Small Business Spotlight: My Tea Places

One of the best parts about social media is the constant uncovering of people and businesses that you feel connected to you! I’m excited to share about another tea shop that I found through instagram, My Tea Places! I purchased some tea from this lovely shop and now want to share more about them with you! Please check out the interview below and to check out their shop, head over here.

Can you introduce yourself and My Tea Places?

I am Luz Boys, the founder of My Tea Places. I live in Northern California with my husband Garrett and our Chief Feline Officer, Geneva. We are passionate about traveling, exploring, and enjoying great teas. Our mission at My Tea Places is to offer premium teas from different tea-producing places around the world, highlighting the unique story of each tea and place.

When was your first experience with tea?

My love for tea first started during my childhood, while drinking herbal tisanes such as lemon leaves, chamomile, and cinnamon with my family. In college, my passion for tea blossomed. I often stayed up late writing research papers accompanied by a fresh cup of tea. Around the same time, I also found an interest in Chinese culture, which only fueled my curiosity for tea and the culture that surrounds it.

What is your daily tea ritual like?

My tea ritual varies from day to day depending on how much time I can devote to it. First, I like to choose a tea set for preparing the tea. I have quite the collection and some are only reserved for certain types of teas, like oolongs. If I have enough time, then I will usually select a gongfu-style tea set. If my time is more limited, then I prefer an easy gaiwan with a sharing teapot. I like to maximize the enjoyment of tea, so I do like having multiple infusions and sharing some with my husband. My cat likes to tag along as well. If the day is nice, I’ll usually sit outside to take it all in. My tea routine keeps me balanced, so I try to prioritize it every day.

What was the inspiration to start My Tea Places?

The inspiration to start My Tea Places was a culmination of many moments, experiences, and passions. Some of the most meaningful moments and conversations in my life have happened around a cup of tea. When I reflect on these moments, I’m warmed by the memories of the people that I shared them with. Because of this, tea holds a special place close to my heart. This led me to start collecting and learning more about tea, growing my passion for it! Some of my other interests have been in learning about people, places, languages, and cultures across the globe. It is one of the reasons why I completed my master’s degree in International Relations. I speak several languages and have traveled to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Ultimately, My Tea Places represents the overflow of my combined passions. I always thought I’d start a Tea Company at some point later in my life, but in 2018 I felt compelled to start realizing that dream, following a Mandarin course I was taking at the time. This led me to the Pacific Northwest Tea Festival in Seattle, then completing the Tea Specialist certification from the World Tea Academy, and participating in a tea business incubator program at the World Tea Expo in 2019. And with much perseverance, I was able to launch My Tea Places in August of 2020. I’ve met so many great people along the way. The tea community is amazing!

What is your curation process like when selecting teas for the shop?

When I first started My Tea Places, I told my husband, “If I don’t sell the tea, then I’ll drink it all myself”. We laugh about this regularly, because it is true, I would drink them all, but it also speaks to my ultimate qualifier of what teas make it into our store or not. The tea has to consistently win me over before I’m convinced to offer it. When evaluating a tea, I have a detailed cupping process where I examine everything from the quality of the tea leaves to the aroma and flavor. I take notes because I will do this process many times and refer back to other tastings. I also do extensive research on the place the tea is sourced from and make sure I’m building a friendship with a reputable supplier that is invested in both sustainable cultivation practices and the well-being of the tea community in the region. I look to my supplier to provide me with detailed information related to the cultivar, crop, and process as well as some of the relevant cultural history or practices. This helps me be able to tell the story of the tea to my clients, particularly during our fun and informative Virtual Tea Experiences.

What do you have currently in the shop that you're most excited about?

I am excited about every tea in our shop. I really could drink them every day. Most recently, we launched our Himalayan Tea Collection with teas from Nepal and India this month. They are amazing! We also have a Tea For Ukraine campaign going on to help World Central Kitchen provide meals to people and pets affected by the war in Ukraine and in neighboring countries. Our Chief Feline Officer, Geneva will match the percentage we will be donating from each tea we sell. We are also encouraging people to donate directly to World Central Kitchen and help in any way they can. This is a crucial time in the world and we want to use our platform to help.

Do you have any upcoming products or projects that you want to share?

I’m looking forward to a few new creative projects that are coming in the future. While they are still in the works, I have to keep them a secret, but if anyone would like to be the first to know, I recommend they subscribe to our mailing list at myteaplaces.com. We typically release certain limited edition teas only to subscribers, since they sell out quickly and we may have a limited amount.

April Shop Update Preview!

How is it almost April already?! In many ways I felt like the start of 2022 was steadily moving on and I was grateful for the time but now it feels like it’s moving at lightspeed! I’m in a difficult spot shop update wise because April won’t have as much of a pulled together theme as some of the other months.

