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Tea with scones or biscuits, a cup of tea at night or in the morning?  These are all the typical ways we think of enjoying our tea.  I have to admit that a cup of tea is something I didn't really think of enjoying outside of my daily routine.  That was until I started reading the great articles on here,  written by Ani.  The recipes of delicious cuisines made with the finest California Tea House Teas were delicious to read about.  Then it hit me!  Everyone has heard of the everyday ways to enjoy tea.  How about something a little adventurous?  So I started researching.  How can I incorporate tea into other times?  We often pair wine with food,  why not tea?

There are many different ways to enjoy your tea not only with dessert, but DURING your meal, as you would a fine wine.  So if you are feeling adventurous, or want to step outside the figurative box, try these tips at your next dinner party.

First, when considering what to pair teas with, consider the where the tea originates from.  What kinds of cuisine are typical for these areas?  Green teas like California Tea Houses Daughter Ring Green Tea tend to pair very nicely with seafoods, sushi and lighter dishes like chicken or salads.  However, due to their ability to assist with digestion, they are also good with deep fried food.  Think along the lines of white wine pairings, and you should be good.  Don't forget, this is an adventure, be daring!  

When you are feeling a little more spicy, try a nice black tea.  These go well with spicy foods like mexican, curry or steak dishes.  Think red wine pairings here.  Chinese food isn't just for Oolong anymore either.  Next time brew up some Yunnan Golden Buds and try that.  Full bodied black teas are also ideal for rich desserts.  Try a nice cup of CTH's Bird Nest Pu-Erh, which has fabulous flavor, and assists with digestion after a heavy meal, with some chocolate cake, or custard.  

The most important thing to remember when trying out a food pairing, is to have fun, and let your senses be your guide. Be daring!  If you do find a tea and food pairing you just have to brag about, don't forget to post it here on our forum, so we can all try it out!  

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.

Tea Cup Photo Competition

Our wonderful panel of judges have picked their favorite tea photos from our Spill It Tea Forum and the $100 tea gift certificate winners are:

1) $100 Most Original Tea Cup winner:  

 Cup O' Tea Bags by ElfRenee

2) $100 Most Unique Use of Tea Cup winner:

  Carpenter's Cup by Guannan

3) $100 Most Original Tea Cup Setting winner:

Tibetan Tea in Beijing by AFrisk

We actually had an Honorary Mention tea photo for Most Original Tea Cup.  Our judges had a tough time choosing so we decided to award this tea cup photo a $25 gift certificate as well!

 Cat and the Fiddle by Kathy

Congratulations to our winners! Your photos were very creative, beautiful and worthy of loads of free, gourmet tea!

Enjoy!

Before leaving China, I knew I had to get one; a proper tea set, complete with a teapot, cups to share and a beautiful glaze. After all, that’s what’s important, right? I wanted a teapot as brilliant as the tea inside.

And that’s what I thought was most important, or rather, the only element important when purchasing a tea set—the look, design and feel it resonates. Important, true, but to be the only detail, well, that was my novice mistake, no doubt.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of a casual tea consumer without a clue, just as easily as the souvenir-hunter is famously ripped off. But I was not just seeking any castaway souvenir, but a travel gift of great purpose; so when I finally set out for the mass of markets, I wanted to know which teapot to buy and why. 

Essentially, for a novice, what to know when purchasing a quality teapot? 

In the nooks of many streets of China, off and dead-on the tourist trail, teahouses flourish. And besides selling China’s best—oolong, pu-erh, jasmine, green tea, black tea—they also sell all its tools. You can find unique, old, antique and China factory-made tea cups, pots, spoons, stirrers, anything you could wish for a robust cup of cha, tea.

The first question to ask when making the plunge for a new teapot—what kind of tea are you looking to brew the most? Basically, what are your tea intentions?

Understandingly a difficult question to answer if you are the novice tea drinker in question, but theguidelines below will outline why. A pewter pot? You shouldn’t have, really.

Size: Like a McDonald’s meal, you can upgrade to big in the tea world, luckily without the guilt here. The traditional Chinese manner of serving, however, remains small. The advantages? While the large pot allows the individual to reap more tea per pot without much effort, the quality and taste of the tea can be compromised because the leaves continually rest in the pot and can become over-steeped. A small Chinese pot, however, requires the leaves to be removed and hot-boiling water to be added for each serving poured. For green tea lovers, the Chinese style is perfect.

Material: Not just porcelain, teapots can be made with more materials than usually known, including jade, tetsubin (coated iron), crystal, agate, silver, stainless steel and glazed iron. However, it’s recommended to stay away from pewter, aluminum, uncoated iron, plastic, lacquered bamboo or other synthetics when looking to buy. Why? The latter are materials that oxidize easily and therefore can affect the taste of the tea, though none are actually harmful.

