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Cuppa Tea in SRQ #7 – Pastry Arts on Main Street Sarasota
For this episode of “Cuppa Tea in SRQ”, now available from our YouTube Channel we visit Main Street Sarasota and Pastry Arts to chat with owner Chip Beeman.
They have a extensive Tea Menu to go with a massive pastry case. All pastries are made from scratch daily, with the espresso muffin most popular. Pastry Arts also serves soups and sandwiches for lunch. Chip is also the owner of Main Bar Sandwich Shop.
The walls are filled with the works from local artist Ron Genta, including a few pieces with the Local tea logo! Pastry Arts is jammed on Saturday mornings during the Sarasota Farmer’s Market. Stop by and enjoy the outdoor seating and watch Sarasota!!
Tea is featured most afternoons as perfect for a break from the office. There is a bit of an afternoon rush when guests stop in for a cuppa and something sweet. rotating soup specials. an shop, now known as the Bean Coffeehouse was opened in 2007 and you can read more about it in the history section of the Local Tea Co. website.
For each episode of ‘Cuppa Tea in Sarasota’ we do a ‘Video Visit’ with one of our Serving Partners. It’s short, it’s light and above all, tries to be funny.
Please subscribe and after that, let us know what you think.
Cheers,
Episode #7 – Pastry Arts on Main Street Sarasota
Cuppa Tea in SRQ #6 – Bean Coffeehouse in Siesta Key Village
For this episode of “Cuppa Tea in Sarasota”, now available from our YouTube Channel we go back to the very beginning to where it all began. The first location of Local Tea Company, and Local Coffee + Tea in the heart of Siesta Key Village.
The shop, now known as the Bean Coffeehouse was opened in 2007 and you can read more about it in the history section of the Local Tea Co. website. The interior is wildly colorful with many works by local artist Ron Genta.
For this Holiday episode we visit the Bean late in the day, just before closing to chat with Zach and his massive tea menu. They only serve loose leaf teas AND they have a great selection of retail tea packets available.
Where else can you find so many #Rooibos teas to pick from?
Each episode of Cuppa Tea in Sarasota we do a ‘Video Visit’ with one of our Serving Partners. It’s short, it’s light and above all, tries to be funny.
Please subscribe and after that, let us know what you think.
Cheers,
Episode #6 – Bean Coffeehouse in Siesta Key Village
Gladwell Tea Party Podcast
I listen to podcasts. A lot of podcasts, but mostly current events, politics, comedy and golf.
The first podcast I ever listened to was Malcolm Gladwell’s “Revisionist History” in 2015. My friend, Matt Turck turned me on to podcasts, actually taking my phone from me while we were at the Corner Bistro in NYC, and downloading Gladwell’s first episode that had launched that very day. Thanks Matt.
My preference is the long form interviews especially while driving my Tea Wagon around Sarasota. Always on the lookout for new podcasts, though I don’t usually listen to podcast about Tea. There are a bunch, I just don’t find them as interesting as the ones I like.
I’ve moved on from Revisionist History. I still subscribe, but don’t really listen. That is, until I noticed ‘Tempest in a Teacup’. I read the overview and then listened. Fantastic!
Gladwell tells his tale, in this case revisiting the Boston Tea Party. The episode was released on July 4 and while I am a bit behind, I learned a few things…
The ‘Tea Party’ was actually the culmination of a colonial drug war. And the colonial drug of choice was tea. Really?? I always thought the Patriots dumped tea into Boston Harbor to take a stand against taxation without representation. Not so, says Gladwell.
The Patriots were smuggling tea from China into the colonies. This ‘Bohea Tea’ was cheaper and turned into a very profitable business by undercutting the British taxed tea.
Great Britain found out about the smuggling and passed the Tea Act of 1773 lowering the price of tea. This was not good for biz. So, the Patriots dressed up as Mohawk Indians and dumped the British taxed tea into the harbor. As the Canadian Gladwell points out, our Founding Fathers were a criminal enterprise, drug dealers defending their turf. Cool!
