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Please head that way to catch up on our latest news and shenanigans in the world of tea! :)

New Website!

Welcome to the brand new ATTIC website! We hope you enjoy looking round and getting to know our new virtual home!

Our Blogspot page will now be used as a news update feed, as we start transferring our blog posts to the new site.

Tea Wednesday: Pu'erh

The end of January seems to have a lot of negative associations, with the previous month’s celebrations a distant memory, and the enthusiasm of a new year and fresh start wearing thin. In fact, so notorious is late January for being, well, a bit grim, they’ve even scientifically calculated the most miserable day of the year, “Blue Monday”. Thankfully, that was two days ago, so we can now move on knowing that the worst is over. (Incidentally, just to balance out all that negativity, it’s been calculated that June 19th is the happiest day of this year, so we can look forward to that)!

To try and lift the mood a little, I’m going to coin today as “Tea Wednesday”, the most tea-tastic day of the year, and talk about many of the lovely and positive qualities of tea!

The focus today will be on Pu’erh teas, which prove a worthy and fascinating subject to devote this feature to.

With a name that shares a similar curse of a certain spiky plant in lending itself well to comedy catchphrases, Pu’erh teas often catch people’s attention due to it being the most, well, unpronounceable (it’s pu-urh, since you ask!).

However, Pu’erh teas deserve to receive attention beyond just their name. They have a rich and fascinating history, and have recently begun to gain more widespread recognition due to it’s health giving properties. This will be explored in more detail towards the end of the post, but in the meantime we hope you enjoy discovering more about China’s great mystery tea.

Pu’erh teas are so called because they were named after the thriving market town of Puerh, located in the major tea producing province of Yunnan, near the Vietnam border. This is not the place they are produced, but where they were heavily traded, and the town is also the main starting point of the ‘Ancient Tea-Horse Road’ - a route carved out over generations of feet and hooves trading tea between China and Tibet. Pu’erh teas were particularly popular in Tibet, as they allegedly make the best flavoured ‘butter tea’.

There are debates as to what exactly qualifies as a Pu’erh tea, but it is generally accepted that if the leaves have gone through a fermentation process, and is produced from the Big Leaf (Da Yeh) tree, a hybrid variation of the Camellia Sinensis known as Sinensis Assamica, grown in the Yunnan province. This variety, as the name suggests, has much larger leaves and is a lot more resilient than it’s Camillia Sinensis cousin, with many trees living to be over 100 years old.

With its cloud veiled mountains, Yunnan provides the perfect ecological conditions for these trees to thrive, producing high quantities of amino acids, chlorophyll, cartenoids and other phytonutrients (thought to have health-giving properties) which saturate their broad leaves.

The region from which the tea is cultivated plays an important role in the integrity of the tea, and The Yunnan Provincial Government has gone as far as to state that for truly authentic Puerh tea, it must have been grown in one of the eleven named areas from the Lancang (Mekong) river basin region.

Pu’erh is unique compared to other teas, in that it is not drunk fresh, but aged before it is consumed. This is done through either natural or aided fermentation, implemented once the leaves have been picked, naturally withered, heated, hand rolled, and then dried.

Our Pu’erh Tuo Cha goes through the aided fermentation process, also referred to as ‘cooked’ Pu’erh, which was a method created during the 1970s. This process speeds up the aging process by adding a controlled amount of water to the leaves, to aid fermentation. The dampened leaves are then wrapped in cotton and allowed to mature for up to 90 days in warm and humid conditions. There is uncertainty as to wether a special bacterial culture is added to aid the fermentation, sometimes rumoured to be old, ground pu’erh, but this is where much of the tea’s mystery lies!

The fermented tea is then sorted and graded, and either left loose or pressed into various shapes, including disks, squares and sometimes into elaborate moulds, creating an embossed pattern in the tea. Pu’erh teas have been pressed since they were first produced, but this was because they were the first teas to be heavily traded throughout China and it’s neighboring countries, so were compacted into bamboo baskets to aid transportation, rather than carried loose in tea chests.