I have so many projects in the works that will be releasing later this summer/fall that April will be a shop update of a few items that have surprised me and came in early! But just so you have a look ahead, here are some of the things that are in the works to be released for the rest of the year:

• 4 new pairs of socks

• 2 zipper pouches

• Tiger Gaiwan Pin

• Tea tins

• Wood Coasters

• Countdown to Summer & Coutndown to Fall & Countdown to Winter /Advent

• 2 new wax stamps

There are several other items I want to design but they haven’t been started yet (ex. 2 more rings), all items listed have been started or already on their way to me!

Ok, now back to April. While these items don’t have an overarching theme to connect them, I am so excited about them anyway! So far, this shop update will include enamel mugs, tea leaf ring and a metal moon gaiwan bookmark!

ENAMEL MUGS
These enamel mugs or “camper” mugs as you may have seen them be called are an item I wanted to bring to the shop for a while. Way back when, I had glass mugs and then I brought the highball glasses last year. I wanted to bring a mug that was able to take a colorful print and that isn’t as breakable as glass! I also wanted to bring something everyone can enjoy regardless of where you are on your tea journey.

These mugs will have two designs but 3 versions.
Designs 1- Tea leaves with tiny, yellow osmanthus flowers. The body of the mug is white with yellow on the rim and handle
Design2- The terrarium design. Version one is on a mug with a white body and silver rim. Version 2 is on a white mug with blue on the rim and handle.

TEA LEAF RING
This is a ring that features an open body, green stone and leaf all designed by me! My thinking was to have something simple and elegant with a small pop of color with the green. The difficulty with rings is that everyone wears different sizes and as I am still a very small shop it would be difficult to purchase tons of different sizes at this time. I opted for a ring that is resizable. Just as it is, the ring is a size 6 but it can be pinched closed slightly to be a size 5 or opened slightly to be a size 7. It seemed like 6 was one of the most common ring sizes which is why I chose it and the resizable nature allowed it to encompass 2 other sizes as well.
The ring is made of stainless steel. I chose this because after doing a little research it seemed that stainless steel can be very durable as well as cost effective. I wanted this ring to be accessible for everyone as well as having it look it’s best for as long as possible!

MOON GAIWAN BOOKMARK
I was reading a book one day and thought about how many of you I have interacted with that are avid readers and I decided to give a bookmark a try. I have had paper bookmarks in the shop but wanted to try out something else. These bookmarks aren’t unwieldy at the small size of 2 in X 2 in and are made of copper so they have a really nice color. They all come with a white tassel and they are modeled after the moon gaiwan!

Small Business Spotlight: Tea Curious Water

I’m excited to share this next spotlight with you ! Rie, from Tea Curious is another wonderful tea person that I’ve connected with over instagram that has greatly impacted my tea journey. Nowadays, I think most of the discussion happens on discord but I remember watching many live videos on instagram of Rie asking the important tea questions that I didn’t always ask. These live videos always made me curious to experiment and enjoy tea the way I thought it tasted best. Rie and Steven have taken their Tea Curiosity to water and after years of experimenting are elevating our water experience! Water is so important to all aspects of life and tea is one of those things. Their innovative tea recipes can change your tea time and inspire your own curiosity. As I’ve always expressed, experimentation when drinking tea is so fun and also important !

Learn more about Rie & Steven and what they’re doing with Tea Curious Water!

Can you introduce yourself and Tea Curious Water?

Hey, we're Rie and Steven! We're professional tea nerds at Tea Curious, and we help people study tea through our online community and tea courses, workshops, and tours. And now we get to develop tools like Tea Curious Water, which has been a blast.

I actually met Steven while hosting a workshop here in Las Vegas, so we know first hand how much joy and connection can come from tea. And we work really hard to share that.

Anyway, Tea Curious Water is a tool for tea brewers who want more control and confidence when they make tea. It's basically a mineral concentrate -- you put a few drops in your kettle with purified water, and voila! You've made your own ideal brewing water.

This is important since certain waters can degrade the flavor compounds in tea. Just ask anyone who's ever had to brew tea with hard water, or see the difference for yourself:

You can imagine the difference in flavor, haha. There are two recipes:

• Original, which brings out more of the bright and zesty notes found naturally in tea (it's also amazing with old tree tea), and

• Autumn, which makes things nice and smooth, with a round sweetness, awesome for darker teas.

What first got you interested in experimenting with your tea water?

Oh yeah, when I was first getting into tea... You know how you sometimes order a whole bunch of tea samples because the tasting notes sound awesome? And then when you finally get to brew the teas at home, you can't really pick out the flavors they were talking about in the tea?

That happened to me when I mass-ordered a bunch of teas to try, haha, and when that happens, you don't know if there's a problem with you, or the tea, or the vendor. It was really frustrating, thinking I was doing something wrong even if I'd put in so much effort to brew the tea right.

