Pouring tea is one of my favorite parts of the tea ritual. The weight of the teapot in hand, the steady stream of clear water and the soft sound of water hitting cup ground me in the moment. The art of tea pouring reaches new heights as shown in this video of a tea master pouring in a tea house in Chengdu, China. So watch closely, then get your own long spouted teapot and practice your pour. Your friends and tea drinking peers will certainly be dazzled.

Every year the Tea Council of the USA holds its Calm-a-Sutra National Scholarship Competition.   Students are asked to submit a 1-2 minute original video on YouTube extolling the virtues of tea.  The winner this year receives a $15,000 scholarship towards their education. With over 1,100 entries, the 2009 winner will be announced on the Calm-a-Sutra website on Tuesday, September 29. The 2008 winner was a video shown below called “Interrogation” by John Ford who was a graduate student attending the American Film Institute (AFI)  in pursuit of a Masters of Fine Arts in Film Directing. 

I’m always keeping my eye open for cool and unique teapot designs that take the art of brewing tea to another level. The elegance of the tea brewing process lends itself to new creative designs providing fertile ground for the intersection of design, art, culture and technology. One favorite design that I recently stumbled upon comes from Chicago-based design team Vessel Ideation.  They were among the winners chosen for this teapot and kettle combo called One in this year’s World Kitchen Tea-Off Competition.  World Kitchen chose 3 winners out of 237 entries and 25 honorees.

The One teapot can both boil water and serve as a a tabletop teapot.   After filling with water you place the teapot directly on the stove, and the devices thermochromic ink (a space invader, flower and other patterns exist) appears when the water begins to boil. 

I love the fact that blue flowers or space invaders can let you know when its ready to serve.  The teapot then attaches to a magnetic trivet so you can use tabletop.  You can see a video of how it works online.

Here is an interesting diagram of the insides of the One for all the techies out there.  What is the most unique teapot or tea kettle you have seen recently?

We want to thank all of the tea fans that participated in our Mighty Leaf “Mug Shot” Photo Contest on Facebook.  It’s always fun to see how tea can inspire creativity with art and photography.  Photos submitted provided us with colorful insight into people’s personalities as shown by how they chose to portray themselves with their favorite mug of tea.  All of our winners were selected by members of Facebook who voted for their favorite photos.  You can see all of the photos submitted on our Facebook Fan Page. 

1st Place:  Voters chose Tess Bingham’s photo as the 1st place winner.  She took her photo on Fillmore Street in San Francisco where Mighty Leaf first started as a tea house.

1st Place Winner – Tess Bingham

2nd Place:  Micah Hearn.  He is a big fan of Orange Dulce!

2nd Place Winner – Micah Hearn

3rd Place:  Hayley Roy.  We like the colorful, effervescent collage that is steaming from her cup.

Stay tuned for more Mighty Leaf contests in the future.  Happy steeping! 

3rd Place Winner – Hayley Roy

Steeped in History: The Art of Tea, an exhibition running from August 16-November 29, 2009 at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, sheds light on the history of tea as it traveled through Asia, Europe and America.  Tea’s impact on the cultures of these three continents is reflected in visual arts that include ceramics, textiles, painting and drawings.  The Fowler exhibit presents a collection of art that includes rare Chinese ceramics and paintings, 18th- and 19th-centuery Japanese ceramics and prints, English and Colonial American paintings, vintage photos and documents and more.

The exhibit is guest currated by Beatrice Hohenegger author of Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West (St. Martin’s Press) . She has put together what looks like an impressive collection of artifacts and art documenting how tea gained popularity as it traveled from ancient China and to beyond.   Below is an example from the exhibit called Susanna Truax, an American Folk Art Painting Portrait by an unknown artist. 

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We would like to celebrate the many uses of Mighty Leaf tea by sharing with you photos of dresses made by two separate artists using our signature tea pouches.  Inspired by the beauty of the pouches, these two artists independently designed the dresses.  Susana Aragon created the dress in the photo on the left, and Shelly Smith the dress worn by the model on the right.

There are many uses for used tea pouches or tea bags.  But, these two artists have literally made the perfect tea party dress.  Enjoy some more photos below:

Aragon’s design:

Smith’s design: