It’s been more than three and a half years since I launched Tea-Guy. Here we are, a couple hundred tea reviews, a dozen or so accessory reviews, several book reviews and three World Tea Expo recaps later.

It’s time to step things up a bit. My commitment to you may seem to have waned with less frequent posts. Let me assure you, this is not the case. If anything it pains me to not have had the opportunity to engage with you as I would have liked.

I started Tea-Guy as an experiment. An expedition of discovery looking to find valuable business opportunities in the tea industry and chances to mix and mingle with my fellow tea lovers. I have done this. I’ve become addicted to it!

I’ve received praise for my content and writing style. I’ve received praise for my methodology when reviewing teas. I’ve even received praise for some of my tea travels reviews (which I love to do by the way.) Just about the only thing I haven’t received some level of acclaim for is the design of the blog itself.

But today is a new day. This week is a new week. The world we live in won’t stop or slow down, it moves faster every day, and within it we all individually can take an opportunity to reflect. Some of us use tea as our excuse to do just that.

The start of next week marks the beginning of a new era with Tea-Guy. A completely new design with more readable layout and design and more modern amenities will welcome you. I couldn’t be more pleased with the design and implementation put together by my team of tea drinking monkeys.

This redesign comes in no small part by the constant lack of traffic to deeper areas of the site. I’ve written articles on a myriad of topics which simply haven’t been viewed by you. I’m not sure if this is more because of the theme or because I haven’t chosen to highlight it at times. But I refuse to believe those articles are of no interest to you as readers.

When the changes go live next week, please take the opportunity to critique the design and let me know how you feel about it and what your thoughts and recommendations are. We’ve worked hard to improve your experience, and I’d really like to focus on that.

If you are a fan on Facebook or you follow me on Twitter you may have seen a sneak peek of this new design already. If not, you’re in for a treat.

Keep Steepin’,
Tea-Guy

Posted in Announcement | 2 Comments »

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This year’s World Tea Expo is my 3rd trip to this event. I’ve appreciated the opportunities to learn and meet new people each year. I’ve made friends and contacts from every corner of the world and every continent save for Antarctica. The events and sights from this first day of the expo are similar to those from the past two years. Full of energy, vibrant colors and effusive scents tantalizing for everyone here. Read more to learn more.

Check out my coverage of both Day 1 and Day 2 of the 2011 World Tea Expo.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Accessories, African Tea, Announcement, Bagged Tea, Black Tea, Blue Tea, Bottled, Branding, Brands, British Tea, Chai Tea, Chinese Tea, Companies, Darjeeling, Flavored Tea, Floral Tea, General, German Tea, Green Tea, Harney & Sons, Hawaiian Tea, Herbal Tea, Iced Tea, Japanese Tea, Las Vegas, LibreTea, Loose Tea, Na Liko Tea, Networking, New Zealand Tea, Nucha, Oolong Tea, Organic, Orthodox Tea, PeLi Tea, Private Labeling, Products, Puripan, QTrade Teas & Herbs, Reviews, Rishi Tea, Rooibos, Rooibos Tea, Runa, SAFA Himalaya, Shincha, Special Teas, Sri Lankan Tea, Stash, Takeya, Tavalon Tea, Tea, Tea Bags, Tea Garden, Tea Industry, Tea Tour, Tea Travels, Teahouse, The East Indies Tea Company, The Green Teaist, Tisane, Tisano, Tulsi, Village Tea Co., Village Tea Company, World Tea Champion, World Tea Expo, WTE, Zojirushi | No Comments »

This year’s World Tea Expo is my 3rd trip to this event. I’ve appreciated the opportunities to learn and meet new people each year. I’ve made friends and contacts from every corner of the world and every continent save for Antarctica. The events and sights from this first day of the expo are similar to those from the past two years. Full of energy, vibrant colors and effusive scents tantalizing for everyone here. Read more to learn more.

Check out my coverage of both Day 1 and Day 3 of the 2011 World Tea Expo.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Adagio, African Tea, AOI Tea Company, Art of Tea, Bagged Tea, Black Tea, Brands, Chinese Tea, Cincinnati, Elmwood Inn, Flavored Tea, Floral Tea, Fruit Tea, Green Tea, Guayusa, Herbal Tea, Indian Tea, ITO EN, Japanese Tea, Kenyan Tea, Korean Tea, Loose Tea, Nepalese Tea, Oolong Tea, Organic, Orthodox Tea, Pu'erh Tea, Puer, Pu’erh, Red Tea, Rishi Tea, Rooibos, Rooibos Tea, Runa, Sri Lankan Tea, Taiwanese Tea, Tea, Tea Bags, Tea Industry, Tea Source, Tea Tour, Tea Travels, Teas Etc, The East Indies Tea Company, Tisane, Tradition Taiwan, Tulsi, USDA Organic, White Tea, World Tea Champion, World Tea Expo, WTE | No Comments »

This year’s World Tea Expo is my 3rd trip to this event. I’ve appreciated the opportunities to learn and meet new people each year. I’ve made friends and contacts from every corner of the world and every continent save for Antarctica. The events and sights from this first day of the expo are similar to those from the past two years. Full of energy, vibrant colors and effusive scents tantalizing for everyone here. Read more to learn more.

This is coverage of Day 1 of the 2011 World Tea Expo. Please also check out coverage of Day 2 and Day 3.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Accessories, Adagio, African Tea, Ajiri Tea, Black Tea, Branding, Brands, British Tea, Ceylon Tea, Chinese Tea, CTC Teas, Discussions, Fair Trade, Flavored Tea, Fruit Tea, General, Green Tea, Herbal Tea, Indian Tea, Kenyan Tea, Las Vegas, Loose Tea, Networking, News, Organic, Private Labeling, Products, Restaurant, Reviews, Sri Lankan Tea, Suppliers, Tea, Tea Bags, Tea Industry, Tea Tour, Tea Travels, Tisane, Update, USDA Organic, World Tea Champion, World Tea Expo, WTE | 1 Comment »

I’ve reviewed some of the beautiful sister’s blends earlier this year. Both their Tomato Rebel Black Tea and their Cucumber Mojo White Tea impressed me.

Earlier this month the delicious duo announced the availability of their blends at Bigg’s stores, Jungle Jim’s and the Keller’s IGA locations in the greater Cincinnati area.

That just happens to be my neck of the woods! I took a trip around the corner to my local Bigg’s right after receiving the good news from the sisters’ marketing agent and what did I find? Fantastic placement of their teas on a short shelf (harder to get lost on than taller shelves)!

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Posted in Announcement, Branding, Companies, Fully Loaded Tea | No Comments »