Eventually I heard through the grapevine that water was important for tea, so I picked up a few bottled waters and did some side-by-sides with my teas. And my mind has been blown ever since, haha.

What did the process look like for honing your tea formula?

You know, at first we were really trying to find the Holy Grail, the perfect water for tea that we could share with everyone. But then we learned that just like everything else in tea, there is no one right answer -- it depends on your individual taste, and on the individual tea.

So we started by studying our favorite bottled waters, brands you hear about all the time in tea: Fiji, Poland Spring, Volvic, and so on. Then we'd formulate our own water with the same minerals found in those waters, making sure our DIY water performed just as well as the brands, with the same natural taste.

Then we'd test our water with as many teas as possible to see how it reacted with each tea type, from HK stored sheng to Jun Chiyabari autumn flush to gyokuro. Finally, from there we made tiny adjustments -- 0.01 grams more of a mineral here to take away sourness, or 0.02 grams there to reduce bitterness -- and we'd coerce family and friends into tasting the differences with us, haha.

Altogether it's been 12 years of experimenting with water on and off, and about a year that Steven and I spent almost entirely on water. Lots of late night experiments, lots of research papers, and lottttts of dishes. ;)

What inspired you to create Tea Curious Water?

We want people to be able to experience their teas with as much flavor as possible. Maybe even the flavors that the teamakers intended. Because if a teamaker in Kyoto uses soft water to evaluate their tea, there's a lot getting lost in translation if we taste their tea brewed in the extremely hard water we have here in Vegas. And that's a shame if, at the last moment, after all the tea farmers, tea pickers, teamakers, and tea vendors have put in everything to make a tea great... the ball gets dropped because the water isn't quite right. That's why you'll find a lot of tea shops and serious tea practitioners rely on bottled water to keep their teas consistent. We made Tea Curious Water so we could stop relying on wasteful bottled water while still getting excellent results from our teas. No flavor left behind!

Are there any water issues that you want to share about or organizations that you find are doing good work to help with water issues?

Absolutely, since as you work with water in tea, you'll inevitably grow your relationship with water in a bigger way too. We should care about the water we use for tea, and we should care about these pressing water issues by listening to people on the front lines and taking action as directed by them.

For example, there's Emma Robbins from Navajo Water Project and The Chapter House, who talks about Indigenous water rights and the treaties broken by the US government, so that today 1 in 3 Navajo homes is without running water.

And the People of Red Mountain Paiute & Shoshone who are protesting a lithium mine in Northern Nevada that would use 7 billion liters of water a year in one of the driest regions in the nation. We also appreciate organizations like Waves4Water, and try to make sure to read not just the materials put out by the international admins, but what the people on the ground are saying, the local leaders like Jenica Dizon who work in their local communities and for whom the work is solidarity rather than charity.

Water affects every community in different ways though, so I hope people can engage with the water issues that are closest to them and in the way that suits them best. For us, we make monthly contributions through Tea Curious Water to various organizations (inspired by Tea Thoughts!) and that just works for us -- integrating what we love with what we should take responsibility for.

What do you see in the future for Tea Curious Water?

I'd love to see the day where friends from different places could bust out the same tea -- let's say the latest oolong from Mountain Stream Teas -- and then brew that same with the same water, so they could have a really similar tasting experience.

We've been testing this already in small groups and it's been magical to see the tasting notes converge between people thousands of miles away. You get the sense that we're really tasting the same tea, and we can learn together almost like we're in person. It's a really intimate feeling. At the end of the day that's what Tea Curious Water is for -- simply set the stage, then let tea be.

Blog Spotlight: Tea Fairy Brigade

Bringing you a special blog spotlight regarding a really special project called Tea Fairy Brigade!

Without giving too much away, you should read on if you love tea, sending snail mail and spreading cheer! I asked the founder of Tea Fairy Brigade, Victoria a few questions to get to know it a little better and how to get involved. Check out what she said below!

Can you please introduce yourself and Tea Fairy Brigade? 

Hi there! I’m Victoria. I started the Tea Fairy Brigade in August 2020 as a way to connect with people during the height of the first coronavirus shutdown. At first, the group was mainly about a monthly tea swap, but as I began connecting with the people involved in the swap and thinking about ways to make a positive impact, I started the “tea fairies” to send tea and cards to anyone having a rough time. A year and half in, our 350+ volunteers have sent tea and cards to over 275 nominees (4+ each) in the US, UK and Europe.

What inspired you to start Tea Fairy Brigade? 

Like many people during the early days of the pandemic, I felt very isolated. I love tea and was involved in several Facebook tea groups, so that seemed like a good way to connect with other like-minded folks. As the group grew from the initial swap in August 2020, I wanted to create a community that was focused on bringing joy and kindness to others through tea.

