Still Steeping
Stories from India’s tea gardens, kitchens and cups: the people who grow and make tea, the places it comes from, and how to brew it well.
New to tea? Start here
Five stories, in reading order, that cover the basics.
From the gardens
Darjeeling, Assam and the Nilgiris, seen up close.
A walk through Darjeeling’s tea gardens
A spring walk through Darjeeling’s tea gardens, in photographs: the pluckers, the neighbors, the kids and the landscape.
Assam Diaries: A tour of Halmari
A day with the manager of Assam’s famed Halmari tea estate, from the morning plucking charts and the fields to the factory and the afternoon tasting.
The Happy Monks of Darjeeling
On the road between Darjeeling tea estates, Anik Basu meets monks who count cash, play ludo and coach football, and visits a monastery built above a shop.
The Changing Face of Tea Gardens in the Nilgiris
Workers from eastern India now fill the lines on Nilgiri tea estates, as the educated children of Tamil estate workers move on to professions in the cities.
People of tea
Blenders, buyers, brokers and writers on a life in tea.
A Blender of Teas
From blending tea at Starbucks in Seattle to the Teabox office in Siliguri: Shruti on tasting days, fussy palates and whether blending is art or science.
Meet the team: Ravi Kothari, Tea Buyer
Teabox tea buyer Ravi Kothari on his years in tea broking, switching to the buyer’s side of the table, and what Teabox’s quality checks taught him about tea.
Remembering the days of manual tea auction
A Siliguri tea buyer looks back on the noise, rivalry and friendships of the manual tea auction, which went online in 2011.
From Europe and food to Asia and tea
Food writer Jeff Koehler on moving from Spanish and Moroccan cookbooks to Darjeeling, his book on the region’s tea, and the teas he drinks.
Music to steep by
Pianist Preetam Koilpillai plays short pieces by Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann and Gershwin.
All episodes →Tea and food
Recipes and pairings for the table and the tea break.
Tea through history
Samurai, clippers and emperors, and the tea they drank.
All 350 stories
Every story from Still Steeping, newest first. Pick a topic above to narrow it down.
The Authentic Indian Chai Experience
A journey through India’s chai traditions, from Bombay’s cutting chai to Kolkata’s addas and Kerala’s chai kadas, and the Teabox blends each one inspired.
From ancient Egypt to today’s bedtime ritual, a look at why caffeine-free chamomile tea remains one of the most loved flower infusions.
Four easy ways to use lavender buds at home, from a pillow bundle and bath salts to a cup of lavender tea and homemade infused oil.
Travel With Tea: Steep Anywhere, Anytime
Don’t settle for stale hotel teabags. Here is how to pack loose-leaf tea and the simple gear that lets you steep it anywhere, anytime.
For Earth Day, ten members of the Teabox team share the everyday green habits they have picked up to waste less and live lighter.
How Teabox dedicated a First Flush season to the women who pluck tea, with handmade Kalpana dolls and the story of plucker Elina Rai.
Tea Rituals: Crafted for Your Mind
A simple guide to building a 10-minute daily tea ritual, from choosing the time and place to engaging all five senses.
The Life and Legend of Thomas J. Lipton
From a Glasgow tenement to Ceylon’s tea gardens: the story of Thomas J. Lipton and how he built the world’s best-known tea brand.
The Element of Water: Get Your Tea Right
Water makes up 99% of your cup. Five simple rules on temperature, pH, minerals and spring water to brew better tea.
A reading list for tea time: five novels steeped in tea and five nonfiction books on its history, culture and finest gardens.
A Day in the Life: Kalpana from Bermiok
A rainy morning in Bermiok, Sikkim, with Kalpana Subba, who went from plucking tea leaves to leading the garden’s factory team.
Exploring Co-Existing Spaces: Wildlife and Tea
How two Indian tea gardens learned to share their land with wildlife: elephant corridors at Banaspaty in Assam and a salamander lake at Margaret’s Hope.
Raising Our Cups to Maniram Dewan: The Father of Assam Tea
Meet Maniram Dewan, the first Indian to grow tea commercially in Assam, a freedom fighter remembered as the Father of Assam Tea.
How chai became India’s national drink, from royal legend and British plantations to the tea stalls of Howrah station and the spiced cup we know today.
A Full Moon Harvest: Farming Biodynamically
Every summer, Seeyok Tea Estate plucks a batch of muscatel under the full moon. A look at the biodynamic farming principles behind this lunar harvest.
A fourth-generation tea maker who created the first Darjeeling muscatel at Castleton talks legacy, record auctions and what makes a great tea maker.
The Art of Tasseography: Reading Future in a Teacup
From Romany travelers to Victorian tea parlors, the history of tasseography and how to read the leaves left at the bottom of your cup.
The Sweet Palate, a Cup of Joy
In unhurried Kolkata, chai is sweet, saffron-scented and served in clay cups, usually at the end of a street food binge or an adda.
Bombay’s Lifeline – Cutting Chai
Before the first local train leaves, the chaiwallah is already brewing. The story of cutting chai, Mumbai’s half-glass lifeline.
From saffron kahwa poured from the samovaar to pink noon chai after a wazwan meal, a look at how Kashmir drinks its tea.
The Journey of Our Beloved Chai
How chai became India’s daily ritual: from Ayurvedic kadha and railway station posters to CTC, chaiwallahs and today’s chai cafés.
From the first Silver Tips at Thurbo to record auction prices at Castleton: how Arun Kumar Gomden came to name Darjeeling muscatel.
Meet the Growers, a weekly live Instagram series, brought Teabox founder Kausshal Dugarr together with the growers behind our teas.
The wind beneath our wings – Celebrating Father’s Day
For Father’s Day, the Teabox team share notes for their dads and children about hard work, sacrifice, balance and the lessons that stayed with them.
Tea Diversity – How nature speaks through the flavors of tea
Why no two teas taste alike: how rain, soil, elevation and even tiny pests shape the flavor of Darjeeling and other Indian teas.
A June 2020 letter from Teabox on nature’s rejuvenation, Ayurveda and yoga, and bringing customers closer to the people who grow their tea.
A light-hearted Mother’s Day poem from a daughter to her tea-loving mother, and a tribute to all moms who carried us through tough times.
The 2020 lockdown arrived just as the prized first flush was ready, costing Darjeeling, Assam and the Dooars millions of kilos of tea.
The safety measures Teabox put in place at its fulfillment facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, from sanitization to reduced staffing.
A reflection on life in lockdown, and simple ways to make good use of time at home: books, cooking, art, music and board games.
Teabox had reached 117 countries, so we asked tea lovers around the world to share photos and stories of their favorite tea, with a little poem of our own.
Bun-maska-chai, only in a Bombay Irani
Marble tables, bentwood chairs and treacle-colored chai: a nostalgic visit to Bombay’s Irani cafes, famed for bun maska chai and fast disappearing.
Of tea, wildlife and stories of yore from Assam
Our summer flush trip to Assam began at Dikom, an estate with wartime history, leopards next door and tippy, malty teas from its own clones.
Designer Julie Kagti remembers learning to spin yarn beside her grandmother’s loom, and how Assam’s weaving traditions still shape her work.
A Beginner’s Guide to Assam Teas
New to Assam tea? Peter Keen explains Orthodox vs CTC, how to read grades like FOP and BOP, and which estate Assams bring more character to the cup.
In Kangra, for a tour of the tea gardens
Anirudh Suri of the Dharmsala Tea Company walks us through Kangra’s century-old tea gardens, its famed green teas and oolongs, and life in the hills.
From Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea to tiger hunts in the Dooars, art historian Romita Ray traces the unlikely bond between tigers and tea.
World Tea Awards: Teabox among top industry innovators
Teabox made the finalists’ list for Best Innovator in the Industry at the World Tea Awards, and explains why India’s tea industry needed innovation.
A House for Chinna Dorai – Estate Bungalows in the Nilgiris
From log cabins to gracious hilltop homes: the story of the Nilgiris tea estate bungalow, its Kerala-built roofs and the planters’ wives who made it home.
Ujjawal Chettri and Reyso: empowering women in Darjeeling and more
A visit to Ujjawal Chettri in Darjeeling, whose NGO Reyso pays local women to knit tea cozies, and whose homestay is a gallery of music, art and travel.
How tea helped in the fight for women’s rights!
Coffee houses were for men; tea rooms became where women ran businesses and organized. Peter Keen traces tea’s role in the fight for women’s rights.
Children’s books, Nordic comic fiction, crime and Indian authors in translation: the books that kept one writer company through her 30s.
Would you like some sugar in your tea? Or a little tea in your sugar?
Packaged chais and bottled teas can hold ten spoonfuls of sugar a cup. Peter Keen traces Britain’s sugar habit and makes the case for reading the label.
A Mother’s Day tribute to the mothers of the Nilgiris, who raise children in a small hill town and gather over tea to hold each other up.
The Glenburn Boutique Hotel, Darjeeling
How a tea planter’s bungalow on Glenburn estate became one of Darjeeling’s most loved boutique hotels, told by Husna-Tara Prakash.
From history, a long and complicated relationship with tea
The Boston Tea Party, Japanese sencha, tea clippers, iced tea and the tea bag: the surprising story of America’s long relationship with tea.
A chronicler of the Nilgiris, S. Muthiah
A former student sits down with historian S. Muthiah to talk about pioneer planters, estate bungalows and the tea history of the Nilgiris.
Irish tea, history and elevenish
Why Ireland drinks some of the strongest tea in the world, and how poverty, famine and hospitality shaped its tea culture.
A short lesson on Asian green tea
Why Chinese and Japanese green teas taste so different: terroir, stir-frying versus steaming, and how each country harvests and processes its leaves.
Iced tea traditions from around the world
From Thai cha yen and Taiwanese bubble tea to Hong Kong’s pantyhose tea and Southern sweet tea, five ways the world drinks its tea cold.
Chef Priya Vijan shares her favorite iced tea cocktail, the Berry Blitz: strawberry iced tea, gin, white wine and fresh fruit, infused overnight.
Adam’s Peak: Higher and higher, better and better
Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka makes one of the rarest white teas in the world. How much is made, what makes it special, what it costs and whether it is worth it.
A tea tour of Sri Lanka’s hill country, from a factory turned hotel in Nuwara Eliya to Kandy, and the story of how Ceylon swapped coffee for tea.
At a fast clip: Shipping tea from China
From slow East Indiamen to racing tea clippers like the Cutty Sark, how the need to ship tea from China drove ship design, and why freshness still depends on it.
Memories of tea and conversation
Three decades of friendship, dogs, stories and cups of Nilgiri tea with Shireen Sethna in her old colonial bungalow in Coonoor.
A tribute to the ultimate tea explorer
Remembering Drew Bednasek of the Teaxplorer blog: his humble, friendly tea writing, his love of travel and the optimism he brought to every cup.
Veena Chordia of our procurement team grew up in the Nilgiris. During her first Darjeeling spring flush, we asked how the two tea hills compare.
A tea-taster of three decades explains how professional tea-tasting works, step by step, with his own notes on a Darjeeling and an Assam black tea.
The finest cup of tea in Beijing
From the Great Wall and the Forbidden City to the old lanes of Liulichang, travel writer Zac O’Yeah goes looking for a proper cup of tea in Beijing.
The Beginner’s Guide to Choosing a Darjeeling
There is no typical Darjeeling. A practical guide to the flushes, the estates, the quality flags and how to buy, for anyone new to Darjeeling tea.
In Kalimpong we met botanical illustrator Hemlata Pradhan, who uses art to teach children about the flora and ecology of the Darjeeling Himalayas.
A 99-day South American adventure
Three days after her 59th birthday, Aditi set off alone on a 99-day journey through seven South American countries. Over tea, she tells the story.
Meet three women who changed tea: the Portuguese princess who made it fashionable in England, the duchess behind afternoon tea, and the woman who opened chado to girls.
A walk through Darjeeling’s tea gardens
A spring walk through Darjeeling’s tea gardens, in photographs: the pluckers, the neighbors, the kids and the landscape.
Before anyone understood germs, boiling water for tea saved lives. A short history of how tea turned water from killer to safe drink.
Bringing the world home – at the Kochi Muziris Biennale
Over a cup of tea at Aspinwall House, Bose Krishnamachari tells the story of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and how it turned Kochi into an art route.
Sangeetha Shinde remembers The Ritz Hotel in Coonoor, its creeper-covered walls, its sugary cups of tea and the kind woman who ran it.
In Gaiman, a Welsh town in the Patagonian desert, tea houses serve bara brith and black tea to tourists, an invented tradition that has become a real heritage.
A day on tour with guitarist Daniel Kenneth Rego, told through the cups of tea that bookend his flights, sound checks and shows.
Teatime, Talktime (feat. Anjum Hasan and Zac O’Yeah)
Every afternoon, authors Anjum Hasan and Zac O’Yeah stop for tea. Here is a playful “transcript” of one such break, from Temi tea to Orwell’s golden rules.
The Tea Navigation Paths: Artisan and Agribusiness
From bush to cup, tea takes one of two paths: handcrafted Artisan orthodox or mass-market Agribusiness CTC. Here is how each shapes flavor, price and value.
Toda Embroidery from the Nilgiris
The striking black and red embroidery of the Toda people of the Nilgiris: its motifs, how it is stitched, and the push to preserve it with a GI tag.
Tea Bags 101: Past, Present and Potential
Teabags are a trade-off between convenience and quality. Here is what to know about their materials, ingredients and shapes, and where they are headed.
The Beginner’s Guide to Winter Flush Teas from the Nilgiris
Plucked between late December and January, Nilgiri winter flush teas are aromatic, intense and easy to love. Our illustrated guide helps you navigate them.
Wake Up to the Year of the Rooster
To welcome the Year of the Rooster, a look at the wake-up cup: the contested origins of breakfast tea, the bedside Teasmade and a gruesome tea legend.
From the Bushells billboard in Sydney to Quong Tart’s Loong Shan Tea House, a look at the pioneers who brought tea to colonial Australia.
History, Tea and Writing: Q&A with Sanjeev Sanyal
Author of The Ocean of Churn, Sanjeev Sanyal on being a night owl, writing in bursts and why a second flush Darjeeling with a dash of sugar is his cup.
Our 7 Favorite Instagram Posts on TeaPacs
From bedside morning cups to road trips and chocolate truffles, here are seven of our favorite Instagram posts featuring Teabox TeaPacs.
Teabox: 100 Countries and Counting
From a two-man team in Siliguri to 109 pins on the map: how Teabox learned to ship fresh tea to customers almost anywhere in the world.
China could never breed war horses, so for centuries it traded tea for them. The story of brick tea, the Tea Horse Road and an empire’s dilemma.
India vs. Taiwan: The Oolong Challenge
Fresh from a Taiwan tea tour, Frank Miller cups five Himalayan oolongs and explains why these ‘Darjeelongs’ are a class of their own.
Rescuing Tea from the Fuss and Formality
A witty takedown of fussy tea etiquette and agony-aunt tea culture, and a plea to bring tea back to the simple pleasure of the cup.
An essay on reclaiming peace from the rush of modern life, and how a solitary cup of tea can open the door to stillness.
The Teaspoon: Measure, Stir, Display or Steal?
From Roman silver and apostle spoons to Victorian thefts and a standard 5 ml measure, a lively history of the humble teaspoon.
When King Coffee Bowed Out to Tea
A Nilgiris ghost story leads into the history of how blight, pests, falling prices and a gold rush made the hills switch from coffee to tea.
Everything you needed to know about the kettle
A checklist for choosing your next kettle, from stovetop versus electric to safety, pouring, build quality and temperature settings for different teas.
