Teaviews Profile: Erika
My name is Erika and I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'm an archaeologist with a love of travel, history, and learning about other cultures. I'm currently working on my M.A. in Anthropology and Museum Studies, and between work and school, I keep very busy. My interests and hobbies include just about any outdoor activity, with a few of my favorites being camping, hiking, canoeing, biking, and snowshoeing. I also enjoy reading, listening to music, and watching movies.
My interest in tea started during high school and continued through college, with common bagged varieties such as Lipton and Bigelow. During those days, I was only interested in finding an alternative to coffee, and I spent many years happily consuming bagged tea, never realizing there were other options available.
After college, I started my career as an archaeologist and began traveling across the county. As a perk of traveling for work, I was given a per diem and I decided it would be fun to try some new tea with my extra cash. This was an overwhelming and eye opening experience. I had never realized there were so many options available and didn't really know where to start. I credit The Republic of Tea for piquing my interest in "gourmet" teas and after trying many new bagged varieties, it was only a matter of time before I moved on to loose-leaf options.
Soon I was scouring the Internet, searching for information and a place to order high quality loose-leaf teas. My search led me to the Special Teas and Adagio websites and I placed two large orders of samples. At the time, I had no idea what type of tea I liked so I sampled a wide variety of different teas, keeping track of the ones that interested me.
It was around this time that I also discovered Tea Source, a teahouse in Minneapolis. Each Tuesday, during their sample day, I would head over to the store to try new teas. This turned into a weekly visit and is still my favorite way to try new teas. I also signed up for tea classes in an effort to learn more about the different types of tea and tea culture.
That brings me to today. I would say that I've been serious about tea for two years or so and tea has turned into a serious hobby. My favorite types of tea include Chinese greens and Indian blacks and these two categories have been my focal point. My favorite green is Pi Lo Chun and my favorite black is Nilgiri. I also enjoy trying different varieties of white, oolong, and puerh teas.
Erika's Favorite Tea Products
9/10
Recent Posts by Erika:
| Review: Yogic Chai White Masala Chai | 14 Mar 2010 | |
| Review: The Necessiteas Coco La Ven | 02 Mar 2010 | |
| Review: Narien Teas Keemun Imperial | 01 Mar 2010 | |
| Review: Canton Tea Co. Jasmine Yin Zhen | 27 Feb 2010 | |
| Review: TeaGschwendner Green Coconut | 05 Jan 2010 | |
| Review: Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Mojito Mint | 08 Nov 2009 | |
| Review: Red Leaf Tea White Pomegranate | 06 Nov 2009 | |
| Review: Zhi Tea Tropical Green | 05 Nov 2009 | |
| Review: American Tea Room Extreme Vanilla | 04 Nov 2009 | |
| Review: Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Cherryberry | 16 Oct 2009 |
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