What does your daily tea ritual look like? 

I’m rarely without a cup of tea! I have a ‘tea corner’ with a shelf of my favorite mugs and a tea cart with all my teas organized by type. At the start of my day, I select the mug I’m feeling for the day and start brewing, usually beginning with a black tea. As the day goes on, I typically switch to herbal tisanes so I’m not bouncing off the walls at midnight!

What has been your favorite aspect of Tea Fairy Brigade since you've started it?

As a participant, my favorite thing is probably meeting new people – I’ve made so many new friends and penpals through the group, I really appreciate the friendly atmosphere. As the coordinator, it’s been seeing such an incredible outpouring of support for nominees from complete strangers. I’m consistently seeing volunteers go above and beyond and that’s really inspiring.

How can we get involved and what is your largest need at this point? 

Great question! You can find more info and sign up to be a zero-pressure volunteer on our website, www.teafairybrigade.com. Signing up just means you’ll get our weekly emails. You can participate as much or as little as you want. You can also find the link to nominate yourself or someone else to receive happy mail on our website.

Is there anything else you want to share about Tea Fairy Brigade? 

We actually have the fabulous problem of having more volunteers than nominees, so please feel free to nominate yourself or someone in your life who’s having a rough time, and to share our link widely and invite others to sign up. Our volunteers send throughout the US, Canada, Europe and beyond. 

Small Business Spotlight: Fin Pin Shop

It’s March and Nowruz is almost here! I’m getting a bit of a late start but I wanted to share a few fellow Persian makers/creators with you this month. First up, is my dear friend Yasmin and her two women team you might have seen me share about on Instagram: Fin Pin Shop!

I met Yas through instagram and we instantly bonded as many do who share the small business joys and woes. We then further connected through our Persian heritage and love of animals. Yasmin is someone I can always count on to talk about our shops and she always finds the best cute animal videos to share with me! I admire her dedication and advocacy to the ocean and all the critters inside it. I’m so honored to feature her on my blog!

Check out more about Fin Pin Shop below!
Can you introduce yourself and Fin Pin Shop?

Absolutely! Fin Pin Shop is run by two women, Jaclyn & Yasmin, who advocate for marine life through ocean-inspired products. We are biologists who love ocean puns and promote an eco-friendly lifestyle. Our products donate to research and ocean conservation while tapping into important messaging, like respecting our oceans!

Diving deeper into who we are individually, Jaclyn is an avid ocean advocate with a Bachelor’s degree from Ohio University in Marine Biology and a Master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University in Environmental Education. She has worked as an aquarist, marine science educator, water quality technician, classroom teacher, expeditions manager, SCUBA instructor, and even a mermaid! She is a volunteer supervisor with her local sea turtle patrol and lives in Florida with her husband, son, and rescue animals.
When it comes to myself (Yasmin), I believe art plays a powerful role in fostering environmental awareness and I create our designs with that goal. I obtained my Master's degree in Environmental Science from Drexel University, and recently my Master of Business Administration, focusing on Data Analytics, from Florida International University. There's three things you learn about me pretty quickly: I love manta rays, cats, and turning everything into puns.

Jaclyn is on the left and Yasmin is on the right!

What first sparked your interest in animals and the ocean?

Oh gosh, well Jaclyn was pretty much a water baby from the start, always drawn to the ocean, even though she grew up in Ohio. Funnily enough we were both born in Ohio! We were destined to meet, for shore. The ocean has shaped a lot of Jaclyn's life, she spent years volunteering for aquariums and zoos, educating and caring for ocean animals.

While I have always loved animals, I felt my need to save ocean life brought on by a specific encounter in my early 20's. One day on a vacation in Hawai'i I found myself swimming next to a reef manta ray, the first one I had ever met! Unfortunately this sweet ray had a large, rusted, commercial fishing hook attached to her cephalic fin (these are head fins they use to scoop food into their mouth). Her fin was more than half gone and the hook looked so heavy. That was the moment that truly set me on this path.

What is your favorite cephalopod :D

Oh I love flamboyant cuttlefish! They are just so fun and fascinating with their color changes and I love when they lift their little arms inquisitively in aquariums!

How do you feel your Persian and Turkish backgrounds influence your art?

I think the perfect example of this influence is in our "lucky eye" designs! This is when I completely unleashed my culture into our designs. We have both a sticker sheet and an enamel pin with the lucky eye, called nazar bonçuk in Turkish. This blue eye symbol is regarded as a protection against envy and jealousy, to bring good luck and repel the bad. In Turkish culture, it’s worn as beads, jewelry, displayed as wall ornaments, and even found in mosaics outside of shops. I believe this is also prevalent in Persian culture as I've seen these blue lucky eyes on display in both my Turkish and Persian family member's houses growing up. I have had a lucky eye on my wrist or worn it as a necklace since I was a baby so this was something I was extremely excited to bring to Fin Pin!

https://finpinshop.com/products/lucky-eyes-sticker-sheet-sharks-rays-octopus-fish

https://finpinshop.com/products/lucky-eye-fish-enamel-pin

Where is your favorite place to find inspiration?

