Tealosophy › Black Tea

What an honour to receive a phone call last Sunday (29/7) that one of our favourite black Chinese teas had been given a very deserving honour of being named the 2018 Grand Champion tea at Hobart's Royal Agricultural Show Fine Food Awards. At The Steepery Tea Co. our main objective is to source and curate a selection of pure leaf teas ('true teas') from various growing regions across the world to showcase the diversity of the leaf and the tea makers craft in producing exceptional tea. Searching for tea and continually cupping samples is where we dedicate a significant amount...

Don't be fooled into thinking that 'English Breakfast' tea is the only brew suitable for the morning. This famous blended black tea stands in the way of tea enthusiasts getting access to better choices in leaf tea on cafe and restaurant menus. Unlike coffee lovers who are now experiencing a trend towards varied single origin beans that exhibit unique aromas and flavours, the tea lover is left underwhelmed by their choices and almost always faced with an ‘English Breakfast’ blend (cue sad face). But I can assure you there are a huge number of styles of pure leaf teas out...

So, you are curious to try loose-leaf tea. You may be a conscious consumer interested to discover the origins of most things you eat and drink but have not yet been convinced to leave the perceived ease and convenience of a teabag. In your heart you know the world of tea is probably slightly better, you may have read the health properties of drinking loose-leaf tea or stumbled into a tea retailer and been enticed by the aromas of the tea leaves. Congratulations! Perhaps you are not experiencing all that tea has to offer but where do you go from here?...

Last week we featured Artisan Tea Maker: Arakai Estate. You can have a read of this post here. Today we are going to share our tasting experience with their award winning green and black teas. What happens when you combine Japanese tea cultivars, Bellthorpe’s terroir and Chinese and Taiwanese processing methods? Spectacular, bold, whole-leaf teas made for the Australian tea drinker! Green Tea Both of the 2015 green teas were a delight to drink. They are wonderfully complex, aromatic and sweet with detectable oolong influences both in flavour and appearance. Arakai Estate Premium Green 2015 First Spring Flush - Winner...

Australia is unlikely to spring to the top of your mind when thinking about the world’s tea producing regions. Not only do we grow and produce tea domestically there is some excellent tea coming onto the market.  This week I am excited to feature Arakai Estate, an Australian artisan tea maker, located in the beautiful Conondale Ranges in South-East Queensland.  This is a wonderful story about all the things I am passionate about when it comes to tea. A local, family owned and operated tea estate that produces small batch artisan tea. The estate maintains a sustainable approach to tea production...