by Niraj Lama
April 10, 2018
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.
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by Niraj Lama
January 01, 2018
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.
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by Niraj Lama
August 23, 2017
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.
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by Niraj Lama
August 09, 2017
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.
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by Niraj Lama
July 27, 2017
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.
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by Niraj Lama
July 19, 2017
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.
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by Niraj Lama
July 09, 2017
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.
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by Niraj Lama
April 20, 2017
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.
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by Niraj Lama
March 12, 2017
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.
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by Niraj
January 29, 2017
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.
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by Christopher Hennelly
January 18, 2017
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.
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by Christopher Hennelly
January 04, 2017
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.
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by Niraj Lama
July 23, 2016
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.
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by Niraj Lama
May 02, 2016
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.
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by Niraj Lama
April 30, 2016
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."
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by Niraj Lama
April 13, 2016
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.
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by Niraj Lama
April 05, 2016
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.
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by Niraj Lama
March 25, 2016
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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by Niraj Lama
March 17, 2016
We began with a review of the four principles of Chado, or Chanoyu for our second class on Japanese tea ceremony. I had been unable to recall all of those principles in the last blog post since taking notes and photos during the lessons are not encouraged. Total focus is demanded.
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by Niraj Lama
March 10, 2016
They call it the “winter petal.” Dong Pian, in Chinese. The unexpected juxtaposition of the name lured me with its poetic charm. Behind the poetry lay a compelling story. A tea such as this could not be passed.
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by Niraj Lama
March 07, 2016
“Ichi-go Ichi-e, ONE time ONE chance,” said sensei* Atsuko Nishida-Mitchell. She was quoting the great 16th Century tea master, Sen No Rikyu who laid down the principles of what we know today as the Japanese tea ceremony. According to Rikyu, every tea ceremony had to be approached as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity. And so it seemed to me, this opportunity to learn about the tea ceremony in a series of classes, the first of which took place this past weekend at the Enkyoji Buddhist Temple of Rochester.
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by Niraj Lama
March 02, 2016
Jin Xuan oolong, also popularly called “Milk Oolong,” is made from a relatively new cultivar of tea developed by the Taiwan Tea Research and Extension Station (TRES) in 1981. The tea is fragrant and coats the palate with a creamy sweetness that is highly satisfying. It is easy to steep and relatively inexpensive for a high-mountain oolong. No wonder it is one of the most popular oolongs in Taiwan.
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by Niraj Lama
February 27, 2016
Every time I heard the mention of Shimmering Light Farm, a place located south of Rochester, NY by Canandaigua lake, it had conjured up images of wholesome, healing activities. I was, therefore, excited when I got invited to give a presentation on tea at the farm.
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by Niraj Lama
January 14, 2016
Today I decided to do a side by side taste comparison of our Muscatel Valley, Darjeeling 2015 summer and autumn flushes. Comparison of teas, similar is some aspects (tea garden), but different in other (in this case, seasons), opens up our palate to the nuances of fine teas that we so enjoy.
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