I am so inspired by what I sea in aquariums and out in the ocean! With Instagram being such a big part of my business, I also find inspiration from others around the world on that platform. I consistently stumble across the most FINcredible footage of ocean species which make me want to pick up my Apple pencil (wish I was sponsored, lol) and start drawing!

What do you have currently in the shop that you're most excited about?

We just released a huge set of 7 sea turtle pins which donate 20% back to sea turtle conservation and research with Inwater Research Group! Each purchase of these pins support research and education programs critical to the continued survival of sea turtles today and for future generations!

https://finpinshop.com/collections/new-in-store-1

Do you have any upcoming products or projects that you want to share?

Oh gosh we are working hard on a new character, Munch, who is a Mola mola. This cute little fin (friend - I know we go hard on the puns! lol) has a little chunk missing, which honestly feels relatable to us in 2022. We went through so much the past couple years but still, we persevered. We are currently developing scrunchies and other fun products with this little fin we created, and we are so excited!

Here's our first Munch product! Soon to be on our website :)

One Month In

Happy 2022!

December marks the first month of me working Tea Thoughts full time and I wanted to write some reflections about it! If you were unaware, at the end of November I left my full time job for a number of reasons. Instead of diving right back into the job search I decided to give Tea Thoughts full time a chance to see if I could make it work. Coming off of a pretty successful October update it seemed feasible if I could keep it up!

There were a few things that I was hoping for in running Tea Thoughts full time - time, growth and happiness.

Time

Working any job is time consuming. You end work or come home from the office and feel as though there are little hours in the day left. I was using my free time to work on tea thoughts in addition to answering emails during the day and posting on social media. Any holiday with time off or a weekend was exciting because I had the entire day to work on the shop. Going full time I knew that I would still be busy but I planned on giving myself more of a break and not work into the nights and weekends. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen in December. I was really anxious to make my first full month count and also had a few holiday markets planned that would take up nights and weekends.

I am a creature of habit and like to create a routine to stick to. My days usually start at 6 or 630 with meditation and/or a workout depending on whether it’s a rest day or not then I get into the good stuff. Sometimes I may take an hour or so during the day to see a family member or run and errand but then I am back at it until it’s time for afternoon tea break and cooking dinner. As I’ve expanded the shop and it’s products I do have several manufacturers that I communicate with in China and due to the time difference I am usually up later at night to be able to capture some time with them. On the weekends is when I thought I would take more of a break and I have. I still do work that needs to be done like photos, content, designs etc but am more willing to use the day to hang out with my loved ones. This is hampered still with covid so I am probably glued to my computer more than I normally would be. Moving forward, I hope to set stricter boundaries and allow myself more rest once I get in the rhythm of things.

Growth

January is a notoriously slow month for sales which makes sense because everyone is exhausted from the holidays. I can’t exactly measure my growth just yet because I need more time to pass. I will report again after this month or maybe next! The main goal of growth though would be that because I have more time to work on my shop, I can get more done. I can share about my products more. I can get my products in more shops and produce more products in general and slowly grow to a more sustainable size!

Happiness

I won’t go into specific reasons but I was unhappy at my job and it was having real consequences. It was affecting me mentally and physically so I needed to make this decision for myself. I was hoping that while running a business is stressful in it’s own ways that how I felt would improve. I am happy to report that after a full month, I can’t remember the last time I was this happy. I will admit that the holidays might have contributed to this. The happiness feels more like a freedom. Stresses still exist but they are different and I have more control over them. I feel fortunate to be in this position. I can run an errand when needed, take time when needed etc. The issues I’m dealing with are my own and not from others. Most important, I feel as though I‘ve worked myself to the bone the last several years trying my best to build up Tea Thoughts and I’m finally getting a real chance at it. I don’t know what the future holds but I’m grateful already for the short time I’ve had. It was a mental reset that I needed. I feel like my work wasn’t wasted. I have so many projects brewing and everyday I wake up with a grateful heart and determined mind!

I hope to continue to be able to share more on social media and on the blog about the shop and behind the scenes.

Thanks for coming along on this journey with me!

Countdown Box & Gift Box Previews for 2022

Another year is wrapping up nd I’m so grateful to have been able to put out more countdown boxes! This year was so incredible and I’m very happy with how each box turned out. As many of you are opening the last day of your advent/countdown to winter boxes and smaller countdowns, I wanted to share my thoughts for how next year will go!

In previous years I have done a valentine’s day countdown, spring, summer, fall, Halloween and the advent/winter countdown. While I LOVE doing the valentine’s day countdown I have decided to do something different for 2022.

