8 Year Of Tea Thoughts Reflection

May 6th, 2024 marked 8 years since I started Tea Thoughts shop! I don’t always celebrate the shopaversary but this year’s came after a super busy weekend and I just had a feeling I couldn’t skip over it this year. Eight years, when I say it out loud it sounds a bit crazy! Since it’s been so long, I wanted to share some information and thoughts on running the shop. I’m celebrating in my shop with 30% off through 5/12 with code 8YEARS

CELEBRATE

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CELEBRATE ✨

How It Started - The Blog
Many of you have been my friends and supporters since the very start of the shop so you know how I got started but this is for anyone who doesn’t know. I started a new job in 2015 with high hopes but instead, I felt the creative spark I always had being wasted and even drawn out of me but not put to good use. I decided that I needed my own outlet so at the end of 2015 (December), I started a blog and I called it Tea Thoughts! I wrote about tea, sometimes “reviewed” teas I bought and eventually started making recipes with tea because I love to bake and cook!

How It Started - The Shop
A few months later in May, I decided to take the leap and start an etsy shop because I had always wanted to. I started doing paintings, calligraphy and cards. Some of my items related to tea but not everything. After a while I decided that I wanted my shop and blog to compliment each other so I changed all products to tea themed products. This put me on the path that led to today.

Why Tea Themed Products?
I grew up drinking tea so tea has always been a part of my life. I mostly had experience with black tea though and when I started my blog I had the opportunity to explore other types of teas and other tea cultures. I was sort of bummed to never be able to find merch for tea lovers beyond british tea culture themed items like just a teapot or maybe something related to afternoon tea. What about all the other tea cultures? Who would put something out into the world for them? I decided I wanted to ! One of my goals which I think I’ve been able to reach recently is to have several tea cultures/wares represented in my designs and products!

Going Full Time
At the end of November in 2021, I decided to quit my non profit job and try to run Tea Thoughts full time. Most people’s story is that their business blew up so they had to quit their job. Mine was more out of necessity. I had worked at my other job for 7 years and while I did some wonderful work there, many parts of the job had really taken their toll. This was the first time I had experienced physical symptoms of stress and I had enough. I took a leap and while it’s been very hard at times it has also been so rewarding. When you run your own business there are lots of benefits like being your own boss but then you are also your own boss meaning everything is on you. I also work way more hours now but I have more flexibility to go meet my mom for lunch in the middle of the day or attend market events that are monday through friday.

Last Year
There have been many times in my business journey where I wanted to quit but last year was probably the hardest of any year running the shop. There are many factors that went into this but I just didn’t get enough traction each month. There were definitely some bright spots but it wasn’t enough. I would have some good product releases but it wasn’t consistent. As far as running this shop, it’s not just enough to make some sales, the sales have to cover costs of business, future products and my own bills as well. I am trying to be more cautious with what I bring to the shop and what I spend on in hopes of recovering this year and hopefully doing better. It’s May and I am feeling cautiously optimistic.

This Year
This year has been ok, not much different than last year yet but I’m hoping to have some big wins this year like this past weekend. I did a tea festival and a market at a museum and both went well. Selling in person is always a hit or miss depending on the event but I was pleasantly surprised! I think I will be sticking to some tried and true products that I know everyone loves and try to slowly condense my offerings so it’s not so vast. I also would love to be able to publish a short story about tea that I’ve written and take advantage of an opportunity near my home to host a workshop in person.

What I love about running Tea Thoughts
I am a self taught business owner which includes design, marketing, product development etc. This can be very difficult because I’m never sure if I’m good enough. But I do truly love designing for the shop. I love hearing feedback online and in person that people enjoy my work. I love the response to my teas and the countdown boxes. Even though I have a product based shop, it seems like I have been able to bring joy and new experiences to my customers and that’s probably the best feeling in the world. Last, but not least, I have made connections with some of the most wonderful people through Tea Thoughts.

What’s the toughest part of Tea Thoughts?
I notice when I vend in person that people do like my stuff. Even if they aren’t a tea lover, they enjoy my designs. Reaching people online can be so difficult. Low reach on social media and even through my newsletter is really discouraging. I have even done ads in the past but it’s not the huge success that everyone always shares about. I have some of the best customers in the world but it had been difficult to grow my customer base.

What does success look like?
I see success as being able to keep customers happy with what I’m bringing to the shop and make enough money to pay for bills and some for myself. I got pretty close to this in 2022 which was a really great year and I want to get back to that!

What else do you want to know? Ask me in the comments and Ill reply!

Vending at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

2023 Holiday Countdown Boxes!

Happy October!

I know it may seem early to talk about holiday items now but it will take a long time to pack and ship holiday countdown boxes so I have to release them early! Additionally, mail is always a little slower during the holidays from the increase of packages going through the system! I also noticed that some brands much larger than me have already sold out of their calendars!

Anyway, I wanted to share about the boxes because I am doing TWO boxes this year. I am doing the 12 day Winter Countdown that you know and love but I am also adding a 24 day stationery countdown/calendar!

I decided to do a second box because I’ve always wanted to create a 24 day calendar but since I am purchasing tea from other companies instead of using my own teas, it is prohibitive. I brainstormed about how I could create 24 day calendar that wasn’t exorbitantly expensive to make. You all know my love of stationery and it all developed from there! I went back and forth on the types of items to create but eventually with a few nudges form friends (Taniya!) I started designing. I actually started the design process in the spring to not put too much pressure on me to get it all done at once.

2023 Holiday Boxes Release Day: Thursday, October 19th 2023 - 11 AM - Newsletter subscribers get early access

Countdown Pricing:
Winter Countdown/Advent Calendar: $55 + Shipping
Fall Countdown purchasers will get a discount

Stationery Calendar: $26 + Shipping
Sticker Club Members will get a discount

2023 Winter Countdown/Advent Calendar

This year’s countdown will be a little different because it wont include any design items! The countdown will be 12 days, 1 day will have a brewing vessel and 11 days will be tea! You may get some extra goodies as usual in the envelope :) Usually I include magnets + stickers of the design but this time since there is only tea there will be one other item!

Teas Included:
Oolong: 6
Black: 2
White: 3

As with other countdown boxes, there will be a QR code in the box that will take you to a landing page with information about each day as well as dates to countdown to the first day of winter or Christmas Eve. You can always open this box however you’d like but I like to include these two date ranges since they seem to be the most popular. Nothing in the box, including the designs is related to any one holiday, more of a general winter theme!

The box, wrapping paper and extra goodies will have the winter fox design shown below!

2023 Stationery Calendar

This calendar is different from my normal countdown boxes. So I wanted to share a few things, please review these before purchasing so you know what you’re getting!

-There is NO tea in this box
-There won’t be a QR guide to this box since there is no tea, just stationery!
-There will be 24 days instead of the usual 7 or 12 days
-You will get a note from me in your box!

For what is actually in the box, I wanted to share that the designs are not all winter based. I tried to do some general designs and one or two seasonal so that you can use the items in the calendar whenever. Most of the designs will be 100% new to you and there are a few that will be familiar but I’ve reworked them a little bit!

In the box:
-12 Vinyl Stickers (Vary in size but generally around 2 - 3 inches)
-7 Sticker Sheets (4 in x 5 in)
-5 Washi Tapes (Same size as in my shop)

Here Is a preview of what the inside of this box will look like, the stickers will be in envelopes and the washi tapes will be in boxes!

Let's Talk about Shipping!

Shipping, it’s a topic that is prevalent in all our lives as we do more and more online shopping. It’s also a topic that I don’t think many shoppers understand unless they’ve shipped items themselves. Throw in the fact that you can pay for a prime membership and get everything shipped “for free” and there is a huge misunderstanding about how shipping works.

I’ve been running Tea Thoughts since 2016/2017 and while I don’t claim to know everything, I have learned a lot about shipping in the process. Before opening my shop, I also had a lot of experience shipping because I frequently sent packages to friends and my partner when he was deployed.

I wanted to break down a few things about how the cost of shipping works and also some information about shipping in general that may help you understand why the shipping prices you see are different from different shops.

What affects shipping cost?

1. Weight: Most shipping services whether it’s USPS or UPS/FEDEX/DHL is based on weight. This means, the lighter something is, the less it costs to ship and the price increases as the weight increases. Some items in my shop that are heavier than you might imagine are notebooks for example. The current notebooks and notebooks I’ve had in the past are often 1lb without any shipping material.

2. Distance: The other factor is distance from ship point. In the US for example the map is split into different regions or zones. I am located in Maryland so If I’m shipping the same weight item to people all over the country, the cost will be less for someone who lives in Connecticut or North Carolina vs someone who lives in Texas, Colorado, California etc. You can check the chart below for more details

3. Size of Business: This one is a little more complicated but I think it’s important to understand. If a shop uses a shipping service or a marketplace like Etsy they will likely have some small discount on shipping through those companies. I use shopify for example and depending on the plan I pay for I can get more of discount for shipping. In addition to this, some companies are able to negotiate a lower price if they have a large enough volume of shipments. Usually I notice that these deals are made with fedex and ups.

Here is a breakdown of zones from USPS

Why USPS over Fedex or UPS?
I only use USPS for a few reasons. USPS is by no means perfect but for a tiny business like mine, it makes the most sense. In all my shipping, USPS has been the cheapest option. It is only beaten by UPS a couple times for an item that is heavier and being shipped far away. Even still, it isn’t much cheaper. USPS is also the only service that picks up my packages from my apartment for free. When I’ve shipped with UPS or Fedex, I’ve have to pay for a pickup and it isn’t always the same day. Having packages picked up instead of having to lug a bunch of boxes to a post office on my own is really helpful and convenient. For the size of my business and being a one person show, USPS has been the best option for me.

What about Free Shipping?
To my knowledge, there is no company who doesn’t pay shipping fees. If a company is offering you free shipping they are either eating the cost or more likely, the shipping is hidden in some other way. For example, if a company sells clothing and offers free shipping on their orders, the cost of shipping is likely built into the price of the clothes so you are paying for it that way.

Why don’t I do this? To me, this is a much simpler solution if I offered one product or products that were all similar weight. For me, I would have to estimate shipping and add a different amount to each item. I also think that while “free shipping” sounds nice, it isn’t exactly fair. For example, If I added one flat fee to my items to cover an estimate of shipping, people who live closer to me would be paying more since their shipping would cost less. I decided that it is simpler and fairer to just have shipping determined by USPS standards of weight and location.

