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{"id":6641,"date":"2016-10-15T03:38:19","date_gmt":"2016-10-15T03:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/urban-plains.com\/2016\/?p=6641"},"modified":"2017-02-20T19:45:41","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T01:45:41","slug":"the-world-in-a-mug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urban-plains.com\/2016\/food-drink\/the-world-in-a-mug\/","title":{"rendered":"The World in a Mug"},"content":{"rendered":"
Bill Waddington knows tea\u2014and he\u2019s sharing his expertise by way of tea blends from across the globe<\/span><\/h5>\n

Words and photos by Jenny Krane<\/em><\/p>\n

At 20 years old, Bill Waddington was on an international quest. His goal? Find the perfect tea. The Minnesotan spent his formative years sending handwritten letters to tea growers, exporters and brokers. He sent letters to Germany, to India, to China. Inside each note, Waddington asked a simple question: Could he buy a tasty tea leaf grown in a foreign corner of the globe? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust like there’s good, prize-winning chocolate and prize-winning olive oil, I figured somewhere in the world there has to be great tea,\u201d Waddington said. <\/span><\/p>\n

To Waddington\u2019s surprise, the tea growers wrote back. The bonus: They often included pounds of tea leaves with their responses. Thus began Waddington\u2019s love affair with tea.<\/span><\/p>\n

For over three decades, he collected as much information as he could, testing prize-winning teas from around the world and learning from people who had been in the business for generations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI [thought], \u2018You know, if other people ever had a chance to try really good tea, it\u2019d knock their socks off,\u2019\u201d Waddington said. That\u2019s how his Minnesota company, TeaSource<\/a>, was born.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DSCN0536\"

The collection of blends at the St. Anthony location is expansive.<\/p><\/div>\n

For 19 years, TeaSource has been dedicated to <\/span>importing, blending, <\/span>warehousing<\/span> and selling teas <\/span>made<\/span> with ingredients sourced from places like Taiwan, India and Japan<\/span>.<\/span> In each of <\/span>its<\/span> three Twin Cities locations, the company carries over 200 teas at any given time, depending on season and availability<\/span>. <\/span>Each ingredient is <\/span>hand-picked and sampled<\/span> by Waddington,<\/span> then imported <\/span>to be used in TeaSource\u2019s rich, astringent blends.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI evaluate between 2,500 and 3,000 teas every single year, and I can taste the difference between every single one of them,\u201d Waddington said. \u201cTasting tea is like tasting wine. They have just as much differentiation and taste as wines do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After the ingredients are imported, the real fun starts when <\/span>Waddington and his staff collaborate to create custom blends. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a little bit of trial and error, a little bit of experience, a lot of science and measurements, and then there is also whimsy to it,\u201d Waddington said. <\/span><\/p>\n

After the taste-tests are over, Waddington\u2019s process gets even more precise: The loose-leaf blends are refined and sold by the ounce, along with hundreds of other teas available in TeaSource stores. <\/span><\/p>\n

But no matter how intricate the process, Waddington\u2019s fondness of tea is as simple as many love stories: It all started with a letter. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Behind the Blends<\/span><\/h5>\n
\"DSCN0599\"<\/a>Cherry Blossom Green<\/span><\/h6>\n

Tea leaves: sencha green tea<\/span><\/p>\n

Other ingredients: hibiscus, wild cherry bark, rosehips, rose petals, beet root powder, cherry flavor<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DSCN0603\"<\/a>Iron Silk Puer<\/span><\/h6>\n

Tea leaves: shou puer tea<\/span><\/p>\n

Other ingredients: peppermint, clove, licorice root<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DSCN0595\"<\/a>Minnesota N\u2019Ice<\/span><\/h6>\n

Tea leaves: black tea, jasmine green tea<\/span><\/p>\n

Other ingredients: lemongrass, rose petals, cornflower, flavor<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill Waddington knows tea\u2014and he\u2019s sharing his expertise by way of tea blends from across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe World in a Mug | Urban Plains<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/urban-plains.com\/2016\/food-drink\/the-world-in-a-mug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World in a Mug | Urban Plains\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bill Waddington knows tea\u2014and he\u2019s 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