Tea drinkers and lovers understand the pull of the cup and the quench that comes from the glass. In this personal culture, there are steady date blends and special occasion blends, daily cups and glasses, cup and saucer sets, favorite tea pots and tea cozies, tea bag collections organized in stately wooden boxes, and a simple desire to experience more. What’s great about tea culture is that it’s both traditional and personalized in a single movement. If you’re looking to start a personal collection, or add to an existing one, our short list of tea culture additions is certain to please a wide range of discerning tastes!
The Glass Tea Pot
If you like to see your tea as it steeps in real time, a glass teapot may work for you. Daily tea steeps quickly when added to the middle stainless steel filter component. Elevate this in-real-time tea-making experience by removing the middle filter and inserting a blooming tea ball. Make sure glass tea pots are made from borosilicate glass. Why borosilicate glass? Borosilicate glass is a special type of glass used in science labs, which means it’s incredibly durable, well-tempered, and able to withstand high heat.
Blooming Tea
Watching the unfolding of blooming tea is captivating and soothing; each moment reveals another facet of the craftsmanship and beauty of this simple floral tea experience. This tea genre is made or tied by hand with great attention to detail, and there are no limits to their design. If you’ve never experienced blooming or flowering tea, start with a collection of 12 with the understanding that one or more of the designs may repeat. The flavors are mild, and the main attractions are watching this tea bloom and how you dress it up in your teacup afterward.
A Cake of Tea
Long before modern tea culture evolved into what it is today, tea was available in loose and cake forms. If you’re not accustomed to seeing tea in cake forms, it may seem strange, but don’t let it chase you off. Tea cakes offer quality teas, just in a different form; simply break off a piece of the cake to make your tea. This type of tea is formed as a round cake about 1-2″ thick, wrapped in signature brand paper, and often sold with a stand used to prop the cake upright. Depending on the brand, tea cakes may be sold in decorative tin or wooden boxes. Do not confuse a full large or small round teacake with baked teacakes, a common mistake. If you conduct online searches for tea cakes, more than one type will appear, baked and made from tea.
Flavored and Rock Sugars
Tea by itself is pleasing, and tea with a little something sweet with added flavor can be an incredible experience. First, rock sugars offer a unique take on sweetening tea with their shapes and colors. Flavored sugars add an extra layer of flavor, elevating the single-cup experience. If you’re drinking a mild leaf tea, adding lavender sugar not only sweetens the cup, but it also adds a floral note to the base tea flavor. Apple pie-flavored sugar elevates the mild cup to a complex flavor profile of a fully baked apple-in-pastry experience. These flavored crystals of sweetness are available in many single flavors and complex flavor profiles, crystal sizes, and textures; there’s something for all tastes. An expansive selection of flavored and rock sugars can be found on AMAZON.com.
The Tea Type Chart
Most everyone has heard of tea and possibly experienced it in one form or another. For anyone looking to expand their general knowledge of tea, tea type charts are a great resource. Here, the basics are all laid out in plain terms. From black, green, herbal, matcha, white, and chai to popular mainstream cultural blends, this chart is the first step in connecting with your next tea adventure. We connected with a newer tea type chart through AVT Beverages online. Their chart presents 19 different types of tea along with additional interesting details.
BON
Images and Sources: KaboomPics, AVT Beverages, AMAZON.
