Tea Talk

Have you joined those of us who are in love with chai tea? I first discovered chai tea many years ago, and it morphed to the top of my favorite tea list right away. It's fabulous, either hot or over ice. In many parts of the world, "chai" is simply the word for tea, but here in the U.S., the term "chai" has become known for the traditional Indian tea called "Masala Chai." Chai tea is sweet, spicy, creamy deliciousness. It is made from a combination of robust black tea and spices. The most popular spices include cardamom, ginger, cinnamon,...

The holidays are fast approaching! In case you’re wondering, there are only 55 days until Christmas and only 54 shopping days left! Yikes! That made me sit up and take notice, as I’m sure it will you. If you celebrate Hanukkah, it’s only 28 days! This year, my personal goal is to shop early, local when I can, and support small businesses. I want to take the stress off myself. I’d like to enjoy the season as much as I can with family, friends, and my wonderful customers. With that being said, I set about creating some amazing tea gift...

Years ago, when I first started drinking loose leaf tea, I was horribly confused with some of the tea terminologies. All these terms that people would throw around, and I had no idea what they were talking about. It was like a foreign language. So I started on a mission to learn the terms so I wouldn’t embarrass myself. This is just a mini-tutorial. There are many more terms, but this will get you started. Aroma: It’s what you smell when you open your package of tea. It’s also called the “nose.” BLT: British Legacy Teas refers to teas produced...

I’m all about pampering myself. Sounds selfish, doesn’t it? But in reality, if we (and I’ll say we as women) don’t take care of ourselves, no one else will. As a wife and mother, I know I put my husband and children’s welfare ahead of my own for years. I paid the price and had a health crisis. It made me take a hard look at my life and what I needed to do to take better care of myself. I started going to bed at a reasonable hour even though there were still a million things left to do....

October is always a fun month with the lead-up to Halloween. For some people, Halloween is their favorite holiday of the year. They enjoy displaying all the spooky decorations in both their houses and yards. Pumpkin carving is always a pleasant activity at the top of my fun list. I think adults enjoy it as much as the kids do; I know I do. The culmination of the month is Halloween with trick-or-treating for the kids or parties for the adults. At the shop, we always participate in our town’s “Fright Night” and trick-or-treating. We pass out candy, serve “Witch’s...