I do offer free shipping over $75 in my shop for US orders. For example, at an order value of $75 or more, I usually will pay $10-$17 in shipping which is essentially a loss on that order. I do this mainly because it’s a standard to offer this but it isn’t exactly beneficial to me. As USPS prices have increased each year so has this minimum and it may continue to rise as costs rise.

Order Volume Discount
I mentioned this earlier as a way that some larger companies can get order volume discounts. Usually I see this with companies like Fedex or UPS. I’ve looked into these and I do not ship anywhere near the amount needed for this. I recently saw an ad on Instagram to talk to a USPS specialist about volume discounts and am waiting to hear back. The problem is that I do not ship that much. Aside from shop updates, I get an order here and there. I am always hoping to increase that but the past few months have been especially slow too. Perhaps if I continue to grow and keep running Tea Thoughts I will be able to get more discounted shipping!

International Shipping
While I mostly ship to the US, I do have some customers in Canada and the EU. Everything I’ve mentioned above applies to international shipping as well. However, even though shipping costs have risen within the US, they have become even worse internationally. Every country’s shipping methods are different and I don’t think the US has the best international shipping methods. This is why many small businesses in the US only ship domestically. There are some places I have had to stop shipping (like the UK) because they’ve put in place processes that are too difficult for a one person shop like me. It’s difficult enough to keep up with US changes in things like shipping, sales tax etc as one person.

How does shipping work in my shop?
When I create a product listing, I weigh the product and note that on the product listing. When you go to check out, the website takes the weight of the product and your shipping address and calculates the price based on that. I am not setting shipping prices, they are based off the parameters I’ve outlined above. First class mail which was usually items under 1lb is now called “Ground Advantage.” The difference is that items that are over 1lb can be sent with Ground Advantage and they will usually cost a little less than Priority Mail but will take slightly longer to get to you. Shipping estimates are also listed for domestic orders. The shipping time listed means dates in transit, not days since you’ve ordered it. So if the estimate says 3-5 days, that 3-5 days starts once you get an email saying I’ve shipped your order. Something that is very important to note - once I ship the package, I have no control over it. I have the same access to information via tracking number that the customer has. Once I ship an order, it is in the hands of USPS and they are the best people to contact with an issue either on their main customer service line or your local post office.

Other things to know
Once an order comes through, I log into my shipping app (shipstation) and go through each package and weigh it with all the packaging. Sometimes I pay more than what you’ve paid for shipping especially on international orders because shipstation and shopify which I use aren’t always 100% in sync. I also thought you should know that for heavier items, I often mark them as weighing less to help you all with shipping costs. Over the years I have considered slowing the amount of products I put in the shop, especially heavy items to lessen the shipping burden on everyone!

To Conclude
I hope this information has been helpful and to show a little more behind the scenes of shipping. I’m always happy to chat and answer questions so if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email - hello@teathoughts.com

Let's Discuss The Health Benefits of Tea

I want to start off by saying that this post is not going to be discussing the merits of whether claims about tea are true or false. I’ve been thinking a lot about the narrative around this topic for a while. As tea has become more popular, you can find it in all different forms and you can find it in many more locations than before. When I go to the grocery store, the tea choices seem to have doubled!

This means, more companies are either getting into the business of tea or are adding tea as a product to their offerings. With this increase, I have also noticed that health benefits of tea are more widely circulated.

There has always been this information but I see it more and more. I think that a lot of the places I see people claim a certain tea has health benefits are merely for marketing purposes. I recently have been seeing ads for a tea company that I worked with in their early stages and have now blown up. Their marketing has changed from when they first launched and now centers around skin benefits and tea with vitamins It makes some sense though because the health and fitness industry is huge and many people want a cure all to get rid of this or that. I do understand to a point that as a business, you want to somewhat cater to trends.

BUT

I want to state right out that I think marketing tactics like promising that a tea, a supplement etc will cure some ailment are often predatory and wrong.

I think there is a huge market for “skinny” or “detox” teas that usually don’t involve much tea at all and mostly just increase your number of trips to the bathroom. I think that claiming something will “detox” you just to sell product is wrong and often can be harmful. These types of claims are not what I want to discuss.

I want to talk directly to people who consume tea from small businesses, tea that is directly sourced, tea that isn’t packaged into some commercial product. There is an increasing amount of people who just refuse to even interact if a health benefit is mentioned most likely because of the things I have discussed above. If you choose to do this, I’m not here to chastise you but merely try to share a different perspective. That perspective is that much of the health benefits of tea claimed are not the same as the predatory tactics I’ve mentioned.

I will admit that I do not consume tea for most of the stated health benefits of teas that I’ve read. As in, I don’t think of a malady that I have and then search for a tea to solve it. I do think that personally, drinking tea does have health benefits for me in the sense that it allows me to rest and enjoy the present moment which has been very important for me in recent years. I’ve discussed this before when sharing about my journey with making tea in the “gong fu cha” style.

There are a lot of things that tea can be used for that may sound strange if it’s “new” to you. For example, when I was a kid, I remember if I ever had those symptoms starting that looked like they could be pink eye (unfortunately spread in school often) like itchy eyes, crust etc, my mom would have us rub/wipe our eyes with the black tea that we had in our house that was usually used for drinking. I remember it working a lot but this isn’t scientific, just anecdotal and I would never tell anyone to treat pink eye with tea. But nonetheless, in my mind this is still something I do today if my eyes are ever itchy etc.

What is my point? Well, most of the tea in my stash is from China and Taiwan. A lot of the tea companies I purchase tea from are either located in these places or are located in the US but source directly either from farmers there and have a relationship with their farmers. Many of them have connections to these countries either through their own heritage or because they spent a lot of time there. When a company like this shares a tea and also shares what this tea has historically been used for in China, is this predatory? I don’t consider it to be. I think there is a difference between saying that a tea will cure you of something and saying that a tea has historically been used for better circulation, to aid digestion etc.

In fact, I think if you’re drinking tea from a different culture it is both important and interesting to know if that tea has a medicinal use in that culture even if you don’t believe it or don’t plan on using it in that way.

My own tea Aram, includes an herb, borage, that Iranians drink for different medicinal purposes and I listed this on my information card because I’m not claiming that it will heal you in some way but I think it’s an important cultural aspect of the herb.

Of course, you can do whatever you want but I’ve seen some strange levels of dismissiveness regarding this subject. I’ve actually had people say they didn’t want to try a tea from someplace because they noted some medicinal property. I think there are a lot of reasons behind this that I could write an entire post on but at the very least it comes off as condescending.

All this to say, I think we need to be weary of predatory marketing tactics for sure but in the same breath we can also be more respectful and open when consuming cultures that are not our own.

Small Business Spotlight: Chufunyu

Can you please introduce yourself and Chufunyu? 

I am Henri Lin and I have co-founded CHUFUNYU with my brother Kuan Lin. As Taiwanese growing up in Canada and the United States, we have always been fascinated by the clash of cultures. As we were exposed to a variety of different customs, traditions, and ways of life, we were drawn to the idea of bringing these different influences together through a product brand focused on modern teaware. We wanted to create a line of beautifully crafted, functional modern teaware that incorporates traditional elements from the East and innovative elements from the West, and that helps people from all backgrounds connect over a shared love of tea. 

When did your tea journey begin? 

Raised in a Taiwanese family, for as long as I can remember, the cupboard is always full of teas from gifts of guests. However, since tea sessions are best enjoyed slowly over longer stretches of time, they are mostly reserved when guests are over on the weekends.  

What does your daily tea ritual look like? 

I would choose a tea for the day, prepare it in my ECLIPSE and slowly sip it in the NECTAR tea cup while working, adding hot water for subsequent infusions whenever the bottle is empty. 

What inspired you to start Chufunyu? 

During our tea journey, we've come to discover the many limitations of teawares currently available on the market. Some are easy to break, some are difficult to clean, and a lot are cheaply built and aesthetically challenging. But most important of all, we've found that very few innovative thoughts are put into them. We're talking about material, form, function, ease of use, repeatability, etc. That's what inspired us to build beautifully functional modern teawares that are worthy of the amazing teas from all around the world. 

All of the details of the bottle are so thoughtful, can you share some of the processes for deciding on the parameters of the bottle? 

The vision of all of our products is simple: beautifully functional. The term "functional" can be different depending on the goals to be achieved. For the ECLIPSE, we've focused on a few key aspects, namely: 
1. Easy to clean, hence the removable bottom and the ceramic coating

2. Easy to carry, hence the compact build and the secret magnetic compartment.

3. Durability, hence the stainless steel build and the anti-scratch matte coating, as well as the exposed stainless steel for the screw threads and rims.

What is your favorite part of the Eclipse travel press? 

It's hard to decide on only one part. Personally, it would have to be between the removable bottom for easy cleaning and the magnetic lid with secret storage for the NECTAR Teacup. 

Is there anything else you want to share about Chufunyu? (Maybe an upcoming project or goals for the future etc) 

We have several exciting projects in the pipeline that we cannot share just yet, but trust that CHUFUNYU is always looking to further the horizon of modern teawares! :D

January Shop Update Info

It’s 2023 ! I’m excited to start this year off with a shop update that will be super fun! For this month’s shop update I have 2 things to share!

Camellia Sinensis Tea Cups
For a long time I’ve been trying to find a way to get one of my designs on teaware. I love creating the gaiwan enamel pins but what if I could actually get one of those designs or a similar version printed on a gaiwan?! Well, so far I haven’t been able to find a way that was feasible for the size of my shop currently but I did come across a ceramics supplier who could do cups! I’m really excited to be releasing 50ml porcelain tea cups with my camellia sinensis design on them! These cups have a decal of my design high temperature fired on them. I hope you’ll enjoy using them!

Galentine’s Swap
I’ve mentioned a Galentine’s day swap earlier this fall and I’m doing a test run this year to see if it’s something I want to continue doing. In the past I’ve done Galentine’s day swaps and there was always the issue of someone not following through with sending something to their partner. After one year of way too many of non follow throughs I gave up doing the swap. Since then I’ve thought about it more and participated in a few others with other brands and I’m ready to try again!

Galentine’s day was a concept I first learned about from Parks and Rec where Leslie Knope deemed February 13th Galentine’s day, a day to celebrate the women in your life that you love like your girlfriends!

