Making Lasting Traditions

When the holidays come around, people may have many traditions within their family that they want to keep going. Whether it be traveling many miles to find the perfect Christmas tree to cut down, to the baking of Christmas cookies in mass, to the singing of Christmas carols to shut-ins, everyone seems to have their own traditions.

In our family one of the traditions was that no matter where we were, we had to have Grandma's creamed pearl onions for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I remember watching her carefully peel each little pearl onion until it was ready to by put into the pot with the cream sauce. Gradually we could all smell the lovely and comforting aroma of Grandma's onions. Yum! But the best part was being able to sit down together with family and friends to enjoy the feast.

Another tradition was cutting down the Christmas tree. We would take a long time to carefully choose which tree would be the best for our home. Usually we would decorate the tree a week after we cut it down. Mom always said that we had to let the tree sit in a bucket of water for a week so it could get a nice long drink. Then came the fun of decorating the tree. All of the ornaments, new and old would be pulled out of the attic and gently put up on the tree, while Christmas music played in the background. Afterward, we would sit on the couch exhausted but satisfied in knowing that we had a fun time completing our task. Usually there would be tea or hot chocolate to drink too.

Now that the holidays are upon us, be sure to slow down and take time to keep with old traditions and maybe start new ones. I would recommend incorporating tea into a new tradition. Maybe add tea to your tree decorating time. Try using some Christmas Star, Earl Grey, English Breakfast, or Up North! tea during this time. You could even start a small tea party tradition with a few of your family or friends. Keep it simple. Each person could be asked to bring a dish of food to share with everyone. Someone could bring scones, another chocolates, another sandwiches, while yet another brings shortbread. However you plan it, it will work.

Tozy Tea Reviews

We've gotten our first couple of reviews of our teas, so we thought we'd make a list with them in one place.

Tea Guy Speaks--Up North!

In the Pines--Moroccan Mint

We just received three more reviews at Teaviews, one of the largest tea blogs out there.  One is for Moroccan Mint, the other two for Cherry Blossom.  Check them out.

Our thanks to the reviewers who took the time to try our teas and let the world know what they think.

You can also see the customer reviews for each tea on our main site.  Feel free to tell us what you think on Facebook or Twitter.

Iced Tea with Premium Teas

Christmas Star in Summer

We had a customer in St. Louis, MO ask us about which of our teas make a good iced tea.  Any of our teas can make good iced tea, but we have our personal favorites.

The best thing about using really good tea for iced tea is that you don't have to load up on sugar.  Because a lot of "grocery store" teas are low grade, you need a lot of sugar to make it taste good.  With good tea, you can rely on the taste of the tea to provide good flavor.

Our favorites for iced are Up North! for a black tea, Moroccan Mint for a green tea, and perhaps the best, Northland Blueberry for a caffeine-free alternative.

To make iced tea, all you have to do is brew the tea as usual, add sweetener as desired, and then let it cool.  You can either pour the tea over ice or put it in the refrigerator for a while.

So there you go, a healthy alternative to overly sweet drinks.  And guess what?  It'll taste better too.

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Tozy Time

Had a friend post this on my Facebook page:

"Syria is depressing...U.S. financial stalemate is depressing...how to decompress? Tozy Time."

So there you go.  Down about the weather, down about life, down about the world?  Just have a bit of good tea and things will seem better.

Strike that.  Things will even be better.

Hosting and Toasting

Lately, there's been a lot of hubbub about Hostess Brands and their products flying off the shelves at grocery stores.  It's amazing how quickly things get scooped up and purchased when people are told that certain things will no longer be available.

I admit that after I posted my blog last Friday about hosting a Hostess party, that I too made a trip to our local grocery store in hopes of picking up a few boxes of sweet treats from my childhood.  However, I was not going to enjoy them myself.  I called some friends and invited them to a Hostess Tea Party.  The responses were of sheer joy and excitement. 

So yesterday, a few friends dropped by for tea and we all had a great time drinking Christmas Star tea and eating Twinkies, Ding-Dongs, Mini Crullers, and Donettes.  The Christmas Star tea paired very well with the Hostess treats, and so much so, that we had four teapots of that tea. 

Now the question is whether or not Hostess will be around.  Currently, both sides are meeting a with a mediator.  We will just have to wait and see what the outcome is of the situation.

I hope some of you were able to Host a Hostess Tea Party.  If you did, we would love for you to share your tea party story with us.

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Hosting With Hostess

This morning I was saddened to hear and see that Hostess Brands will be gone for good. What a shock! Hostess has been around for such a long time and now they will cease to exist.

Imagine all of the children who have squealed with delight only to find some delectable Hostess delight in their lunch bag at school. Maybe for others, it was a treat that magically appeared when staying with Grandma and Grandpa. Oh, think of all of the fun and delights that went along with these wonderful little sweet cakes of joy.

But what about now? Here is an idea, so that your children or grandchildren never forget Hostess. Put together a children's tea party. Remember, sweets and tea have been together for along time and compliment each other very well.  As you plan your tea party keep in mind the simpler the better. Using Hostess products makes the tea party easy as pie to put together. Ho-hos can be sliced using a serrated knife and arranged on a plate that will bring intrigue to most anyone. Twinkies, Ding- Dongs, and Zingers can be nicely stacked on a separate plates. Now all that's left to be done is to pick the tea and set the table. For this occasion, I would recommend either our Up North! or Christmas Star tea.

