Beauty, Health and Living

greentea2My love of tea started years ago. And I am always happy to try different types and brand of teas.

Luckily this was a sampler pack which included green tea, white peony, rooibus (red tea), Assam tea, and Earl Gray.

Two leaves and a bud is a tea company based out of Colorado. The teas are made of super-premium whole leaf. Teas are harvested from different regions of the world.

I am a minor fan of Jasmine green tea, but when I took my first sip of this jasmine green tea it was different. Much more lighter, accompanying a soft floral fragrance and it never gets too bitter. This is one cup I can drink anytime!

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So far I’ve had the green tea, the red tea, and Earl Grey. All very good! Earl Grey makes a good alternative breakfast tea to the traditional coffee. Nice dark amber color and taste is smooth. Not like any other black tea I’ve drank in the past.

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I have to say this will become my new favorite line of tea. I can’t wait to try more of their tea selection, especially the herbal teas. No more supermarket teas for me!

Although this tea is more costly, it’s really worth every cup. And I find one tea bag fetches four cups of tea. Maybe it’s the loose leaves, since regular tea I can make two cups max.

Another neat thing is that the tea bags are made of biodegradable cornstarch based nylon (not petroleum based nylon). They are not the traditional bag shape, but pyramid shaped. This allows the whole leaves to circulate and infuse properly, without the mess of brewing loose leaf tea.

The company is also on a mission to support all Fair Trade teas. Another great thing is that the teas come from small farmers. I believe we need more small family farms and should do our best to support them. Both at home and around the world. As noted from the company’s info:

We are a proud member of the Trust Organic Small Farmers Initiative, The new alliance for eco-Ethical trade and goods is a non profit initiative, founded by producers, traders, and NGOs from around the world. two leaves and a bud tea co. is one of the founding members and trading partners under the trusteeship of Commundialis Foundation.

Trust Organic Small Farmers supports disadvantaged organic small farmers to increase sales under Fair Trade and sustainable conditions, while assisting producer organizations in creating innovative grass-root eco-social development projects. More and more these days, sustainable small-scale farming is desirable from developmental, political, health and eco-social perspectives.

Whilst more and more consumers are enjoying high quality products, which often also benefit sustainable development, small family farms are still at a competitive disadvantage in the global market. Even if their products are certified organic or within the existing Fair Trade labeling schemes, market access or success is uncertain. The entry cost is still too high. For the weakest, these markets replicate the global market creating impossible dreams.

Trust Organic Small Farmers is working on creating new paths to open innovative grass-roots projects for sustainable development and improving the eco-social situation of marginalized organic farmers through activity.

Support Fair Trade, support small family farms! Say NO to GMO’s*!

*genetically modified organism. Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms.

I’ve never heard of Puripan Tea Garden until my cousin was visiting a while back.  Knowing how much I enjoy drinking tea, she gave me a bag of Puripan’s organic jasmine green tea.  The tea shop is located at Santana Row in San Jose.  They specializes in loose leaf green, white, oolong, and other herbal teas.

These green teas are shaped into little round balls called “pearls”.  The leaves open up once it’s brewed.  As much as I like green tea, I didn’t really like this particular green tea.  I don’t know if it’s the “loose leaf” factor or how I brewed it.  I even brew with filtered water too.  I found this jasmine green tea to be too bitter.  And the jasmine scent was meant to be nice, but it ended up giving me a headache instead. Just so I wouldn’t waste this good bag of tea, I let my mom give it a try.  And she actually ended up loving it!  Now she is drinking it all the time.

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Photo of Puripan Tea Garden from Santana Row Shopping Center.

Puripan Tea Garden retails many varieties of loose leaf tea, which is suppose to be the best grade of tea available.  I’ve been wanting to stop by soon and see what other great teas are at the shop.  There are plenty of good online reviews about their service and selection too.  The best part being they let you sample the teas before making a purchase.

Even if you can’t visit the shop, you can still visit their nice website and browse the selection of green, white, oolong, and other herbal varieties.  Since I am into oolong at the moment, I think I want to try  WUYI oolong tea.  A description from Puripan:

Known as “Profound Orchid,” this unique tea is harvested on the cliffs of China’s northern Fujian province Wuyi Mountains, where the soil, climate and unique tea bushes create exquisite oolong.

Smooth, rich body and classical roasted aroma with sweet notes of raisin/sugar, honeysuckle, and roasted barley. Lingering sweet finish.  $5.99 for 2 oz.

Did it say an aroma of honeysuckle in the end?  I love the smell of honeysuckle.  The scent is a little less intense then jasmine, but still very nice.