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On Sale in December!

 

Teaware

                                                       Yixing Plum Blossom Teapot

By far the easiest and best way to brew loose leaf tea… a teapot!  This beautiful and functional 8 oz. Yixing clay teapot is great for brewing any kind of tea.  A built in strainer prevents clogging and the compact, comfortable shape means convenient pouring.  The unglazed clay will season as it ages, and the hand crafted plum blossom overlay design makes for a fine looking teapot!

Now only $29

 

      Large Round Glass Teapot

An exceptionally useful, 27 oz, tempered glass teapot.  Elegant and practical, it is big enough to share with several friends and comes with a glass infuser insert.  Just fill the pot with hot water, put your tea into the infuser, and lower the infuser into the pot.  When the tea is ready, simply remove the infuser and serve.  Works for any tea, but Ideal for black and herbal teas.  An easy and fun way to make loose leaf tea!

Now only $33

 

            Double Wall Glass Travel Jar

The perfect travel companion!  Great for cars, trucks, busses, planes, boats, homes, offices, parks, mountaintops, riverbeds, deserted islands, and everywhere in between.  This 11 oz. travel jar comes with a snap in strainer for easy steeping and drinking.  Just put some of your favorite tea inside, fill with water, and you’re ready to go.  The strainer keeps the leaves out of your mouth and the double walled glass keeps your hands cool.

An ideal gift for the tea lover on the go!

Now only $19.50

 

            Bamboo Box Tea Tray

Brew tea cleanly and neatly at home with this handsome bamboo tea tray.  Slots on the top allow for excess water to drain into the box.  When your finished, the lid comes off for easy disposal of any trapped tea, water, or leaves.  Now you can easily spill and make a mess with no worries!

Now only $27

 

Black Tea

Nepal Kuwapani 2nd Flush

Bold, nutty, sweet and savory  A great black tea to take you through the winter and into the spring.  Equally ideal as a morning breakfast tea or an afternoon pick me up!

Carefully grown and processed in the heart of the Himalayas, this tea has delicate, tippy aroma and rich leaf flavor.

Now only $9.60/100 g,

$16/200 g, and $27/400 g

 

  Darjeeling 1st Flush – Dooteriah Estate

An amazingly light and delicate black tea from the Himalayas.  Grown in Darjeeling’s East Valley by the renowned, family owned, Dooteriah Estate, this invigorating 1st Flush spring tea has a crisp muscatel aroma and lasting dry tannins.  Brisk and refreshing!

Now only $14.40/100 g,

$28/200 g, and $40/300 g

 

Oolong Tea   

Bai Hao

Bai Hao

Dark, but not overly roasted tasting, this oolong tea is unlike any other.  Deep, sweet, honey and fruit flavors make this tea extremely drinkable.  Robust, full flavors are balanced by delicate aromatics and a smooth, silky mouth feel.  Also know as Eastern Beauty for its enchanting dry leaf appearance and and sparkling golden liquor!

Now only $25.60/100 g

and $36/150 g

                     Gui Fei Cha

Literally translated as “Precious Concubine”, this unique oolong tea indeed lives up to its revered moniker.  Similar in style to the Bai Hao in that it is technically an Eastern Beauty tea, this tea is processed and roasted like other rolled oolongs from central Taiwan.  A heavily roasted flavor and a deep sweetness make this tea hard to put down.

Now only $20.80/100 g

and $25.60/150 g

 

Green Tea

                 Yunnan Cui Ming

A fantastic fall harvest green tea from the legendary tea producing province of Yunnan.  Tender young leaves and buds give this fresh green tea a soft and delicate flavor with a sweet and slightly nutty aroma.  A great gift for the green tea lover in your life!

One stop tea shopping is now only a click away.  Stone Leaf Teahouse is now proudly offering our entire tea selection and select tea pots, cups, and accessories online!

 Gunpowder, Organic Assam, Bai Mu Dan, Lapsang Souchong, Darjeeling, and much more!

Gai Wans, Tea Canisters, Yixings Tea Pots, Tea Trays, and more!

Now, you can conveniently do all your tea and teaware shopping from your home computer.  The selection will be updated and expanded regularly, so check back soon!

A beautiful summer day in Vermont is the perfect time to sit outside and enjoy some fresh Chinese green tea.   As I couldn’t decide which tea to drink, I figured I would let the teas themselves fight for my affection.

