My Favorite Christmas Traditions!

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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!

All about the Winter/Advent Countdown Box!

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It’s that time of year! The box that started it all is back! If you don’t know the story, in 2019, I was searching for an advent calendar that had non blended or non flavored teas and wasn’t finding any good options. I decided to create my own! I offered 15 boxes of a 12 day countdown and did not know what was about to be sparked. After getting good feedback, I realized that I had something good going and thought, why can’t there by countdowns at other time of the year? Since that first box, I’ve created boxes for valentine’s day, halloween and the seasons! Most recently, I’ve landed on the seasons because this allows me enough time between boxes to research, curate, source and prepare the boxes.

These boxes are certainly a labor of love as I complete all the above steps on my own, including wrapping each day for each box and writing a note that is sealed with a wax seal!

I enjoy creating all these boxes and I think they’re unique because of the way that I wrap them but also because I don’t think anyone else is doing this style of box at other times of the year.

The winter/advent box is special to me though and here’s why. Christmas has always been special to me, not for religious reasons though. While I’ve experienced many religions and attended service for them, I wouldn’t consider myself religious and this is not the tie that I have to Christmas.

As many families, we celebrated the more commercial aspects of Christmas. Being a child of immigrants though, Christmas was one of the times where I didn’t feel like a total outcast among my classmates. It was something we could share culturally. This was really important to me growing up when I was often confused as to why there weren’t other children like me in my classes or school

The other important aspect for me showed up as I got older. As my family fractured when I was younger and then I ended up with a “blended” family (I think that’s the term), the holidays, not just Christmas were a bit hectic. Usually it centered around who would spend which holiday with which parent/family and at what location. This was always stressful but when it came to christmas, I dove headfirst into the festivities as a way to cope and bring out joy at a time when I needed it. I love making gifts, buying gifts, decorating, baking, cooking and watching christmas movies. Over the years, our family has created several traditions around christmas that I hold very dear. Now, as an older adult, this time of year signifies joy. It doesn’t matter what else is going on, I can always count on the time leading up to christmas as a time to spend time nurturing myself and healing. I do this through this traditions that bring me joy. I don’t think I’ve ever expressed this in this way so I wanted to share.

With all that being said, I understand that not everyone celebrates either because it is not a symbol of joy or that their cultures or religions have different celebrations. Over the years, I’ve tried to make my box more inclusive so that everyone can enjoy it because at the end of the day, the thing that is most important to me, especially at this item of year is to spread joy.

I’m excited to share that the packaging this year will be a mostly penguin themed (I LOVE PENGUINS!) and a few other things in the box will be the winter window design that you’ve seen on the previews of my puzzles.

The penguin design started as an ornament design, which will hit the shop a little later. You will see a few variations on it depending on where it’s printed. The original design can be seen on the wrapping above. The penguin is surrounded by snow and holding a gaiwan and cup adorned with a fish!

Below you can see a preview of the box that the countdown will come in. I had to change the design to make sure it is printed well. A while back I switched from the white boxes to the kraft ones for a few reasons. The kraft boxes are a little more budget friendly and I’m not as concerned about not wrapping them which saves me a lot of time when I am packaging 50+ boxes by myself. The drawback is that colors are a bit tougher on kraft, the greens and oranges of my fall box were perfect but this was harder. Additionally, the printing company doesn’t use white ink so anything in your design that is white would be blank. To counter this, I too away the ice at the bottom of the design and turned the balls of snow into blue snowflakes!

I also did a variation of the box design below for the packaging tape that will decorate the box of the teaware in the box and the outside of the box to close it.

BOX DETAILS

Just like in previous years, this box has been a bit of a roller coaster. I’m not sure why but all the other seasonal boxes run pretty smooth. I always have issues with the winter countdown! I had an issue with a vendor that fell out of contact which forced me to find replacements and kind of mess up my budget. But then they got back to me with the tea on the way so I also had to spend for those. What this means is that I’ve shared a few previews of the countdown box in the newsletter but I’ve had to change a few things. Below are the details for the box that I don’t expect to change since I have the tea issue sorted out now.

  • Price: $75 (Retail: $170)

  • RELEASE DATE: October 11th at 11am est. This will be sort of like a pre-order because it will likely take me a few weeks to send out all the boxes.