~ An embossed 'brick' of Pu'erh ~

Pu’erh teas come in many more decorative shapes and sizes, and are usually named after their shape; ‘Tuo Cha’ literally means ‘Bowl Tea’!

As well as for more practical reasons like easy storage and transportation, Pu’erh teas are also compressed to help preserve their ‘Qi’ - the ‘life energy’ that resonates in all things according to traditional Chinese belief. We love the idea that our tea has a ‘spirit’, so couldn’t resist getting them tested by a local kinesiologist, who discovered that they resonated on the highest scale, meaning their ‘Qi’ is still going strong!

Of course, on a slightly less esoteric and more sensory note, they also taste delicious! The large bricks and disks of tea are drunk by chipping off portions using a knife, whereas the smaller Tuo Cha is simply unwrapped and used whole, the leaves breaking apart as their dark and flavoursome nectar infuse into the hot water. It is often recommend that when drinking Pu’erh, it is best to rinse the leaves first by infusing for 30 seconds, then discarding the fluid before making the infusion you intend to drink. This can be easily done using one of our Tea-Makers.

Pu’erh tea is well known for its very distinct smell and taste, which is characteristically strong, rich and earthy. Pu’erhs range from producing a pale yellow, golden nectar, to the redder, darker colours, like our Tuo Cha.

Pu’erh teas significantly improve with age, if stored correctly, and like fine wines are often bought as investments and some of the finest vintages commanding significant price tags. However, this tea is held in such high esteem throughout China, it is a price many people are prepared to pay, and have been doing so since its early production when it was the tea of preference amongst those of regal and empirical status.

Another significant reason Pu’erh tea is held in such high regard in China, and possibly the main reason to it’s growing popularity worldwide, is it’s perceived health benefits and long standing use in Chinese Medicine. Just start typing it into Google, and before even finishing you’re presented with a list of suggestions, all along the lines of “health benefits” and “weight loss tea”.

In traditional Chinese Medicine, Pu’erh teas are believed to have the highest ‘Yin’ energy, making them grounding and stabalising. They are also believed to be beneficial for the liver, spleen and digestive system, all organs which aid the removal of toxins from the body, hence why it is often marketed as a ‘detox’ tea. It is also believed to help dispel the effects of alcohol, and we often use it as a hangover preventative by drinking a few cups beforehand!

Pu’erh, like many teas, contains the antioxidant flavanoids, which have been associated with helping to lower cholesterol and reduce blood pressure. Perhaps most notably, French researchers from St Antoine Hospital in Paris found that drinking three cups of Pu’erh tea a day for one month reduced lipids down 25% in 20 hyperlipidemia patients, whilst those on other teas showed no change.

Findings like these help to give Pu’erh it’s reputation as a ‘weight loss’ tea, by helping to metabolise fat. However, we never sell Pu’erh on the basis of it being a weight loss aid, and always state that a healthy diet and exercise is the simplest, safest and most effective way to lose weight. Perhaps drink a cup of pu’erh after meals, to aid digestion and settle the stomach.

We strongly believe that tea should be drunk to be enjoyed, and the health benefits that it may bring are only a part of what makes it such a special drink. We feel that the history, the colour, the taste, aroma and stories are all pivotal in what makes each tea drinking experience unique and special to each person.

With that, we hope you enjoyed discovering more about Pu’erh tea (I certainly did!) and are keen to try some. You can either pop into our Tea-bar and we’ll be happy to show you our teas and let you experience the unique aroma we mentioned, or take advantage of these last few days of January where you can buy any of our Pu’erh teas (including the ATTIC Tea Pouch)at a special discounted price.

Tea and thee

This morning, as I went to our kitchen cupboard, I was rather suprised to discover that I had been the victim of a scandalous affair:

Had my bleary eyes deceived me? Was my fresh, whole-leafy goodness not enough anymore?

