Tea Empire Potluck Tuesday!

I'm really excited about the potluck. I hope lots of people bring teas to trade. Feel free to comment below which teas or food you'll be bringing. Here are some of the ones I'm bringing:
Plum Green Tea
Barley Tea
Oolong Tea
Chinese Green Tea
Japanese Green Tea


Here's a quote I like from the bag of Oolong Tea I got this summer in Taiwan that my mother's family produces:

"Tea drinking is an art. You should first drink half the cup, then slowly turn the cup as you sip, while exploring the fragrance and appreciating it with your heart. Allow the essence of the green and the aroma of soaked leaves to sweep your senses, and enjoy the unique experience of natural flavor."

New Recipe: Strawberries with Lemon Sugar and Lavender Syrup

The recipe from our last meeting for Charlene's delightful strawberries can be found in the recipes section of the site. Enjoy!

Flowering Tea Tonight!

Best of all, it's all caffeine free! Tonight, 8pm, Student Org Space in The Commons!

Fair Trade Tea

Here are some Tea Facts which Heather found for last year's Fair Trade tea table at EcoFest

Tea Facts:

· A box of 80 tea bags costs about $3.50, but an Indian tea farmer earns only $0.15.

· Although the tea market has grown, most profit goes to middlemen and retailers. Farmers actually make half as much as they did ten years ago.

· Most tea farmers are women.

· It takes 16 pluckings to get enough tea for one cup.

(source: www.actionaid.org/uk)

Here are some websites with more information about Fair Trade:
http://www.utne.com/2007-01-01/TheFutureofFairTradeTea.aspx
"The Future of Fair Trade Tea" article
http://www.choiceorganicteas.com/whyfairtrade.htm
"...the first tea crafter to adopt Fair Trade Certified tea in the United States."
http://transfairusa.org/
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/index.htm

Tea on the Tiber Pictures

The photos taken on the awesome Tea on the Tiber trip are now in the Photos section of the site. Check 'em out!

Note: The Photos section will be better organized shortly

Flowering Tea November 13th!

Tea on the Tiber Recap

On Saturday, November 3rd, some of us enjoyed Afternoon Tea at Tea on the Tiber in Old Ellicott City. Afternoon Tea was started by Anna, the Duchess of Bedford in Victorian England who needed a pick-me-up between her heavy breakfast and dinner. She invited her friends for tea and snacks. Tea on the Tiber is a really adorable place, originally established as part of an interior design store. A smaller room had walls lined with books of wallpaper. Everyone got their own pot of tea. I chose the Palm Court tea, a blend of different black teas. It's the same tea served at the Plaza Hotel in New York. The special tea was Pumpkin Chai which Liz let me try. It was delicious.There was also food which looked quite small but was very filling. I especially enjoyed the scones with clotted cream.

It was nice to have a Tea Empire event with matching china and seating set up for us. There was also a gift shop below the room where we had afternoon tea and they had some of the teas we drank. Tea on the Tiber offers a lighter version of the meal we had called Shopper's Tea-you should check it out if you have a small group or if you're by yourself because you can't get a reservation for it and its impractical for big groups. They change their menu every Monday. Tea on the Tiber's website is http://www.teaonthetiber.com/. Thanks to SGA, this trip was free.

If you know interesting places for trips next semester, email me at ck7@umbc.edu places you find interesting.

Tea on the Tiber Tomorrow!

The trip is tomorrow so don't forget! An email has been sent around to those who are going but just to reiterate here:

Tea on the Tiber
November 3rd, 2007
12 Noon - 1:30 pm

Meeting time and place: 11:30 @ Susquehanna

Driving Directions: http://www.teaonthetiber.com/res_dir.htm

For my information, questions, or corcerns please email Charlene.