teapigs

After stumbling upon the best website ever, I thought I should definitely post the link. The site is called teapigs.

If features tea for your every mood, has awesome quotes, cute little animations like bursting popcorn and butterflies, and even has a section about the history of tea. The site features a tea that isn't available in every store: red (rooibos) tea with a pretty decent organic selection.

"Remember the teapot - it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings!"Anonymous

Without further delay, here are a few screenshots...

So Poetic

I learned some new tea terminology today that I think is just fantastic.

Agony of Leaves:
the term given for the way tea leaves unfurl as they brew in hot water

And, of course, there is no better way to see this than in a clear teapot.

The Lighthouse

Normally lighthouses are rather boring to shoot because they don't have much surrounding them. This one was actually quite a bit of fun and gave me several angles to choose from.

From the dunes...

The vast landscape...

The texture of the sand from the tide.

The ocean water was clear as crystal.

The shoreline.

Does White Tea Have Caffeine?

A good friend of mine asked me this question the other day, and I thought I should post it for future reference.

It depends on the brand. Most resources say that white tea has a small amount of caffeine; however, I've actually had tea that said if you steeped the teabag in boiling water for less than 30 seconds, it would prevent the caffeine from being extracted, and would have a much less bitter taste.

Tales of a Blind Man

I have tried a lot of tea, and my favorite has stood the test of time: Mighty leaf.

What I like so much about this company is that their tea isn't some powdery dust you find in Lipton tea bags or similar off-the-shelf brands. Their teabags are made from these silk-like biodegradable pouches. (My favorite is called Tropical Green Tea)

This reminds me of a story.

When I was working as a lab instructor for the college, I met an old man from Pakistan named Manal. He was an amazing photographer and brought back all sorts of photos from his home country. I recall the elaborate weddings and jewelry the brides wore. Every year, when my birthday came around, he would pull a bracelet or anklet out of his pocket and present it to me as a gift. He was always full of surprises — especially when he finally admitted he was legally blind. He started wearing this mad scientist looking thing. His glasses had glasses.

Oh, right, back to the point.

Manal once told me that Lipton uses the "leftover" teas from India and that basically their tea was made strictly from the rejects. At this point, I had already snubbed my nose at Lipton, but I used to drink a ton of it as a child.

I hope there are no lingering side effects :)