NYC Coffee & Tea Fest

If you (unlike me) are in NYC next weekend (I'll be speaking at a wellness conference in AZ), visit the NYC Coffee & Tea Festival! You can check out cool tea companies like Tavalon (say hi to Chris for me!), Tay Tea (say hi to Nini for me!), SerendipiTea (ditto Linda), Harney & Sons, Biscottea (and Laurance), Adagio (Christine), Zen Green Tea Liqueur, Hancha Tea, Srina, Tea Classics and Te Light. Tea writer Ellen Easton will also be there (hi, Ellen!), as will my favorite beverage magazine, Imbibe. As a thank you for being my personal messenger, here's a promo code for $10 off admission -- enter "VEETEA" (without the quotation marks) during online checkout. Enjoy the show!

Tea Sales

Here are some more tea sales for you lovely readers...

Teance:
October 11-17: All teas are 20% off
October 18-24: Purchases over $75 are 20% off
October 25-31: Purchases over $100 are 25% off

Urbana Teas & Tonics:
half off all rooibos through Oct. 31st

Imperial Tea Court:
Huoshan Huang Ya Yellow Tea 15% off
Gunpowder Green 30% off
Mao Jian 30% off

Know of any others? Post a link, or send me a message!

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!

Two NYT Tea Articles

Here are two articles from last year that I've been meaning to link for some time. They are both from The New York Times and they cover very different aspects of tea. The first is similar to my recent Tea Muse article on tea in Austin. Its focus is Portland and it is written by the talented Ceil Miller Bouchet. The second is about the owners of a specialty foods store who, like me, love to teach tea and who, unlike me, recently published the wonderful book “The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide."

Excerpt from Beyond Tea and Crumpets in Portland:

"... that's why I came to Portland: to connect with this moist metropolis through my favorite brew. Building on the success of established Portland tea businesses like Tazo Tea, Stash and Oregon Chai, the city is host to one of the most distinctive tea scenes in the country. Locally owned tea spots have sprouted throughout the city, supported by an epicurean population that travels miles for the perfect cup. From mushroom tea to tea paired with sake, these citizens of the Pacific Rim are thinking way beyond tea and crumpets. And no tea bags allowed."

Excerpt from Lessons From the Professors of Tea:

"In Shanghai they visited a bustling regional wholesale tea market that was featuring first-of-the-season teas from the eastern provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui. (Cramped in the back of a van full of Chinese passengers, no officials saw them as they rode through the checkpoint into a Chinese-only wholesale section of the city.)

On a boat ride on the Lake of a Thousand Islands, in Zhejiang Province, a woman named Wei Cui Lan, one of China’s leading tea authorities and one of the last women to graduate from tea school before the Cultural Revolution, showed them the methods required to brew at least 30 different varieties of green and oolong tea."

PS--I still have two free tickets left for the Coffee and Tea Festival. Email me with your name and a comment or suggestion for Vee Tea to win them.

NYC Coffee & Tea Festival

Exciting news! The NYC Coffee & Tea Festival is this weekend! Don't forget that you can get half-price tickets with the promo code VEETEA. Also, the first four people to email me their full name and a comment about Vee Tea (it could be a post idea, a comment I can add to the testimonials on my site, or a suggestion of some kind) get a free pair of tickets to the Festival!

PS--I recently got to interview the Coffee & Tea Festival's organizer, Lynda Calimano. You can read the full interview on Vee Tea.

Teaware Sale

NYC-based home shop Clio is having a sale starting today. Check out their teapot collection (the quirk award goes to their "iron" teapot, the Mirza) and other cool tea products ("shattered" cup, tea towels, and more). Have a great weekend!

92 Thompson St., b/t Prince & Spring Streets
212.966.8991

Tea Sale, New Organic Tea, and a New "Tea" from Crystal Light

A few quick notes on tea news for today:

Ito En is having a sale on their Dr. Andrew Weil for Tea line. If you haven't tried them, now is an especially good time to do so. The World Tea Expo previously awarded their ready to drink Darjeeling and Jasmine White teas. I also quite like their Turmeric Infusion, which is a natural anti-inflamitant traditionally drunk in Okinawa.