Cricket: Leg breaks and tea breaks
Cricket is the only major sport built around meal times. A playful look at the tea interval and the tea-growing nations that rule the game.
Remembering the days of manual tea auction
A Siliguri tea buyer looks back on the noise, rivalry and friendships of the manual tea auction, which went online in 2011.
A writer remembers foraged food on her family’s farm in upper Assam, from fiddlehead ferns and tea flowers to wild fruit, fish and game.
Tea in Germany & its Darjeeling Connection
Germany drinks coffee, yet it imports more Darjeeling than anyone, shapes the PGI rules, and once helped found Darjeeling’s first tea estates.
A Nilgiris native on the people who left, the people who came and the people who stayed in her small, vast tea district in South India.
Microwaved, tepid, rolling boiling? Water for tea!
Look after the water and the tea will look after itself. Four rules on water quality, brewing temperature and steeping time, and why the microwave is off limits.
Nina Varghese on the planters’ clubs of the Nilgiris: Saturday club nights, the snooty Ooty Club, and her grandfather’s stand at the bar in 1914.
Moonlight Sonatas: The Great White Teas
Peter Keen on Moonlight white tea from Yunnan, Fujian and Darjeeling: how it is made, how it tastes, and the white teas worth a splurge.
Sounds of Music in the Nilgiris
Sangeetha Shinde on Coonoor, the Nilgiris tea town where fifties tunes play at Cedric’s, the Enos family teaches music and the choir sings on.
Assam Diaries: Princess Majuli’s Home and More Tea
At Majulighur Tea Estate in Sonitpur, Assam, a patch of wild grass turns out to be an Ahom queen’s bathing tank. Then on to Gingia.
Madam Superintendent and Durga Puja in a Tea Garden
Romita Ray joins a Durga Puja run by the women of Mathura Tea Estate, the Dooars garden her great-grandfather planted, from mahashtami to immersion.
The Samovar: Kettle, Stove, Teapot and History
Peter Keen traces the samovar, part stove, part kettle, from Persia to Tula and its role in tea, Russian identity and the great Russian novels.
Going Clonal: How About a Nice Cup of AV2?
Peter Keen introduces clonal teas and makes the case for AV2, the Darjeeling clonal prized for its fresh, floral, melon-like character.
Assam Diaries: Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary
A walk through Assam’s little-known Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary near Jorhat, home to India’s only apes, the hoolock gibbons.
Growing up in the Nilgiris, the author took tea with Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and other Parsi gentlemen. A warm memoir of the lessons they taught her.
A 9-step program to surviving the broken teapot
From denial to celebration: a light-hearted guide to surviving a broken teapot, with practical tips on choosing the size, material and form of the next one.
Introducing TeaPacs – Groundbreaking innovation from Teabox
Our founder on why ordinary tea bags go stale, and how a potato chip idea led to TeaPacs: nitrogen-flushed, single-serve packets of fresh loose-leaf tea.
Jasmine Teas: A Scent of Perfection
How jasmine tea is scented with fresh blossoms, why Jasmine Pearls are worth trying, and why it is the green tea for people who don’t like green tea.
Of Haunted Houses and Unrequited Love
On the road from Coonoor to Wellington stands a house no one will live in. A Nilgiris legend of forbidden love and the ghost who waits for her lover.
Behind the scenes: Making of our Diwali gifts
Our blender, designer and marketer share how they created a Diwali tea gift collection, from spiced festive blends to rangoli-inspired boxes and a lantern box.
English Breakfast: The Baseline Black Tea
Why English Breakfast is the baseline black tea: what goes into the blend, who invented it, and how the hearty Victorian breakfast made it Britain’s tea.
Assam Diaries: A Portal to the Past
A rainy morning at Koilamari, a tea estate on the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh border, where a garden tour turns into a journey through local history.
When Samurai Went to War And Drank Green Tea
Japan’s most feared warriors were also its great tea masters. How the samurai and Hideyoshi’s court shaped the tea ceremony, and the matcha at its heart.
Assam Diaries: A tour of Halmari
A day with the manager of Assam’s famed Halmari tea estate, from the morning plucking charts and the fields to the factory and the afternoon tasting.
Travel writer Zac O’Yeah tries suja, Bhutan’s salty, churned yak butter tea, at a Thimphu eatery and finds it goes down well as a broth after a meal.
Ginger: Not just chai’s partner-in-crime
The humble ginger is more than chai’s partner. A tour of the spice across Asian, Indian and European kitchens, with a ginger cake recipe to finish.
Prisoners’ tales from the Nilgiris
Chinese, Boer, Italian and Afghan prisoners of war all passed through the Nilgiris, planting gardens and tea and leaving stories behind in Ooty and Coonoor.
Green tea and weight loss: Lessons from jockeys, dancers and athletes
Green tea is no miracle weight loss elixir. What jockeys, dancers and athletes teach us about where tea really fits into a diet, and why taste matters.
A tour of the Tocklai Tea Research Institute
A visit to Jorhat’s Tocklai Tea Research Institute, which advises over 1,000 tea estates, from its tasting room and labs to the mother plant of the first clone.
Napoleon: Looking for battle, empire, love – and tea
Napoleon loved tea and all its accoutrements as much as he loved Josephine, and his lavish porcelain tea sets remain one of his enduring legacies.