For this swap, you will be signing up to send a small package to a partner and also purchasing a gift box for yourself from my shop. The point of the gift box is to have something for yourself in the chance that your partner doesn’t follow through for some reason.

I have a limited about of spaces for the swap since I am testing it out. There will be 20 slots and you will get the box at a discount. The last 10 boxes will be available for purchase without participating in the swap but won’t have the discount.

If you sign up for the swap, you need to use your full name, correct address and email so that I can contact you and so can your partner. After you sign up, I will send out a short survey that you must complete. This will help your partner decide what to get you! Once I have all the surveys I will put people together in pairs and send you the information of your partner.

For the swap, try to really understand your partner based on their survey and get them something or a few smaller items that you think they’ll love. Don’t go overboard on spending but it would probably be good to spend between $10 and $20. It doesn’t have to be complicated, think of it as sending a fun package to a new friend! Package their gift in a fun way and write a card! You want this to be a fun surprise to open :)

If you’ve never shipped a package before, the easiest way is to pack it up, put the recipient name and address on the box by writing it or printing it on paper and taping it to the box and also your return address then take it to your local post office where they can help you ship it.

Remember that the heavier your package is, the more expensive it will be to ship!

The goal is to ship the package to your partner so that it will reach them in time before 2/13 or 2/14 !

The gift boxes I’ve created do have 2 teas in them but the other items are not necessarily related to tea. I tried to take some of the suggestions that people gave in a survey I sent out. There will also be 2 edible items but they are vegan, gluten free and use transparent and ethical trade.

Ya Shi Xiang Cakes - Now releasing in February!
Something fun that I’ve been working on with Rainy of Serene Tea is designing a cake wrapper! If you’re a fan of Duck Shit, I will have 200g Cakes of Duck Shit in my shop wrapped in a wrapper that I created! I will have 30 total. The first 10 will be available at a discounted price and then the other 20 will be available without the discount. I wanted to create something that had a duck as the main feature of the design but also some background landscape.

These are being postponed and releasing in the shop in February alongside Rainy from Serene Tea who has a few of my cakes and also more of the same tea cake with a different wrapper design that she created. Stay tuned!

My Favorite Christmas Traditions!

If you’ve followed along with Tea Thoughts, you’ll know that I’m a Christmas lover! Christmas has special meaning to me, more for the connection and festivities that come with it. I wrote more about what Christmas means to me here.

There are so many things I love about the holiday season and lead up to Christmas so I’m going to share them all with you!

I would also like it to be known that I’m one of the only people in my family who has had this obsession with Christmas but over the years have pulled friends and family over to my side. Evil Cackle

1. Christmas Movies: I start watching christmas movies in November! In November, I will mostly watch the corny, hallmark type romantic ones and leave my favorite ones for December. Even the corny movies, are always feel-good. They’re a little bit of happiness and always share the magic of the season. My all time favorite movie is The Grinch with Jim Carey. I also love Polar Express, Max Fleisher Christmas Cartoons, A Christmas Carol and in recent years, the new movie Klaus. Don’t get me wrong, there are so many others that I love but those are my top favs.

2. Christmas Music: I know this is something that people are very on the fence about. How annoying it is that it’s played everywhere and how it’s played “too early”. I totally understand people’s differences on this subject, but for me personally, it’s the same as the movies. The songs are usually very cheery and put a little pep in my step. I don’t always relate to the ones with religious themes but usually they’re still nice to listen to. My favorite person to hear sing Christmas songs is hands down, Nat King Cole!

3. Christmas Tree: One of my absolute favorite things to do is to go to a local Christmas tree lot to pick a tree and decorate it! It’s always so beautiful to see them in person and be able to touch the branches. Many times, this is a great way to support a local or small farm as well. Bringing the tree home, strapped to the top of the car is always an adventure. Bringing it up and adding lights and ornaments is possibly my favorite part. I have so many ornaments that I’ve had since my childhood/young adulthood and remember fondly my family members who gifted them to me or where I purchased them. Getting to plug in the tree in the evening and in the morning before the sun rises brings me so much joy.

4. Baking: If you’ve never explored the recipes on my blog you may not know this but I love to bake and cook! Baking is something I’m especially fond of for the holiday season. Our family has a few favorite cookie recipes and decorating sugar cookies is one of my favorite activities! I also bake to gift! It’s so much fun baking a bunch of cookies and gifting them to people because what’s a better gift than a yummy treat you can eat?!

5. Wrapping Gifts: Buying and making presents is fun but my favorite is definitely the wrapping part. Every year, I search for a penguin wrapping paper and fun ribbon to use. This year I found this beautiful penguin wrapping paper with embossed snowflakes! I also Purchased this fun ribbon that is in the shapes of trees, snowflakes and ho ho ho. When I was younger, I always wanted to volunteer with those gift wrappers in the mall, I thought that was the best job ever.

6. Christmas Cards: As a snail mail lover, it’s probably no surprise that I love sending out Christmas cards. I love to create a card with a nice photo of my partner and I or multiple photos of him and I. Even when I was younger, I used to take some sort of christmas themed photo and send it to relatives! Even if it’s not feasible to send gifts to every member of my family because of how big it is, I can send them a card to let them know that I’m thinking about them, that I love them and that I miss them. I love to hand write all the addresses and in the past I’ve purchased vintage stamps in bulk and had fun creating collages on the envelopes with them!

7. Christmas lights: In the last few years, these outings have happened a little less because of COVID but hopefully that will change this year! Around the DC/MD area, there are a lot of great places to see lights beyond neighbors! It’s so beautiful to see the types of displays people come up with.

8. Sausage Bread: I saved the best for last! I admittedly hesitated on sharing this one because I view it as a family secret but I got permission from my sister to share :D Many Christmases ago, my sister and brother in law made us sausage bread on Christmas morning. This is a recipe from my brother in law’s family. Without giving away too much of the secret, sausage bread is exactly what it sounds like and the most delicious treat especially on Christmas morning. We became obsessed to the point where Christmas morning isn’t complete without sausage bread. I have even asked for it as a gift on my birthday which is shortly after Christmas. The warm and hearty meal is the perfect thing on Christmas morning. My sister and brother in law always have a beautiful spread of other food things, tea, coffee, hot cocoa and some of us even like to indulge in a bailey’s and jameson drink. Next to the Christmas tree, gathering together on Christmas morning and enjoying sausage bread (veggie sausage for mom!) is my favorite Christmas tradition. I don’t think Christmas would be the same without it!

If you also celebrate/love Christmas, let me know what your favorite parts are!

What's it like running a business by yourself?

The Small Business administration defines a small business as a business with no more than 1500 employees and and revenue that doesn’t exceed $41.5 million. I wanted to put in perspective the actual definition to all the businesses like mine that are also called a small business.
To me, a business with the above description seems HUGE not small. But it shows the comparison the company described above has to major corporations. I think it’s important to share this because there are a lot of misconceptions about small businesses or owning your own business.

There are many incredible aspects to running Tea Thoughts that I feel so fortunate about and I want to go over them and then share the flip side.

1. Making my own schedule: I’m not constrained to someone else’s schedule. I can easily fit in things I like/need to do like chores or working out. It feels very freeing and definitely less stressful. I get to meet my mom for lunch if I want or participate in an event during the day. Perhaps one of the most important things is being able to vend at certain events that I couldn’t before because I would have had to use vacation days.
   
   The flip side is that I don’t really ever feel off the clock. I feel like I need to respond to people via email and social media immediately. I’m in a stage where this feels essential because I need to keep customers happy and also get orders in. Obviously, I do take time and have gone on vacations but even then it is difficult for me to feel ok in unplugging. Early in the morning or late at night, if there is something I need to do, there isn’t really an excuse not to. During the day I will likely take work breaks to cook, clean or run errands which means I make up the time later. This allows a lot of flexibility but also makes it feel like I work from the moment I get up right up until the moment I get ready for bed.
   

2. Being my own boss: This is related to #1 but stands on it’s own. You can probably relate to having a boss that you maybe don’t see eye to eye with or someone above you that you don’t feel appreciated your work or ideas. As my own boss, if I want to do something, I can just do it without needing anyone’s approval but my own. It is a new level of freedom to be able to explore creative ideas that someone else maybe doesn’t like. I think this has benefitted my shop and my own art/creative projects. It shortens the time to accomplish things in some ways because I don’t have to get approval and can start on a project right away. If I mess something up, I don’t have someone else lecturing me, that’s up me to alone.
   
   The downside to being my own boss is also that there is no one else. I don’t have a team to rely on, I don’t have someone who has slightly more responsibility than me. I have the freedom to do what I want but I am also responsible for the outcome 100% no matter what it is. If there is an issue, I can’t delegate to anyone except myself. This often feels a little stressful and sometimes lonely as well. While I am able to do whatever I like, I also don’t have any help except for google. Everything I’ve built has been from my own researching and learning. While that does have an empowering feeling it has also been incredibly difficult at times. The last part is that because I’m my own boss, I am extremely hard on myself. In many ways, I feel as though my self worth is tied to the success of the shop.
   

3. I’m very lucky to run my own business: I AM very lucky. There are many things that needed to align for me to take this leap and they happened. Every morning when I wake up and open my laptop to start tasks, I can’t believe that I am still able to do this and for now, I will continue to do so. It feels like a dream come true that I get to do something that despite some difficulties, I truly enjoy. I think back to how unhappy I was in other jobs and try to stay as humble and as grateful as possible that I don’t have to work those jobs anymore. It’s not just about freedom, it’s also about control. Running Tea Thoughts allows me to feel a sense of control in my life that I didn’t have before. I feel like I’m building something meaningful where even when I was doing meaningful work, it wasn’t really mine. Tea Thoughts is truly mine and the opportunity to build something of my own is very special.
   
   It’s hard to show the flip side of this but there are some drawbacks. There is nothing guaranteed with Tea Thoughts, I am still at a stage where it could easily all end with a few bad months. While I am happier, I don’t have as many safeguards and I’m doing things day by day, week by week and month by month. Things can get very tight. While I am happy, it can sometimes be difficult for others to understand my choice of profession. It can be hard to turn down invitations from friends and family when I have a lot of work to do. It can be hard to get people to take me seriously instead of just as a “cute little shop.” I am grateful that most of my friends and family are very supportive.
   
   I wanted to share these things with you not to complain, but to be real. I think it’s important to stay true to me and I think that is possible while staying professional. I also have become friends with many of you so I feel comfortable to share.
   
   My advice is that if you’d like to start your own business, do it! But don’t expect it to be easy, you have to really love it because it’s a lot of work. In the near future, I will be offering a guide (for US shops) who want to get started. I helped a friend who opened an Etsy shop recently and it was really fun and rewarding to share my knowledge with her.
   
   I also kept this relatively brief but wanted to know, is there anything you want to know about what it’s like running Tea Thoughts? If you have a question you’d like me to answer, leave a comment and I will respond!
   
   As always, thank you so much for your support of Tea Thoughts! My business wouldn’t be what it is without you!

Deltangam: The first tea for my shop

Since the start of Tea Thoughts, one of the most frequently asked questions is: do you sell tea? I understand to a point since there is the word tea in my name but it is something I have considered a lot.
I chose the name Tea Thoughts because it was alliteration and because at the time I was going to be writing about tea. I kept the name because I loved it and thought it would still fit well. I never desired to include tea in my shop but after the Nowruz box, everything changed!

BACKGROUND
I have often been asked to share more about my own culture and Persian heritage but have always been hesitant for two reasons. In my life, I have experienced negative reactions to this and also due to sanctions, using certain words that deal with Iran put me at risk of being shut down even though I am not in any violation. I have seen several businesses be cut off from their websites/payment processors for simply having the word Persian (not even Iran) on their site. Even when I paid for my blend, PayPal flagged the payment and it took several days to go through because it had the work Persian in it. Shafa mentioned that this happens anytime they use the word Persian. This is obviously a mistake of software but it is a real threat nonetheless and a deterrent for me.

Earlier this year, I did create a Nowruz box where I shared items and information about our New Year traditions and I was so happy that many people enjoyed it. From that time, I started thinking of ways that I could share more and also collaborate with other Iranian owned shops in the diaspora. At that time, what I came up with was 2 different Iranian owned shops in Canada and the US. They both focus on slightly different things and I thought it would be great to create a tea with them for my shop.

The first of which is Shafa Blends, they are located in Rockville, MD and are owned by an Iranian family! I came across them several years ago when they were at a different location and under a different name. I walked into a local mall on my lunch break to get a bite and saw a store called Rumi. I instantly freaked out! I went in to see a beautiful tea and spice shop and the Iranian family that owned it. I would often come during lunch breaks to buy tea or spices. They’re now Shafa Blends but are still creating incredible spice blends and have expanded their tea offerings as well! I was very excited that they were able to help me with the blend.

THE TEA
A blend may be an odd thing to add to my shop since it’s not something I drink a lot of but it’s actually something that is very much part of my tea drinking history. I grew up drinking black teas with bergamot oil which is a blend. I enjoy all the oolongs, white and pu’er teas that I’ve had that are mixed with different flowers. The thing I tend to stray away from are teas with flavorings as they don’t always do well on my palette, I’m very sensitive to those so I mostly stay away. I do enjoy teas that are blended with different ingredients like masala chai type blends!

My idea for Deltangam was at first something I went back and forth on. I wanted it to be a daily drinker type tea that is something like I drink everyday. This was a difficult task because the tea I drink everyday is pretty plain, just a ceylon with bergamot oil but I wanted to make it more interesting without overloading it. I started to brainstorm things that are very common in our culture and cuisine. The base is of course a black tea with bergamot. Not a ceylon which I was originally looking for but a tea that Shafa has and uses in some of my favorite teas. It has a similar aroma to my favorite tea and leaves that are a good size.

The first thing I knew I needed to add was rose. Rose is a very common ingredient, not only in tea but in food! Rose and rose water are included in many of our desserts and we even have our own rose! You will also notice if you search for persian tea blends that rose is almost always involved.

Rose can be controversial though since it has such a fragrant smell. Growing up, you learn tea preferences of family members as you learn to make and pour tea. I remember my uncle has a blend that he always serves and it is very floral and fragrant but my dad on the other hand can’t stand the teas he says smell like “perfume.” To not overpower the tea, rose petal pieces are used to give a hint of rose.

The second ingredient in this tea is ceylon cinnamon. Cinnamon is a commonly used in food but not tea so that’s the twist to this blend! Cinnamon is mostly used in sweet dishes like shole zard (a rice pudding) and to sautee meat in certain dishes. It’s this one ingredient that gives big flavor especially to beef (jn my opinion) and you can tell when it’s used. So why use this in the tea?

I wanted to make this tea blend unique, something you may not find but still have ingredients that are important to Iranian culture and cuisine. It is difficult to import Iranian ingredients so using what we have available is what we used. I also took into consideration the items that Shafa carries and uses in their own blends and spices which was important since I am collaborating with them. Ceylon cinnamon was my choice because it’s my favorite to use. While the fragrance is not always as strong as other cinnamon, the flavor is really nice with a bit of sweetness. In this blend you will find pieces of ceylon cinnamon as it’s more of a bark and easier to break up.