I decided to pit two green teas, fresh from China this spring, against each other.  One was the Anji Bai Cha (Anji White Tea), which is actually a green tea but named for this particular tea plant varietal’ s white-ish leaf appearance.  Usually only found in Anji, China, this unique tea variety is hard to find but worth the search. (to read more about Anji Bai Cha, click here)  The other tea I chose for this head-to-head match up was the White Buddha Long Jing.  What makes this tea special, is that it is made with the same unique Anji varietal as the Anji Bai Cha, but it is processed like a Long Jing.  Produced by Master Zheng outside of Hangzhuo, this is not a true Long Jing – just as sparkling wine is not truly champagne.  It is, however, processed in much the same manner as a true Long Jing, so it shares many of the same characteristics but with the twist of the Anji white-tea bush. (to learn more about Master Zheng’s tea, click here)

I chose to prepare the teas in the popular Chinese style of infusing the leaves in a tall drinking glass, which was perfect for a sunny summer afternoon.  This was an easy, simple, and aesthetically pleasing way to enjoy  these fresh greens.  Enjoying high quality tea does not have to be complicated, and often the simpler the better.

The dry leaves showed a clear difference between the two teas.  The White Buddha was a bright forest green with dark and light streaks running through each leaf.   The leaves were flat to the point of being two dimensional – like all Long Jing teas.  It was also clear that the bud and leaves were all intact.  The Anji Bai Cha, on the other hand, was less uniform in color with some bright green and some yellow leaves.  The leaves were rolled into long, needle-like shapes.  Some of the buds were visable, but most were rolled into the surrounding leaves.

I put about a tsp of each tea into two glasses.  Because I wasn’t going to strain the leaves, I let the water cool more than I normally would for a green tea.  In a tea shop in China, they will often pour water fresh off the boil onto the leaves, but it means you have to quickly drink the scalding liquid before it over steeps.  When the water is cooler, you can relax and enjoy the tea at a leisurely pace.

The aroma of the infusing leaves was fresh and green for both teas.  The White Buddha had a slightly more pungent, grassy smell while the Anji Bai Cha was softer and slighly more floral.

As the leaves started to open up, it was clear that the Anji Bai Cha leaves were bigger than those of the White Buddha, and the tips much bigger.  This could be the result of different growing conditions were the two teas are made, or it could be because the Anji Bai Cha was harvested later giving the leaves more time to grow, or it could also have been a choice by the tea maker to select bigger leaves and tips for this tea.

I’m not sure if it is a direct result of the difference in leaf size, but the White Buddha was quicker to the dance floor.  In China, when the leaves rise or fall in the liquor, they say that the leaves are dancing.  The White Buddha was the first to dance, but the Anji Bai Cha had better moves.  The Anji Bai Cha leaves took longer to start sinking in the glass, but once they did, it seemed like they were continuously moving up and down through the liquor.  The White Buddha leaves were the first to sink, but they seemed happy to just sit at the bottom of the glass.

The flavors of both teas were similar, but distinct.  Both had a very fresh, green flavor with grassy overtones.  The White Buddha also had a mellow nuttiness similar to toasted almonds and hints of pine and freshly cut wood.  In contrast, the Anji Bai Cha had a soft, sweet flavor with a faint floweriness and a touch of citrus or lemongrass.  Traditionally, the last step of Long Jing processing is pan frying by hand.  This step is was taken in the processing of the White Buddha, but it was not done with the Anji Bai Cha.  I think that this last step  accounts for much of the flavor differences.  The pan frying made for a sharper flavor in the White Buddha and brought out the nutty characteristics.  The White Buddha also had more body and a rounder, fuller flavor.  The Anji Bai Cha was different in that it was smoother, lighter, and softer, with a silky finish.

Another similarity between the two teas was that they were both comprised of very young, tender leaves.  All tea leaves are edible, but usually they are bitter and a bit tough until they have been brewed for a long time.  Both of these teas, however, were soft, supple and tempting to eat after only a few short moments in water.  This, I think, can be attributed to the Anji White varietal; the common link between these teas.

After some time steeping, both teas showed off the beauty of their leaves – a beauty only found in the Anji White bush.  The leaves of both teas were green, but they also had a unique pale “whiteness” that I have only seen in these two teas.  The whiteness was more pronounced in the Anji Bai Cha, but it was present in both teas.  This pale whiteness was contrasted in the open leaf by dark green vanes running through the leaves.  This makes for two of the most visually beautiful teas around.

Unfortunately, after all this, I must cop out and fence straddle.  I cannot give you a clear winner.  Both teas were delightfully refreshing on a warm summer afternoon.  So I guess, in the end, the winner was me!

 

 

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