Wilkinsons-USA

Hello. My name’s Patsy and I ride herd over the Alabama branch of Wilkinson’s of Norwich – USA. On this page I’ll share with you some of my thoughts and adventures as we get this branch of the best coffee and tea company up and running. I’m hoping you’ll grow along with us.

I’m Giles long time webmaster at Wilkinson’s USA and UK I’m going to be adding some inside hints and tips along with a twist of British humor to some of these posts from time to time as well. See you soon.

I must openly and somewhat ashamedly admit that I have been perpetuating a myth, albeit one that I truly believed! The wide-spread belief that a 30-second hot water bath will remove most of the caffeine in tea has been so widely proclaimed that it may never die, even though it has been proven to be untrue.

Some of the tea industries’ most highly respected tea connoisseurs, including tea expert and author James Norwood Pratt, have publicly stated that their long-held beliefs in the hot water decaf bath were ill-informed. In a T Ching blog post, Pratt stated, “I’m grateful for the chance to repudiate past errors, of which the misinformation on decaffeinating tea ranks amongst my most egregious. When I wrote this ten years ago this hear-say was the conventional wisdom.”

Even though Bruce Richardson, whom MSN called “a leading tea expert involved in tea’s American renaissance for over 20 years,” financed extensive and extremely expensive lab studies to chemically dispel this misconception that caffeine can simply be washed away, many still battle back defiantly with their “thoughts” on the 30 second decaf process.

There will likely always will be two schools of thought on the subject, but from what I have recently learned about the science of tea, I have to join the “Myth Busted” class on this one. According to a most authoritative article Caffeine and Tea: Myth and Reality, written by Nigel Melican – Founder and Director of Teacraft, LTD., even the delicate and presumably low caffeine white tea leaves may contain more caffeine than most green teas! In Melican’s conclusion, he humorously reflects, “Science apart does anyone really believe that Lipton would use extremely expensive decaffeination systems…if a cheap effective 30 second water dip suffices? They have tested water decaffeination – and it failed.”

One of many things I was reminded of after reading an abundance of information available on this subject is that tea is and always has been a refreshing and invigorating drink. Originally consumed with little concern over caffeine levels, tea was simply drank because of its uplifting flavors and the added bonus of putting the mind in a calmer more meditative state. I’ve personally witnessed it over and over in my tea shop, those who come through my doors in a flurry of shopping and errands and worries, but after sipping a cup of tea decide that the world can wait for just a moment.

Søren M. Chr. Bisgaard from Kyoto, Japan recently stated “I believe in the old Chinese (and later Japanese) saying that “Tea is the Elixir of Life.” This gentleman’s mother and father are both approaching 100 years old, and he says that, largely due to the drinking of tea, he fully expects to celebrate his own 120th birthday one day. I hope to be around to honor him on that occasion. I won’t be worried about the level of caffeine in my cup, but more about the level of enjoyment my life has held.

“None of us knows all there is to know about tea but to benefit the age-old Tea Society to which we all belong, let our knowledge, like our tea, be shared and our ignorance, like our thirst, overcome.” James Norwood Pratt

As always, remember Wilkinson’s Keeps it Fresh!

If you have never witnessed the Chinese tea ceremony of GongFu, be prepared for a true Zen experience. This ancient tea ceremony is a wonderful way to extract the best tea you can from the best tea leaves for the ultimate cup of tea. The GongFu ceremony typically involves Oolong tea (such as our Wuyi Rock Organic Oolong), steeped in purple clay Yixing teapots. Yixing pots eventually take on the flavor of tea that is steeped in them, and it is said that after many tea infusions one can simply add water to an Yixing pot and enjoy a tasty cup! I currently have only two of the Yixing tea sets at the Emporium, but am on the lookout for the right supplier so we can increase our offerings in the near future.

Enjoy the GongFu video, and please try to ignore the ultimate insult to any tea ceremony being the cell phones ringing in the background!  GongFu Tea Ceremony

Being a web admin means you hear a lot of strange stories out on the net. In many cases I sit back and snort “Giles, that’s a troll pulling your leg!” But occasionally something comes up that makes you wonder if its real or not. Let me explain.

The other day I heard that another tea company was having a hard time getting hold of some teas due to a UN sanction being leveled at China. Well UN sanctions against a major world power tend to make it to our news services fairly quickly, so I was surprised that I hadn’t heard about this sooner. Frankly it sounded like an industry myth spouted off to excuse that firms inability to supply a tea!