  • 13 days of items to open: I will be doing a QR code again so that I can write more about each tea and item. There, I will lay out an unboxing plan of when to start if you want to countdown to christmas or if you want to countdown to the first day of winter!

  • 2 stationery items

  • 1 brewing vessel

  • 1 tea accessory

  • Around 150 grams of tea or 5.3 ounces. Samples range from 10grams to 28grams

    • Typed of tea: 4 oolongs, 2 black, 1 green, 1 white, 1 pu’er. One tea is flavored but does not have other ingredients in it that would cause allergy. If you are concerned, please feel free to reach out before purchasing and I can give you more details about it.

SHIPPING

I have gone back and forth about this and have finally decided on what to do for shipping this year. This box will be heavier because of more items and also the teaware. Shipping in the us will be a flat $3 regardless of where you are located. Please note that for this box, shipping rates I will pay will be from $8.46 to $12.66 depending on location. I will also be trying something new for Canada as well where I will be charging a flat $15 shipping rate where the true shipping rate would be somewhere around $21. I hope that this will make the box more accessible!

Something new for this round is that this box must be purchased ALONE. No other items can be added to your order. If you want another item, you will need to place a separate order. This is because I am already going to be losing on shipping and there will be no room to add other items. Even if you want one pin, I need you place a separate order. If you put other items in the order, I will need to send it separate and I will send an invoice for additional shipping. Shipping really kills a business of my size and I try to make it fair without highly inflating my prices to give the illusion of free shipping. Please know that If I’m to survive as a business I will need to enforce things like this when I’ve been lax about it in the past.
I appreciate your support and understanding!

The Stationery Shop & My Whirlwind of Emotions

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I haven’t read any books in full in a very long time. It sounds silly to say but It’s because I thought It would be a waste of time or that I simply wouldn’t have time. This is mostly because of what happens when I connect with a book. When I find a book that I love or that sparks some emotion in me, it’s hard to put it down. It’s like I have this electrical connection that gives me a shock every once in a while until I pick it up again. I thought, what if I find a book I love and it stops me from getting my very long to do list done? Before, I thought that was a scary thought. After reading the Stationery Shop, I see the errors of my ways. I needed a break and a book to read!

My lovely friend Taniya suggested this book to me long ago and I had ordered it but it sat collecting dust on my shelf. Every night when I went to sleep, the beautiful gold foiled cover stared back at me asking why I had waited so long. The name Marjan Kamali, a fellow Iranian was begging me to open and read her words.

I usually wake up around 615-630 and it takes me a few minutes to fully wake up and start working. At the start of this week I told myself: you will spend the first 15 minutes of your day reading. It was the only way, the only way to start and the only way to make it stick to read all the books that have staring back at me begging me to open their spines.

I began on Monday and after 15 minutes, I extended it a little more putting off my work and workout. I was completely enthralled by the words. I thought to myself, dammit, It’s happening. But I paced myself and read the whole book in one week, a little bit each and every day. Although if I had nothing else to do I could have consumed this book in one day.

My parents are both from Iran, I’ve been regaled by stories my whole life but due to many complicated reasons, many of them political I have never been able to go. So I grew up in the US being too foreign for Americans and being too American for Iranians. Even still, the words of Marjan hit me deep. She invoked these emotions in me that swirled in my body with every word I read. Exhilarating but also calm and comfortable on my couch. The mannerisms, the food, the clash of Persian culture with that of Americans. I can relate to both sides, the things I do that are very American and the things I do that are more Iranian that I was raised to do. When badri uses toh instead of shomah, the tarof, the customs of Iran that I know from my upbringing. The way she describes cooking khoresh for Walter brought tears to my eyes. I so rarely read things like this that I know, that I was taught, that I can relate to. It felt like my mother had sat down to tell me a story of her young love in Iran. In fact my mother has told me such stories before but I won’t divulge her secrets.

Small things reminded me of stories from my parents, the moaning of the man selling beets. Laboo maboo, my dad told me they would yell. The scenes from the streets of Tehran. While my parents never told me about a stationery shop, I could envision it so well as if I had been in Tehran. It was easy for me to form the characters in my head, never had it been so easy for me when I’ve read other books.

