Author: The Tea Stylist

Globe-trotting, Tea and Travel

Buyer’s Market: Shopping for Tea Ware in South Korea

 Hwagae Market, Hadong County, South Korea Hwagae Village is located in the heart of the Hadong County tea growing region of Gyeongsangnam do (nam means south, do means province) at the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. Most of the tea is wild-grown on Jiri Mountain surrounded by bamboo groves. In the centre of this village is Hwagae Market, a colourful bazaar of produce, plants, household goods and most importantly for me, locally-crafted tea ware. I’m a relaxed shopper. I’m […]

Tea Cuisine, Tea Culture

Tea-Infused Korean Sweet Mochi

Mochi Fusion A favourite treat around my household is a sweet rice cake known as Korean Chapssalddeok or Japanese Mochi. It’s texture is soft, silken and slightly gooey (in a good sort of way).  Traditionally it would have taken many hours to make as it required steaming and pounding of rice, cooking and mashing of red beans or lotus root.  In today’s kitchen it can be prepared in under an hour. All you need is some fine sweet rice flour […]

Globe-trotting, Tea and Travel

The Education of Mrs. Li’s Tea Girls

Our arrival in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province was held up with delays on the tarmac, delays on the bus and delays finding a cab. Demand for cabs in this bustling city is so great during rush hour that some people have taken to accepting fares on the backs of their electric bikes. With all these back ups, I was becoming impatient and worried that our lateness might be insulting our host, Chris West of Min River Tea Farm. […]

Tea Culture, Tea Knowledge

Teomancing the Future: Reading the tea leaves for 2013

Several times a year my husband agrees to read my tea leaves. He learned the art as a young boy from his lovely eccentric aunt. I don’t know how much credence anyone gave this rather pagan pastime when he was a boy in England, but it provided hours of entertainment and a slight shiver of excitement if only a few statements came to reality. The key was to keep the predictions vague, general and open to interpretation. Teomancy, Tasseomancy, or […]

Globe-trotting, Tea and Travel

Ottawa Tea Festival

Tea Festivals seem to be popping up everywhere. Most are located on or near the West coast of North America. Los Angeles boasts two: The Tea Lovers Festival and The Los Angeles Tea Festival. The Northwest Tea Festival in Seattle has been around since 2008 and the Grand Dame of them all, The Victoria (Canada) Tea Festival held its first event in February, 2007. The Ottawa Tea Festival was held in Canada’s capital, Ottawa Ontario on Saturday Dec. 1st at […]

Globe-trotting, Tea and Travel

Sense of Origin

West Coast Envy Here in central Canada we envy those who are so lucky as to live on Canada’s west coast, specifically, Vancouver. There is a friendly rivalry between Toronto and Vancouver. They call Toronto “The Big Smoke”. We mockingly refer to Vancouver as “Lotusland” because of the laid back attitude of most of its populace. Whatever daily lethargy the inhabitants might feel is soon dispatched with a cup of ‘joe’ from a coffee shop on the corner, any corner. […]

Globe-trotting, Tea and Travel

Mid-Pacific Drift…

I’ve been back for over a week and still not fully unpacked. Maybe not fully here. I feel as though I’m floating somewhere mid-Pacific. There are so many stories to tell, photos to share and teas to taste that it feels a bit overwhelming. The purpose of my trip was to spend time with our youngest son Malcolm who is teaching English in Korea. He was generous to spend his August vacation accompanying me to Korean tea regions, acting as […]

Social History of Tea

First Sip

My Absence You will have noticed that I haven’t written anything on these pages since early June. My Google analytics numbers have plummeted. I apologize to my readers for my absence. I’ve had other concerns. My bright and lovely Mother, Ruth, passed away in July at the age of 95. I’ve been gathering myself together since then. The passing wasn’t sudden – we had over 18 months to cherish our moments with her – it is however still surreal. As […]

Tea and Travel, World Tea Expo

World Tea Expo 2012: Sunday June 3rd

Caffeine Science Maintaining one’s health and alertness can be challenging during Expo. After a busy day on the floor and in sessions there is barely enough time to make dinner plans. When relaxing with friends in the evening, my beverage of choice is a glass of wine. It helps to balance the day’s accumulated caffeine intake. Tasting upon tasting, moving from booth to booth, I wondered just how much caffeine I was consuming. I hoped to find some reliable information […]