Tea Briefings at the Tea Embassy

Carol’s Tea Blog-
Mother’s Day is a special day each spring when we honor our mothers. In England, that day is in March and is called Mothering Day. I think being a mother and raising three boys is the most important thing I’ve ever done on this earth. Those memories include sweet and humorous times as well as very difficult times. Mothering my children has been one of the most influencing factors to shape my character.

Both my mother and mother-in-law died recently, so those memories come to mind also. For me Mother’s Day is about memories, respect, and, of course, love.

So what can you give your mother for Mother’s Day? For sure the most important thing is the thought behind the gift. Here are some suggestions:

1. Spend the afternoon with her.
2. Take her to an event she would like–wine or tea tasting.
3. Bring her to the Tea Embassy and let her buy anything in the store!
4. Mow her lawn or weed her garden.
5. Cook her favorite meal from scratch or take her to dinner or brunch or afternoon tea.

Some of my favorite gifts are antique teacups, jewelry, teapots. Teacups and jewelry are memories. I can remember who gave me each of my antique teacups as well as my jewelry. Mother’s Day is the time to give things you don’t really need like tabletop books, a teaset, chocolate. Instead of flowers, how about flowering teas by Teaposy with the Day Dream glass teapot. Mothers love sentiment. Tea is the perfect gift for a mother. One of my favorite herbals is Mother’s Bouquet. Tea Treasures and More Cookbook is a delightful gift for someone who likes to cook or wants to learn about tea.

Tea Embassy is the perfect place to find a Mother’s Day gift. Enjoy a taste of tea while you relax and shop.

Swine flu got you down?  Drink more tea!  A 2003 study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that drinking tea daily helps boost the immune system.  Come in to Tea Embassy today, and try one of the three loose-leaf teas we are sampling.  It’ll relax you, and relieve some of that paranoia surrounding the H1N1 virus.

Georgian Beauty:  We feel very fortunate to have a limited amount of this special black tea from the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains near the Black Sea. The tea from this high altitude plantation has a distinctive taste, likened to an Oriental Beauty oolong, thus the name, Georgian Beauty, yielding a rich honey flavor with a beautifully refreshing finish. Because of Georgia’s geography and meterology, the teas in this region contain microzones, which add more depth to the character of the tea. The Georgian Beauty Tea may be steeped for at least two infusions, at boiling temperature, 212 degrees Fahrenheit, for 4-6 minutes.

Almond Cake Green:  Sweet, fragrant taste of almond cake in a green tea blend! This tasty blend competes with our Almond Cookies Green Tea, but this blend has more going on in the taste and is sweeter. Includes Chinese Sencha, Oolong, Pai Mu Tan, almond flakes, chocolate nut bits, coconut, cinnamon & flavoring.

Women’s Tea:  Ayurvedic herbal tisane with cinnamon, apple bits, Rooibos, ginger bits, raspberry leaves, fennel, chamomile, cardamom, alchemilla, cloves, orange peels, perforated St. John’s Wort, black pepper, juniper berry, goose grass, and flavoring. Naturally caffeine free.

A rare tea, the owner’s fave, and lucky number 7—these are the teas Tea Embassy has to offer by way of free samples today.  Please stop by and try one (or three).

 We feel very fortunate to have a limited amount of this special 2007 black tea from Nagobilevi, a Georgian village set up in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains near the Black Sea. The tea from this high altitude plantation has a distinctive aroma-notes of apple, citrus, honey and rose with a higher tannin but lower caffeine content. Because of Georgia’s geography and meterology, the teas in this region contain microzones, which add more depth to the character of the tea. The Georgian Village Tea made by families is quite sweet and steeps nicely for at least two infusions, at boiling temperature, 212 degrees Fahrenheit, for 4-6 minutes. 

 The sweet honey flavor of this premium oolong is wonderful, and makes it Jonathan’s favorite tea in our inventory. Enjoy mulitple infusions in a gaiwan or Yixing teapot, as this tea should be treasured with each steeping.

 This flavored Rooibos smells just like a fresh lemon chiffon pie, and is great hot or iced. Our customers enjoy this naturally caffeine-free herbal tisane, and have made it our #7 best-seller.  Read about the health benefits of Rooibos tea.

If you have never visited Tea Embassy before, today would be a good day.  All three of the teas we are sampling come from our “Top 10″.  That is to say, our customers consistently enjoy making these teas top sellers.  Grab your umbrella, come on out to our downtown location, and see for yourself what makes these three selections crowd-pleasers, day after day.

We’ve got Hot Cinnamon Spice to comfort the craving for a warm, spiced tea! Hot Cinnamon Spice is a delicious comfort tea with three types of cinnamon and sweet cloves. This black tea tea blend has no added sweetener, but tastes sweet from the cloves. Fragrant spicy tea, just like red hots candy. This is our #3 Best Selling Tea, and Jake’s personal favorite.

Jasmine Pearl Green Tea:  Beautiful green tea leaves, scented with fine Jasmine, rolled into balls, opening up to make a premium Jasmine tea.

