:: broken orange pekoe ::

REMing of tea?

2008-07-22T11:47:00.002-05:00

I recently had a bad dream that sent shivers down my spine. The entire stock of Yunnan ran out and I was frantically searching the store for just one last cup, but with no success. Now, besides whatever analysis this may warrant, I am led to ask you all a question:
Have you ever had a tea dream and, ifso, will you tell us all about it?

We've got a full fridge, folks

2008-05-13T07:30:00.003-05:00

Iced tea season has finally arrived, and the cold brews are going in full gear. I'd like to take this opportunity to make a request to my fellow tea-bloggers - What's your favorite iced tea, and why? Yes, yes, it's the typical question you hear from the other side of the counter day after day, but we've got the qualifier going on here. So, in the interest of fairness, here's mine:

Moroccan Mint
Are your feet dragging across the bubbling, fry-an-egg-on-me pavement? Does your throat feel as dry and scratchy as a Saguaro in the dry season? Do you feel like you simply cannot type up one more report? Then what you need is a tall, frosty glass of Moroccan Mint iced tea. This pale-looking brew packs a punch so refreshing, you'll feel like you can do that report, you can hike through that desert, and you can fry all sorts of eggs on the pavement. This perfect blend of Gunpowder green tea and spearmint is sure to cure your lethargy. If you need a bigger pick-me-up, throw a little Peppermint leaf in with the brew - that's sure to bring you back to life. My mouth waters just thinking about this lovely concoction! Cheers to summer being just around the corner!

New teas, new questions

2008-04-09T16:01:00.002-05:00

As I sit here, 3000 miles away, I read of new teas and wonder, what level of deliciousness are awaiting me?
Black needle? Now that my beloved Fancy Golden has left, could this be my replacement? Is it smooth, earthy, and delicious without an after taste?
High Mountain? How high does it go? Is it milky like...milk? Is it sweet like passion fruit? Does it re-steep well?
Darjeeling oolong! WHAT THE?!!1?!?omg?!?
Fruity chamomile white, are you delicious when iced? Light and refreshing like I imagine?
I won't touch the new herbal, as I am scared.
There are my questions and I am dying of curiosity! Help me fellow tea fiends, help me!

It's so bad, I even miss Purple Vaca

2008-03-31T10:00:00.002-05:00

Oh, hello to my tea world. I have and continue to miss you. Chun Ming is gone...new teas have arrived...will I recognize you when I return? What new tea making gadgets will have come about in my absence? I do know one thing, I will be able to smell you again whilst I munch on scones and chai shortbread.
Spell check does not recognize chai and this is sad.
Have the air pots been replaced? Do we have any more glass mugs, because I know a certain Pi Lo Chun fan who would be quite heartbroken to find his tea in a white mug. Does the vacuum still work, or does it spit out leaves again?
I have so many questions that cannot be answered until I return. In the meantime, I am thinking of you, my little tea store...

teapot envy

2008-03-20T07:43:00.000-05:00

Ever since these lovely gems entered our doors, I've been lusting after them. It's not that I need a one-cup teapot that gently warms it's matching cup as the tea brews. It's certainly not that I need another cup... It's just so gosh darn cute! Plus there's this fire-engine red one that is literally calling to me. I'm really not sure how much longer I will be able to say, "not now, but maybe next pay check."

The only reason these are any easier is because we don't happen to carry the colors I would prefer. The brewing basket is enormous which means that the most full leaf-ed oolongs would stand the best chance ever with this mug - which I totally love. It's calling to me too.

For now, though, I'll have to satisfy myself with the fact that my family spring break trip to Russia will bring all sorts of new adventures in a land I know far too little about. I'll be sure to have some Russian tea along the way and let all y'all know how it is.

-the bane.

Rooby-ohs, roob-uh-bos, rubbis, indeed.

2008-03-16T19:28:00.000-05:00

African Skies: rooibos blended with blueberry and cornflower blossoms. And deliciousness.

Tea blog!

It was ROOIBOS MANIA at the tea shop yesterday, which was rather exciting as it included every mispronunciation of the little plant that a tea clerk could possibly hear in a seven hour shift. Every other customer I helped had approximately 594837 about rooibos (pronounced "roy-bus", for whomever might be reading the word without knowing how to say it, which I am rather certain is approximately nobody, what with the BOP blog being less than a week old, but you never know!); I guess it's another one of those things that has been getting a lot of press lately because of its supposed "health benefits". Mostly I told our customers about all of the definite "delicious benefits".

Then, whilst I was making a rooibos chai for a customer, somebody in line behind him told me about how she was recently in California and had experienced rooibos espresso there. I'm pretty much a dunce when it comes to coffee - the first time I tried to use the espresso machine at my internship, it pretty much combusted in a terrifying explosion of coffee grounds and frothy milk - but the idea of rooibos espresso was too intriguing for me not to Google it after my shift. (I also had to Google the lyrics to "Take Your Time (Do it Right)" by S.O.S., and also where exactly on the map Ham Lake, Minnesota is located. Unrelated, I know, but there is only so much tea one can think about whilst one is surrounded by TWENTY FIVE GAJILLION CANISTERS of it.) I came across redespresso.com, a site run by some company that has trademarked "red espresso" - described as "100% pure espresso ground rooibos tea". More interesting, however, was their list of rooibos-based espresso recipes, which included:

• rooibos cappuccino
• rooibos latte
• rooibos "frappe"
• rooibos shake
• long island rooibos

It looks like the coffee industry is getting in on the rooibos love, a love long expressed by tea nerds like we at the BOP, and I've gotta say, I'm kind of excited.

- TALL IHA

ah! tea!

2008-03-13T17:17:00.000-05:00

So this is intended to be a place where we, the employees of our lovely and anonymous tea shoppe can talk about our fabulous job, the teas we dig, the customers we love, and the massive amounts of time spent contemplating just what to do with the metal pumpkin on the top shelf of the greens... And, we'll probably also talk about the sweeping and unnatural addiction to iced chai...
-the bane