[-] As many people are probably aware, I am not a fan of bagged tea. And while teabags (their structure, quality and use) has improved in recent years, I will always be more inclined to purchase loose leaf, and that is probably the case for most people who drink as much tea as I do.

That said, there are some good bagged blends. Twinings Origins Ceylon tea is a favorite. Dump a bunch of milk into it, and some honey, and that is a delicious blend. Ceylon tastes good broken.

There is one brand of tea, though, that is better than all others, and I finally found a large box last weekend while "ooooh"ing and "aaaahhh"ing through the European aisle of Wegman's in Scranton, PA. We don't have a Wegman's where I live, but every time I go into one, I find something awesome.

Of the 6 or 7 things I purchased, I managed to find an 80 ct box of PG Tips. After years and years of drinking tea, I can assure you that there is no better bagged tea than PG Tips. No matter what kind of black tea you may like, this blend -- and however they create it -- takes the cake. It's known as England's No. 1 Tea, and if anyone knows how to rock the black tea, it's the British. So if you ever see a box of PG Tips anywhere, get it! You can order it on Amazon, but in many places in the US it's hard to come by...you won't regret it, though.

PG Tips: Spotted in Wegman's! - http://authoritea.blogspot.com/feeds/1573497779333590687/comments/default

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Made by Ismael in Miami Florida "Jules Verne 1" teapot, [mixed metals 19" H x 15" W] From his new collection designed for the 21st Century, and now for sale.
See Ismael's blog

Jules Verne 1 - http://teapotsteapotsteapots.blogspot.com/feeds/1979268568175613337/comments/default

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Ask teenagers what their favorite part of the school day is, and a fair number of them will say lunch.  For the most part, it isn’t because of the food being served.  Lunch is the one time of the school day when students can enjoy the company of friends without being interrupted by irritated teachers.  It’s also an important cramming time for those students who didn’t finish last night’s homework.  But what I love most about my lunch is the chance to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea.

Tea gives me an opportunity to relax, and process everything I’ve learned throughout the day. I’m sure most of you would agree.

However, among teenagers, this passion isn’t shared. Many of us stay up late to finish homework and spend the entire week on a mild caffeine buzz, trying to stay awake.

I remember when Rock Stars first became popular—the main recommendation for them seemed to be their ability to keep students awake when pulling all nighters. Now, they have somewhat faded in popularity among the teenage set, but most students still chug down the coffee and the soda pop, enjoying the caffeine in whatever form it comes.

Most of my friends choose coffee as their warm drink of choice. Occasionally they’ll dabble in tea—usually with bags. While they may enjoy tea, they aren’t likely to become addicts. Tea simply doesn’t pack the same punch.

Personally, I know I don’t represent the average teenager. For one thing, I’ve never warmed to coffee and I drink it black when I have to. (I once had a friend quip that if it took more than two words to describe how you liked your coffee, you weren’t really drinking it.)

When I sit down at lunch to a cup of tea, I feel calmer, more capable of rational thought and intelligent conversation. I do think my choice is the healthier one.

If only I could get rid of that sweet tooth!

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Coffee and tea and java and me - http://www.tching.com/index.php/2008/11/19/coffee-and-tea-and-the-java-and-me/

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Thanksgiving is only a week away! Suddenly it's the topic of conversation amongst friends and acquaintances. The beauty shop was buzzing with 'food talk' today. Everyone was sharing what they were planning on making or serving for Thanksgiving dinner. It seems that left-overs and stuffing got the 'most popular' vote. I enjoyed hearing about family traditions, their favorite foods, and how each family has their own way of implementing this popular holiday. It's a time to give thanks! From what was said, it appears that this is the holiday that people 'most cook' and 'most eat'. It seems that home-made is favored. And that many mom's prefer to make the entire meal rather than having grown children bring something in a planned potluck style. My menu hasn't been decided upon yet, but just listening and talking to others is helping me formulate my plan of action. I must get at it.

Of course I have some friends who are very organized and I admire them greatly! They are already planning their Christmas baking (waving to you, dear friends). Oh to be so efficient.

I guess I better run along now and draft a menu for next week --- so that I can start thinking of delicious Christmas sweets and savories too. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy taking a walk down memory lane while I look at this picture of Brandon taken years ago when he was a budding young cook.

Enjoy a lovely day!

Thanksgiving Buzz - http://www.gracioushospitality.com/feeds/3713663179269680978/comments/default

[-] SILIGURI, Nov. 18: The principal constituents of the West Bengal Left Front today cautioned that growing resentment over a number of issues among the tribal tea plantation labourers might lead to a major law and order problem in north Bengal in near future.

