Developing Your Tea Menu - World Tea Expo

Just wanted to post a quick note that I'll be speaking at the 2010 World Tea Expo about how to create mouthwatering tea menus. The presentation spans from early development (like tea selection and signature drink development) to final touches (like menu design and tea description writing). I've worked with companies including Samovar Tea Lounge, urbana cityspa & teabar, Narien Teas, Tula Teas and Takashimaya in these areas and I look forward to sharing what I've learned over the years about how to set your tea menu apart.

The session is intended for those who are developing their tea menu, making changes to their tea selection or developing printed materials or web content to showcase their products. You can read more about it (and sign up) on the World Tea Expo site. If you know of others who may be interested in attending, please pass this information along!

Tea Sales

There are a number of tea sales going on right now. Here are a few I've found. Feel free to add to the list!

Teas, Etc.'s Earth Day sale
Through April 26

ITO EN's Shipping & Handling sale
Reduced standard (UPS Ground) shipping & handling prices for volume orders. Save 20% on shipping & handling for orders over 70lbs or save 25% on shipping & handling for orders over 120lbs through May 4, 2009.

The Tea Table's $3.95 flat rate shipping sale
$3.95 flat rate shipping on all orders through May 1st at 5PM Mountain Time. Through???

Zhi Tea's Mother's Day Sale
Free Shipping on all tea orders for Mother's Day. Use Coupon Code IHEARTMOM.

Urbana Tea's Half-Off Black Tea Sale
All black teas half-off. Through???

In Pursuit of Tea's specials list
Various teas and teaware. Ongoing.

Enjoy!

Quick Update

I'm finally getting to the point in moving that I feel (mostly) settled. It has been a long process, as I moved from NYC to Charlotte, NC, and also moved in with my husband (we had never lived together before), continued my usual load of freelance work and started up a new freelance assignment upon arrival. Now that I'm more settled, I'm looking forward to three things:

Seeing my local friends more often (I'm from here, so I still have friends here)
Exploring the city (It has changed so much since I moved away!)
Posting more here about my recent tea adventures (which include tasting the Honest Tea's new yerba mates and Green Tea Mango and Numi's puerhs, doing Urbana staff training and getting ready for the World Tea Expo)

Tea Sales

Here are some tea sales for the week, the month and pre-Valentine's Day:

Rishi Tea -- sale on Organic Wild Rose, Silver Needle Jasmine and White Tea Melange through Valentine's Day
Teance -- $20 off online purchases of $70 or more this week, enter code "VALENTINE" at checkout
Urbana Tea -- 30% off all online teas for the month of February, enter code "URB3510"

Do you know of any other cool tea sales going on right now? If so, please add them in the comments!

Sale

Urbana Teas and Tonics is having a 15% off sale for first-time online buyers. Just enter the promo code "URB6853" during checkout for the discount.

Those of you who know me or have been reading my blog for a while probably know that I used to be the teabar manager there, and that a large part of my passion for tea grew out of drinking it regularly at their South Charlotte location. My favorites? Darjeeling 2nd Flush Muscatel from Makaibari (where I had the pleasure of visiting last year), Vanilla Cream (I rarely like flavored teas, but this one is fantastic!), Strawberry-Pepper/Unity (complex, piquant tisanes), Kukicha (a very creamy one...) and Spicy Ginger Yerba Mate (with emphasis on the spicy!). If you try them, let me know what you think!

Tea Sales

There are some good tea sales going on right now. Here are a few:

Teance has free shipping for orders over $50 through September 30.
Urbana has half off all rooibos through the end of October.
ITO EN is selling cases of Oi Ocha, Japan's #1 RTD, at a discount through September 30.

Do you know of any others? Let me know and I'll post them!

