About Cha-cha-cha

Cha Chai Tea It gets into you. Worlds open.

My experience of tea may occur in Vancouver but a sip of tea in Vancouver transports you half-way around the world, and through time. No it isn’t psychoactive, but it does indeed activate the psyche. I named this site cha-cha-cha for “cha” the Chinese tea, and “chai” the Indian tea, and for that old standard, Tea for Two (cha-cha-cha)

Vancouver is perfectly situated for exploration of tea – from British/European to Chinese/Japanese/Eastern to wonderful Indian chais to hipster vegan herbals.

My interest in tea has been becoming stronger over the past few years. Join me as I explore the world of tea, and tea culture – all things tea.

And add your own comments, suggestions, and tea tips to this ongoing conversation, because ultimately tea is a very social activity.

In this site, I point to some terrific teas to try, suggest some elegant and beautiful tea sites, offer reviews of tea and tea shops (in Vancouver and beyond), and play as many versions of Tea for Two as I can stand!

And check out the growing eclectic collection of tea videos.

Join me for tea?

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

Luc February 17, 2009 at 9:29 pm: Hi Carol,

Wondering if we can add you to our event newsletter?

Love the blog!

Luc
Carol February 17, 2009 at 9:34 pm: Yes Luc, I love that you are keen for this tea blog, and yes, include us here in your event newsletter.
We love samples!!!
Monica February 24, 2009 at 11:16 pm: Hi Carol,

I noticed you left your blog URL on the T.E.A. meetup group! I’d love to collaborate (aka pick your brain) on any information or ideas you might have for educational meetups around Vancouver. It seems that a lot of people want to be taught things, not just have meetups and discover on their own… which is great because I’m sure there are people of all levels of experience in our group.

Please feel free to email me and we can start talking!
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Monica
Tami May 1, 2009 at 12:09 am: Carol,

I just discovered your site and find it quite informative. I love some of your tea tasting notes. You have quite a collection. I too am a local tea lover for many years now, and wish more people would come to appreciate the world of tea as I do. Glad to see there are others like me. Keep up the great blog.
Carol May 1, 2009 at 6:24 am: thanks for the kudos – I popped over to your site http://lemontart.typepad.com and it looks delicious!
Dil Lee August 7, 2009 at 5:28 am: Hi Carol,
What a great blog. I happened across it as I was doing research on the Libre Tea Glass. You have some great info! It’s great to see another keen Tea Fan

Keep up the great posts. Would you mind if I posted a link to your blog on my site

Thanks
Dil
Carol August 7, 2009 at 7:05 am: Great to hear from you. and I’m glad to see you are a Libre Tea Glass fan. I’ll check out your site – http://the-tea-site.com
Natasha Larche October 2, 2009 at 7:06 am: Hello Carol!

I am writing to you from Cape Town, South Africa, about an exciting new and healthy innovation – from South Africa – that is causing a riot in coffee shops across Canada and Europe, and one which I’d love for you to consider reviewing for your readers. It’s called RED ESPRESSO and it’s the world’s first Rooibos tea espresso. Combining – for the first time – the global trends of health and specialty coffee, it’s revolutionizing health, Rooibos tea and the coffee industry!

Having launched in Vancouver in 2008, red espresso® has been enthusiastically embraced by Canadians and the movement is sweeping across to Montreal and Toronto with the introduction of red espresso® in premium, national chain, Cafe Suprême.

We would love to send you a sample of red espresso to try it out for yourself! If you are interested, please send me an email.

Thank you and best regards

Natasha
Martha December 3, 2009 at 5:05 pm: Hi Carol!
As a chai tea lover, I have been experimenting with different combinations of the ingredients which typically make up this kind of tea. I prefer my chai tea to be quite strong, and what I have discovered is that one needs to have a generous amount of the following three ingredients to have it so: black tea leaves, shredded ginger, and partially crushed cloves. From that ‘base’, I find the other ingredients such as cardomom pods, cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, and star anise can be varied according to how you’d like the more subtle flavors in the tea to be. It’s as though those first three ingredients actually bring out the flavors of the other ingredients. I’m curious to hear what others’ experiences are with brewing chai tea from scratch.
Keep up this great website! Martha.
Bleubeard and Elizabeth May 16, 2010 at 8:52 am: Greetings Carol. I live in the US and participate each Tuesday in a Tea Tuesday blog collaboration. We’re a small group. Participation is strictly voluntary, and varies from week to week. We’re mostly mixed media and altered art artists, but we take one day out of our busy schedules to enjoy a cup of tea.

Each day I feature a new (to me) blog on my blog. I have chosen yours for Tuesday, May 18. Thank you for having such an informative and eclectic tea blog. I especially am interested in your chai recipe, since I am working on one of my own.