I shouldn't have worried, as it turns out to have been a free sample which was just in transit to the 'Tea Bag Jar' at my partner's staff room, and it gave me the opportunity to have a tea bag vs loose leaf rant (a slightly calmer version of which, will be appearing shortly as a blog post!) to get rid of any early morning tension.

Thankfully, normal domestic bliss has now been resumed:

"My blood is not red, but green, like tea..."

Although this audio clip focusses on the tea ceremony in Japanese culture, it makes some very interesting points about the importance of tea as a means to help nourish the soul, and why slowing down and taking the time to savour what's around us, is more and more important in our busy lives.

Good Times!

Despite the snow outside, our cockles have been thoroughly warmed by Jane Pettigrew's blog, which asked several UK tea shops, including ATTIC, whether 2009 had been a good year.

The good news is, it seems that 2009 was a great year for tea suppliers and drinkers! We're working hard to make 2010 even better yet!

Share the good vibes here.

Let it snow...

The very lovely Mr Tom Ashton has given us the opportunity to go and play in the snow, as he has written a very nice blog post for us here, meaning our work here is done for the day!

Have a great weekend folks, and we'll be back on Monday!

Ps* did you spot "Frostea" the snowman by the door?

Happy New Year!

‘We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.’

~ Aristotle

We hope you all had a lovely time during the festive period, and are entering the new decade feeling refreshed, rested and optimistic.

New Year often becomes a time of reflection, thinking about the year just gone and how we lead on from it. This year it seems more significant, as we are not only marking the start of a new year, but also a new decade - no doubt a lot of changes have occurred in our lives since celebrating the new millennium!

New Year has also become synonymous with a ‘new start’, which in turn manifests itself as “new years’ resolutions”. However, after an initial surge of enthusiasm, most of us have fallen by the wayside by the end of January, feeling disheartened and demotivated.

This is usually because we just try to do to much at once, fueled by the excitement of a ‘fresh start’, which often gets misinterpreted as ‘changing everything NOW’.

But what has this got to do with tea? I hear you cry! (or maybe just my boss....) Well, we like to think that ATTIC provides a product that people will enjoy, and our main focus is to encourage people to enjoy tea as part of their everyday lives, hopefully bringing a little bit of joy in the process (aah). We want you to see your cup of tea as a companion through life’s journey, providing comfort, refreshment and an excuse to get up from your desk!

Throughout January, we will be writing a short series of blog posts about how tea can play a positive part in your life for 2010, starting next week with how it can help flush out some of the Christmas pudding and champagne that’s still lingering in our systems as “detox” and healthy living tend to be popular promises people make to themselves in the New Year.

Which brings us back to resolutions. I personally have stopped making them, but instead think of a handful of habits or skills I’d like to develop over the year, and continue any success’ from the previous year, as it’s important to acknowledge and focus on our achievements.

So, with that in mind, we’ve put together a small list of websites that we hope will provide you with some inspiration and information to help make 2010 a great year!

Some tips for change

Zen habits

Making resolutions a reality (the uncluttered way)

Think differently

Do yoga!

Learn to say "hello" to anyone in the world

Tea Appreciation Society share the love...

Yet another blog feature, this time from the tea-loving creative genius' at The Tea Appreciation Society!

Please click here to read the lovely things they had to say about our Tea Pouch!

Jane Pettigrew Blog feature

Wow, we can't believe December is upon us already and another year nearly over. It's been a busy couple of months at ATTIC, with various preparations and projects, and we were recently lucky enough to be visited by Jane Pettigrew - tea guru and all round lovely lady!

Jane is a leading tea authority, and has written several books about tea, as well as teaching regular tea master classes.

She also writes a blog for World Tea News, of which her latest addition features us and her visit to Bristol.

Read her blog here!

Silver Needle - reviewed by Teatunes

The lovely folks at Teatunes recently reviewed our Silver Needle tea.

Click here to read the full review, and discover what made them conclude it has an "effortless cool that captivates and intrigues"

Beatles day!

