Happy Holidays!

We really got into the spirit of the Season with this shoot. We were especially excited to find Labrador retriever cookie cutters! Enjoy the recipe, these cookies are delicious! Prop styling by Alicia Buszczak, art direction by Steph Fowler & production by Chrissy Cassidy.

Last week we worked with the talented prop stylist Alicia Buszczak on a tea themed shoot. I love how everything turned out, especially the colors and textures. You can imagine the amazing aromas in the studio that day. It did get me thinking though, what is the history of tea? I’m not going to bore you with a long rant that you could find anywhere on the internet, but here are some interesting facts, along with some of our favorite images from that day.

Legend has it that the Chinese Emperor Shen Nong in 2737 B.C. was having his usual cup of hot water when some leaves of a tea plant fell into his cup. He fell in love with the flavor and tea was born. There is no proof that this story is true, but I like to believe it is!

For hundreds of years, people drank tea for its herbal medicinal benefits. It was also used as a religious offering in the time of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

During the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), only royalty and the wealthy drank tea because the tea plants were so limited. More plants were discovered during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and so tea drinking became more common in lower classes.

Tea is often associated with Zen Buddhism in Japan because priests drank tea to stay awake and meditate.  They also developed the Japanese Tea Ceremony for sharing tea in a sacred and spiritual manner.

Tea arrived in England during the 17th century, King Charles II married Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese Princess, she made Tea the drink of Royalty.

There are four main types of tea: white, green, oolong, and black. But depending on the influence of culture, these four types can turn into thousands of varieties. The most interesting of tea facts is that all tea comes from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis.

Check out this documentary All in This Tea , we just ordered the DVD, it’s supposed to be really good.