“The portents are ominous. Grievances have been growing among the tribal community principally concentrated in the tea plantations over the continuing deprivation. This unrest being negatively channelised for some time might snowball into a major law and order problem in the region,” said the Darjeeling district RSP, Forward Bloc and CPI leaders.

The RSP Darjeeling district secretary Mr Binay Chakravarty said that the tribal people working in the tea plantation were at the receiving end of the exploitative tactics being adopted by the plantation owners. “The subservient role being played by the Centre and the state government is accentuating the problem. The depth of the apathy to the plight of the workers can be gauged from the fact that the tea plantation related housing board meeting had been held a week ago after a span of a decade. Moreover, there is no drinking water provision in most of the tea plantations in the Darjeeling and the Jalpaiguri districts,” he said.

The FB Darjeeling district secretary Mr Smritish Bhattacharya said that apart from the lack of drinking water provision there is no health centre to cater to the medical requirements of the plantation workers. “Besides, the residential quarters in many plantations are crumbling. This situation, becoming alarming as it is, may spiral out of the control of the administration any time unless the pent up grievances are sincerely addressed,” the FB leader said.

Echoing the apprehension, the CPI Darjeeling district secretary Mr Ujjawal Chowdhury said that mere profiteering inclination on the part of the plantation owners in flagrant violation of the Plantation Labour Act might land the region in problem. “The Centre and the state government should step in immediately to force the owners to take initiatives at bettering the living condition of the workers,” he said.
Asked to comment the CPI-M state committee member Mr Jibesh Sarkar said that the Left Front government had been doing everything to better the living conditions of the plantation workers. “But a state government, given several constraints, cannot go against the socio-economic structure of the country. Nonetheless, the wages have increased many times over the past years because of relentless pressure from the state government on the profit mongering owners. The faulty Central economic policy is responsible for the fast worsening plight of the poor people as a whole,” the CPI-M leader asserted.

Tea workers’ stir worries LF - http://teanewsdarjeeling.blogspot.com/feeds/6013453035641643678/comments/default

[-] Siliguri, Nov. 18: Nearly three years after the management had abandoned the closed Sikarpur and Bhandapur Tea Estate, workers find themselves financially sound and are considering running the factory on their own. The success has made them different from their counterparts in the Dooars.

After the management left the garden on January 12, 2006, the 1,550 employees of the estate located in the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri worked hard to maintain the bushes and augment the tealeaves production which fetched them Rs 16.20 per kilogram from the bought-leaf factories.

“Each one of us agreed that the garden must be saved at any cost for the sustenance of our families,” said Phanindranath Das, a clerk of the estate. “We formed the operating and management committee (OMC) on July 17, 2006 and made every employee understand the need to work together. The overwhelming response from their side has led to today’s success.”

During this period, the workers managed to replant new tea bushes in around 20 hectares and also developed a nursery having one lakh saplings. “We have also made another 10 hectares ready for plantation and on regular basis, take care of each bush by providing manure, fertilisers and pesticides and doing pruning in the lean months. The exercise that took more than two years have started yielding results as we are producing around 10-11 lakh kg tealeaves in a year,” said Samaruddin Ali, a worker.

The workers are assigned with plucking 18kg of tealeaves subject to a minimum of 10kg for which they get Rs 50 per day. Incentives at the rate of Re 1 is paid to them for every kg of extra leaves plucked above 18kg. “Added to this is the financial assistance of Rs 750 that every worker receives from the state government every month and earnings from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,” Ali said.

Today, the workers are financially sound and the OMC also owns a substantial sum in its account.

“Our ultimate aim will be to open the factory and run it on our own,” Jhalo Meher, another worker, said. “The OMC members had approached the district magistrate with a proposal, requesting her to arrange for funds to renovate and open the factory.”

Das said they made a project mentioning the cost of Rs 50.88 lakh and invited her to the garden.

Responding to their call, Bandana Yadav, the district magistrate, visited the garden this afternoon. “I wanted to talk to them and see the estate. It was important to judge the feasibility of the proposal,” she said.

Success in closed garden - http://teanewsdarjeeling.blogspot.com/feeds/5004899263694954595/comments/default

[-] Siliguri, Nov. 18: An impasse that had been continuing over the last week regarding the storage and sampling of tea sold through the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre (STAC) temporarily ended today. The Siliguri Tea Warehousing Association agreed to suspend its agitation for the time being.

