Empire Tea was featured on WISH-TV Indiana Grown local company spotlight. Watch the Empire Tea owner, Guy, talk about the company live on TV...

“You will think I write a lot about the scenery, but if you saw it you would not think I said too much” – James Taylor (Pioneering tea planter describing Ceylon in a letter to his father in Scotland in 1858) In Sri Lanka, the relevance of tea to the game of cricket extends further than that of a...

James Taylor set sail from Scotland at the age of 17 for Ceylon, Sri Lanka now. He never returned to his country of origin, but the impact of his work has changed the tea industry. Originally coffee was the main agricultural export of Sri Lanka until a disease brought the crop to its knees....

The term chai was originally used for a healing brew of spices and herbs that varied by the season and region. The chai we know and love today developed a life of its own when adopted into different regions of India and is now not only a traditional drink, but a tradition of its own...

Spring weather is finally here after getting a rocky, up-and-down start! Matcha is served in so many was and has so many touted health benefits. It is a fine powder that is carefully grown in a lengthy process. The plants are covered and shade-grown for a couple weeks before the leaves are harvested, steamed, dried and aged...

Although many celebrate the new year. Not many come close to the beautiful celebration of Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.  Chinese marbled tea eggs are a tradition during the Chinese New Year. According to an article on steamykitchen.com these eggs symbolize golden nuggets for the Chinese New Year feast...

We make hot chocolate, tea, coffee, eggnog, and hot cider to keep the cold away. Hot chocolate has an interesting, long history like tea. It began in Mexico and South America where cocoa beans are grown and was used to treat stomach and liver diseases before reaching popularity as a comfort food. When we came across a recipe for Earl Grey hot chocolate we thought it would be an interesting combination...

The debate is endless- do you throw a tea bag into some water and nuke it in the microwave or heat up water on the stove or in a water warmer/boiler? There are pros and cons to both methods. It might be a choice between convenience, caffeine content, and taste. Traditional brewing methods have stood up to time and trial. Pouring hot water over a tea bag or tea infuser and allowing it to steep allows for....

This time of year squash and tea seem to be everywhere in different forms. Thanksgiving especially gives us the opportunity to try different foods! Recently here at Empire Tea we were approached and asked for tea for a marinade which gave us the idea to cook with tea. Rooibos is an African herbal tisane or red tea. It has a strong perfume and taste, which is the reason this recipe, Rooibos Butternut “Pizzettas”....

It can be seen when certain fruits and vegetables turn brown after having been cut open. This includes potatoes, bananas, apples, and avocados. But what is oxidation in relation to tea? Oxidation (often incorrectly referred to as fermentation) is a chemical process whereby the compounds in the cells of tea leaves are exposed to oxygen in the atmosphere during rolling of tea leaves...

Darjeeling teas which are regarded as the 'Champagne' of teas, are normally classified as a type of black tea, but the degree of oxidation, particularly at the start of the season is below 100%. If by classification, black teas are 100% oxidized, then First flush Darjeeling teas, because they are only partially oxidized (70%-80%) cannot be classified as black teas, but more like Oolong teas. Oxidization is the process by which the browning of tea leaves...

Pumpkin Spice began it’s life as ‘pumpkin pie spice’ when spice companies bundled the most common spices used to make pumpkin pie. The ‘pumpkin spice’ blend usually includes cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. This very distinct blend has gone through many different iterations and fluctuated in popularity since the 1950’s which has lead to the many pumpkin spice products of today...