Still, I dug around the internet and after a couple of tries I did find some reference to it, but all the references I found came back to a single article.  Now it seems some of the medium graded china teas had tested positive for some pesticides recently made illegal by international health watchdogs. This could be scary indeed, but actually supported my original thought. The tea our competition was making excuses about was a high grown high quality one not a medium or low grade as mentioned in the internet article. They had just run out and were making excuses!

Fortunately we at Wilkinson’s have only supplied some of the best most rigorously screened teas available. You can buy from us with confidence, but be wary of the cut price deals you might see in your local general store. Instead try out some of our high grade China tea or perhaps certified organic teas.

The Chinese, who have been the tea experts for over a thousand years, would not sabotage their pride and joy with over use of pesticides. I can however believe their cheaper stuff they make for national use or sell to the mass producers might be a bit less good, as its grown for bulk and speed not necessarily quality. In a statement the Chinese authorities pointed out that they were allowed to have their own pesticide laws after all, and are making efforts to ensure all their exports up to international standards. This I can believe a lot more readily than what looks like an internet rumor.

I’m going to go have a cup of Green tea now and toast the careful growers of this healthiest of drinks. Cheers!

Pumpkin Spice Frappé

This week, I’m thankful for pumpkins! Wilkinson’s Tea & Coffee Emporium is excited that Pensacola News Journal’s November issue of Home & Garden magazine featured some of the Emporium’s drinks for their fall edition. Get your seasonal Triple Crown with one (or all) of the holiday’s three seasonal drinks…Pumpkin Spice Coffee latté, Pumpkin Spice tea, or a frozen Pumpkin Spice frappé. See the article for other seasonal goodies in Pensacola, including Pumpkin Spice Olive Oil from Pensacola’s Bodacious Olive store. Give thanks, and enjoy your holidays!
Fall Flavors – PNJ Home & Garden Article

Greetings good people, Giles here with a quick technical note. I have been doing some tweaking and hopefully those of you viewing this site from a mobile device should be able to see a mobile friendly version whenever you log back on to us here at WilkinsonsUSA.

I’m going to be working on this on and off over the next few weeks so it will get better as I go along. Latest figures show about 20% of our site visitors do so on a mobile device so I hope this add on will prove useful to you all. Please feed back (for good or ill – i’m not sensitive! If its not working for you I wanna make it right!) and if you would be so kind include what type of device you were using to view the site in.

There is an override link at the bottom of the page for those of you wanting the old version of the site on your larger smartphone or tablet. Feel free to experiment and let me know what works best for you. Mail me with feed back if you prefer at: giles@wilkinsonsofnorwich.com

Hello folks Giles here this time. Have you noticed its heading into that time of year again. The leaves are turning, the year is winding down, the long nights, as you line up for deals the lists of gifts and the general hoopla of the last three months of the year….  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those “oh God its the Holidays!” doom sayers. I have worked in retail on the sharp end for years and know all about that its true, but is I still love this time of year. The season change the thoughts of a family get together the holiday food; and of course drink! If your reading this then you already know the best place to get your non alcoholic beverages and pick me ups, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t jog your memories with a few seasonal selections and tips.

Firstly please notice that we’re redoing our accessories section to include reviews of machinery that we like that can be bought elsewhere on the net. Where possible we plan to put in links to current deals on them or voucher codes to be used at the check out. Here’s an example.

I saw this coffee themed cutting board as I was doing some research for something else.  I thought it cute and made a note of it in passing – especially if we could get the manufacturer to do up custom ones with out own logo on! But that’s another idea. For now simply click on the link and you can go to the hosts web page and buy (at a 30% discount at the time of this writing might I add) or read more.

But from us for those considering a Gift may I suggest you give the tea lover in your family something from our new Artisan Tea collection? Flowering blossoms of tea make a startlingly beautiful gift as well as a taste sensation. Oh and while I was at it what better time than to recommend a clear glass quality tea infuser to go with this exotic and delicious tea. Try this link for an example. Or this one perhaps with its durable stainless steel filter removed.

Coffee wise how about a some of our flavored coffee’s? Just for the season I’m going to set up a special gift selection of our superb flavored coffee’s. If your hosting the festive dinner then what about after that special meal send them off after a strong cup of fruit infused coffee to set them up again for the drive home? Or maybe you want to start celebrating the day early with a rousing spicy cup to help you get into the holiday season after a hard week at work?  Our highlander grog coffee is a great choice if you want an alternate to sending them a bottle of the hard stuff this coming Christmas?

So come back often in the next few weeks to see what bargains we’ve been able to uncover for you. And…..! If you have ideas for any of the holidays drop us a comment below maybe we can do up something special!