The Devotea’s List Week: Number 2 If you love tea, you have no doubt discovered some joys that non-tea drinkers just don’t get. Here’s a list that will have you nodding your head. Waiting is a joy. The idea that the one to five minutes that it takes you to brew your favourite is somehow […]
Inspired by my friend @lazyliteratus and his spectacular”White Tea Week” and also by seeing so many blog posts that start with a number and contain a list, I’ve decided to offer my “List Week”. Every day for a week: That’s seven posts not including this one. Some of them are stuffed full of original content, […]
I’m on record as being unmoved by both Japanese teas and Japanese tea culture and ceremonies. Taking your shoes off, sitting on a rush mat and admiring a stick in a vase does not in any way cause me to suddenly enjoy tea that is too bitter, and/or too thin, and/or looks like second-hand bile […]
There are some people who see Valentine’s Day as a crass commercial cardfest, and I guess it can be. But I think it’s a memory pin; it’s a thing that reminds you to stop wasting synaptic electricity washing the car, watching TV or researching a controversial blog you’ve been promising for ages, and think about […]
I have been promising a major blog post for a few weeks now, but it’s tied up in the research phase. Soon, I promise. Meanwhile, I opened my front door to a mysterious package from Philadelphia. What could it be? It transpires that when I was looking at Kickstarter a few years back, I found […]
Ah yes, our words can come back to haunt us. In my last post, I mentioned that my next post – which should logically be this one – might be a little controversial and upset a few folk. Not much of a surprise there, really: if I’m not being incredibly funny I usually am offending […]
My friends, my blogging has slowed to a crawl. I could make many excuses, but I think the simple truth is my need for sharing my bad temper and sarcasm is being assuaged in other forms. There’s Facebook, where a quick twenty words can elicit a great response. There’s the blog I’m writing for someone else, […]
This is my fourth Christmas on Tea Trade, and it’s time for my fifth Christmas post. They have been amongst my most widely-read posts. A silly poem about tea friends, a rant about Christmas radio, and two last year: the story of my attempts to blackmail Father Christmas and my guide to being the winner […]
No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water. (Horace) My friends, this is it. This is the blog you need to share with your friends, your colleagues, your enemies, your competitors, your relatives. It’s the point where tea takes front and centre stage. It’s rightful place. No more […]
Last weekend marked a big, bold new statement for us, and no doubt we”ll write a press release soon. But the personal story is nearly always the start, so here it is. I’ll start by giving thanks to the USA. For the friendships we have there – our wonderful, wonderful tea friends, for the enthusiasm […]