The timing for these boxes is a little complicated especially since I love to be able to provide them to my tea friends in Canada! My ship out day needs to be 2 weeks or more before the first day of the countdown, and with Valentine’s day being somewhat at the start of the month, this timeline has been really stressful the last couple of times. Instead, I am going to do a box for valentine’s day but I will be more like a gift box!

2022 Schedule of Giftboxes

Valentine’s Day - Date Night Box for yourself or for you and a date! I haven’t decided if the box contents will be a surprise or not but it will include tea and teaware to be able to have a Valentine’s day session! The reasoning behind the valentine’s day box has always been my love of the holiday. If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t love the holiday because I’ve had romantic, sweep you off your feet moments throughout the years. It’s because I like the spirit of the holiday, showing people you love them. I often like to make cards and give them to my family and friends who are local and mail them out to those far away. I think love is worth celebrating in al it’s forms - love for family and friends, love for a romantic partner and love for yourself!

Release Date: A couple of weeks, in early to mid January! These will ship end of January to hopefully make it on time to father away places !

Norouz Box- Spring is an important time for me and Persians around the world as we celebrate New Year. I don’t always share about Norouz because I’m never sure how interested people will be but I will be attempting a small gift box for Norouz that will include tea, something to drink the tea in and probably a Norouz themed gift! This will release either at the same time as the spring box or a little later.

2022 Schedule of Countdowns

Countdown To Spring- Another reason I’m not doing a valentine’s day countdown is that it cuts it too close to the spring countdown which has never actually counted down to the first day of spring, except for this year! While you can open countdown boxes however you’d like the guidance will be to countdown to the first day of spring! This box is almost set and I’m excited to have a piece of teaware, yummy teas and hopefully a handmade item! Spring holds a special place in my heart because it’s New Year so I am excited for us to actually count down with a box! Spring is also a time for renewal so I hope to…RENEW… your love of tea with some interesting teas !

The Advent sold out so quickly so I will be adding a few more boxes to this batch :) I haven’t decided on a theme for the box decoration but will share previews as always when I have it down to one design.

Release Date: This box will hit the shop in Mid February and be shipped out in late February

Countdown to Summer: I will be doing another Countdown to Summer box and soon will start planning these teas. I think Summer is a great time for tea - hot or cold and I have some ideas on what to bring you in the box!

Release Date: The box will hit the shop in Mid May and ship out at the end of May

Countdown to Fall: Another Countdown to fall! In 2021, the Fall box replaced the Countdown to Halloween. While that box was SUPER fun to curate it was similar to the Valentine’s day box where it cut very close to the advent it it was stressful to get everything on time and done. I also want there to be enough of a break between boxes! Fall is such a wonderful time of year so I think this box will be another fun one!

Release Date: The box will hit the shop in Mid August and ship out the end of August!

Countdown to Winter/advent: In 2022, this advent will be my 4th Annual! I get so excited about this, planning started in Spring. I wan to do things a little different this year. While I’ve always wanted to do a larger countdown, I struggle with trying to keep it somewhat affordable so that it can be accessible to most! The boxes are extremely labor intensive from curation to packing to shipping, I don’t really factor in my labor when I should so I’m afraid a larger countdown for the advent would be too expensive. I may however try to add a day or two if I can to make it a little more magical!

Your Feedback:

I can’t guarantee that I will be able to deliver on everything you suggest because not every suggestion works for me but I am always listening and want to hear what you think! There are a few topics that I am especially interested in hearing your opinions on! Check them out below and feel free to leave a comment or email me - hello@teathoughts.com . Please note that the valentines, spring and norouz box are pretty much set.

In 2021, I started putting pieces of teaware in the box, do you want that to continue?

What kinds of non tea items would like you to see more of?

Would you like to see the advent box have more days in it?

What is your favorite aspect of the countdown boxes?

Small Business/Creator Spotlight: Tea With Jann

Today, I am sharing a dear friend that I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with over the last few years, Jann! You all probably have at least seen Jann’s wonderful Youtube videos or gorgeous tea cup collection! Jann is such a lovely person and you can watch her videos and just feel the happy vibes!

Jann also recently started a shop where she sells her lovely designs and a wonderful Brew Kindness box. I was able to grab one in here last release!

Check out all the goodies I got: Brew Kindness Box

You can also check Jann’s shop and I highly suggest heading over to her Youtube Channel for Vlogmas! Jann is currently posting 2 videos a day opening and tasting teas from all her tea advents!

Check out the questions below that Jann kindly answered to get to know her a little more!

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

Sure! My name is Jann and I love creating a welcoming community while making videos about tea and sharing bits of my life on YouTube.  I live in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada with my wife, Jeanette and our kitty, Gary. 