Drug dealers? Okay, anything that makes tea dangerous is good by me. It makes Local Tea Company a bit more interesting! And if you are interested, have a listen to this podcast.
I also learned about the Lapsang Souchong smokiness scandal, part of a ‘bro’ thing. Full confession, I drink lapsang souchong most mornings with honey and oat milk.
Apparently, lapsang has become popular with guys, and the smokier the better. As a result, tea companies have been upping the smokiness of lapsang souchongs. And, in the opinion of Tony Gebely of Tea Epicure, ruining lapsangs by over smoking them.
Gladwell, also a lapsang drinker and unaware of the scandal was deemed part of the problem by Gebely. Thanks Malcolm. Tea Epicure is a wonderful tea blog that rates “the world’s most exciting teas” and goes deep into the tea world. Thanks Tony.
Our lapsang souchong has a subtle smokiness, and not nearly as smoky tasting as it smells in the tin. And there is there is great story about the origin of lapsang or caravan tea posted in our Lapsang Souchong product description.
More disclosure, I was thinking I might like a smokier version for my morning lapsang. This podcast stopped me in my tracks. I don’t I believe our lapsang has gotten any smokier over time? But please tell me if you think it has.
Anyway, an interesting podcast having to do with tea as the colonial drug of choice, and over smoked lapsang souchong that I thought I would share here.
And the Tea Journey continues.
Cuppa Tea in SRQ #5 – Selby House Cafe by Michael’s on East
For this episode of “Cuppa Tea in Sarasota”, now available from our YouTube Channel we go back to our roots. We visit the Selby House Cafe at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. The cafe is now operated by Michael’s on East and they do a fantastic job, and serve an incredible cuppa tea!!! Selby Select Rooibos, Secret Garden Green and Little Monkey fruit tea to name a few.
The annual holiday Lights in Bloom celebration starts December 14 and when we visited, the gardens were humming in anticipation. Millions of lights in the trees, Santa Claus, reindeer games, live music, and much more.
Local Tea Company previously operated a tea shop, the Carriagehouse Tea Room at Selby Gardens, as well as the cafe. It is always nice to come home for a visit.
Each episode of Cuppa Tea in Sarasota we do a ‘Video Visit’ with one of our Serving Partners. It’s short, it’s light and above all, tries to be funny.
Please subscribe and after that, let us know what you think.
Cheers,
Episode #5 – Selby House Cafe by Michael’s On East
Cuppa Tea in SRQ #4 – Second and Seed
Our latest episode of “Cuppa Tea in SRQ” is now available from our YouTube Channel. We visit Second & Seed, a CDB Apothecary in downtown Sarasota. They offer a ‘nitro charged’, CBD infused iced tea using our Organic Strawbango Black Tea. Magic!!!
Each episode we do a ‘Video Visit’ with one of our Serving Partners. It’s short, it’s light and above all, tries to be funny.
Please subscribe and after that, let us know what you think.
Cheers,
Episode #4 – Second and Seed
Cuppa Tea in SRQ #3 – Cafe in the Park
Our latest episode of “Cuppa Tea in SRQ” is now available from our YouTube Channel. We visit Cafe in the the Park in downtown Sarasota in Payne Park. Each episode we do a ‘Video Visit’ with one of our Serving Partners.
It’s short, it’s light and above all, tries to be funny.
Please subscribe and after that, let us know what you think.
Cheers,
Episode #3 – Cafe in the Park
YouTube for Local Tea Co.
We are having a bit of fun with our new YouTube Channel and thought you might be interested in “Cuppa Tea in SRQ”. A weekly series visiting our wholesale Serving Partners, in addition to having a ‘video visit’ with them.
It’s short, it’s light and above all, tries to be funny.
Please subscribe and after that, have a look at the first 2 below, Oasis Cafe and Lila.
