FindMeTea · Blog
Tea blog
Short articles about tea rituals, focus, sleep, digestion and how FindMeTea works.
Latest · Nov 11, 2026
Afternoon tea table setting: where every piece goes
An afternoon tea place setting, piece by piece: plate in the center, cup and saucer to the right, napkin to the left, plus the layout of the shared table.
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Hosting & the tea table6 articlesAfternoon tea at home, what to serve and how much of it.Afternoon tea table setting: where every piece goes · Tea mocktails for the holiday table: six from our catalog · Kids' tea party ideas: games, timing and caffeine-free cups
Afternoon tea table setting: where every piece goes
An afternoon tea place setting, piece by piece: plate in the center, cup and saucer to the right, napkin to the left, plus the layout of the shared table.
Tea mocktails for the holiday table: six from our catalog
Six alcohol-free tea drinks for the holiday table: caffeine levels, brewing numbers from our catalog, pitcher math for 8 to 12 guests and a make-ahead plan.
Kids' tea party ideas: games, timing and caffeine-free cups
How to throw a tea party for kids: caffeine-free teas they will drink, a 90-minute plan, games that work at the table and who handles the kettle.
Tea and food pairing: a starter map by tea type
Match the tea's weight to the food's, then echo or contrast one flavor. The two rules, and a map of what each tea family likes on the plate.
Tea party food: what to serve, with menus and quantities
Finger sandwiches, scones with cream and jam, and small sweets — the classic tea party formula, with per-guest quantities and three sample menus.
How to host a tea party at home: afternoon tea, no fancy set required
How to host a tea party at home: what you truly need, what you can skip, and simple layouts for seated or buffet service with any teapot you own.
Origins & types of tea10 articlesWhere the leaf comes from and how the families differ.Nokcha, explained: a guide to Korean green tea · Kenyan tea, explained: the black workhorse and purple tea · Moroccan mint tea, explained: gunpowder, mint and sugar
Nokcha, explained: a guide to Korean green tea
What nokcha is, how Korean green tea differs from Japanese and Chinese greens, what its four harvest grades mean and how to brew it: 167°F (75°C), 90 s, 3 g.
Kenyan tea, explained: the black workhorse and purple tea
What Kenyan black tea is, why most of it is CTC leaf built for a fast, strong cup, how the rare purple-leaf cultivar differs, and how to brew both at home.
Moroccan mint tea, explained: gunpowder, mint and sugar
What Moroccan mint tea (té moruno) is made of, why the mint is spearmint, how the three-glass pour works and how to brew it at home with our catalog numbers.
Turkish tea, explained: how çay is brewed and served
What Turkish tea is, where Rize çay grows, how the two-pot çaydanlık makes a concentrate you dilute to taste in a tulip glass, and how to brew it at home.
Sheng vs shou pu-erh: raw and ripe, explained
Sheng is raw, sun-dried pu-erh that ages for decades; shou is pile-fermented in weeks to taste aged now. How each is made, tastes and brews.
Hojicha, explained: Japan's roasted green tea
What hojicha is, why roasting turns a green tea brown and mellow, where it came from, and how to brew it hot, iced or roasted fresh at home.
Assam black tea, explained: malt, flushes and milk
What makes Assam black tea malty: the assamica plant, a valley at sea level and the second flush. Plus the brew our catalog uses.
Sri Lanka tea, explained: Ceylon's regions and styles
What Ceylon tea is, why the name outlived the island's 1972 rename, and how altitude sorts Sri Lanka's seven tea regions into distinct styles.
Darjeeling tea: the champagne of teas, and what's protected
Why Darjeeling earns the champagne of teas name, what its Geographical Indication protects, and how the three flushes taste different.
Beginner’s guide to tea types
The six true teas plus tisanes and chai: how each is made, what it tastes like, and where the black tea English Breakfast fits in.
Caffeine & energy7 articlesHow much is really in the cup, and what that does to your day.Tea by the hour: what to drink at each time of day · The September reset: rebuild your daily tea routine · Does rooibos have caffeine? The honest answer
Tea by the hour: what to drink at each time of day
Which tea suits the first cup, mid-morning, after lunch, late afternoon and evening, tea by tea, with the caffeine level and brew numbers from our catalog.
The September reset: rebuild your daily tea routine
Summer scatters tea habits. Rebuild the routine with one anchored cup, the caffeine step that fits the hour, and a shelf small enough to finish.
Does rooibos have caffeine? The honest answer
No — rooibos is naturally caffeine-free. It comes from a South African legume shrub, not the tea plant, so there was never any caffeine to remove.
Caffeine in tea: the honest ladder from herbal to matcha
A tea caffeine chart by family, plus the honest ladder behind it: what sits at zero, what clusters in the middle, and what moves the needle.
Low‑caffeine and caffeine‑free teas for the afternoon
The safest low-caffeine picks for after lunch, with real brew times: rooibos, chamomile, white tea, hojicha, kukicha, and why decaf isn't a true zero.
Matcha vs coffee: caffeine, taste and the morning ritual
How the two actually compare on caffeine, flavour and preparation — and which one suits your morning.
What to drink while you work, by caffeine level
Matcha, sencha and black tea compared on caffeine, flavour and brewing — for a desk, not a lab.
Brewing & method10 articlesWater, time, ratios and keeping the leaf fresh.Tea gift ideas by person: 8 profiles, 3 picks each · DIY tea advent calendar: 24 days, your own picks · Matcha latte at home: ratios, milk and iced version
Tea gift ideas by person: 8 profiles, 3 picks each
Which tea to give, sorted by the person: eight profiles by caffeine and habit, three picks each, and the three numbers to write on the card.