Assam Diaries: Margherita, the Singphos and Coin Tea
Three days with the Singpho tribe in Margherita, Assam, who smoke tea in bamboo to make coin tea and cook with foraged herbs over wood fires.
The Victorian mustache cup kept waxed whiskers out of hot tea. A look at its history, its decoration, and a rare example in Kolkata.
From Bush to Cup: The Logistics of Tea
How tea travels from garden to cup, why logistics decide freshness, and five simple rules of thumb for buying better tea.
Assam Diaries: The Jalans at Chota Tingrai
At Chota Tingrai in Assam, siblings Avantika and Mrityunjay Jalan are taking the estate organic, making green tea and hiring young talent over seniority.
Why 18th-century households kept tea under lock and key, how the tea caddy evolved, and what it still teaches us about storing tea.
Assam Diaries: A Day at Majuli
A day on Majuli, Assam’s river island in the Brahmaputra: the Jorhat ferry, centuries-old satras, mask makers and the Mishing village of Garamur.
On a food trail through the Nilgiris
A nostalgic food trail through Coonoor and Ooty, from the Wellington Special parotta and Varkey biscuits to Appus, fudge and a pink coconut burfi recipe.
Nepal: Innovation in the high Himalayas
Nepal’s smallholder tea industry offers some of the best bargains in tea, from organic Guranse to Ilam, Kanyam and Antu Valley.
An Homage to a Box of Tea: Musings of an Art Historian
At London’s East India Docks, art historian Romita Ray follows a box of tea through an 18th-century painting, the Boston Tea Party and India’s tea gardens.
Cucumber Sandwiches and Bacon Sarnies: English Food and Tea Cultures
Two sandwiches, two British tea cultures: the dainty high tea cucumber sandwich and the hearty bacon sarnie, and the teas that suit each.
A Kashmiri family’s memories of Kehwa, the spiced green tea of the Valley, from ceremonial samovars and copper khosa cups to ready mixes in Mumbai.
A week in Upper Assam: Singpho tea at Margherita, innovation at Chota Tingrai, record-setting CTC at Halmari and a leopard hunt at Zalouni.
Almost every great tea comes from a mountain. Here is why mountain regions are tea’s megabrands, and how to use them to explore new teas.
Purists beware: from ancient Chinese remedies to the tea blenders of Europe and Japan, tea has always been blended.
Tea and Herbs: For You, Fine. For Your Cat, Never
A tea-loving cat owner looks into why tea, herbal blends and essential oils can harm cats, and why catnip is the one safe high.
A clay cup of tea from National Award-winning potter Ismail Siddiq of Kutch begins a bond with his family that lasts for decades.
Tea in France: Not What You Might Expect
A Brit admits the best tea shops are French, then traces France’s early love of tea and what its designer blends teach us about finding good flavored tea.
Indoors or outdoors, brunch or dinner, wine or Scotch? Follow our flowchart to find the tea that matches your personality.
For a century Europe sipped tea from handleless bowls. Then an alchemist’s lucky accident with kaolin gave us hard-paste porcelain and the teacup handle.
The Changing Face of Tea Gardens in the Nilgiris
Workers from eastern India now fill the lines on Nilgiri tea estates, as the educated children of Tamil estate workers move on to professions in the cities.
Perfumer Jahnvi Dameron Nandan bottles memories as scent. We meet her at the launch of the Memory Pod Project and learn why each of her perfumes carries a tea note.
From Mario Puzo and the three Johns to Kawabata and Mordecai Richler: one writer’s coming-of-age decade, told through the books that shaped it.
Earl Grey is a style, not a tea. Peter Keen on the legend, the artificial flavorings and how to tell a quality whole-leaf Earl Grey from a rip-off.
A Himalayan trekker on why good tea is so hard to find on the trail, and the simple two-mug trick she uses to brew fresh leaf tea in the mountains.
On a solo month in Argentina, Aditi De discovers yerba mate, the shared guampa gourd and the rituals and history behind the country’s national drink.
Corn Pakodas with Avocado Chutney
Crispy, spicy corn pakodas with a cool avocado chutney: a not-so-traditional take on the monsoon fritters every Indian family craves with chai.
People Who Love to Drink Tea From Morning to Evening
Pandas, hotpot and Hiuen Tsang’s temples lead our writer to Chengdu’s real treasure: a crowded temple tea house where locals sip from morning to evening.
Conversations on Tea in New York City
A two-week trip to New York, dozens of tastings and two curious cab drivers: notes on America’s growing appetite for fresh, straight-from-source tea.
Moroccan Mint Tea and Honey Granita Recipe
Just four ingredients and a few hours in the freezer turn Moroccan mint tea, fresh mint and honey into a refreshing summer granita.
Preetam Koilpillai talks about train tracks and performs extracts from George Gershwin’s iconic piece, “Rhapsody in Blue.”
Single-serving jars layered with granola, mango puree and vanilla Greek yogurt: the simplest dessert or breakfast from our summer picnic series.
A Singapore-based banker loved his first Teabox order so much that he asked for a pitch deck. The story of how a customer became an investor.
Strawberry Loaf – A Simple Recipe for a Summer Picnic
A moist, light strawberry loaf inspired by a mother’s recipe, the third in our summer picnic series and a reliable teatime bake.
