Start here: tea outside the mainstream
I’m Eleonora, and Humble Tea Leaf is where I’ve been writing about tea since 2011, mostly from Brooklyn.
It isn’t a review site, and it doesn’t chase trends. Writing in one place since 2011 gives me a long view: I remember what the tea scene looked like when I started, and I like going back to see what lasted, what faded and what changed.
I’m drawn to lesser-known teas, to how tea is actually made, and to the people and small businesses trying to grow it, in the United States and elsewhere, and how their tea compares. I also follow the patterns that tie tea to everything else: history, trade, war.
Most of what’s here runs along three threads. Pick the one that pulled you in.
Every week · Steeping Now
In My Cup
One tea I’m actually drinking that week: a photo, a short note, a star rating and where to find it. It isn’t a paid slot, and not everything I drink makes it in. It’s simply the cup that stayed with me.
This week’s cup is on the home page; every past one is collected on Steeping Now.
The series
War and Tea
What soldiers, sailors and whole cities drank in wartime, and why tea keeps turning up in the middle of it. Each long read ends with a tea to drink alongside the story.
- What Cossacks and Russian soldiers really drank
- Tea in the Vietnam War: smokeless stoves and brew ups
- Copenhagen, smugglers and the 1807 bombardment
The short pairings (a figure, a campaign, a tea) go out on X at @TeaAndWar.
The Russian edge
Samovars, Cossacks and Russian tea
Russian tea culture runs all through this blog: the samovar, the long table, strong black tea with sugar or jam, and the small objects that go with it.
New to loose leaf, or just looking around?
- The basics that change the cup most: storing tea, the water and where to buy loose tea online
- In New York: the best tea shops in NYC and where to drink matcha
- Then and now: Oregon tea, 10 years after the bet on American-grown tea, NYC bubble tea 15 years later and what became of the Coffee and Tea Festival
- Tea history: why the world says tea, cha or chai and 5 books on tea history
- Everything else: all posts, or how this blog started
For brands, growers and tea sellers
Working with me
I work with a small number of growers, small producers and independent sellers of rare, single-origin tea and teaware. Samples are welcome, with no promise of coverage. Sponsored pieces are paid and still honest. I don’t take guest posts, brand-written content or paid links, and everything gifted, sponsored or affiliate is disclosed.