• Just got off the phone with a client in Greece. They wanted their tea tweeked a little bit to add more aroma. #
• It’s amazing how each country has its own idea of aroma or taste. Kind of like accents. One language – spoken in many ways. #
• Need to explore that more in a blog post or possibly a PHD. #

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• I love my job, but staying up late to make calls to a client 12 hours behind us isn’t fun. No matter how much you like the client. #

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• Home looking after my son, sorting out my bookshelf. He’s just ripped a page out of “3 Chinese poets” by Vickram Seth. #
• Guess my wife is right, – I can’t do things at once. Definitely not with Aran. RIP page 24 – Question and answer in the mountain. #
• The poem will resonate wirh some part of the tea drinker’s soul:
  They ask me why I live in the green mountains. #
• I smile and don’t reply; my heart’s at ease.Peach blossoms flow downstream, leaving no trace– #
• And there are other earths and skies than these.
  Li Bai #

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• We collect teas from all over the world and the best part of my job is trying a new tea everyday. #
• Today’s special is a Tulasi herb from India-it’s a herb with fab ayurvedic properties. We blend it with Ceylon tea to make cups of goodness #
• Already on my fourth cup of Tulasi Ceylon blend. It’s bright, refreshing, minty, a real pickmeuper. Of course it’s always to good to detox. #

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• Sipping tall cool ice tea on a hot Sri Lankan night. The tea creams in my glass. I’m wiping the condensing water off the glass to see th … #
• My iced tea was made from a seasonal Uva. I don’t think any other tea in the world tastes like this. #
• Minty top notes with a naturally sweetish honey like touch. The tea “creams” because it’s full of character. No sir, no other tea like it! #
• So many tea parties! I hope they’re buying good tea http://tinyurl.com/c9a48a #
• I love Russia! http://www.olindatea.com/blog/?p=7 #

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Apologies for the long silence, we’ve just had what can only be described as a tsunami of holidays that are unique to Sri Lanka. It’s the new year here and workplaces have been shut now for a week and counting. Not that I’m complaining, but April for us is always half drowned and by the time we crawl back to work, we have Vesak. Tea is not the only reason we love this country.

As I mentioned before in a post long long ago, one of the reasons I love Russia is that they love great teas and one of the things that reassured me is their continued trust of teas packed in Sri Lanka. They still trust the Lion logo, which guarantees that your cup was packed at origin in Sri Lanka and is of a good quality.

There are huge duties for pre packed teas in Russia. Which was created to support a couple of large firms which pack locally. the loser is the Russian consumer who has to pay a premium for the privilege of teas packed in Russia.

Never mind that it makes little economic sense or that it’s unfair to the average Russian tea lover and to Sri Lanka and other tea countries.

I say that it’s wrong purely on the grounds that teas packed at origin taste better.

All Olinda teas are packed within a few weeks from the time they are plucked. From the time tea leaves are rolled, they start losing their quality. The best teas are always and I mean ALWAYS better tasted on the day they were made. The longer they are kept without being packaged, the more taste notes we lose. Some argue that the notes that we lose maybe subtle. I don’t think so. I think we’re making excuses for not giving the best possible cup we can.

I’ll take some fresh tea straight factory during my next visit to the plantations and compare how the taste and fragrance are affected by time and transport.

Most teas packed away from origin are shipped and stored for months, and finally blended with cheaper origins bring costs down. I know for a fact that a couple of leading brands in Russia pack other origin teas and claim them to be Ceylon.

Next time you buy your tea, check the origin, and better yet check if they tell you when the tea was plucked not just packed, it makes all the difference.