Tea Ceremony

In every culture where tea is served, one finds that a certain degree of hospitality or ceremony accompanies the presentation of this fine beverage. Often, certain foods are offered with tea such as sweet breads, cookies, or light snacks of some kind.
In Japan, flowers, colors, poetry , the correct teapot and cups are all chosen to achieve a spiritual balance. The long tradition of tea can enter into your tea-time if you add a graceful expression to the process of having or serving tea.

Commercial Tea

Commercial teas account for about 95% of the current world's tea – the vast majority of which go into teabags. Mixed leaves are machine-picked along with some stems and twigs, then machine-processed by the CTC (cut, tear, curl) method into small particles. Small particles go stale faster and brew strong, but don't have nearly the flavor of premium teas.

About Tea Storage

Black and Oolong teas retain their flavor for many months if stored properly. Tea is affected by heat, odor, moisture, and light.
We recommend storage in a cool, dry place away from strong odors. Any glass jar with a sealed lid is great. At home we use opaque stoneware kitchen canisters with sealing lids, which you can find at most kitchen supply or department stores.
Green teas are usually best drunk within a few weeks of purchase. Store them the same way as Black or Oolong tea, or for best results (according to a Japanese tea grower) put the tea in a sealed jar in your refrigerator or freezer.

Notes From Our Customers

"We all LOVE this Lemonscent tea. The kids had some in little cups while finishing their homework after dinner. Peggy and I drank from clear tea cups. The color of the tea is a beautiful yellow; I wanted to photograph the cup to frame on our wall."
-Jim O. Franktown, Virginia