is 'what should I get for someone just getting into tea?'. A gift set that includes tea and a small teapot is always helpful. I love this little set from Ippodo, as the glass teapot is the perfect compact size, and it's designed with a mesh strainer in the lid so you can view all the beautiful expanding leaves in the pot and strain while you pour. The strainer is similar in design to a traditional Japanese kyusu teapot. It also comes with two green teas that are perfect for an introduction to Japanese tea: Sencha Unro and Gokujo Genmaicha. It's beautifully presented in a gift box, ready to be wrapped.

UNYTea Taiwanese white tea

Teas to Consider
It's impossible to limit tea buying to just a few selections, but here are a few teas I've tried recently that I'd recommend for all types of tea lovers:
-Tea from The Great Mississippi Tea Company. I've tried all three of their teas, and they are all fantastic. It's tough to find the Delta Oolong in stock, as it sells out quickly but the Mississippi Queen (a green tea) and Black Magnolia (black tea) are equally as fantastic. If your tea friends haven't tried this Mississippi grown and processed tea, it makes the perfect gift.
-Selections from UNYTea store. I try to purchase teas from smaller vendors when possible, and UNYTea has a carefully curated collection of interesting teas. I'd recommend purchasing a flight of teas for your gift, perhaps a selection of Japanese, Taiwanese (pictured above), and Chinese white teas to compare.

Ocha & Co teas

-For a Japanese tea enthusiast, I've rediscovered the teas from Ocha & Co. They are an online business based in Japan, and only order teas in small batches on a weekly basis so customers from around the world will receive their teas shortly after they have been made. I recently tried their beautiful steamed Fukamushi Sencha which I recommend (review coming soon!), and they have a nice selection of matcha and other Japanese green and black teas. Stay tuned for a very special giveaway from Ocha & Co coming in the next few days!
-If you have a tea friend that's new to Nepalese teas, you can't go wrong with anything from Nepali Tea Traders. The owners of the company are friendly and passionate about the company. I'm partial to the Sagamartha Gold and Lhotse Black, but a flight of Nepali teas (you could do black, oolong, etc) would make a thoughtful gift, for sure.
-For something else a little different, I love the Doke teas from Lochan Tea Limited, a company run by passionate tea experts. Doke is a small family run garden in India producing big flavors. If you are looking for Darjeeling teas, it's also a great site to check out.

For The Tea Bookworm
I'm a voracious reader, and I love to collect tea books. This year there are two interesting books that stood out for me. First, Tea Sommelier: A Step-By-Step Guide by François-Xavier Delmas and Mathias Minet (of Palais des Thés). I was very skeptical of a book that claims to give you the knowledge needed to become a tea sommelier, but I was pleasantly surprised with the depth of information included in the book. It doesn't take the place of tasting and experiencing teas first hand, but this book is extremely informative. Everything from tea types, preparation, history, serving, and pairings are included. I also loved the illustrations and the many charts included in the book.
Another book perfect for gifting is A Little Tea Book: All The Essentials From Leaf To Cup by Sebastian Beckwith (from In Pursuit of Tea) and Caroline Paul. This is a little book with a surprisingly large amount of tea tidbits. There are all sorts of interesting facts and the book is very well written. I also love the illustrations by Wendy MacNaughton, especially the tea history timeline.

Zens Pi Travel Cup

For the Tea Traveler
My favorite travel tea maker is this Pi Travel Cup  by Zens Lifestyle. I did a review of it a few months ago and I use it constantly in the office. It's great for travel, or for the office. It's also compact and easy to clean. Most importantly, it makes a good cup of tea and is really fun to use. To get 10% off your purchase, use the DISCOUNT CODE: teahappiness10.

For A Little Tea Bling

I have a love of tea jewelry, it's true. You can't go wrong with anything from A Gift Of Tea, and I think I mention her every year since her stuff is amazing  and you can find it in NYC's own T-Shop. I recently also discovered a tea-themed jewelry line from the company Lotus Fun. The jewelry is all handmade, using natural amber and sterling silver for the teapots, and they plant a tree with every order. I'm in love with the pretty tea pendant with a teapot and cups (note, the pendant, first photo above, does not come with a chain), and I adore the tea ring! If you also love this ring, stay tuned- one of the giveaways I'll be running will be for a ring of your very own!! To get 15% off your Lotus Fun purchase, use the DISCOUNT CODE: TeaHappiness

For The Subscription Fan
Tea subscription boxes are popular these days, and there are tons of them out there. I recently got to try a box from Field To Cup. I like that you can select a box based on tea experience, tea type, and caffeine level. I received the November Tea Adventurer box, and was very impressed with the quality and selection (teas pictured above). I also appreciate all the information included about the teas, and how to steep them. And guess what? I have a discount code! To get 20% of your order, use DISCOUNT CODE: Teahappiness20.