I have memory issues from a stroke, so often times it’s like tasting new teas all the time (silver lining) ;) 

2) When did you start drinking tea? 

I had consistently started drinking tea when I started working at an office when I was 17. I wanted the ability to take a break, while my coworkers would reach for coffee or cigarettes (wasn’t into either of those), so I searched out tea. Barely dunking a teabag into the hot water, but having that moment to leave my desk, watch the kettle boil, and wrap my hands around the warm mug was such a comfort. 

3) What inspired you to start Tea with Jann and the Brew Kindness Box?

I started Tea with Jann as a place to share my love of antiques, tea, and technology. I chose YouTube and video as a method for my need to be creativity and as a way to challenge myself, while looking for a place of community that anyone could feel welcome and comfortable. 

I have a collection of my own teacups, turquoise Aynsleys, and I love them. I also love searching out other teacups and wares. I love chatting with the previous owners, or imagining the cups life prior to me finding it. I wanted to bring those cups into the life of someone that would love them again. That would use them again. That would give them purpose again. 

4) What does your personal tea ritual look like?

Hmm, that can change everyday, so perhaps it’s not so much of a ritual. Sometimes it’s a quick morning cup with breakfast, others it’s a cold brew with lunch, or an evening cup to sooth my thoughts. 

Perhaps the only ritual is the first sip.  

5) Do you have a current favorite tea?

I have three tea containers that are on our kitchen counter for the daily drinking favourites. One is dedicated to my wife’s tea, the other two for me.  While one of mine is always the same, the other one switches to my current obsession. For the past year it’s been The Silk Tea Co’s romantic floral blend called Desert Rose. It’s so soothing and calming for my evening cup. 

6) Do you have a process for curating the Brew Kindness Boxes? 

Since they are still a very new part of Tea with Jann, I do not. I’ve been thinking a lot of what I want to accomplish and how I want people to feel, and what that means to me. 

7) Is there anything upcoming for the holiday season or beyond for Tea with Jann that you're excited about and want to share? 

For the holidays I’m focussed on my Vlogmas series on my YouTube channel. Each year I have filled a box, adding a new tea or tea related product every day from December 1st to the 24th as an annual giveaway prize to my viewers. This year I’m excited to be working with tea business to fill a giant Brew Kindness Giveaway box for vlogmas!  I think I need a larger box, haha! 

As for the new year, I have a few ideas, but I think I need a hot cup of tea and some solo time to allow my ideas to steep. 

Small Business Spotlight: The Tea Practitioner

The Tea Practitioner is a Canadian Based Tea Company serving up a variety of teas! I have always wanted to try their teas and I finally made a purchase recently. You can see the teas that I bought below plus some zhang ping shui xian and and I was also gifted one extra tea, a ceylon silver needle. My absolute favorite of these teas (even though they were all yummy) was the yellow rose cliff tea. A lovely roasted tea that is perfect for the cooler weather. I reach for any tea that I think tastes good in the winter but there is something so nice about a more substantial tea that is more like a meal and that roast does the trick for me!

Please check out their interview below and also their shop!

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

The Tea Practitioner is made up of two like-minded food and beverage focused individuals - Sierra Joseph-Quon and Brendan Roth. With Sierra’s certification as a Tea Sommelier through the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada and chef background, as well as Brendan’s vast knowledge of Food, Beverage and customer service, together, the pair wants to share their enthusiasm for one of the greatest beverages in the world.

2) When did you start drinking tea?

Sierra: I started fairly young, about 10 years old. Tea is such a huge part of Chinese culture, and my dad would always share pots of Jasmine green with me growing up.

Brendan: I've been drinking tea the English way, black tea with milk for as long as I can remember, but discovered the vast world of single origin teas a few years ago.

3) What inspired you to start The Tea Practitioner?

I've always wanted to start something that puts my passion for tea to the forefront, all the while curating a menu, and testing and sharing recipes utilizing my professional food and pastry skills. This was the perfect platform to merge the two together.

4) What does your personal tea ritual look like?

On most days I'll start by drinking matcha. Either hot, over ice, or with some sparkling water. It's just a great routine to practice, as well as a huge mood booster to start my day off on the right foot. In the afternoon or evening, I'll have a cup of oolong or white tea, prepared gong fu. At night, I drink herbal tea. Lately lemon ginger or hibiscus.

5) Do you have a current favorite tea from the shop or outside of the shop?

Yellow Rose Cliff Oolong has been my personal favourite. Such great mineral quality, and so floral and sweet. We also really love drinking the Hira Hoji Bancha. It's such a nice fall tea, and the tea leaf material is very reminiscent of the autumnal season; fallen leaves crunching under your feet!

6) Do you have a process for choosing the teas you offer?

