Save the Date for The Second Annual Northwest Tea Festival!

We’re very excited about the next big event for Choice Organic Teas, because it’s something that’s very close to our hearts (and backyard)! The Northwest Tea Festival here in Seattle is now in its second year and we are very proud to be sponsors once again.

The Northwest Tea Festival is the region’s premiere festival celebrating the world’s most popular beverage, and this year’s event is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever. A number of tea experts including Norwood Pratt and John Harney will be making presentations while offering classes and leading tastings (I’m looking forward to the one about Taiwanese oolongs myself), as well as several local vendors selling their wares. It’ll be a great two days for tea lovers of all ages and levels.

The festival is on October 3-4, the first weekend in October, and takes place in the Seattle Center’s Northwest Rooms at the corner of Republican St. and Warren St. There is a $5 donation, which gets you a goody bag with a ceramic tasting cup to take home. It’s perfect for sampling all the great tea the tasting areas and the vendors will be offering.

If you’re just discovering teas or are a devotee (or anywhere in between), the Northwest Tea Festival is for you. Stop by and say hi!

The festival also still needs volunteers, so if you’re interested in joining in on the fun, contact Julee Rosanoff at the Perennial Tea Room by calling (206) 448-4054 or emailing: juleerosan@hotmail.com.

Staff Favorites: Genmaicha

One of the best things about working here at Choice Organic Teas is the sheer range of teas we get to try. There’s a tea here to fit every taste, and we drink them all. The spectrum of teas that we offer means that every employee has a different favorite. And like any tea drinker, we’re passionate about our favorites. So each month, we’re going to have one of us here at Choice Organic Teas talk a little about our favorites and what they mean to us.

This month we’re featuring Ray Lacorte, our Head of Operations. Ray keeps the company running from day to day, making sure that everything here is going smoothly. He had this to say about his favorite tea, Genmaicha- Green Tea with Toasted Brown Rice.

“I find Genmaicha to be my comfort drink of choice. Genmaicha is rejuvenating as much as it is soothing. Like a nice yoga session, Genmaicha aligns me mentally and physically.

Whether it is paired with morning toast or the evening’s main course, Genmaicha provides a perfect complement to any meal. With its subtle vegetal flavor, coupled with a familiar roasty flavor from the toasted brown rice, Genmaicha can also be enjoyed by itself.”

Tea Inspiration

We always appreciate hearing from fans of Choice Organic Teas, and we love seeing the creative endeavors from our fans, especially if they’re tea-related!

Elizabeth Hill, from Southwestern Washington, recently sent us a pair of videos about tea that she made with her husband for a scholarship competition sponsored by the Tea Council of the USA. They’re not only a lot of fun, but they’re educational as well! Brew up a nice cup of Oolong and check them out.

We hope you enjoy this as much as we did, and if you have any tea-related creativity to share, send it over! It may just end up on our blog…

Choice Organic Teas Helps Save the Himalayan Kingdom

It’s one of our newest teas from our Original collection, with one of the most compelling stories. Grown in the mountainous foothills along the eastern edge of Nepal, our Himalaya Green Tea is a refreshing green tea with fantastic character. The Kachanjangha Tea Estate shares similarities with its neighbors just across the boarder in Darjeeling, India, and the unique climate gives this cooperative its signature terrior. As a Fair Trade Certified tea, the premiums paid go back into the community, building living quarters, funding medical facilities, and even starting a “cow bank” project to help the families earn some extra income through milk sales (and providing a great source of fertilizer for the fields).

Fair Trade premiums aren’t the only thing special about our Himalaya Green Tea. Ten cents from every box sold go to a remarkable nonprofit called Save the Himalayan Kingdom.

Save the Himalayan Kingdom was founded by an extraordinary woman, Ms. Pemba Doma Sherpa. She grew up in the Solu Khumbu region of Nepal, facing cultural and social obstacles as she trained to become a mountain guide. Her determination carried her through her training and into her work where she became the first Nepali woman to summit Mount Everest from the challenging Tibet route, and one of only six women to climb the peak twice. She set up Save the Himalayan Kingdom to protect the environment, improve health, and preserve the local traditions of the region she loved.

Sadly, Ms. Pemba Doma Sherpa perished in a May 2007 climbing accident on Lhotse, near Mount Everest. Despite this tremendous loss, Save the Himalayan Kingdom continues its work under the direction of her surviving husband, Rajen Thapa.

One of the major projects undertaken by Save the Himalayan Kingdom was the restoration of the Deboche Nunnery, a project that began in 2004 under Pemba Doma. Originally established in 1925, it is the oldest nunnery in the Solu Khumbu region and one of the oldest in all of Nepal. Despite being home to twelve Buddhist nuns, the nunnery had fallen into disrepair. Save the Himalayan Kingdom restored nine living quarters, installed new ovens for cooking and heating, rebuilt the kitchen and dining room, constructed new, solid roofs, and put in a large new communal oven, replacing an outdated version that blackened the walls and compromised the air quality. All the building materials had to be flown in by helicopter and then carried on foot for a full day to Deboche. The project not only significantly improved the health and quality of life of the nuns, but also helped preserve an important part of the Buddhist heritage of the region for future generations.

Save the Himalayan Kingdom is also dedicated to providing for the children of deceased Sherpa climbers and guides. The high-altitude climbs of the region are extremely dangerous, even for experienced mountaineers, and every year families are left not only without a beloved family member, but their source of income as well. Save the Himalayan Kingdom works to provide schooling for the children left behind, paying all their costs (fees, room and board, travel, uniform, and other supplies). The educational program invests in individual children, as well as providing a lasting legacy to the Sherpa climbers who give their lives on the mountains.

Choice Organic Teas is proud to be involved in Save the Himalayan Kingdom, and proud to support the work that they do. For more information, check out their website at http://climbhighhimalaya.com/social_project.htm.

For the Love of Rooibos

I’ve always been a true tea drinker. While I may try a tisane here and there, for the most part, I’m only interested in Camellia sinensis. There’s one exception I regularly make, however – rooibos. When I’m out and about, I often get a lot of questions about rooibos, so I thought I’d address a few topics about my favorite non-tea tea.

The name “rooibos” is Afrikaans for ‘red bush,’ referring to the signature red color of the dried leaves of the Aspalathus linearis plant. It’s grown solely in the Cedarburg Mountains of South Africa and has been enjoyed there for centuries. It’s believed that the ancient Khoi and San people of South Africa were the first to drink rooibos, harvesting the leaves with axes and leaving it to dry in heaps in the sun. Early Dutch settlers started drinking rooibos as an alternative to expensive black tea. It wasn’t until the early 20th century, however, that rooibos was exported out of South Africa. And it wasn’t developed commercially until the 1930s. Its popularity expanded from South Africa to the rest of the world.
It’s easy to see why.

Rooibos is a unique herbal tea, with a full, rounded mouth-feel and flavor. The taste invokes honey and vanilla, with a natural, earthy sweetness. The brew is a beautiful deep red color, much like the color of the bush itself. And unlike tea, rooibos has no tannins, which means that it can be steeped for long periods of time without bitterness. In my opinion, steeping rooibos longer only makes it taste better…if you can be patient enough to not start drinking it as soon as possible.

To me, that’s enough, but it’s also good for you. Its high antioxidant and flavanoid content is similar to tea, and it’s also been known to assist with allergies and digestive problems. In South Africa, rooibos has traditionally used to sooth colic in infants, as well as for help with asthma, allergies, and skin problems.

Our Rooibos is organic and Fair Trade, and we have a few options. In our Original collection, we have Rooibos – Red Bush Tea.Rooibos – Herbal Infusion + Vanilla, from our Gourmet line, blends the rooibos with organic vanilla that pairs perfectly with rooibos’ natural sweetness and vanilla notes. We also offer a loose, whole leaf Rooibos.

If you’ve been looking for something different, rooibos may be just what you had in mind.

–Abby, Marketing & Communications Coordinator and Blog Meister

Staff Favorites: Orange Spice

One of the best things about working here at Choice Organic Teas is the sheer range of teas we get to try. There’s a tea here to fit every taste, and we drink them all. The spectrum of teas that we offer means that every employee has a different favorite. And like any tea drinker, we’re passionate about our favorites. So each month, we’re going to have one of us here at Choice Organic Teas talk a little about our favorites and what they mean to us.

Personally, my favorite is our Orange Spice. When I was younger my mother made orange spice tea for me on weekend mornings, when I could sleep in late and have a leisurely family breakfast. Or we’d drink it together in the evenings when it got cold, with a few cookies, as a treat.

When I came here and found that we had an Orange Spice blend of our own, I was thrilled. It’s even better than my memories. The flavors and blend of spices are more vibrant than the tea I had as a kid (although maybe I brew it stronger these days), plus it’s organic and Fair Trade. I drink it on rainy Seattle days and whenever I need a bit of comfort. It never fails to cheer me up.
What teas make you feel better?

Thanks, Everyone!

Thank you to everyone who entered our Iced Tea Contest! We’ve picked a winner, so keep an eye on your inboxes. We were so pleased to see the enthusiasm for our teas, and for iced tea in general.

Check back throughout the summer for more contests and fun stories from us here at Choice Organic Teas.

Celebrate Summer with Choice Organic Teas!

In our opinion, nothing is better on a hot day than iced tea. Sure, we’re a little biased, but iced tea is so wonderfully refreshing and versatile that it’s hard not to be. These days there are lots of options of bottled brews. But we believe some of the best iced tea is made at home and turns any situation into a special occasion.