I didn’t just enjoy this book because of the way it made me feel, but the story. The love, just as the way Rumi or Khayyam described it. The same way Roya and Bahman read the poetry together, they lived it. They lived Rumi’s words, how beautiful. They also lived his other words, his heartbreak. I couldn’t imagine how this story would have gone but what a story. I try to explain it to others but I don’t think I can express the effect it had on me. Not only has my fire for reading been ignited once more but my fire for love, for poetry, for the romance of small gestures and everyday things.

Thank you to Taniya for kindly suggesting it to me and Marjan for writing these beautiful words.

 

Onyx Coffee Lab's Line of Teas

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INTRO

I first learned about Onyx coffee when I was on the hunt for a coffee advent calendar. Throughout the years, I’ve tried different coffees to try to get a taste for it but it’s not really my thing so I stick to tea. My partner however loves coffee. While he does drink tea with me and enjoys it, he prefers to start his day with coffee.

On the hunt for a coffee advent calendar in 2020, I cam across Onyx on Instagram. I liked the way they described their coffees and the information they gave about the beans. This is something I look at when I’m purchasing teas as well. There is also a story behind each coffee as well as impeccable branding. I was sold and purchased a sampler that my partner could use like an advent calendar, he raved about the coffee!

Fast forward to 2022, I started seeing Onyx post about tea! I got so excited because I felt as though this was a company doing everything right with coffee so they would probably be doing the same with tea. Something that I always find interesting is how when I meet people who only drink coffee, they think tea is “complicated” but in reality, a coffee enthusiast is looking for similar things when searching for good coffee that a tea drinker is!

INTERVIEW

After reaching out, I was put in touch with Ivana who is the Director Of E-Commerce and worked on the tea curation. We ended up doing a product swap which was really fun and I thought I would share more about her!

1. Can you introduce yourself and Onyx Coffee Lab?

Hello! I'm Ivana Chan, and I'm currently the Director of E-Commerce at Onyx Coffee Lab. I started as a barista at Onyx just wanting to learn all about coffee, coffee service and the overall supply chain, but I previously worked in corporate marketing and advertising for many years. Since 2020, I've had the opportunity to work on the e-commerce side of the business and some other projects including the curation and start of our tea program!

Onyx is a team of specialty coffee roasters seeking truth, quality and accountability in coffee. This translates to journeying around the world to find the finest and most unique coffee offerings, setting a high bar for quality from roasting to the final cup, and being responsible and committed in trade relationships with producing partners. Additionally, Onyx has always been very active in the coffee competition world, which keeps our team at the top of their performance across service, education and hospitality. Recently, Onyx has begun sourcing cacao and specialty tea, and it has led to new Terroir chocolate offerings and Onyx Tea offerings.

2. What does your daily tea & coffee ritual look like?

My day always starts with a coffee pour over using a Kalita Wave dripper. It's become a daily ritual that helps me frame my morning with positivity and gratitude. The manual elements of measuring, grinding, timing and pouring brings me peace of mind. In the afternoon, however, I turn to tea. I love that steeping tea can be less methodical. Tea time is a soothing reprieve from the work day to enjoy a fragrant, comforting cup.

3. There are so many wonderful teas and herbals out there, how did you decide on the selection that Onyx currently offers?

We wanted to offer a range of teas in the spirit of the "Traditional to Modern" scale (we use to describe coffee roasting levels/styles) with the hope that anyone can enjoy one of the Onyx tea offerings. Thinking through that and my own tea experiences as a Chinese-American person, I thought the Rose and Chrysanthemum herbal/tisane offerings could be a fun caffeine-free "modern" experience, while the Earl Grey tea might be considered more "traditional." The Sedogawa Sencha is a very umami-forward green tea experience, while the Ma Wei Moonlight white tea is simple, sweet and approachable. To me, the Long Kou Champagne is a beautiful expression of oolong tea at a 65% oxidation process with a great bouquet. I see it as somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.

4. Do you have a favorite among the tea offerings?

Gosh, I find myself craving each tea on different days and at different times frequently, but I always recommend the Ma Wei Moonlight as a "must try" to my friends and family. It's super sweet and delightful, and it is an exceptional tea to share with someone through multiple steeps.