Our primary objective is sourcing directly from producers around the world, highlighting their regional specialties. We try to curate a diverse selection of teas for Torontonians, Canadians, and North Americans alike. A lot of this is a reflection of our personal tastes as well.

7) Is there anything upcoming for the holiday season or beyond for The Tea Practitioner that you're excited about and want to share?

We've got a collection of gift boxes that we've just curated, as well as a new blend called Spiced Hibiscus Punch. It's a blend inspired by the Caribbean, traditionally drunk during the festive holiday season. It's great with some brown sugar and rum over ice, or on its own. It's a great holiday punch bowl beverage.

Retailer Spotlight: Friday Afternoon Tea

So excited to do a retailer spotlight on the wonderful Friday Afternoon Tea! Friday has run an amazing tea shop for over a decade serving up tea blends, pure teas and more. I’ve enjoyed several teas from Friday recently, I am currently sipping on moon magic! Want to know more about Friday Afternoon Tea? Check out the interview questions below!

Who knows, maybe you’ll encounter Friday Afternoon Tea in a future countdown box :D

Please also check out the Friday Afternoon Tea shop!

Some of my favorites: Zhang Ping Shui Xian, Darkest Chai, Moon Magic, Father Zambezi’s Mission Oolong

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

I'm Friday (yes, that's my real name), the founder, CEO, and Head Tea Witch of Friday Afternoon Tea. My tea company is best known for our synesthesia-derived fandom tea blends, unusual small farm pure teas and big ol' Care Bear heart. It's my life mission to serve as liaison between ethically-run small farms and a customer's Exact Right Tea for any given moment, mood, weather, book, etc. If a guest does not feel like they're being personally greeted with a loving hug from an old friend after every cup, I do not consider my job complete. So that's us, basically.

2) When did you start drinking tea?

My grandmother was an herbalist, so growing up I had an intimate relationship with medicinal plants. "Tea" typically consisted of chamomile, lavender, olive leaf, spearmint, blackberry leaf, and so on. We drank tea together to set intentions, aid sleep, or ward off colds. True tea didn't really enter the picture for me until I was about twelve. I had a bagged strawberry black tea while visiting Vancouver, BC with my mom and fully lost my mind. I was like, "Whaaaaa? Black tea can taste like that?!" and from that moment I got really weird about tea. Flash forward to my first restaurant job out of cooking school at 17 years old: an English tea room's kitchen. I got my hands on a Golden Monkey for the first time and that was that. I became obsessed and haven't stopped studying tea since!

3) What inspired you to start Friday Afternoon Tea?

When I say I got obsessed with tea, I mean I got obsessed. When I develop an interest, I go deep. Hermione Granger levels of dweebdom. So on my mission to learn everything about tea and taste every single tea, I quickly discovered that I will never be able to accomplish either of those goals. Which means a lifetime of learning and tasting and connecting and building friendships over a world of tea tables. What a life! I had to start my own company both because I wanted the freedom to pursue, evolve, and express myself creatively in my work, and because I didn't want to choose between a vibrant career and being very present for my child's early years. It was a single mom dream to do work I love and not miss out on any of their Firsts.

4) What does your personal tea ritual look like?

When I slow down for tea, rather than just having it on the go all day every day while I'm working, I have a little corner in my home office with twinkle lights and a soft blanket on the floor. There's a shelf at hand with all my gaiwans, tea pets, and a basket of my favorite teas for gongfu service. I have two trays and really enjoy picking out specific pieces to suit my mood. I also like to pair a tarot deck (there are about thirty on a shelf under the gongfu trays) and quietly read cards while I drink my tea.

5) Do you have a current favorite tea?

You know that's an impossible question! I refuse to pick one, but I WILL give you one pure tea and one blended. For pure tea, I'm obsessed with a gorgeous unsmoked Lapsang Souchong from the Lin farm in Fujian China. It's figgy and smooth and the leaf is so shiny! For blended tea, I'm all about our Friday's Evening. South Indian decaf black tea with rose, tulsi, and cardamom. It tastes like daydreams.

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

I'm drawn to lush language, bright colors, and deep feelings. My brain is wired such that I literally taste words, feelings, ideas, etc., and I choose to create blends that translate things I find beautiful into tea blends for others to experience as well! Music, movies, books, weather, memories...you name it.

7) Is there anything upcoming this holiday season and beyond for Friday Afternoon Tea that you're excited about?

I'm always excited about everything, so this is gonna be a big yes. We're very excited about our brand new Zodiac-inspired collection, which I think is going to be our most popular gift this season. We're also bringing our CommuniTea Book Club back for a second year, and early next year we are planning to crowdfund an expansion into a secondary storefront with a dedicated production facility! We've really outgrown our little tea house and are excited to have space to do all the cool projects we want to take on (hello, tea advent calendars for 2022), not to mention be able to shorten our turnaround times and take on more wholesale clients. All very exciting stuff!