There are lots of great reasons to do your own iced tea. When you brew iced tea at home, you have a lot more control over the ingredients and the process. Many bottled iced teas are stuffed full of sugar or other sweeteners, for example. A home-brewed pitcher means you can have as little (or as much) sweetness as you’d like. You can also be more selective with the tea itself. Instead of mystery “black” or “green”, you can use your own favorite variety of organic, Fair Trade certified tea. It also gives you more options when mixing with other ingredients. It’s fun to experiment by adding fruit juice, lemonade, or a more adult beverage. Someone might even name a drink after you! It’s also much cheaper to do it yourself, and in this day and age, any savings are welcome.

While the process seems intimidating, brewing iced tea at home is very simple. All you have to do is brew your tea double its normal strength. For example, a quart of normal tea would require four teabags, so a quart of iced tea would need eight. Brew the tea as you normally would and refrigerate it so it cools down. Then, add in some ice cubes and it’s ready to serve! If you want to try something different, we’ve got a few great drink recipes to liven up the summer. We discourage making “sun tea”, however, as steeping and holding the tea outside the recommended temperatures for a long period of time can increase the risk of illness.

We’ve selected six varieties from our Gourmet line that are best suited for iced tea- Moroccan Mint Green Tea, Green Tea with Essence of Peach, Earl Grey with Lavender, Mango Ceylon with Vanilla, Liquorice Peppermint, and Northwest Blackberry. We love them all here at the office, especially on hot days.

And what’s a celebration without presents? Comment here and be entered to win two boxes of tea (enough for several barbecues) and a Choice Organic Teas hat, made from hemp and organic cotton. It’s everything you need to keep sustainably cool through the summer. We’ll be drawing the winner on Wednesday, July 8.

Enjoy the summer, and stay cool!!

The Monday Boost

On a Monday morning, particularly after a beautiful summer weekend like we had here in Seattle, a pick-me-up is usually in order. A cup of tea is a healthy way to get that needed boost. But how much are you actually getting?

All “true” tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant and contains caffeine. The names White, Green, Black, and Oolong signify how the tea was processed. Twig tea (also called Kukicha) is made from the twigs, rather than the leaves, of the Camellia sinensis plant and contains very little caffeine. I wish we could tell you exactly how much caffeine is in a cup of tea, but it is simply not possible to be that precise! There are just too many variables – what field was the tea grown in, what time of year, how long had it been growing, how much rain was there, how long did you steep the tea, how hot was the water, etc. We can give a good estimate, though, as long as you keep those variables in mind:

Caffeine content per cup:

Coffee – 200 to 300 mg
Black tea – 60 to 80 mg
Oolong tea – 50 to 60 mg
Green tea – 35 to 50 mg
Genmaicha (Green tea with toasted brown rice) – 17 to 18 mg
Moroccan Mint Green (Green tea and herbs) – 17 to 18 mg
White tea – 30 to 50 mg
Decaf coffee – 2 to 6 mg
Decaf tea – 2 to 4 mg
Loose leaf Twig tea (from the stems of the plant) – 2 to 3 mg. The teabag version of Choice Organic Teas Twig tea also contains leaf so it contains more caffeine – 34 mg in our last test.

All true tea has caffeine, so the industry standard is that they do not require a caffeine statement on the package. You’ve probably noticed that coffee and chocolate also don’t state that they contain caffeine! Herbal teas, also known as tisanes, do not contain any Camilia sinensis. Most Choice Organic Teas tisanes are labeled as “caffeine-free”, the exception being our Yerba Mate, which is an herbal tea from South America that naturally contains caffeine just like tea or coffee. Our organic Yerba Mate is pure and untoasted for a mellow, woody cup. It’s one of my favorite selections for those days when I feel like I need an extra bit of energy.

Keep this list in mind when you’re looking to energize, and all your Mondays will be happy ones.

Words to Taste By

When I first started learning about teas, I was told to approach them in the way that a connoisseur would approach wine. Much like wine, teas can offer an array of flavors to tantalize the taste buds and stimulate your imagination. Some are bold and forward, others are more complex, blending a variety of subtle notes. Similar to wine, there’s a wide range of tea varieties out there, with differences both obvious and obscure.

Knowing some good tea terms is a great way to make the wide world of “tea-talk” more inviting. Here’s a list of some of my favorites to use whenever you get the chance to taste a few teas. As a lover of words, I’m always looking for more. Leave your favorites in the comments!

Biscuity: a pleasant taste reminiscent of fresh bread

Brisk: lively, with high astringency and a memorable flavor

Earthy: darker, richer taste evocative of soil

Floral: a sweet, light taste reminiscent of fresh flowers

Fruity: any flavor suggesting fruit, such as apples, grapes, or citrus

Malty: a sweet flavor, like malted barley

Nutty: reminiscent of nuts, like almonds or hazelnut

Savory: a rich, full-bodied flavor with minimal sweetness

Smokey: suggestive of smoke or wood ash

Sweet: a natural characteristic of certain teas

Vegetal: a fresh taste characteristic of green teas, ranging from grassy to herbal to almost like seaweed

Woody: redolent aromas of forests and cut wood