DIY tea advent calendar: 24 days, your own picks
How to build a tea advent calendar at home: which 24 teas to choose, how many grams go in each pocket, how to order the days and what to write on each card.
Matcha latte at home: ratios, milk and iced version
A matcha latte is a whisked base plus milk, in that order. The catalog dose, the water that makes the base smooth, and how the iced one differs.
How to brew loose leaf tea without an infuser
You don't need an infuser: give the leaves room in a glass, a pot or a French press, then strain as you pour. Four methods, with doses from our catalog.
How to make matcha at home: the complete method
Sift 2 g of matcha, pour water at 75°C and whisk in a W motion until a fine foam forms. Tools, ratios, temperature and fixes for bitter bowls.
Masala chai from scratch: the stovetop method
Real masala chai is simmered, not steeped: whole spices and strong black tea in half water, half milk. The stovetop method, step by step.
Tea brewing chart: temperature and time by type
A tea steeping guide and temperature chart by type: water, time and how much leaf per cup for every family, plus the two that break the chart.
Cold brew tea ratios: the fridge method that never turns bitter
Cold brew tea ratio in grams per liter: 8–16 g of loose leaf per liter (4–8 tea bags), 8–12 hours in the fridge. Bands per family and fixes for weak pitchers.
How to store tea: the five enemies of fresh leaves
Air, light, heat, moisture and smells stale tea long before it spoils. The zero-cost setup that beats all five, and which teas to drink first.
How water temperature changes the taste of your tea
How to steep tea at the right temperature: why green tea turns bitter in water that's too hot, and the two fixes that aren't more leaf.
Rituals & winding down9 articlesEvening cups, small pauses and the habits built around them.Journaling prompts for your first ten minutes with tea · A morning routine checklist that starts with the kettle · Manzanilla tea is chamomile: one flower, two names
Journaling prompts for your first ten minutes with tea
Twelve journaling prompts sized to the kettle: three while the water heats, four during the steep, five over the cup, each with a morning tea and its brew.
A morning routine checklist that starts with the kettle
A morning routine checklist built around the kettle: what to set out the night before and what to do while the water heats, the tea steeps and you drink.
Manzanilla tea is chamomile: one flower, two names
Manzanilla tea and chamomile tea are the same flower in two languages. The two names, the two species behind them, and how our catalog brews it.
What are morning pages? The ritual, explained
Morning pages are three pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing done first thing in the morning — and tea is the anchor that makes it stick.
Breathing exercises to try while your tea steeps
Four breathing patterns timed to your tea: the kettle wait, the steep, the first sip and the cup itself. No app or equipment, just counts to follow.
Tea and mindfulness: mini pauses during the day
How to turn the minutes you already spend making tea into a short mindfulness pause — no app or extra time needed.
How to build a simple nightly tea ritual
A short, realistic routine that gives your evening a clear and repeatable ending.
Ginger, peppermint and fennel: the after-dinner cup
The herbs that traditionally close a meal — what each one tastes like and how to brew them properly.
The bedtime cup: what to drink when the day is done
Caffeine-free herbs for the last hour of the evening — what they taste like and how to brew them.
From FindMeTea11 articlesWhat we are adding to the site and how we pick what you read.Mexico City, Canberra, Omaha: nine cities and three countries join the map · Tokyo, Nairobi, Lima and Tel Aviv: a dozen countries join the tea shop map · Fourteen tea shop cities, from Vienna to La Plata, and Toronto refreshed
Mexico City, Canberra, Omaha: nine cities and three countries join the map
Nine cities join the tea shop map this week, three of them in new countries, and Santiago's page gets a full price refresh after La Tetería repriced its shelf.
Tokyo, Nairobi, Lima and Tel Aviv: a dozen countries join the tea shop map
Sixteen cities join the tea shop map this week, twelve of them in countries new to it, and Sydney's oldest page gains T2 and ten more teas at The Tea Centre.
Fourteen tea shop cities, from Vienna to La Plata, and Toronto refreshed
Fourteen cities join the tea shop map this week, Argentina enters with La Plata and Morón, and Toronto's oldest page grows from 18 teas to 28.
Tea shops in Oslo, Gothenburg and Heredia, plus nine cities and Melbourne
Norway, Sweden and Costa Rica join the tea shop map with Oslo, Stavanger, Gothenburg and Heredia, Canada adds five cities, and Melbourne grows to three shops.
Taipei and Kaohsiung open Taiwan on the tea shop map, plus 18 more cities
Twenty cities join our tea shop pages this week, led by Taipei and Kaohsiung, and Singapore keeps its 74 prices and adds ten more.
Finland, Panama and Malaysia join the tea shop map, with nine more cities
Twelve cities join our tea shop pages this week, three of them in new countries, and Los Angeles gains a second shop in Little Tokyo.
Berlin, Bangkok and sixteen more cities get their tea shop pages
Berlin, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Lisbon, Paris and thirteen more cities join our tea shop pages, with six new countries and ten fresh prices in New York.
Twelve new tea shop cities, from Tallinn to Bengaluru
Twelve cities join our tea shop pages this week, with two new countries, Estonia and the UK, and a return visit to Zurich that adds ten prices.
Fifteen more cities for tea lovers, from Delhi to Auckland
Fifteen more cities join our tea shop pages: Delhi, Barcelona, Seattle, Portland, Innsbruck, Auckland and more. Plus a return visit to Montevideo.
New this week: tea shops in 12 cities, from Zürich to Sydney
Our favorite tea shops now have a home on FindMeTea, city by city. Twelve cities to start, and one house in Singapore worth the trip alone.
Inside FindMeTea's tea-matching intelligence
How FindMeTea's in-house engine matches 141 teas to real moments — and where to see its picks on the site, brewing steps included.