Seven Cups News Archive
Spring Tea, Cold Winters, Currency Fluctuation, & Labor Reform
Posted: April 14th, 2008
It’s spring time and the early green tea has been harvested. Although the crop is very good, prices will be up this year for a number of reasons. The winter in China was a long and cold with a lot of snow. While the snow was welcome in some areas that did not get as much last year because of the early spring, still the prime picking season was shortened this year. During the Spring Festival this year, hundreds of thousands of travelers were stranded by the storms from one side of China to the other. Especially hard hit this year were the green tea growing areas. The shortened spring caused the supply to be greatly reduced causing the price of quality green tea to rise.
There are other factors driving up the price. The price for good quality pickers has risien for a couple of reason. The first is a labor reform law that was passed this year the requires employers that pay 28% of a workers wages for a type of social security to help for retirement and other social benefits. While this is a great benefit for workers it raises the cost of tea production. There is another issue involved in raising the price of good quality tea. A lot of pickers have left the country for the city. This is a nationwide issue in agriculture in general, and because good pickers are very skilled, the shortage has also raised the price.
The other major factor is the weak dollar. The trend will probably continue over time as the Chinese economy continues to grow, the strength of the RMB will continue to grow too. China has tried to keep the RMB low to aid the price of exports, but they have started to adjust it against the dollar. The days of cheap imports from China are gradually starting to come to a close.
Of course, quality tea has never been cheap in China, but with the Chinese economy doing so well, the competition for the best tea is increasing. With the new restrictions on Chinese tea exports, ( I will write about this later) Chinese tea producers are seeing the domestic market as being far more attractive than the subsidized export market. This could have an affect on the number of producers that are organic certified. As a long time supporter of organics we will continue to help producers pay for organic certifications, but it may reduce the overall number. This may not happen, however, because the domestic market is becoming better informed and more demanding about the safety of the Chinese food supply. The environmental movement inside of China is also gaining momentum. It will be interesting to see what will happen over the next few years. Certainly things are changing and changing rapidly.
Austin
Tea Makers with Keiko
Posted: April 4th, 2008
ALL Video Podcasts
Welcome to our weekly video podcast with Andrea Serrano and special guest Keiko Naito, manager of Seven Cups teahouse.
Today’s topic: Tea Makers
Thank you all for your comments regarding our video podcasts. We would like to create future podcasts on topics you all are interested in, so please contact us with ideas.
Purple Sand Clay-Yixing Teaware Video Podcast
Posted: February 28th, 2008
ALL Video Podcasts
Welcome to our weekly video podcast with Andrea Serrano and Zhuping Hodge, tea master and owner of Seven Cups.
Today’s topic: Yixing Teaware
Thank you all for your comments regarding our video podcasts. We would like to create future podcasts on topics you all are interested in, so please contact us with ideas.
Uphill Journey to Distinction-Taiwan Oolong Video Podcast
Posted: February 8th, 2008
ALL Video Podcasts
Welcome to our weekly video podcast with Andrea Serrano and Zhuping Hodge, tea master and owner of Seven Cups.
Today’s topic: Taiwan Oolong
Thank you all for your comments regarding our video podcasts. We would like to create future podcasts on topics you all are interested in, so please contact us with ideas.
Uphill Journey to Distinction-Taiwan Oolong Video Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (397)Learn about Black Tea Video Podcast
Posted: January 18th, 2008
ALL Video Podcasts
Welcome to our weekly video podcast with Andrea Serrano and Zhuping Hodge, tea master and owner of Seven Cups. This week we give some basic history and information about Chinese Black Tea.
Today’s topic: Black Tea Basics
Thank you all for your comments regarding our video podcasts. We would like to create future podcasts on topics you all are interested in, so please contact us with ideas.
Learn about Black Tea: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (347)
Learn about Black Tea: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (248)Tea Tasting in Tucson-Video Podcast
Posted: January 4th, 2008
ALL Video Podcasts
Welcome back to our weekly video podcast with Andrea Serrano and Zhuping Hodge, tea master and owner of Seven Cups. This week we are presenting a special puer tea tasting we had at our tea house in Tucson. We hope you enjoy it!
Today’s topic: Tea Tasting in Tucson
Happy New Year from Seven Cups!!!
Posted: December 28th, 2007
Zhuping, Austin and the whole Seven Cups family wish you good health and many blessings for the new year. We are looking forward to a fabulous 2008 with more on tea and tea culture. Although we are taking a video podcast break for the holiday, we will be back next week. Upcoming topics will include Types of Oolong Tea, History of Black Tea, Tea and Health Benefits.
How to brew tea with various teaware-Video Podcast
Posted: November 30th, 2007
ALL Video Podcasts
Welcome to our weekly video podcast with Andrea Serrano and Zhuping Hodge, tea master and owner of Seven Cups.
(p.s. this videocast is a little longer since we missed last week for the holiday break)
Today’s topic: How to brew tea with various teaware-tall glass, gaiwan and yixing pot
Scented Tea Video Podcast
Posted: November 16th, 2007
ALL Video Podcasts
Welcome to our weekly video podcast with Andrea Serrano and Zhuping Hodge, tea master and owner of Seven Cups.
Today’s topic: Scented Tea-Information and Brewing Snow Drop, Jasmine Pearl and Love at First Sight
Yellow Tea Video Podcast
Posted: November 9th, 2007
ALL Video Podcasts
Welcome to our weekly video podcast with Andrea Serrano and Zhuping Hodge, tea master and owner of Seven Cups.
Today’s topic: Yellow Tea-History and Brewing in a Gaiwan
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