However, the most popular are glass, porcelain and clay. Here’s why:

While glass does not retain the heat as other materials, glass does provide a perfect view of the visual transformation of the tea bud to the leafy green. Moreover, glass does not taint the flavor of the tea, nor change the color of it. If you buy glass, be prepared to enjoy your tea right that moment for optimum warmth and taste. Herbal gourmet teas are the best match for a glass pot as they look best with their colorful, almost potpourri-like blends. 

A much better heat trapper, porcelain is a classic choice for a teapot. Again, porcelain is another material that does not enhance nor take away from the taste of the tea. Black tea is an ideal brew for porcelain teapots.

However, for the best, clay is the name. Porous in nature, clay pots can actually take up the aroma of the tea, while also altering the texture, aroma and taste of the tea once poured. As so, many people only brew a single variety of tea in each clay pot they own, an oolong clay pot or a pu-erh one. The famous type of clay pot is the Yixing, also called Zisha, made from unique clay only found in the Yixing region of China. The best grade of it can be strong enough to hold the weight of a person.

Of course, if style, not material, is your forte, a teapot also serves a good dose of that too.

My choice: A small Chinese pot, made with an equally traditional red and black glaze, perfect for the black tea I bought on my Yunnan adventures!

Introducing the California Tea House Tea Cup Photo Competition

It's time to get creative!

It's fun, it's simple and there's $300 in free tea gift certificates at stake.  The rules are simple; visit our Spill It Forum and post your tea cup photo in the Tea Cup Photo Competition forum.  The photos will be judged by an amazing panel of guest judges (see below) on a basis of 3 categories.  A $100 gift certificate to California Tea House will be given away for the photo with the most votes in each of three categories. 

Here are the 3 tea cup photo categories:

1)  Most Original Tea Cup

2)  Most Unique Use of Tea Cup

3)  Most Original Tea Cup Setting

Our panel of guest judges will vote on their favorite photos for each of the categories.  A special thank you and welcome to our guest judges:

Rae Lewis Thorton

Emmy Award winning AIDS activist Rae Lewis-Thornton rose to national acclaim when she told her story of living with AIDS in a cover story for Essence Magazine.  She has been living with HIV for 28 years and AIDS for 20.  The last eighteen years Rae has traveled worldwide in an unending crusade challenging stereotypes and myths about HIV/ADIS.  Rae has been featured in countless magazines and newspapers, including O - The Oprah Magazine and many others.  Recently, Rae launched her Tea With Rae project on her Diva blog, where she blogs about tea and tea products weekly.  Tea calms and comforts Rae in her chaotic life of living with AIDS, thus, the Tea With Rae project is wellness for the body, mind and spirit.  Make sure you stop by to have 'Tea With Rae' when you get a chance: www.raelewisthornton.com

Karen Hochman of The Nibble

Karen Hochman was editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper and the paper at Columbia Business School, but journalism is her second career.  Previously, she was a packagegoods brand manager, vice president of marketing at Citigroup and president of the integrated marketing division of Jordon, McGrath, Case and Partners, a national advertising agency (now Arnold Worldwide).  Karen then went to work for two dot-coms as vice president of marketing.  A wine collector, avid cook and baker, she decided to combine her experience and in 2004 founded THE NIBBLE, the first webzine (and in fact, the first consumer publication) devoted to specialty foods, food education and supporting artisan producers.  It now has almost 1 million unique monthly readers and covers more than 70 food categories.  Find out what you've been missing at The Nibble: www.thenibble.com

The Mom Jen

Blogging for three years at Musings of The Mom Jen http://www.themomjen.com and 2 years at The Mom Reviews http://www.themomreviews.com, Jen is a former teacher, now a stay-at-home-mom of 3 children, ages 12, 10 and 5.  She lives in central coast California with her husband and spends her free time driving to and from schools, dance lessons and baseball/soccer practice.  While in her deepest fantasies Jen would love to be a comedian/singer/hula dancer, she can be typically found working on the computer trying to fight off the urge to eat carbs and craving sunshine. 

Tiffany Romero

Tiffany is an active social media personality who believes in the power of 140 characters.  She is also the chick behind a community of over 8,500 bloggers called thesitsgirls.comand the national tour of educational conferences for women in social media known as Bloggy Boot Camp.  When not on-line, Tiffany keeps busy running a private Los Angeles summer camp with her husband, shuttling her 10 year old son to baseball practice and devouring YA fiction.  You can usually find Tiffany twitting about the Real Housewives or other pressing world issues @TiffanyRom. 

Your image will be reviewed before being published, so once you submit it the forum, it will take up to 24 hours before your photo entry appears on the forum.  Image submittals will be accepted until midnight PST on June 30, 2011.  The winners will be announced within 2 weeks of the final submittal.  Good luck and have fun!