THE NAME
When deciding what to call this tea, I wanted it to first and foremost be something in farsi. I didn’t want it to just be named whatever was in the blend or even Persian blend since that is so common. We have a lot of sayings in Farsi that don’t really make sense in English but have deep meaning and are also used often in everyday speech. I was thinking of some of the most common ones and after consulting with my mom and sister, I decided to use “Deltangam.” This phrase literally translated means “my heart is tight” in English but in Farsi, it’s used to express longing for someone or something.

Growing up in the US with Iranian parents was always an interesting experience because I was taught language, culture and traditions from a different land but grew up in the US which has a very different culture. It was always a struggle to straddle being not quite American enough for Americans and not quite Iranian enough for Iranians.

Many of you are probably aware of the revolution currently happening in Iran, I try to share things about it almost everyday to keep it front of mind for non Iranians. This isn’t a new struggle, in fact Iranians have been fighting against the Islamic Republic since 1979. I’ve never been able to go to Iran for many complicated reasons, but much of it surrounds this current government, the way they rule and having a parent who needed to flee. Deltangam is a phrase I use for Iran. It’s a home that is mine ethnically, it’s a home that is mine in the stories my parents have told me but it’s a home I’ve never physically known. It’s something that not only makes me long for it but also breaks my heart. This tea and my love of tea in general is a love letter to Iran, where I hope all Iranians in the diaspora can go back to together one day.

If you’re wondering how to pronounce the tea, you can break down the word:

del - tang - am
Del: heart
Tang: tight
Am: this indicates the possessive subject like I’m

THE BREW
I’ve included brewing instructions on the tea that I think would be a common way to brew tea but also give you a taste of the way Iranians brew their tea. You can see this in the longer steep time of 5-7 minutes. The way tea was brewed in our house was with a modern samovar set up with a bottom boiling kettle and a top tea kettle. You will boil water in the bottom, then pour that water into the top tea pot with tea leaves. Instead of just leaving the top teapot to brew, you keep it on top of the boiling kettle teapot for a long time. I’m not exactly sure of the time but sometimes 10-15 minutes or more! What you get is a very strong brew that you can dilute somewhat with water if you want a weaker tea. For stronger teas, they are generally enjoyed with a sweet either sugar cube, rock candy, green raisins or other confections.

The 5-7 minute brew will hopefully allow you to experience a stronger flavor that you can have on it’s own or perhaps choose to sweeten. However, I encourage you to play around with it and perhaps you like a shorter brew or perhaps you want to use more tea depending on your teapot. I will mention that this tea isn’t really suited for gongfu brewing.

THE TASTE

The aroma of this tea is very interesting because it is somewhat spicy from the cinnamon at the start but you also get floral and bergamot on the back end. The taste has a nice sweetness from the cinnamon on top of a classic earl grey type flavor but more complex due to the rose. It’s nice on it’s own but I suggest you try it with honey or sugar to taste as well!

I don’t expect everyone to like this tea. I’m not a master blender and this is an experiment of sorts. I’ve blended together ingredients that are meaningful to me and I don’t expect that to be everyone’s cup of tea. Although, I do hope you enjoy it :)

THE PRICE
I will be listing this tea for $16 in the shop and each bag has about 1 oz of tea. The pricing here reflects the fact that this is a collaboration and that I purchased the tea instead of sourcing directly. If the response is good, I will restock in larger amounts and also change the packaging to include a 2 oz package size.

Product Spotlight: Puzzles

On Monday November 7th I will be releasing two puzzle in my shop for the first time! Make sure to check them out then and if you buy on release day, you’ll save a few bucks! You can preview everything coming out for the release on my website now.

Why Puzzles?

You may have noticed the uptick in puzzles during early pandemic lockdowns, and it makes sense! Puzzles are a great way to pass the time and have fun, they also tend to be a good group activity but can also be done solo.

Last year while Christmas shopping, I noticed so many puzzles with a variety of different artwork featured from designs to photographs and I wanted to give it a shot.

I’ve always had a soft spot for puzzles because theyrre an activity I always enjoy and I have fond memories of them. Specifically for me, I think to summers in New Hampshire breaking out a tough 1000 piece or more puzzle to do on rainy days or to do a little bit every night after dinner. Working together with the same goal made it a fun activity since I get a little too competitive with other games.

I loved that you could just dive right in and help where needed or have a strategy or work on one area. Getting two pieces that fit together is the best feeling and I was determined to try to make a puzzle with one of my designs. This past summer, I took a sample of “the overgrown teapot” to New Hampshire and we did it as a family! I was such an amazing feeling to do it together.

My original idea was to take this winter window design I created and turn it into a puzzle because I thought it was a good candidate. Along the way working with a printer, It made sense to get two designs and since the floral teapot had been so popular and the design means so much to me that made the second slot!

Both puzzles are 500 pieces and have several different shaped pieces to keep things interesting. I would categorize these puzzles as intermediate. They’re a little easier because they have 500 pieces as opposed to 1000 however both designs have areas that have similar design elements and colors which can make it difficult. When I got samples, I put both together on my own so they are definitely doable! Of the two puzzles, I would say that the overgrown teapot design is definitely more difficult because of the similar flowers and purple background. The final size for both puzzles is a 47.5 cm square. I also know how easy it is to lose pieces so I’ve opted for a drawstring bag for each puzzle!

If you decide on getting a puzzle, I want to thank you for your support and hope that you have a wonderful time solving them!