Happy Beatles day! We're celebrating the fab four in our own special way on twitter by coming up with various Beatles themed tea-puns! Join in the fun at #beatlestea for classics such as 'Loose-tea in the Sky with Diamonds' and 'Dig a (white) Peony'...... no cringing!

It's a good day...

We're having such a lovely day at ATTIC today, we thought we'd share the good vibes!

It seems that all the elements in our 'manifesto' point highlighted above are being met in delightful ways - It's one of our team's Birthday (Happy Birthday Will!) so we've been enjoying some delicious cake, people have been coming in with well-wishes and in generally good moods thanks to the sunshine, we're all going out for drinks after work and we've been enjoying plenty of tea in-store.

We were also treated (and it was a treat...) to an impromptu performance from one of the classical guitar tutors down the road, which made our day! So many thanks to Pat at the Spanish Guitar Centre - pop back in again soon!

We hope everyone else is having a good day too ♥

ATTIC at The Big Chill

~Enjoying some tea & chill~

When the lovely folks from The East Room  asked if we’d like to serve our tea in their ‘Green Room’ at The Big Chill festival earlier this month, we’d packed up the ATTIC-mobile, popped on our wellies and went driving up to Herefordshire before you could say “Basement Jaxx”…

~The ATTIC-mobile!~

Once we’d worked our way through the fields and past some bizzarely placed Chesterfield sofas we arrived in the VIP area to find our “tea tent”, which was a beautiful Mongolian Yurt, lavishly decorated with cushions, rugs, beanbags, beds and sofas which created an atmosphere that more than lived up to the festival’s namesake. 

~ inside our beautiful "tea tent"~

We took our ‘One Leaf, Many Lives’ range of teas to serve, consisting of our pick of the finest teas representing each category of White, Scented, Green, Oolong, Pu-erh and Black teas, allowing visitors to sample the full spectrum of flavours. Promoting the teas by their ‘sensations’, we were able to generate a lot of excitement about our teas. The way that tea makes you feel has always been an important factor to us, so it was great to see other people starting to view tea in this way!

~Our 'One Leaf, Many Lives' menu~

 Our Tea-makers also came into their own in the festival environment, providing delicious drinks easily and endlessly with no mess and very little waste – no teabags, and the leftover leaves create the perfect compost for plants!

We had a fantastic time at the festival, and was a wonderful opportunity for us to spread the tea-love with some great creative minds, who discovered how tea could accompany them in their moments of contemplation, fuel conversations and feed moments of genius.

We’ll be listening out for some tea-themed new-releases in the coming months!

~welcome into the wonderful world of tea - just remember, no shoes!~

New Look, New Shop

There's a new look taking over ATTIC headquarters! After feeling inspired by our manifesto and its giant metaphorical lightbulb, we have started to incorporate elements of the design into our overall branding and image, such as our new webshop.

We hope the new graphics are fun, friendly and welcoming - how we want your tea experience to be! 

We'll keep you updated on how things progress, and if you're in Bristol, keep an eye-out for our newly branded ATTIC-mobile, complete with tea-maker!

ATTIC Manifesto

At ATTIC, we've been having a good hard think about the things that matter to us; what we love, what we believe. 

After staring blankly at a Word document for an hour trying to create an official manifesto, we decided that several cups of tea (Dragonwell, Silver Needle and Tippy Yunnan to be exact...) and a good chat were in order to work out what was really making us tick. After discovering our individual missions to chase crop-circles, learn about Mayan history and accumulate the entire Bruce Springsteen back-catalogue (we did digress occasionally...) we managed to agree on several beliefs, loves and philosophies that united us in Tea!

The result of which is our ATTIC manifesto, where tea infuses with our daily lives and passions, to create our unique little worlds.

We hope you enjoy sharing our thoughts, and maybe even find something in common!

(Ps* If anyone knows where to find some bargain Bruce Springsteen Vinyl.....) 

Tea of the Week: Ti Guan Yin / Iron Goddess of Mercy

Ti Guan Yin, meaning ‘Iron Goddess of Mercy’, is one China’s most famous and special Oolong teas.