5. Something that really stood out to me was the packaging colors, not only are they beautiful but I feel that they really capture the vibe for the teas. Is this the goal?

Thank you! Jon Allen, our co-founder, and Jeremy Teff, our lead-designer are responsible for the overall brand & packaging design. The colors are definitely inspired by each tea, and the multi-color combinations are really fun and reflective of each offering inside.

6. Are there plans to expand the tea offerings in the near future?

Yes, we are planning to release some limited tea lot offerings and expand our current "staple" tea catalog, as well.

7. Anything about the current or future collection of tea that you want to share?

We're really excited to be offering specialty tea and highlighting tea producers in general. We hope you and others will enjoy the new tea offerings in the future!

THE TEAS

As a coffee lab that does a great job sourcing coffee, I can tell this has transferred over to their teas as well! I’m not super picky when it comes to teas but I can tell that they have some great choices and the quality is clear, I really enjoyed this collection and am excited to see what other teas they release!

The Chrysanthemum and rose are such lovely choices for the collection. I grew up enjoying rose in many things from food to tea and then later on my tea journey I discovered Chrysanthemum too. I have been enjoying these two flowers before bed! I like them alone but I also love to mix them together to brew them.

The moonlight white is my favorite tea of the collection! I discovered this tea a couple years back when I was starting to drink more white teas and fell in love! The Onyx moonlight white has a lovely aroma of honey that translates into a sweet liquor for the tea. It’s a light treat that is lovely hot but I bet would also make a great cold brew. I would love to try kouridashi with this tea, I think it would be interesting to see how the large leaves do with the ice.

Another treat in this collection is the Long Kou Champagne oolong. This is an oolong that you might have also seen be referred to as white tip or Bai Hao. You all probably know that I am an oolong lover so this tea was delicious. I felt as though it was a bit more floral that some of the other versions I have in my tea collection which was a welcome surprise because I love floral teas!

A classic Earl Grey! Or is it?! This tea is a staple for most tea drinkers and most tea drinkers have probably enjoyed many versions of this tea. What was so interesting about this tea was that the base of the tea is a dianhong! I thought that was a very interesting choice and it worked wonderfully for the flavor. This earl grey is also very aromatic. There are strong notes of grapefruit which I thought was a lovely aroma to take in while drinking. I did enjoy this plain but I also made a cocktail with it!

The Sencha is the one tea in the collection I haven’t tried yet but I have taken in the aroma a lot! I have less to compare it to since I don’t drink a ton of green tea but It is reminiscent of savory vegetables. I think as it gets hotter I will ice brew this to enjoy :)

February Catch up

It’s already February ! I actually feel like January is a bit longer which is fine with me because It’s my birthday month. I wanted to recap a few things about the shop, teas I’ve been enjoying and what’s coming to the shop in February!

January was officially month two for full time Tea Thoughts and it was nice but also difficult. January is often the slowest month of the year for many shops due to holiday fatigue, it makes perfect sense! As someone who just started full time, it’s a little scary though and allows doubt to creep. But instead of talking about what was lacking, I want to focus on what I accomplished, and it’s a lot !

In last month’s recap, I talked a little bit about my schedule that I try to keep so that I stay on track. I was pretty good about this schedule in January too except for a few days. Something I’ve learned the past couple years is to not wait to plan ahead for the holidays and even later in the year. Things happen and you don’t want to be stuck with nothing to share. In January I finalized several designs that I will be using later in the year and have already started to plan a few special holiday products that I will be trying this year!

I also placed several orders for products that I will be releasing in March April and May depending on how I structure it. With all this done, I want to try to focus back on working with my hands. I have some clay left over and while it’s a little too chilly to sit on my balcony and throw I may try to hand build some items or maybe do another tea pet series! I also recently finished an important step for tax season and that is a huge load off my mind.

Teas

I received many teas for both Christmas and my birthday and I have been slowly sipping them down as well as sharing them! Two of my favorite have been moon bear oolong and red buffalo oolong from Hatvala Tea.

I also decided to keep one of the fish gaiwans that had some glaze issues for myself. Even though I’m at home, I find it relaxing to be able have a tea session while at the computer if I’m busy. This set has been great because I can fill up two cups and the vessel is in “easy” mode because it has a spout, handles and a built in strainer. Effortless Tea!

If you’re interested in grabbing one of these sets, I have a few left in the shop.

February Shop Update

Near the end of the month I will be having a shop update! I may break the update into two sections as Cat teaware will arrive today! Remember those cat tea cups I had in December? Well I will be restocking those + matching gaiwans and pitchers and have around 20 of each depending on if any broke during shipping.

I also will be releasing TWO boxes this month. I know there has been some disappointment in the past about the countdown boxes selling out. It is truly a struggle because I want to offer more and I have been gradually increasing the amount I offer but I guess it’s time to up the boxes again! I will be offering more countdown boxes this time. Since I am the only person working on these from curation to wrapping and shipping I will need to start simplifying the process.

Changes:

  • This time I will be using kraft boxes with a nice design but writing name directly on the box. That last part of wrapping the box in kraft paper takes a lot of time and was meant to protect the white box. I’m giving in and doing kraft boxes with one color print to save time!

  • I will likely be making the envelopes and paper shred inside more uniform like kraft color so that I can save and use them with more than one box instead of having leftover items that I have to find a place for.

  • I finally bought a wax seal gun which will make sealing the envelopes way easier!

  • I’m contemplating creating a QR code that you can scan for the box info instead of including so much paper in the box. Do you like having the fortune tellers/cootie catchers? Let me know your thoughts!

Nowruz Box

I will also be offering one other box so that there are options and more opportunities for fun tea experiences. I have in the past done a small Nowruz box or shared about Nowruz but I plan on providing more information about the traditions around Nowruz and some fun items to help you celebrate that are also items that are nice to have. While I don’t want to give away everything in the box I will share some hints:

  • Explanations of traditions around Nowruz and what they represent

  • 2 Small Books

  • 1 Oz of a Persian Tea Blend

  • Nowruz themed goods designed by me

  • 1-2 other items that relate to Nowruz that will help you celebrate

  • Dependent on shipping: A glass tea cup- one that is similar to glass tea cups I used growing up

There are a few other items in transit that I may include in the shop this month but it’s a little too early to make a decision on those!

Tea Thoughts Gift Guide

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Do you have a tea lover in your life and want to surprise them with something special? I have a ton of products in the shop that fit the interests of a wide variety of tea lovers! Sometimes when there’s so many things to choose from, finding the perfect gift can be difficult!

I’ve created a guide that will help you cut your search in half and find a great gift!

If you want to view the gift guide as a PDF with embedded links, you can find it below:

Gift Guide with Embedded Links

I’ve also shared them below, using categories that might fit your loved one perfectly!

You can find everything and more in the shop! Please note that several items will be in stock starting 11/19.

The Shop

We all have that friend who hoards stationery, for me….it’s me ! Diversify their stationery with these tea themed items! The wax seal kit adds a classic touch to letters and gifts. The kit includes a was seal stamp, handle and 2 wax sticks, there are also 2 other designs in the shop. Washi tape is so fun to use to wrap gifts, hang small prints and to use in planners! This special stamp kit collaboration between Justine Gilbuena and I features two flowers that we felt represented home - The Philippines and Iran. The kit includes 3 stamp colors, a makahiya stamp and a honeysuckle stamp.

Wax Seals

Washi Tape

Stamps

All Stationery

I have a special connection to gaiwans. When I was first given a tea I didn’t know how to brew, the first guides I found suggested getting a gaiwan and I’ve been hooked every since. The simple design of a lidded bowl enhances the tea tasting for me as there are so many aromas that come through due to the wide opening. The gaiwan is also featured in a lot of my products because I wanted to have gaiwan merch and couldn’t find it so I started making my own! Gaiwan studs and socks allow you to flaunt your love of this brewing vessel and also look pretty stylish :D I also have some actual gaiwans in the shop as well like the persimmon design shown. I also have several different designs on this same style gaiwan.

Gaiwan Studs

Moon Gaiwan Socks

Persimmon Gaiwan + Cup

Especially when it gets colder, we all know that one person who loves to be cozy or to have cozy things. These fuzzy socks are a new addition to the shop and something I’ve wanted to do for the longest time! They are soft and have a fin embroidered piece on the side, I highly suggest pairing these with some leggings or your favorite onesie! The sloth magnet is a great gift for someone who likes cozy and chill vibes! He likes to hang around and really space out that gong fu cha session!

All Socks

Sloth Magnet

Pins are great for collectors and people who love to add some flair tot their outfits! I’m featuring the camellia sinensis, pangolin teapot and sakura pins because I am running low on all of them! Make sure to grab some pins soon as I wont have new or restocks until next year! In addition to enamel, I also have a few wood pins.

All Pins

Matcha and green tea are thins I’ve seen be a huge hit for the American tea market recently. They are sold as health hacks but honestly, they are just delicious! While I don’t drink as much green teas as I’d like I do rally enjoy a bowl of hot matcha or a pot of genmaicha or gyokuro! For the matcha lover I have stud earrings of matcha bowls and a wood pin that makes you part of the chasen club! For all other green teas, I have this lovely kyusu!

Matcha Studs

Chasen Club Wood Pin

Kyusu

Some people collect pins and some people collect teaware! This year, I’ve added lots of teaware to the shop that I either sourced like the gaiwan shown or designed like the bamboo mat and highball glass! This landscape gaiwan is one of the other options of the persimmon gaiwan shown earlier. These have a good shape if you have smaller hands like me as the opening isn’t super wide. The bamboo tea mat is perfect for tea times where you don’t need a tray and need a lot of space for your setup. Highball glasses feature a tea leaf design and are great for iced tea or tea cocktails and mocktails!

All Teaware

Retailer Spotlight: Thésaurus Tea

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As Tea Thoughts grows, so do the number of places where you can find my items! In the last year, I have expanded my retailers and wanted to share a little bit about them. Hopefully you will be introduced or re-introduced to a new tea shop.

I want to introduce you to Thésaurus Tea!

This is an online tea ship based in Canada! If you’re in Canada, they might be the best option to order a Tea Thoughts item to save on shipping! Additionally, Thésaurus Tea has a few items that I don’t have in stock anymore like the Camellia SInensis Necklace and Camellia Sinensis tea socks!

Learn a little more about Robyn, the owner of Thésaurus Tea below!

1) Can you give us a little introduction about you/Thésaurus Tea?

Thésaurus Tea is blended with dainty claws by a geeky dinosaur (that'd be me, Robyn), and then steeped in fandom! While I have all the usual classic blends (and more!) that one might expect of any tea shop, I also host an ever-growing list of original teas based on popular sci-fi shows, movies, books and videogames! On top of all this, I take special care with my impact on the environment: The majority of my teas come from fair-trade suppliers who also prioritize that their products are ethical, ecological, and economical.

2) When did you start drinking tea?

When I was a little girl, my father used to take me to a tea house (sadly long gone) called Franny's. Their specialty was cheesecake, but I loved it there for the tea. They had one that I THINK was called the Hobbit's blend, or at least it should have been. I always imagined that the softly floral tisane was surely what Bilbo or Frodo might have drank in the Shire, and was utterly hooked from then.

3) What inspired you to start Thesaurus Tea?

I had always thought I would want to open a tea shop after I retired, but when I was about to end my maternity leave, my husband asked me what I was waiting for. From there, everything came together very quickly. I suppose I had always had an image in my mind of what I wanted to do. I even had a dream about it, when I was trying to pick a name, and dreamed of a tea house run by dinosaurs...and thus Thésaurus. (Thé is tea in French, and as my fans know, I live for a good pun!).

4) What does your personal tea ritual look like?

When I take a moment to make tea for myself, I spend almost as much time trying to pick a tea cup as I do the tea itself. I have a huge collection of tea cups, stemming to back when my grandmother gave several to me. I've collected them ever since, and each one has a special meaning to me. That said, once I've chosen a cup, I will often match it to a tea, though sometimes I pick the tea, and THEN the tea cup to match. From there I suppose it is no different than anyone else, in terms of heating the water as needed, and steeping.

5) Do you have a current favorite tea?

You want me to pick between my babies?! I suppose I would have to say that the Silver Wolf and Leader of the Pack are my two favorites for the moment.

6) Where do you draw inspiration from for your blends?

Everywhere, but especially anything science fiction related. Most often, I will watch through a show, or a movie, or read a book, and ask myself what those characters or moments, or even songs, might taste like.