Up to one lakh tea bags, from over 200 gardens, holding 35kg of tea each, are stored in the 28 warehouses in Siliguri. The agitation was over the delay to decide on the new rents that the producers and buyers will have to pay for the storage. The revision, which takes place every two year, was scheduled to be done earlier this year.

However, the new rate decided by the warehouse owners has put the buyers and producers on the back foot. They have been holding their own meetings to reach an amicable rate, which is apparently, the reason for the delay.

“We had been compelled to resort to a partial strike since November 11, a day after a cut-off date had been intimated in writing to STAC for calling a meeting to finally decide on the new rates,” said Sandip Sinhal, secretary of the warehousing association.

Although deliveries taken out from the warehouses by buyers had not been affected, the entry of new lots of tea and the sampling of existing lots had stopped completely because of this delay.

However, based on a request from STAC chairman Gangadhar Agarwal, the warehouse association decided to suspend the agitation till November 24, by which time Agarwal has assured that the revised rate of rental would be agreed upon.

“The tea for Sale 48, which will take place on November 27, has arrived. But that of Sale 49, scheduled for December 4, has partially arrived, while that for Sale 50 on December 11 has not arrived at all,” said Col. (retd) T.B. Subba, STAC secretary.

Two full-fledged meetings, at which all the stakeholders were expected to take part, had already been convened in this month. But, both were inconclusive for want of quorum.

“There appears to be a lack of seriousness on the part of STAC,” said Sinhal.

“We had held a token strike on October 30 and had written a letter before that to STAC’s warehousing advisory body, saying we would resort to an indefinite agitation. But the meeting is yet to be held,” he said.

A prominent tea producer and former STAC chairman S.K. Saria pointed out that the warehouse association has demanded a steep 40 per cent increase in the rental.

“At a time when international recession has hit the demand for tea, this hike will affect producers badly,” he said. “We have still held meetings with the association and some agreement will be reached,” Saria said. “Otherwise, sales through the Calcutta and Guwahati centres will be at an advantage, while north Bengal will suffer.”

Tea strike put on hold - http://teanewsdarjeeling.blogspot.com/feeds/2011350949038523873/comments/default

[-] Far away, in an interesting town named Mechanicsburg, is a family-operated herb business that was started 35 years ago by an extraordinary herbalist named Bertha Reppert. Today two of her daughter's carry on this family run business, operating an herbal shop and a tea room called The Rosemary House. Susanna's duties encompass the herbal shop and gardens, while Nancy is the proprietress of the tea room. Of course their duties interface as they intertwine the events they are individually responsible for. Famous in their respective circles, they are published writers and have been featured in many beautiful magazines. Last year they started their own blog, appropriately called Rosemary's Sampler. In celebration, they conducted a give-away and I was the fortunate winner of one of their prizes! Now, a beautiful "Rosemary House" afghan makes it home at my house. Thank you, Nancy and Susanna. I will treasure it always. . .it means much to me.



The Rosemary House - http://www.gracioushospitality.com/feeds/5169269322048184636/comments/default

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This delightful book (1968) ~ The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr ~ can be purchased here.

Kid's Day! "The Tiger Who Came To Tea" - http://uniquelytea.blogspot.com/feeds/4664102260921270557/comments/default

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Rishi Tea's New Organic Eco-Friendly Tea Gift Sets
(from a press release)

Organic handcrafted loose-leaf teas best reveal their nuance and unique origin characteristics when prepared in appropriate teaware. Rishi Tea is proud to offer our Organic Tea Sets, each of which includes two best-selling teas, a teapot or infuser cup specially chosen to pair well with the teas. Each gift set is beautifully packaged in an environmentally friendly, hand woven gift box made of renewable bamboo.

Organic Black Tea Set includes a highly functional glass teapot with easy to clean removable stainless steel filter, Organic Fair Trade China Breakfast Black Tea and Organic Fair Trade Earl Grey Black Tea. Retail Price: $25

Organic Green Tea Set includes a handcrafted sky blue teacup with lid and infuser, Organic Fair Trade Jasmine Green Tea and Organic Fair Trade Jade Cloud Green Tea. Retail Price: $35

Organic White Tea Set includes a glass teapot with glass infuser, Organic White Peony and Organic Peach Blossom. Retail Price: $40

Available through select Whole Foods Markets, specialty retailers and direct from Rishi.

shop for tea books.

tea, green tea, food, food and drink

Rishi Tea's New Organic Eco-Friendly Tea Gift Sets - http://www.teaguyspeaks.com/feeds/7578020127796878242/comments/default