The first question that popped in my head upon receiving the whole tea proposition was, “Can I still drink coffee?”

I was never much of a coffee drinker until I took my current job. There’s something about an office setting. The whole cubicle wall/Post-It/pant suit combo voodoo curse that makes one crave hazelnut creamer.

But I was assured that I could still drink coffee, I just needed to make time in the day for three cups of tea. My morning is a Monk’s Blend, then at lunch I have Wuyi Oolong, and the afternoon belongs to Pu-erh Tuo-cha.

Yesterday was my first on the program, and you know what? I didn’t have a single cup of coffee. The curse is broken. And I don’t have to sacrifice a monkey or walk on a bed of hot coals. I mean, I still might, but I’m not obligated to.

Weight loss, watch out. And you watch out, too, Mr. Jojo. Stupid monkey.

So when I’m not thinking about ways to improve our tea delivery times or planning out amazing tea gift ideas, I have begun dabbling in the world of improv theatre, (think “who’s line is it anyway”, or the new “thank g-d you’re here”). Anyway, I always thought I’d be great at this because as a child I had a very active imagination. However, little did I realize this stuff is actually a craft just like anything else that can only be learned with tons of practice and a great teacher.

Enter Andrew Hanson. Andrew is a improv teacher and performer at the West Side Eclectic, who had the very challenging task of teaching me. Recently, I found out that he was a participant in te West Side’s big weight loss competition. I jumped on the chance of Art of Tea sponsoring my coach with the competition. The rules were simple:

We give him 3 different types of tea to pick and choose from (varietea is the spice of life)… at the very minimum he had to drink 2 cups of tea. Andrew is a coffee freak, so to be fair we let him continue to have his coffee, BUT for every cup of coffee he drank (and by the way a cup is defined as 8oz, so that Grande Venta Mate Big Gulp counts as 4 cups), he had to have an additional cup of tea (above the 2 minimum). We figured he’d either break through the habit, or become very intimate with the men’s rest room.

We also asked him to document his experience with the competition and our tea, for better or for worse… ladies and gentleman, I present to you our first of many real life experiments..

Today while I was working, an imposing man of about six foot three bombarded me with questions about our tea. He wanted to know about everything. Which tea was the healthiest, what jasmine tea was, what the difference between green and black tea was, what it was to have bubbles in your drink, and eventually he settled with a melon jasmine tea with bubbles. It was unusual and I could tell right away something wasn’t right; he had an unusual smirk on his face as if he knew something I didn’t. A few minutes later my boss walks up behind me and lets the man into the preparation area. It was Steve from Art of Tea. He was brought into Dallas to educate the Fat Straws employees on teas. You can imagine I felt like a genius…

Later that night we began our tea clinic. We started out with white teas, moved to green teas, to oolong teas, to black teas, to pu-erhs, to tisanes. We were inundated with information. About halfway through our lesson we came to the most interesting tea to me. It was the Pu-erh. The leaves are steamed quickly and then stored in caves where they ferment. Steve informed us that Pu-erh is similar to a fine wine and that it grows and changes as it ages.

And in a similar way it is a connoisseurs tea. It can be stored over fifty years old. I’m in love with it. It has an earthy taste that changes slightly with each brew. I’ve steeped the same leaves three times now and it is evolving every time. The first brew was my favorite, but it relaxed my body and managed to clear my mind every time; the perfect way to wind down a long day. Pu-erh is the perfect evening tea for me.

This post is written by Jake Windahl, an aspiring tea enthusiast and team member at Fat Straws in Dallas, Texas.

Legend has it that a monk summoned a dragon to save a village from a drought. The rains came and a well is still present today delivering fresh spring water to the meadow. Our Organic Dragonwell is cultivated in the Spring time in the West lake of Zhejiang, China. The leaves drenched in morning dew make this tea a prized modity. A favorite of the tea connoisseur with its four unique characteristics: flat sword shaped leaves, jade green color, fresh aroma, and a gentle mellow flavor.

In Yunnan, Xishuangbanna China the Sanctuary Management Bureau set up the first wild butterfly sanctuary in the China mainland region famous for puerh production. The butterflies come out annually for ten days once a year. Here butterflies visit various tropical zones and help to pollinate wild and cultivated tea trees.

Blend of organic flower-scented white teas, wild roses, organic peppermint, and seasonally selected botanicals. Great for an after meal pick up or late night elixir used to refresh the mind and enhance the mood. One pot can make the night sweet and reminiscent. Share it with someone you love.