Mini Tomato Ricotta Tarts Recipe
Bite-sized tarts filled with whipped ricotta, basil and fresh tomatoes, a savory showstopper from our summer picnic that pairs well with iced tea.
A Hundred Acre Forest in the Nilgiris
Since 1884, Craigmore estate in the Nilgiris has guarded a virgin shola forest. A look at its conservation, rainwater harvesting and soil care.
Designer and potter Archana Srinivas photographed her daily cup of chai for years, then turned the pictures into a book. She shares her chai memories.
Obituaries: Stale, Bad, Bagged Teas
Three tongue-in-cheek obituaries for bad tea, from a stale supermarket blend to a bitter, dry tea bag, each with a note from the editor.
Preetam Koilpillai talks about and performs Schubert’s Impromptu No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 90. Play it while your tea steeps.
Fiber artist Maya Sara Matthew on trading city life for a slow, unscheduled one on a tea holding in Coonoor, in the Nilgiris.
Once the world’s biggest tea drinkers per capita, Australians are rediscovering specialty tea. A Sydney tea tasting host and industry insiders explain why.
The Sulaimani Tea (Recipe Included)
Aysha Tanya on the Malabari Eid feast and sulaimani, the lime-and-spice black tea that ends every meal, with her recipe.
Smetannik, a Russian tea tradition steeped in time
A Teabox intern from Russia shares her country’s tea rituals, from the samovar to zavarka, and her recipe for smetannik, a layered sour cream cake.
Preetam Koilpillai plays Chopin’s Prelude No. 4, Op. 28, from the Preludes written on the island of Majorca.
Tea Loaf Capers (Recipe Included)
Aditi De’s long hunt for a cake with real tea flavor ends in a Kashmiri recipe notebook, and her fat-free Tell-a-tale Tea Loaf.
Aysha Tanya on her mother’s restless passion for cooking and what four years of food blogging together have taught her.
The Tale of a City and Two Chroniclers
Mita Kapur meets photographers Dayanita Singh and Mayank Austen Soofi to ask what keeps them chronicling Delhi.
A simple summer cocktail of chilled green tea, sweet mango juice, mint, lime and white rum.
Preetam Koilpillai performs Mozart’s ever-popular ‘Rondo alla Turca’ on the piano.
Seeking Silence in the Salt Desert of Kutch
Zahra Amiruddin escapes ‘Bombay claustrophobia’ for Bhuj and the white salt desert of the Rann of Kutch, in a four-day photo journey.
Preetam Koilpillai reads a Shakespeare sonnet and plays Beethoven in this episode of the Still Steeping podcast.
A coarse, aromatic barbecue rub of Darjeeling black tea, warm spices and dried chilies that goes best with red meats and keeps for a month.
Preetam Koilpillai pays homage to the legendary American composer Scott Joplin in this episode of the Still Steeping podcast.
Goat Cheese, Walnut, Honey and Arugula Crostinis
Toasted baguette with goat cheese, roasted walnuts, honey and arugula: a 15-minute brunch or tea time bite that goes beautifully with Darjeeling tea.
From Song Dynasty tea fighting in Fujian to today’s international brewing championships, a look at tea’s long history as a competitive sport.
Over chai in McLeod Ganj, Prachi Sibal meets Lhasang Tsering, the outspoken Tibetan activist who runs the Bookworm bookstore.
Aditi De joins a young couple for once, Chile’s evening tea meal, and explores why Chileans love tea, with Pablo Neruda’s ode to a box of tea.
Preetam Koilpillai plays the first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on the Still Steeping podcast.
Preetam Koilpillai plays Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C major from The Well-Tempered Clavier on the Still Steeping podcast.
Nina Varghese on the Badaga community of the Nilgiris: their origins, their shift to tea, and the leaders who championed education for women.
Could TEA stand for ‘The Evil and the Awful’?
A tongue-in-cheek look at the real, published attacks on tea through history, from Cobbett’s beer-for-tea crusade to tea poisoning and tea-fueled revolution.
This week’s Still Steeping podcast features Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1.
Travels in the literary landscape of India
Zac O’Yeah takes us through a winter of Indian litfests, from the Kolkata Book Fair’s food stalls to chai and author encounters at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Clonals – the tea of the future
Peter Keen explains clonal teas, why they are not GMO, and how clonals like AV2 are reshaping Darjeeling whites and oolongs.
This week’s Still Steeping podcast features Träumerei, one of Schumann’s best-known compositions.
Beyond the tea bag: a starter’s guide to leaf tea
A Care Kit for converting tea bag drinkers to whole leaf tea: the right brewer, teas that surprise, simple steeping times and a tumbler for the road.
Missives from Gunehar: Leaving the city
Prachi Sibal leaves Bangalore for an arts retreat in Gunehar, a Himalayan village near Bir, and settles into a slower life of verandas, goats and constant invitations to tea.
Where can we find the earliest reference to tea?
A stubborn servant, a mischievous poet and a contract from 59 BC: the story behind the earliest known written reference to tea.
[Podcast] Dead man walking (or trying to)
Preetam talks about a dead man and performs Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp minor in this episode of the Still Steeping podcast.
Tea vs health: You be the judge and the jury
Does tea help you lose weight or prevent illness? Peter Keen weighs history, science, advocacy and marketing, and says to drink the tea you enjoy.