Cheers,
Episode #1 – Oasis Cafe & Bakery
Episode #2 – Lila
Pu Erh Teas
When I got to work this morning (if you call going to Selby Gardens, sipping, talking tea all day work!) I decided to crack open our Young Pu-erh. Pronounced Poo-Air, a special broad leaf tea, pu’er tea takes its name from the Pu’er county in the Province of Yunnan of China.
This is not a tea I reach for often. Maybe I should not call myself a dedicated tea drinker because of this, but I was given a newspaper article about an area called Menghai in China. NYTimes Jan 2009
Farmers and citizens got rich investing and selling the bricks of Pu-er tea produced in Menghai. Some buyers promoted it as liquid gold and when the value hit record levels they dumped their stock and disappeared. Now it is less than a 10th of the peak price and the tea traders are no longer buying, leaving the farmers and citizens broke.
What is Pu er tea? Let’s talk about this tea that people are willing to pay huge amounts of money for. Pu Erh goes through an additional oxidation process much like composting where bacterial and fungal fermentation takes place. Many refer to it as pu erh fermented tea.
The tea can then be aged for many years. Aged Pu Erh tea leaves are often compressed into cakes or bricks and then wrapped in tissue paper to absorb moisture. The bricks are then left to mature in dark, dry places enhancing the already earthy flavor.
Pu Erh is said to lower cholesterol, cure hangovers, help with digestive problems, aid metabolism and tends to be low in tannins. Our Young Pu Erh at Local Tea Company is loose rather than compressed. The flavor is very pungent and earthy, smells like a compost heap and looks like tar so I know it’s going to be good for me! 
I finish the first steep and continue with four more steeps. I like the later steeps better than the initial steep and find a lovely sweet beet tasting dark golden liquor with the fourth and fifth steep.
By this time, late in the afternoon I am thinking Pu Erh should be brewed more often by me and shared with visitors to Selby Garden as well as the Sarasota Farmer’s Market. I’m not sure I would invest pots of money in Pu-erh but it is definitely worth experiencing. What a fascinating thing this drink called Tea!
Cheers,
the Tea Lady
Drink this tea every day and look like this?
On the label of Goji Green tea from Local Tea Company, after sharing the ingredients and describing the subtle sweetness of this glorious tea, the label states, “live a long healthy life drinking this tea.”
Recently someone asked me about the phrase. I mentioned the story of the Chinese herbalist Li Qing Yuen who was said to have consumed gojiberries daily and lived to the age of 252. I smiled after sharing these minor details and moved on with my day. Later, I thought about the idea of living that long and it got me thinking more about this story. What would I look like at 250 years old?
And so, I dug a bit deeper into Li Qing Yuen and found this picture, along with more details. I made myself a cuppa Goji Green and my smile returned as I read on.
His birth year was either 1736 or 1677, though his true date of birth has never actually been confirmed. Li Qing Yuen was born in the Sichuan province, in Qijiang County. He was an apprentice to elders who gathered herbs in the mountains. He went on to have a military career and then returned to life as an herbalist on Snow Mountain.
A New York Times article from 1930 mentions Imperial Chinese Government records from 1827 congratulating Li Qing Yuen on his 150th birthday. And then again in 1877 on his 200th birthday! An earlier correspondent reported many older men in his village claimed their grandfathers knew Li Qing Yuen as a grown man when they were boys.
The 1933 Time Magazine article asked for his secrets to a long life. Li Qing Yuen is quoted as saying,
“Keep a quiet heart,
Sit like a tortoise,
Walk sprightly like a pigeon, and,
Sleep like a dog.”
He spent most of his life in the mountains collecting and selling ginseng, gojiberries and other herbs. Along with his diet, Li Qing Yuen mentions drinking rice wine as another secret. He claimed to have survived 23 wives and had more than 150 children. He died in Kai County in May of 1933. His 24th wife said he died of natural causes.