Legend has it that a poor farmer who maintained a dilapidated old temple to the bodhisattva of compassion, Quan Yin, saw her in a dream where she directed him where to look for his reward, which he was to share with the whole community. In the directed location, there stood a solitary tea sprout, which the farmer nurtured like a gift from heaven. Since then the whole region has prospered from the production of this tea.

Traditionally, Ti Guan Yin is served gongfu style (a fine art to tea serving, where the smallest details are carefully monitored to extract the best possible taste from the tea leaves), steeping the tea in a fist sized pot and drinking it from small ‘shot’ cups, often made from fine pottery. When served in this way, it becomes one of the strongest teas available, but still retains its incredible delicacy.

Oolong teas are semi-fermented, sitting between green and black teas in terms of strength and flavour. Because of this, they are amongst the most diverse and complex-tasting teas, ranging from refreshing and delicate emerald greens, to the strong and roasted flavours of near ebony leaves.

Sitting at the greener end of Oolongs, Ti Guan Yin is a fine example of the many levels of flavour this group of tea offers. Its tightly rolled leaves unfurl to a vast volume, allowing them to be re-used several times with little dilution of flavour. 

It's one of the teas we frequently fall back on when we need a 'pick me up' during the day, with its rich, strong and refreshing taste, we hope you'll see why it’s considered a gift from the heavens!

 

Dragonwell Drawings

Winner:

~Pippy, 7~

Runners Up:

~Joe, 12~

~Lucy, 11~

~Sammy, 4~

~Alex, 4~

We were amazed at the amount of artistic talent shown in our 'Dragonwell Drawing Competition' which we held on our Birthday.

It was tough picking out the winners, as we could find something special with all the entries, but in the end Pippy's smiling, colourful fire-breathing dragon  caught our eye. Congratulations Pippy, we hope you enjoy the sweeties and Mum enjoys the bag of Dragonwell!

A special mention also goes to our runers-up. We were impressed with Joe's attention to detail, and giving us our own ATTIC Tea well, Lucy's magical tea-loving dragon  and Birthday wishes, Sammy's happy flying dragon, and the sheer character in the face of Alex's Dragon. Well done to all of you!

And as we were so impressed with all the entries, here they are for you to enjoy:

~Erin, 7~

~Emily, 13~

~Abby, 7~

~Ellie, 9~

~Danny, 4~

~Maddy, 7~

~James, 7~

~Florie, 13~

~Ethan, 7~

Finally, those who are never too old for crayons....

~Clive, 50~

~Henry, 28~

~Caroline, 20~

~Sue, undisclosed!~

~Simon,  41~

Thanks to all who entered!

Birthday!

~Balloons = Birthday!~

On Monday, ATTIC celebrated its 3rd Birthday! A big "thank you" to everyone who came and showed their support, as we really couldn't have come this far without you. 

The day was a big success, with plenty of people taking part in our 'Guess the number of teaballs', 'find All The Tea In China' and Dragon(well) drawing competitions - the lucky winners will be announced at the end of the week, and a gallery of our dragon pictures will be up on the blog in a few days time. There was some fantastic artistic talent shown, ranging from ages 3 - 50. Some people really don't lose their competitive streak!

~Earl Grey Shortbread~

~Earl Grey Biscotti~

We also had some special tea-based treats, including home-made Earl Grey Shortbread, Earl Grey, cherry and walnut biscotti and a specially made Keemun and cardamon iced tea which were all well received. Equally enjoyed was the free jelly and ice cream, by little and big kids alike!

~Freshly baked cake!~

And finally, an extra special "thanks" to all the lovely folks who brought us cake, jam-tarts and general sweet-based goodness!  It was a fantastic day that will be fondly remembered.

So, as we enter our fourth year, we hope to make lots of exciting progress with making the ATTIC experience more enjoyable for you. We've been working on developing community projects, new products and a better establishment of our philosophy on life and tea. 

Here's to another great year!

~To a tea-tastic future!~