Happy Earth Tea's Blog
Visit to Roji-en, Japanese garden in Delray Beach, Florida
"Strolling through a pine forest or bamboo grove, viewing the rock formations, arrangement of plants, and cascading waterfalls, pausing to ponder the quiet surface of the lake and the shoreline - little by little we are encouraged to lay aside the chaos of a troubled world and gently nurture the capacity within to hear a more harmonious, universal rhythm…This is the tremendous power the Japanese gardens at Morikami Park hold for us." - Hoichi Kurisu, Master Garden Designer of Roji-en.
Toronto Tea Festival, 2019
After nine years of residing in Rochester, I finally crossed over to the other side of Ontario Lake, to get to the Canadian city of Toronto - thanks to its annual tea festival. For the efforts - which included an early rise and a hangover from the polar vortex of the century - we were richly rewarded. Our day trip was filled with many cups of warm wonderful teas, encounters with equally warm tea enthusiasts, and topped off by a documentary on Darjeeling tea!
Happy 2019! We are relocating our store at Eastview Mall
Happy New Year to all our customers and friends!
For Happy Earth Tea 2019 starts with a big change. We have decided to relocate our store in Eastview Mall, Victor, taking it back to our original location in the South Wedge, Rochester. The last date for Leaf at Eastview Mall will be 27 January.
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays to all our dear customers! Thank you for being with us on this journey. We truly appreciate your friendship, encouragement and support. May your new year be filled with good health, happiness and endless cups of tea. From our Happy Earth Tea family to yours!
New tea - Bulang shou tuo-cha
I used a gaiwan to steep this tea. And it yields layers upon layers of flavors that are warm, fuzzy, sweet at the start and become sweeter and sweeter with honey and raw cacao notes in the later steeps.
Grand Opening of Leaf at Eastview Mall
It has been done. Our second location is now up and running at Eastview Mall, a noted shopping center located in the town of Victor, NY, just a short distance away from our home base Rochester, NY. It has already been two months since we opened doors at the Mall.
Opening 2018 with some BIG news!
Happy New Year!
Hope all of you are in good spirits with plenty of fine teas on hand to enjoy with family and friends. This time of year, gives us the chance to reflect on what is truly important.
Hope all of you are in good spirits with plenty of fine teas on hand to enjoy with family and friends. This time of year, gives us the chance to reflect on what is truly important.
Happy Woman for National Women's Hall of Fame
Every time you buy our herbal blend Happy Woman, 10% of the proceeds will go to the National Women's Hall of Fame. Being based in Rochester, NY, a region that has a rich history in women's rights movement, we are certainly very proud and excited to be one of the sponsors of NWHF's induction ceremony that will take place this September.
The Teagirl of Hummingbird Lane
In the Teagirl of the Hummingbird Lane, New York Times best selling novelist, Lisa See, pairs an epic Chinese tale of tragedy and triumph with one of the most intriguing type of tea, puerh. Even if you are not a tea drinker the story is compelling; but if you are one, then the pleasure of this book is definitely multi-layered.
Second Flush 2017 is here!
We are happy to announce the arrival of some exceptional second flush teas from the organic tea estate of Jun Chiyabari, Nepal. We have some rare offerings - hand-crafted micro-batches - that won't disappoint.
Second Flush 2017 Plans
We have heard the ominous words from Darjeeling – there is going to be no second flush (summer harvest) this year. We were hoping hard that somehow the political troubles that have engulfed Darjeeling since early June would ease off and second flush production would resume. But last week we heard from our partner tea gardens in Darjeeling and they gave us the dreaded news.
Darjeeling On The Boil Again
The Darjeeling hills have been engulfed in political turmoil, bringing normal life, including tea production, to a standstill for nearly a month now. Around five people have lost their lives in alleged police firings. The second flush, or the summer harvest of tea, for this year is close to being written off. This would be perhaps for the first time in nearly three decades that political troubles have scuppered a major tea season in Darjeeling.
Introducing Colombian Tea!
One of the interesting developments after our Leaf Tea Bar was selected by CNN as one of the top 11 tea houses in the world, was receiving queries from many tea producers around the world. They wanted to know if we would like to feature their fine teas at our shop. One such missive came from an unexpected place – Colombia.
CNN, lists Leaf Tea Bar among the best tea houses in the world.
Last month we were truly humbled and honored when Leaf Tea Bar found itself listed as one of the World's 11 Best Tea Houses by CNN. The news came out of the blue. For the first few moments we were just so stunned that we did not know what to say or think.
Chanoyu presentation
A rare presentation on Japanese Tea Ceremony or chanoyu was held recently at Leaf Tea Bar, a newly opened tea house in South Wedge. A booked out audience of tea enthusiasts participated in the ceremony that was led by Rie Maywar, a local certified chanoyu instructor.
Chigusa
We have named our upcoming presentation on Japanese tea ceremony, Chigusa. The event takes place this Sunday 01/22 at Leaf Tea Bar. If you are curious what Chigusa means, it is but a name of a clay jar that was used to store tea in Japan. No, not a type of a jar, but a jar that dates back to the 14th Century and was named Chigusa by tea men who had fallen in love with it. Today, the jar sits in the Smithsonian Institution.
2016 was great. 2017 will be better.
Amidst the political whirlwind of 2016, we took a significant step in our business with the opening of Leaf Tea Bar in a charming Rochester, NY neighborhood. This brick-and-mortar avatar of Happy Earth Tea came after nearly 12 years of nurturing the dream which began with our first business, Darjeeling Tea Exclusive founded in 2005 in Darjeeling, India.
From The Archives
This 1890 photograph from the archives of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, shows one JC Oswald (third person from the left), at a tea tasting room in Fuzhou in China's Fujian province. According to the photographer's caption, in order to consistently judge the color of the tea and the tea leaves, a tea-tasting room would face north and be top-lit, just like an early photographer’s studio.
Himalayan Green Tea Meets the Ocean
It is always exciting to receive reviews from our customers. Tea is a personal experience – as someone rightly described, each cup is a voyage - so descriptions of the same tea by different people can vary. And, that enhances our own experience of the cup.
Mother's Day Special Offer
Let the mother in your life know how special she is by giving her some of our fine organic teas complete with a personalized label. Because we love mothers, take 10% off your order with this code "MOTHERSLOVE."
Early Spring Teas from Nepal
We are really excited to be introducing two exclusive “early Spring” teas from Jun Chiyabari, our Organic tea producer-partner in Nepal. These teas were manufactured in March. Normally, the first flush production for Jun Chiyabari, which is situated between 5000 ft – 6000 ft, takes place only in April.
Darjeeling First Flush 2016 report
Darjeeling first flush 2016 production is currently on in full swing. After a slow start due to less than normal rain for most of March, gardens are reporting a much better harvest since the rains came down at the end of the month.
At Margaret's Hope
Enjoy this slideshow of our visit to the famous Margaret's Hope Tea Estate in Darjeeling in November 2015. Although, we do not offer tea from this garden, since it is not Organic, it was nice to look around and meet up with our old friend, Arun Gurung, who is the assistant manager there.
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