Posts filed under ‘news’
Tea travels
So I am going to go off back packing in eastern Canada for the next four weeks. Quebec, Ontario and maybe Nova Scotia. I want to check out some tea shops along the way so post your favourite tea spots in the comment section.
Tea Story: Update
With all the comments and questions i’ve been getting i thought it was high time for a update. I got in contact with one of owners and this is what I have so far. it will be a mix between cafe and retail, food and tea will be served. they will have over 100 varieties of tea, including fruity and aged teas. they also have a special bubble tea! ( i’m not a bubble tea fan it’s those little balls and almost choking on one once). they also “delicious waffle sandwich, fresh fruit dessert waffle and many other surprise snacks”. sounds like they have some interesting furniture and design that i’m excited to see as well. can’t wait for these guys to open, and I will let you guys know when i have a firm date or any new information.
for anyone interested in applying there please direct your emails and resumes to Iris TeaStory@hotmail.ca.
Twettle
Twettle: the tweeting kettle
Here a story i found on wired.com it’s a kettle that is connected to twitter that will tweet about the tea its made and energy saved. i dont think id want this but, its just a interesting article. check it out.
Kenya tea strike is over.
Just found this article through World of Tea and wanted to pass it on. the Kenya tea strike that has been in effect since February 8th. it was started when workers started to complain about getting paid under the minimum wage.
the rest of the article is on Business Week (HERE) check it out its good to know.
India’s Tea industry in danger
here is a video from new tang dynasty TV. about the state of India’s tea industry, and what they are doing to protect it.
China’s new tea export laws
In the wake of the recalls of Chinese food products and the deaths that have happened china has started to finally address the problem and to beef up there export laws in regards to food at least, one of the main areas they are tackling is tea as of 2008 tea companies must register there tea base at the source (the fields they are grown) they must collect soil samples and product samples, along with water testing and the farmer must submit some very detailed credentials like pesticides used and fertilizer types and these must all pass the standards set by the government. All this is submitted to the Quarantine Bureau and Chinese Customs. The company must have its own Chinese Trading License or go through a Chinese trading company. This is true for all products exported from China. Most foreign companies cant obtain these licenses so the go trough a Chinese trading company but these are pretty sketchy and aren’t very reliable, and more often then not the company loses total control of the tea to the Chinese company. The new laws also do apply to the trading companies that the tea companies go through so all parties will be held to the same high standards.
A Tuscan tea company Seven Cups has become the one of the first tea company to obtain there own Chinese business license which allows them to have full control of the tea and gives them the ability to create there own network of tea growers and have quality control standard that they are happy with. Read more about this and seven cups here (link).
tea trade in Africa
during the week of febuary 14 a total of 5,239,078 million kilograms of tea was sold at auction in Mombasa, at an average of USD $2.48 the total amount at auction was 7,070,326 kilograms of tea compared to 6,955,676.80 kilograms for the same period last year. Kenya led in the amount tea 5,149,235.80 kilograms out of which 3,758,915.50 was sold at USD $2.61 per unit. the reports indicate that there was less demand for the tea with 28.39 per cent remaining unsold.
the bigger issue is that kenya has reported that there is a lessening in rain fall in its tea growing regions west of the Rift Kericho, Buret, Gucha, Nyamira, Kisii and Sotik, The report indicates that the crop is low and is expected to decline further in the east and west of the Rift while Nandi is showing slight improvement. this is a worry is this climate change in action what will this mean for the tea trade with conflict in the region and lax agricultural practices, and a slumping global economy what will happen with the African tea trade
52teas on ebay
52teas.com is auctioning off a six week subscription to there tea of the month club get on board, here is the link (52teas on ebay)
Free Tea
just thought I’d give anyone who didn’t know that tropical tea co. is giving away free tea as part of there tea club service. all you have to do is create an account with them and they will send you some samples of there tea every two weeks, i guess this is to encourage you to buy more of course but its a great way to try tea and its free guys. also if your into adagio teas add them on twitter they will send out coupon codes every now and then that you can jump on, I’d use tweetdeck for that so you can see it quickly and act on it before someone else does.
