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Thanks to my good fortune in landing my first magazine job, I received an opportunity to review a truly unique and wonderful piece of tea equipment last week: California Tea House's Sleek Steep Teapot.

Sleek certainly is the word for it: It's a beautiful, elegant piece that matches any dining room or kitchen set. And how about ease of use, you wonder? It's incredibly simple: Add your loose leaf tea, add your water, let it steep for the recommended amount of time, and then the magic happens. Lift the two-cup teapot, place it over your mug or cup, and just lightly press a spot on the underside of the teapot: the tea strains itself right into your mug!

Clean-up has never been easier, either. This teapot is dishwasher safe, but it's remarkably easy to clean by hand, too, if you want to re-use it immediately, like I did!  

The California Tea House Sleek Steep Teapot would be a wonderful gift for a tea aficionado, or even for a tea newbie who has never tried loose leaf tea before!  Christmas is coming, so be sure to put this item on your wishlist!

Check out this video on how to use the Sleek Steep tea infuser:

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All steps of the tea drinking process should be enjoyed as much as possible. To truly appreciate the process and experience of brewing and pouring tea, a tea aficionado must have an excellent teapot.

But with so many different types of teapots and stores to browse, how is one to choose? Let me be your guide!

First and foremost, realize that in your quest for the perfect teapot, looks are important. Pick a design, style, and color that you will want to look at for the next twenty years.

Of course, it's no use buying something you would enjoy looking at for twenty years if it only lasts two. Quality is a factor here, and as is the case when you buy an appliance, you certainly get what you pay for. Use common sense and look for reviews on websites like ConsumerSearch.

Once you have narrowed down your search and chosen a contender, open the teapot and take a whiff.  Does it smell like charcoal or oil? Pick another.

Finally, be sure to check the balance of your teapot. Fill it with water and attempt to pour it. The teapot should feel about evenly balanced.

Care for your teapot per the manufacturer's instructions to ensure it a long life.

 In researching this article, I came across the following legend regarding the origin of Genmai-cha:

In feudal Japan, there was a servent named Genmai. One day he was serving his master, a samurai lord, some tea. As he served the tea, some grains of rice fell out of his pocket and into the tea. His master, furious at him for ruining the tea, executed him on the spot. The samurai lord decided to drink the tea anyway and loved the flavor that the rice added to the tea. He ordered that his tea be served that way every day from then on and called the tea Genmai-cha in honor of it's accidental creator.

The contemporary story associated with the origin of Genmai-cha is that frugal Japanese housewives added brown rice (genmai in Japanese) to their tea as a filler to stretch the little tea they could afford.

Whichever story you choose to believe as the true, Genmai-cha is a great variation to plain green tea. The toasted brown rice added to green tea adds a rice cake flavor to the tea. It is also called Popcorn Tea because while toasting the rice, some of the grains may pop, similar to popcorn. And best of all, it's easy to make using rice and the green tea you already have.

The method I use to make this tea starts with toasting about 2 tablespoons of brown rice in a skillet on low-medium heat. Add the toasted rice to a sauce pan of 4 cups of boiling water and allow it to simmer for a minute or two. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the rice to steep for a couple minutes. Add 1 tea bag or 2-4 teaspoons of green tea and allow that to steep for a few more minutes. Strain out the tea and rice and you have about 2 servings of Genmai-cha.

There are the obvious signs winter is over — snow melts, sunset after 6 p.m., and baseball season starts.

But here is what makes me think of the warmer seasons:
Open toed sandals,
Late night talks on the balcony,
Nature walks,
Sidewalk-chalkin’,
And switching from warm beverages, to cold ones.

My roommate is a big fan of sun tea, and since it’s her first year on her own, we were initially skeptical of her brewing abilities.

Turns out, it’s really easy. And yes, I’m sure most of you reading are this going, of course, it’s sun tea, its ridiculously easy to make! But please, remember, we are college undergraduates that survive largely on ramen and scraps we find around the house.

What you’ll need.
4 cups of cold water
5 teabags or 5 teaspoons of tealeaves
Large, very sterile glass container.

Instructions.
1. First, wash your container thoroughly, as the tea steeping occurs at the same temperature for bacterial growth.
2. Fill the container with 4 cups of cold water.
3. Add 5 teabags or 5 teaspoons of tealeaves, and secure lid tightly.
4. Put the container in direct sunlight for two hours.
5. Remove the tea bags/ strain tealeaves out.
6. Serve over ice and mix with sugar if desired.
7. Drink all tea within a few hours and discard whatever is left over.

Tips & warnings.
Wikihow.com recommends that you use caffeinated tea rather than herbal tea.
There is some controversy over the safety of sun tea, below is an excerpt from the website:

“What the CDC has said is that there is a theoretical risk of an increase of the bacteria commonly found in fresh water (Alcaligenes viscolactis) that has not shown itself clearly in real life, and it appears that this concern has been somewhat blown out of proportion due to internet information drift and the never-ending need for sensationalism about the potential for food poisoning.[2] What matters most is clean handling of the tea, as with anything you consume.” (wikihow.com/Make-Sun_tea)

So please, go sit on your balcony — lawn, nook, or whatever — sip on your favorite springtime beverage and enjoy the warmer temperatures. I know that's what I’ll be doing!

[Picture- my roommate and friend talking on our balcony last summer, good times!]

The summer can become unbearable for tea drinkers.  The hot heat makes it difficult to sip on a cuppa hot tea for some people.  Many resort to iced tea.  I have seen many iced tea recipes in the past, and have been an advocate of steeping hot and pouring over ice, until I found this recipe from a twitter friend!  Cold brewing tea in a refridgerator is what they suggested. At first, I was unsure if it would even work, worrying over whether the tea would steep a bitter cuppa. Here is the recipe if you are interested!

How to cold brew tea:

#1) get a very large pitcher, that is either a gallon or half gallon.

#2) add about 1/4 cup of tea to half gallon or 1/2 cup of tea to gallon pitcher.

#3) fill with cold water

#4) Put in refrigerator,covered for 6-8 hours for first steep, and 12-15 hours for second steep.

#5) Pour a cup and enjoy!

The cold cuppa that I drank after 8 hours was delicious!  The tea was not over or under steeped, like some other iced teas, and it still held up the flavor profile of the tea very well!  For curiosity sake, I steeped the tea once,even though Chris & Amy didn’t say anything about that.  It tastes just as good at the first steep!  So after you are done with your first steep, add more cold water, stick in the fridge for another 12 hours and enjoy a second time the next day!  If you try this, do share with us here at California Tea House!  I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on cold brewing tea!