Popular Posts

This page highlights not the most popular posts, but the posts that are what I consider to be the best among the most popular posts:

• Tea Monoculture and Biodynamic Agriculture - In this post I highlight the drawbacks or harmful effects of monoculture, both in tea production, and in agriculture in general, and I also present the concept of biodynamic agriculture, a system that goes far above and beyond the base requirements for organic certification, with the goal of achieving a truly ecologically-sound agricultural system.
• There Is No Should - This post, which is intensely personal, is both of primary relevance to tea, and to any matter of personal taste, but also delves a lot into psychology, language, and the system of beliefs in our society. I talk in this post about my own personal struggle with attempting to rid myself of using the word "should", and the benefits that I've found after purging this word from my vocabulary.
• Tea as Slow Food: Fast Tea vs. Slow Tea - This post, which touches on some of the deepest aspects of my philosophy of food and of life in general, sheds light on my primary motivations behind both this blog and working on RateTea, and also draws attention to the Slow Food Movement, a movement I wholeheartedly support and encourage others to think about.
• More on Brewing Temperature - This page highlights some of the nuances of brewing temperature recommendations for various teas that go beyond and/or differ from the recommendations I usually encounter on this topic.
• Ten of China's Underappreciated Teas - This post, in reference to the numerous "The Ten Great Chinese Teas" or "China's Famous Teas" top 10 lists, draws attention to ten of my personal favorite Chinese teas that tend to be relatively poorly-known and often rather inexpensive.