From Coonoor to Mincing Lane: The History of the Nilgiri Tea
How tea came to the Nilgiris: early explorers, failed experiments at Ketti, Chinese prisoners on the estates, and the first teas sent to Mincing Lane.
The irrationality of the iced tea drinker
Ian Bersten runs a cost/benefit test on bottled iced tea, finds it full of sugar and short on tea, and makes the case for brewing your own.
A first taste of Tibetan butter tea in Nepal, the tea-for-horses trade behind it, and its modern cousins: bulletproof coffee and ghee tea.
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Beaten by the choir, an episode of the Still Steeping podcast, featuring Christian Sinding’s “Rustle of Spring.”
Manual Tea Auction – The Last Citadel
At Kolkata’s Nilhat House, Darjeeling tea was still sold the old way, amid cries of “eiyan.” A visit before the manual auction went online.
Tea and technology: Memories of great tea times
Peter Keen remembers the J. Lyons tea shops of postwar England, and the tea company that built the world’s first business computer.
Your Tea Guide To The Oscar Nominations
A tea for every 2016 Oscar Best Picture nominee, from a bold Assam masala chai for Spotlight to a gentle autumn oolong for The Revenant.
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[Podcast] The redemption of Elise
Pianist Preetam Koilpillai plays Beethoven’s Für Elise and looks at the mystery and infamy of one of the most famous piano pieces ever written.
A tour of TANTEA estate, Nilgiris
A visit to TANTEA, the Tamil Nadu government’s tea estates in the Nilgiris, and the surprising history of convicts, cinchona and Sri Lankan Tamil workers behind them.
What does your choice of tea reveal?
Author Cheralyn Darcey explains the Language of Nature and what your favorite black, white, green, oolong or herbal tea might say about you.
Feeling blue? He’s got a poem for you!
At the Galle Literary Festival, poetry champion William Sieghart talks about his poetry pharmacies and the poems he prescribes for the heart’s ailments.
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[Podcast] Love…and a little Chopin
Our first Still Steeping podcast: pianist Preetam Koilpillai plays Chopin’s Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2 for Valentine’s Day.
Chitrita Banerji recalls her father’s devotion to fine Darjeeling tea in old Calcutta, her long wait for her first cup, and the pot of tea that healed a rift.
Whole-leaf tea looks expensive until you work out the price per cup. Peter Keen compares tea bags, tins and loose leaf to show what good tea really costs.
In December 2015, Teabox’s founder pitched Ratan Tata in Mumbai. A first-person account of the meeting, the debate, and the call that followed.
Why tea is the perfect Chinese New Year gift, how the family tea ritual works, what goes into Eight Treasure Tea and three monkey-themed teas.
Would you like some coffee in your tea?
From an uncle’s odd mug to yuanyang in a Singapore kopitiam, a tea drinker discovers cofftea, the drink that brews coffee and tea together.
A story about Tagore pouring his tea into a saucer in Japan sends one writer hunting for the origins of “saucering” in Russia, China and beyond.
Castleton and the mystery musk
The story and the truth behind the famous muscatel tea, and the Darjeeling estate that first produced it.
The artist, an interruption, and a conversation
An evening over chai with graphic novelist George Mathen, aka Appupen, on his imaginary world Halahala, 12-hour drawing days and the value of solitude.
The picky person’s guide to a good cup of tea while traveling
Six million miles on the road taught this writer to bring his own kettle, tumbler, infuser and teas. Here is his kit for a good cup anywhere.
It’s time for tea from the Nilgiris
A Teabox tea buyer returns to the Nilgiris in winter to visit Glendale, Craigmore and Coonoor’s tea estates, their workers, bungalows and Winter Frost teas.
Sweet meets: How sugar with tea came to be
One lump or two? Adeline Teoh traces how sugar became tea’s companion, from England’s upper classes to the factory floor, and the dark history behind it.
A simple recipe for Indian masala chai at home, simmering CTC tea with milk, sugar, cardamom, ginger and cinnamon.
Vinayak Varma, a sickly child turned tea devotee, on how a good, strong cup became his favorite comfort on sick days, placebo or not.
The true colors of the white tea
Peter Keen explains what white tea really is, how Silver Needle is made and tastes, and why cheap white tea bags trade on health hype rather than flavor.
Sudeshna Shome Ghosh opens her diary to three moments when a cup of tea changed the day, from exam nights in 1993 to her son’s first pot of tea.
Running a tea stall to fund a school
In Cuttack, tea seller D. Prakash Rao pours his daily earnings from his tea stall into a free school he started for slum children.
“Natural” teas: The rewards, the risks and the watch-outs!
Peter Keen unpacks what “natural” and “organic” really mean on tea labels, and what to watch for in how tea is grown, herbal blends and added flavorings.
The Delight of Margaret’s Hope
A night at Darjeeling’s Margaret’s Hope estate, from its chinary and clonal teas and its three gardens to the legend of the little girl who gave it its name.
From queues at loose tea shops to two-foot tea and endless adda, a Kolkata writer on why Bengalis cannot imagine tea without conversation.
Caffeine in Your Tea? Stop Worrying!
How much caffeine tea really has, how it compares with coffee, and why the enjoyment of a good cup should matter more than counting milligrams.
Not all teapots are created equal
Taiwanese designer Chuntso Liu talks about the Ash Gray tea set, his design philosophy, and why he chose to design teaware.