And finally, Austin Ambrosia, which is a delectable caffeine free blend of blueberries, cherries, organic honey bush, organic hibiscus, organic schizandra berries, orange peel, cranberries, rosehips, natural passion fruit and mango flavors.

Here at Tea Embassy we have 3 excellent pots brewed for your sampling pleasure, and you are cordially invited to swing by and try all three.  Take a break from your Saturday errands to try something new.  If you haven’t had our Mauritius black, our Curly Q green, or our Sunrise Herbal, stop in at our downtown Austin location and start sippin’!

Our Mauritius tea is a fine grade from an island east of Madagascar.
This flavored black tea is very very bold - steeps into a dark cup almost instantly, with a vanilla aroma.

Curly Q is our cutesy name for Lu Shan Yun Wu, which is a Clouds and Mist green tea. This extraordinary green tea exhibits the bold taste of a Japanese green tea, with grassy notes, due to its growth in the clouds where there is less light, so more chlorophyll is produced in the leaves. The small curly leaves look like a Chun Mee, or precious eyebrow, but belong to the Clouds & Mist category. If you love Japanese green teas, you will enjoy this one.

Finally, the herbal tisane we are sampling today is our Sunrise Blend, which is a citrusy blend of grapefruit, freeze-dried tangerine-orange slices, lemongrass, apple pieces, carrot flakes, beetroot pieces, hibiscus, and blackberry & eucalyptus leaves.  This one is great to enjoy before bed, for herbal-drinkers both young and old.

On this cloudy day we are serving up some delicious teas from our selection of over 200 loose leaf teas! Come taste a complimentary sample of these today and take a break from your spring cleaning.

Zhen Qu is a delicious black tea from Yunnan, China, with a curly leaf shape and a brown and black appearance. This tea has a chocolate hint to it, along with the typical notes of earthy, sweet flavors, characteristic of Yunnan black teas. This is a great tea to try if you are a coffee drinker, offering a robust and rich taste. This is Amy’s favorite tea!

Walnut Green: Nutty blend of organic Chinese green tea, brittle bits, pineapple bits, coconut flakes, walnut bits, almond bits, and flavoring. This tasty green tea is aromatic and acentuated when you add sweetener to your brewed cup.

Blueberry Rooibos:  Rooibos (South African Redbush) is a great herbal alternative to tea because it’s caffeine free, and can be enjoyed right before bedtime.  I especially like this flavor.  One can really taste the Blueberry.  This herbal is quite tart, and for those that don’t like sour candy, as I do, a bit of honey can be added after steeping to neutralize the tartness and bring out the full blueberry flavor.

White is the New Black: Sterling Silver Needles White Tea
Carol’s Tea Blog
I’m one of those people who has been drinking tea for more than 40 years, predominately black tea and has had trouble getting into green tea. The latest research on tea has shown that green tea is especially good for us, mainly because it’s not oxidized like black tea, so I’ve been trying to get green tea into my daily schedule. I have to admit, it has been difficult, so I was very excited when white tea came forward, and the latest research reported it to be the most healthy of all types of camellia sinensis. The silver needle buds are the newest part of the leaf and have the most nutrients because of the lack of processing. When you first begin drinking it as a black tea drinker, it seems like nothing. The flavor is very subtle but sweet instead of bitter. I have grown to love it. When I’m home in the afternoon and prepare a cup of tea I usually reach for the silver needles white tea from China. My favorite white tea at the Tea Embassy is our Sterling Silver Needles Yin Zhen. Multiple steepings of the same leaves are fun, pushing the leaves to discover more and more flavor. This afternoon I made my Sterling Silver White in my traveling Travette and enjoyed it with some delicious gingerbread cookies.

Carol’s Teapot Blog

Favorite Traveling Teapot: Travette Teapot - $33.00


One of my favorite teaware products at the Tea Embassy could be easily overlooked, unless the pretty pastel spring colors caught your eye on this very practical ordinary design. We call it the Travette. It’s a 21 oz (3 cup) vacuum teapot/mug with an infuser.

I use it often at home, mainly because it keeps my tea hot for two hours, and I can carry it around from room to room. It’s perfect for an office. Using a normal mug or teacup can be very frustating. When I’m working I take a sip of tea, then have to leave my desk or am distracted. When I return for another sip of tea, I’m so disappointed because my tea is COLD! When I use the Travette next to a small teacup, I pour what I can drink right a way, saving the rest for my next sip. After steeping your tea, you can also turn the Travette into a mug you can drink from with an extra top (sold separately).

When traveling we throw the Travette in our suitcase without any worry of breakage along with our Bodum Mini Ibis electric kettle. While packing I always hesitate about taking my tea gear with me, but after I arrive, I’m always so glad. It’s worth the extra effort.

The Tea Embassy has all colors in the Travette available, not only the spring pearl white, pink, blue, but also the bright raspberry red and stainless ($33.00). This is a great gift for Easter, Mother’s Day, Birthday, or just to treat yourself because it’s so practical along with a Tea Embassy tea.

PS One trick in making tea in a stainless vessel is pretreating the mug with very hot water, sloshing it around then pouring it out before you prepare your tea. The same goes with cold tea, sloshing ice cubes around insures your iced tea will stay cold longer.