Tea Videos

First, tea companies got websites. Then, some took the extra step and started blogs or forums. Now, the big thing is video. From YouTube's many flowering tea vids and ceremony demos to Twinings' and Dr. Tea's video posts and even various organizations' tea video competitions, tea videos are hot. As someone with a video editing background (I edited videos and animations through high school and college), I can't say I'm disappointed! Though it's not new, video is an exciting and vibrant medium. You can convey huge amounts of information quickly while keeping it easy (and even fun) to understand. I'm glad to say that I'll be taking a new step in the tea video world soon. I've been interviewed by the local TV news as a "tea expert" and I've worked with a professional video editor to make a video of my footage from India for an Indian tea tasting event, but this week I'm writing and narrating a tea video for Urbana Cityspa & Teabar to post on Citysearch. Fun! It seems that most tearooms have so much to share and simply lack the means to get it out there. I hope to work with other tearooms on similar projects in the near future--let's get those stories and unique features out there!

07/02/08--Update!
Oregon Chai has announced a new video contest. Here's how to compete for Digital Nirvana.

Off to NC

I'm flying to Charlotte, North Carolina right now. I'll be gone for two weeks, but don't worry--I'll keep blogging while I'm away!

If you're in Charlotte this Friday the 13th, check out "The World of Chocolate" event and tasting (where I will be doing a segment on tea and chocolate) at The International House.

Next Wednesday, I'm doing a yerba mate tasting and talk during Urbana Cityspa & Teabar's "Tango @ the Teabar" Argentine mate and wine tasting and tango event.

I'll also be available to do private, custom tea tastings at Urbana through the 24th. Call 704.543.1700 to make an appointment with me.

Coffee & Tea Festival: Misc.

Today's post: Coffee & Tea Festival miscellanea I haven't covered already.

Cup for Education is doing some great not-for-profit work in coffee-producting regions. It reminded me of a tiny, independent version of The CHAI Project in India. Starbucks' Tazo and Mercy Corp. joined up for the CHAI Project in India, and it is currently the largest not-for-profit agency in the country. I wonder when this type of program will spread to other tea-producing regions.

Ceylon Treasures had some cool handmade elephant-covered metal tea caddies from Sri Lanka. (Due to a very strange experience with a Ganesh statue in San Francisco and my visit to India last summer, elephants are one of my very favorite animals.)

There were Himalayan Salt Crystal Lights at the Festival. They don't directly relate to coffee or tea, but I found it interesting that they were there because Urbana Cityspa & Teabar (where I used to manage the teabar and still hold events sometimes) carried them.

The Hudson Healing Wisdom School had a long line for tea leaf readings the whole time. I wish I hadn't waited for the line to die down, as I missed my chance for a reading. Oh, well. Maybe next year!

Harshita Designs had some lovely block- and screen-printed textiles with tea motifs (leaves, pots, etc.). The georgette and charmeuse were very good quality and the colors were very vibrant. (My textiles background leaves me thinking it was dyed with acid dye.)

Tay Tea's "Better than Sex" rooibos blend was a big hit again this year. With a name like that, everyone made sure to stop by and try it. Although I don't usually sweeten my tea, I was a big fan of Tay's saffron rock candy. Yum!

Tea and alcohol seemed to be matched often. Between the Coffee & Tea Infused Cocktails, Chris Cason's remarks on the future of tea drinks, and Zen Green Tea Liquor (by the Japanese company that makes Midori), it was well-represented. I'm looking forward to seeing where this trend takes us.

Tea Classics/Hancha Tea focused on Korean tea, which is much bigger on the West coast than it is here in NYC. They also put on several demos of the Korean tea ceremony. Although traditional Korean "teas" are usually tisanes (herbal), there are some fantastic Korean green teas produced in Korea. It is my hope that they will be more readily available in the US soon.

Georgia's Bakeshop (located here in NYC) had some fantastic sweets (French macaroons, mini walnut souffles, etc.). I took a few home with me, and I can't wait to visit their shop!


Harrisons & Crossfield had a variety of types of tea in both pyramid and flat bags. I was saddened to see that they are one of the (way too) many companies carrying pomegranate white tea. I am so over this trend. When will it end?!?!

SerendipiTea carried a variety of tea blends (City Harvest was a favorite, and a portion of the proceeds go to City Harvest), tea soaps, Bodum pots (I love their designs), and Amai cookies (Amai's tea/bake house just won Time Out's "Best New Tearoom" award!). Cool.

Don't forget to celebrate Earth Day over the weekend and on the 22nd. Do something more sustainable--plant something, buy organic/local, try an alternate means of transit, or . . .