What I Learned at My First Ever Tea Tasting
A two-day sensory analysis workshop with perfumer-turned-tea expert Carine Baudry, and what it taught one writer about tasting tea.
Musings at the End of the Year
The blog’s editor looks back on a year of tea stories and why a cup of tea is the best way to slow down and connect.
The Teabox Top 10 Teas of 2015
From Castleton Moonlight White to Kolkata Street Chai, the Teabox team picks its 10 favorite teas of 2015 and says why.
Teabox’s founder looks back on how his older brother Prateek taught him to taste Darjeeling tea, read markets and put customers first.
The Science Behind My Ginger Chai
Why did Srinath Perur’s ginger chai curdle whenever he made more than one cup? The answer lay in ginger enzymes, milk temperature and a Cantonese dessert.
Russian Caravan: The accidental tea
Smoke from caravan campfires on the long tea road from China to Russia gave the world Russian Caravan, a tea born by accident rather than intent.
Does the water you use really change the taste of tea? From Lu Yu’s mountain streams to filtered tap and bottled water, here is what to brew with.
Artist Bakula Nayak on how her mother-in-law’s exacting 4 pm tea ritual turned a new relationship into a deep bond, one perfect cup at a time.
51 Reasons to Gift Tea This Holiday Season
From elegant packaging to tea cocktails and Sean Connery’s approval, 51 lighthearted reasons why tea makes the perfect holiday gift.
A breath of fresh air in India’s tea gardens
For International Tea Day, four young people bringing fresh energy to India’s tea gardens, from Jungpana in Darjeeling to the estates of Upper Assam.
Two holiday stories about the relatives who push our buttons, a Lego-smashing nephew and a disapproving Aunt Beatrice, and one piece of advice: drink tea.
On long Himalayan treks, every day starts and ends with a mug of chai. Sriparna Ghosh remembers the tent-teas and the cook who made her 120 cups.
Chinese Marbled Tea Eggs by Angel Wong
Angel Wong of Angel Wong’s Kitchen uses a Margaret’s Hope spring Darjeeling tea to make Chinese marbled tea eggs, a pretty snack for holiday menus.
Reminiscences of life on the tea estate
Over two hours and two cups, Pakhi Bagai shares vivid memories of growing up on the tea estates of Assam, from bow and arrows to elephants at the gate.
Hope and aspiration in Darjeeling’s tea gardens
Nirvan Subba, a schoolboy on Darjeeling’s Mim tea estate, wants to become a doctor so his community no longer has to travel 20 km to see one.
A five-minute winter hot toddy made with spring Darjeeling black tea, brandy and honey, served warm with a slice of lemon.
Bonnie Eng of Thirsty for Tea made holiday Spice Drawer Tea Sachets from our teas, and told us how she chooses teas for crafts, recipes and her daily cup.
Teh tarik milk tea: Pulling depth and sweetness from tea
Adeline Teoh traces her love of teh tarik, Malaysia’s sweet, frothy pulled tea made with strong black tea and condensed milk, back to her parents’ homeland.
Raised on filter coffee, Aravinda Anantharaman found tea on her own terms: strong Assam, big mugs, friends over for tea, and calm moments as a new mother.
A quick tea cocktail for cold winter nights: Darjeeling black tea shaken with dark rum, lemon juice and a touch of cinnamon.
How Traditional Will You Be This Thanksgiving?
A light-hearted quiz on dinner, the parade, attire and football to see how traditional your Thanksgiving will be.
From plucking and withering to oxidation, fixation, rolling and drying: the basic steps that turn fresh tea leaves into the tea in your cup.
A quick recipe for lemongrass chai made with fresh lemongrass, ginger, CTC tea and milk, perfect to start the day or cuddle into in the evening.
Meet Joy-da, the Siliguri chaiwallah whose stall on the ground floor of the Teabox office pours the team’s daily cup of Assam CTC chai.
Darye, the Korean tea ceremony
How Darye, the Korean tea ceremony, was revived in the 1970s, the simple teaware it uses, and the step-by-step ritual of brewing and sipping green tea.
Why we can’t resist dunking biscuits in tea
From Dr. Len Fisher’s dunking science to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a defense of dunking biscuits in tea against the fuss of tea sommeliers.
Between manuscript and book, the dreaded edit
Novelist Zac O’Yeah on the dreaded edit between manuscript and book, and the chai, coffee and green tea that see him through it.
Chai and snacks: The Indian tea time
From Dehradun rusks and Tuticorin cashew macaroons to Gujarati nasto and Bangalore nippattu, a writer recalls the snacks that went with chai in every town she lived in.
The Story Behind Teabox’s New Brand Identity
Teabox and Pentagram partner Natasha Jen on the 2015 rebrand: finding the brand’s personality, a stencil typeface from old tea crates, packaging and lessons learned.
Tea began as medicine in ancient China. Adeline Teoh sorts folklore from fact on six common beliefs about tea, from teeth and skin to drowsiness and digestion.
Ian Bersten traces why some cultures drink tea with milk and others without, from Mongolia and Victorian London dairies to the milk-first debate.
Tea in the Life of a Life Coach
Pip Stoneham visits life coach Katrena Friel and discovers why making and serving a cup of tea is a quiet but central part of every coaching session.