No mention of a daily dose of gojiberries could be found in the official reports, and I really don’t know what sitting like a tortoise might look like.
I am going to leave the story in our product page because I think our Goji Green tea is phenomenal. As phenomenal as the legend of Li Qing Yuen.
Enjoy Goji Green as a hot tea to start your day, or as a refreshing iced tea (or try it as a Cold Brewed Tea) as it is served most days as Secret Garden Green Tea at the Selby House Café operated by Michael’s on East at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.
While you are savoring a cuppa this wonderful green tea, contemplate your secrets to a long life. And then please share them with me 🙂
Who was Earl Grey?
This week one of our glorious customers ordered some Garden Grey Black Tea. This is a tea we blend ourselves with organic lavender grown in the wilds of Tibet. What an aroma! While this is not one of our more popular teas, it did get me thinking about Earl Grey in general.
Most tea lovers are familiar with Earl Grey. One whiff of this tea reveals the distinctive aroma on the nose and in the cup. This is a very traditional black tea with the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a very fragrant citrus fruit.
What about the man behind the tea?
Earl Grey
Charles Grey (1764-1845) descended from a long established Northumbrian family seated at Howick Hall and was educated at Eton and Trinity College and Cambridge. He became the 2nd Earl of Grey, was a politician in the Whig party (Democrats) and he became Prime Minister at the ripe old age of 22! His first parliamentary address as PM was in 1787 and concerned a recent free trade agreement made with France, to which he was very opposed. He was involved in four years of political reform, the author of the Reform Bill of 1832 (which saw the reform of the House of Commons) and had an enormous impact on the development of democracy in Britain, abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833.
The Whig historian T.B. Macauly wrote in 1841,
‘At an age when most of those who distinguish themselves in life are still contending for prizes and fellowships at college, he had won for himself a conspicuous place in Parliament. No advantage of fortune or connection was wanting that could set off to the height his splendid talents and his unblemished honour.’
Outside of his political achievements Earl Grey enjoyed the life! He was said to be tall, slim and strikingly handsome, had 10 sons and 6 daughters with his wife and fathered at least one illegitimate child! Earl Grey enjoyed gallivanting around the country, breeding dogs, playing cribbage and also found time to have an affair with the Duchess of Devonshire.
There are several tales as to how the tea was named after such a noble and colorful figure! According to the most popular legend a grateful Chinese mandarin whose son was rescued from drowning by one of the Earl’s men, first presented the blend to the Earl in 1803. This legend seems to have little basis as the Earl apparently did not set foot in China and the use of bergamot to scent tea was then unknown in China. Jackson’s of Piccadilly claim they were the originators of the recipe, which was given to them by the Earl himself.
While the truth is not known, like the very popular Earl himself, this tea is one of the most well known flavored teas in the world. Many people who I chat with over the years claim not to care for the very distinct flavor of Earl Grey. I have found by offering samples of Earl Grey, that most people have never experienced a good quality, loose leaf tea and the quality of both the tea and the bergamot is paramount! Any deviation can result in an unpleasant tea with a residual taste on your palate.
Also, consider an iced Earl Grey, (Me thinks the Earl would not approve!) Delicious, so be sure to try for yourself especially cold brewed, as explained in a previous blog post.
When brewing a hot cuppa Earl Grey, we infuse for only 2 minutes or so, and then enjoy multiple infusions from the same leaves. It is the perfect accompaniment to tea sandwiches and cakes (Mmmm!) but just drinking alone is fine too. ‘Gallivant’ with your Earl, and find your favorite way to enjoy.
Along with the Garden Grey, we offer two version of Earl Grey Black tea, one is our premium blend Earl Grey and we also offer an Organic Earl Grey. Our Organic Earl Grey is the tea we offer in the silk tea sachets and can be found served from nearly all of our serving partners.
You may be surprised to find you like the Earl, now that you know a bit about the man behind the tea.
Cheers,