There's a new line of organic teas on the market. Cool. (FYI, this link will open as a pdf file.)

Crystal Light is releasing a new line flavors for water, several of which are tea-based. According to their press release, "Metabolism+ Peach Mango Green Tea contains a blend of natural green tea antioxidants and caffeine for a short-term boost in metabolism.... Red Tea Mandarin... has 55mg of Natural Rooibos Polyphenols (and) is the first herbal tea mix from Crystal Light." I'm sure it will be disgusting, but it is interesting to me that they are trying to make a comeback by touting tea.

NYC Coffee & Tea Festival Interview and World Tea Expo Press

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Lynda Calimano of The NYC Coffee & Tea Festival. Here's the full tea interview. Excerpt:

"We could have easily designed a show around either coffee or tea but found that there is a tremendous cross over between coffee and tea lovers. Sure, you have some purists that love either coffee or tea, but we’ve seen many sophisticated consumers who really appreciate the quality of specialty coffees and teas. We design the show, and its programming, to appeal to both."

Read more about the festival's history, this year's festivities, and Lynda's love of tea on VeeTea, or learn more about The Coffee & Tea Festival on their site. Don't forget that you can get half-price tickets by entering the promo code "VEETEA" at checkout!

Also, while I was away at SXSW enjoying music and tea, I received some mail of note. The World Tea Expo included my photo in their new press release. I'm the one in red. What a nice thing to come home to!

NYC Coffee and Tea Festival

Now that the weather's warming up, I'm reminded that the annual NYC Coffee and Tea Festival is fast approaching. This year has an exciting line-up that includes:

A traditional Japanese tea ceremony demonstration
Tea Blending
Coffee and Tea Cocktails
Green Tea 101
Tea Leaf Reading
Coffee and Tea Exhibitors

Learn more on the Coffee and Tea Festival site, and remember: you can get half-off tickets with the promo code "VEETEA."

Another Reason to Buy Organic/VeeTea Updates

Apparently, organic foods have a higher nutrient content than conventional foods. (The New York Times decided to place an ad before this page. Just click "skip in the top right corner to get past it.") I would imagine this extends to tea, too. Cool.

Normally, I'd announce a discount for tours and classes today. (They have previously been for educators and food service workers.) This month is a little (read: very) different. I'm leaving for India on the 6th (to see the tea fields and drink lots of masala chai and Darjeeling!) and I won't be back until September 1st. So, no discount this month, as I won't be here to give classes and tours.

Also, you've probably noticed that I usually post an article each Monday. Not this month. I'll resume in September. You can wait in breathless anticipation until then.

However, I will be posting a travel blog whenever possible. For those of you reading through Vee Tea, you may want to check the travel blog through Blogger instead. I'm writing blogs as I go, then entering them when I can, which causes problems with the way RSS posts them to subscriber sites (like Vee Tea). The blog orders and dates will make more sense if you read the blogs on Blogger. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just trust me and read it on Blogger.

While I'm gone, I will be able to respond to email occasionally. Don't hesitate to contact me, just know that it may take a week for me to respond.

July Discount: Educators

For the month of July, I'm celebrating teachers (and their summer holiday) by offering a 10% discount to all educators. It applies to tea tours and classes, so pass it on to all your teacher friends. They deserve a break!

National Iced Tea Month/Celebrate NYC

June is (you guessed it) National Iced Tea Month. Cool! (Hah . . . OK, that was a really bad pun.)

For all you New Yorkers looking to escape the city's stifling heat without actually leaving the city, join me for an iced tea tour. For the month of June, all NYC residents get 10% off all "iced" tours, whether they are custom tours or "ice-able" package tours (Tea and Sweets and The Vegan Tea Tour).

Celebrate Food Service Workers!

This month, VeeTea is celebrating the people who provide the wonderful foods and drinks we love so much-- food service workers! From restaurateur to dishwasher, all food service workers get a 10% discount on tours and classes for the month of May. Take the opportunty to improve your knowledge and presenation of tea with a set or customized tour or class.