7) What do you envision down the road for Thesaurus Teas?

It has long been my plan to open a physical location for a real tea house, but the pandemic interrupted those plans. That said, once things are calmer, I still fully intend on moving forward, as I feel that having a place that I could host people for tea, as well as for the geeky community in general, would be a wonderful and fulfilling experience for me. I have so many ideas for events and I look forward to sharing them.



Shop Update: Overjoyed October!

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I’m excited to share more about the October Update! I’ve named it Overjoyed October because I am overjoyed to share all these new & fun products with you!

In September, the theme was stationery. This month, there isn’t as much of a connecting theme but one thing all these items have in common is the holiday season. A lot of these items are things that have been on my wish list to make! I will also have some deals for the update, many are based on the first orders so I highly recommend signing up for my newsletter if you haven’t already!

WINTER/ADVENT COUNTDOWN BOX!

I haven’t posted too many previews of the box yet except this one reel where I show how I’m making the tags! Here are some details for the countdown box!

  • 12 days of goodies to open

  • Ships in early November

  • Combination of loose tea and compressed tea + one festive tea blend

  • Matching teaware set

  • 6 teas

  • 6 days of non tea items

  • Cute penguin design !

  • Edible item: Unfortunately, it is hard to find tea themed things that are also allergy friendly. This item is not gluten free or vegan friendly. Made in a facility that has peanuts, tree nuts. Contact me before the update (earlier the better) if this is a concern!

  • This box will be $68, this includes free shipping for US Orders

  • ***The first 20 box orders get either an extra of day 3 or day 5! ****

HIGHBALL GLASSES

One thing I want for Tea Thoughts as I grow is to keep designing but to have those designs on more functional items that you can use everyday! While I do have some of these items in the shop, this update will bring more of them like these highball glasses. I know it’s not really ice tea season anymore but I often like to make tea cocktails and mocktails and why not have a tea themed glass to make them in!

This photo shows the glass filled with cold brewed da hong pao!

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WRAPPING CLOTHS

Inspired by furoshiki, I’ve designed two wrapping cloths just in time for the holidays! These are the two designs that will be available - Camellia Sinensis and a tea pot & tea tray design. Each cloth is a 60cm square and made with 100% cotton. The fabric is soft and have a tiny bit of stretch. You can easily wrap small to medium objects like a book, tea tin, short bottle of alcohol and more! I shared one reel so far wrapping a book but will continue to share more examples while this is in stock in the shop. These cloths are also good for other uses if you don’t want to wrap a gift with them. Try using them to wrap a tea cake or as a neck tie!

BAMBOO MATS

Another item that I found while researching products that can be used daily are bamboo mats. These bamboo mats are exciting because they can be used for tea sessions! I have my own bamboo tea mat that I enjoy using for some tea sessions and when I found a printer, I was excited to get two designs printed. Each bamboo mat is 60 cm X 30 cm and provide a good amount of space for your teaware. I shared two reels hat show the entire bamboo mat!

Peach Mat

Leaf Mat

FUZZY SOCKS

Fuzzy socks, finally! I searched and searched for a manufacturer that didn’t have a ridiculous minimum order and finally landed on one. I chose to go with simplicity here and have the plain socks with a small embroidery. The tradeoff with where I got them made is that these socks are a bit smaller than some of my other socks fitting us women’s sizes 5-10. I hope to find a more inclusive solution in the future! These socks are snug when you first wear them and loosen up a little bit and are really cozy. These will have directions on the packaging but please know that these socks are handwash only!

SPIDER TEA CUP

Since this update is in October and I’m not doing a Halloween Countdown, I thought it might be fun to include these spooky spider tea cups I found! The black portion is smooth, almost matte and the gold parts are raised slightly, providing some texture. I will have a limited amount of these in the shop update!

TEAPOT VASE TOTEBAG

Some of you might have been following along long enough to see my other tote bags and its been far too long since I had one in the shop. I thought about what design to use and landed on this teapot vase from the stationery update! You may have read about supply chain issues and well, I had a lot of trouble finding the right kind of tote bag. This one is a little thinner than my previous camellia sinensis one and has shorter handles but it is much wider and still does fit over your shoulder thankfully!