I hope this selection of tea gifts helps you check off everyone on your list! Please feel free to contact me with any questions, or if you need further suggestions. Don't forget to keep an eye out for my upcoming giveaways! I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday season.

Review: Rosali Tea Box

I'm a born skeptic. My parents were both immigrants raised primarily in the Bronx and they rubbed their skepticism off on me. I question most things, especially those in business of selling. When I was first contacted to try a subscription box from Rosali Tea, I wasn't sure if this would be like so many other subscription boxes of generic teas without much information. But I started to doubt my skepticism once I saw the beautiful box with the three teas inside. Upon further inspection I knew this would be one of the exceptions to the norm.

Founder Rosa  has worked hard to source her teas and prides herself on the curated selection she sends to subscribers every month. There are three box options per month. For $14.95 you get 3 teas at 1oz each. That gets bumped up to 2 oz at $19.95 and 3 oz at $29.95. I like that you can choose your size. The teas come with disposable tea filters to make sure you have a way to brew your loose leaves. Each tea comes with a nice card with a description and brewing instructions.

The box is more of a drawer, with a lovely leaf design on the outside. I like it when vendors send reusable, useful packaging and this is definitely something I'll be reusing. But lovely packaging cannot tell you anything about the tea. So, here's what I tried:

Milk Oolong: I've had milk oolongs before with dubious origin. It's hard to know if the one you have is the real thing. I've been asking tea friends and doing some research and I've learned that if the scent is too overpowering, or you have a slight film on the top of your brew, you probably have a flavored oolong. The buttery flavor will dissipate after the first steep as well. It appears that the tea in this box is the real deal. This is Taiwanese oolong from the Jin Xuan cultivar, which is what you should look for if you want the good stuff. The dry leaves are buttery, creamy, and sweet. It reminded me of vanilla buttercream frosting, but with a slight greenness to it, if that makes any sense. My first two steeps were very buttery, and reminded me of movie popcorn, which isn't really a bad thing. I tasted a sweetness and mellow floral flavor as well but the buttery and cream notes dominated. By the 3rd infusion there was less buttery flavor and texture, but it was definitely still in the background. The sweetness and floral flavor was more present, getting more of a light oolong characteristic. I think I'm not a fan of the milky flavor in general, but I do appreciate the complexity of this tea. This week Rosali is selling it separately for anyone that is interested in purchasing just this tea.

Hibiscus Orange Nectar: I'm not too keen on rooibos in general, I'm just not a fan of the aftertaste I get from it. But the dry leaves smelled like an orange creamcicle, so I was a bit intrigued. I knew just who to share this tea with, The Littlest Tea Critic. Ingredients are rooibos, orange, hibiscus, rosehips, apple, rose, vanilla, and citrus flavor. The nostalgic creamcicle flavor was also quite strong in the brewed tea. I do think vanilla works well with the natural rooibos flavor, and the hibiscus and orange masked a bit of the aftertaste I don't usually care for. It really tasted like a creamcicle to me, mostly from the juicy orange and smooth vanilla. The Littlest Tea Critic and I both enjoyed our sips, but we agreed that this isn't a tea we'd drink every day. She's just like her mom, she's not a big fan of flavored teas. But if you grew up eating creamcicles, this is a fun treat to have! The flavors also taste clean, without any chemical aftertaste.

Sencha Matcha Bliss: Now this tea, is more my style. This beautifully vibrant, sunny green tea perked up my afternoon. The dry leaves are pure vegetal sweetness like sugar snap peas. The brew is delicate, grassy and sweet. I get a hint of savory umami as well, especially as it cools. This is a light and refreshing tea and even though it has a good amount of caffeine, I couldn't resist having a small cup in the late afternoon. I felt a burst of sunshine on my face even though it was an overcast day. A soul satisfying cup, for sure.

So in the growing space of tea subscription boxes, Rosali Tea is one to try. Thank you to Rosa for this beautiful box. I wish her all the best with her new subscription service! If each month has teas as interesting as these, she'll do quite well indeed.