It is quite possible too, that you might want to have your own party with your own friends, who want to have a nostalgic moment. What fun to have a whole bunch of your adult friends get together for an afternoon of smiles and laughing while enjoying Twinkies, Ding-Dongs, and Ho-Hos. Chances are the little kid in you will come out once again. As for tea recommendations, the sky is the limit. For adults any black tea goes well with chocolate, especially Earl Grey. Since we are near the holidays our green tea Moroccan Mint with peppermint would pair well, as would our other green tea,Cherry Blossom.

So take some time out of your hectic schedule and bring a little joy to some children or yourself and friends through tea and Hostess treats.

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Starbucks Buys Teavana

I was surprised to learn today of Starbucks' acquisition of Teavana.  Price:  $620m or $15.50 per share.  

Starbucks says it will continue to sell Tazo, a conventional bagged tea found in many grocery stores.  In addition, Starbucks has been developing Tazo tea shops and says they are a laboratory for the Teavana merger.  Teavana's stores and product lineup are so much more upscale than either Tazo or Starbucks, it's not clear to me where Starbucks will take the Teavana brand.

Starbucks says it will introduce the Teavana brand into grocery stores.  I wonder how the Safeway management will react to Monkey Picked Oolong that sells for $25 for two ounces?  The price and quality of Teavana's products do not seem to me to directly translate to most grocery stores, so my guess is that they will move Teavana more downscale.

So for us little guys, this is both good and inspiring news.  It took Teavana's founders 15 years to build the company for this acquisition, so it's nice to know it can be done.  Also, if my hunch is right that Starbucks will have to reposition Teavana to a cheaper and lower quality target market, it opens the door for those of us who sell the high end product.

How will Teavana's loyal customers react?  Some may not like the deal at all.  Starbucks is a good company but it no longer has the mystique it once had or Teavana had until today.  It will also depend on how much Starbucks changes the Teavana stores, product, and overall vibe.

If you're a Teavana fan and you're looking for that "little company" that will take care of your tea needs, look no further than Tozy Tea.  We'll work hard to earn your trust and satisfy your needs.  And you can always check us out on Facebook or Twitter, we try to have some fun with people there.

Oh, the Excitement of it All

Excitement is so much fun! Think of all of the exciting occurrences and adventures that have taken place in your life. Some excitement may be as simple as doing really well on a test or small project that you weren't sure would turn out properly and then it did. Maybe your excitement dealt with the anticipation of a huge event. Whatever your excitement has been, it's important.

We also have our own excitement right now. For me it is reminiscent of when I was a kid at Christmastime. I was always so excited about what I was giving to people as gifts and it was so hard keeping it a secret from them.

Our excitement is now being revealed to you, right now! We are announcing the new teas that are joining our tea lineup. First, we have a wonderful Earl Grey. Earl Grey is most widely consumed tea in the world and was also named after a Prime Minister of England. Our Sri Lanken tea is blended with oil of bergamot and cornflower petals. Our second tea, is our highly anticipated Christmas tea called Christmas Star. It too has hand picked Sri Lanken tea, as well as, cinnamon oil and orange peel. This tea really makes you want to sit down in an overstuffed chair, while everyone else is out in the hustle and bustle.

So make some time to kick off your shoes, find those fluffy slippers and put them on, and finally sink into a comfy chair with a great cup of tea. You'll be glad you did.

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Tea and James Bond

Last week I gave a talk on tea to a ladies guild at a local church. One of the women there had an extremely unique teapot and cup to share with everyone. As it turns out, it was a teapot and cup from the Queen Elizabeth, which had been purchased in 1970 when on a trip to England. She went on to say that the Queen Elizabeth had been taken over seas and turned into a school. Unfortunately, one day after the last group of students left, the ship caught on fire and was ruined.

Later on during the week, I was watching the James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun. As 007 is being whisked away in a boat, the boat he is in passes by a rusted and sunken ship. That ship as it turns out in the movie is the Queen Elizabeth.

It was interesting how in a weeks time someone could be holding a piece of nautical history in their hands and also have a reference about the vessel that held it in a movie.

But think about all of the history with tea and the vessels (both ships and teapots) that have served it and from which it has been supped. Maybe you have a teapot that belonged to your great grandmother or a teacup from an aunt. Most every piece of tea ware will undoubtedly have a special story behind it.

I know when I spoke to the ladies group, most everyone had a little story to tell about their own tea cup. You too, probably have history and stories to tell about your special tea ware. So that these stories won't be forgotten, be sure to use some of your tea time to quickly write out the history plus little stories of a particular teapot or tea cup. These stories can then be shared with other generations which will enrich them and their knowledge of the history of a particular item.

So be bold and write your tea ware stories down. Who knows, there may be other stories that will be added to the same item in the future. 

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Enjoying Blocks Dessert Style

Last week I spoke to the Herb Society, Frankenmuth Mid-Michigan unit on how to incorporate tea with cooking. Yes, I know I've discussed playing with your food before, but it really does make a difference if you get in there and experiment. It is understandable though that there may be time constraints, so here's one of the recipes I came up for the talk on cooking with tea.

The Herb Society gave me some green tea with rose and lavender to work with. So I sat and pondered what would be new and different for this group. The solution, gelatin blocks. Do you remember having those as a kid and thoroughly enjoying the? I figured that using gelatin was easy and that the green tea would add to the already refreshing characteristics of an already yummy dessert.  From the responses that were received, this is a real winner of a recipe.

Here is the recipe;

4 packets unflavored gelatin

¼ c cold water

1 cup sugar

33/4 cups hot water (180-186 degrees depending on the green tea, not boiling)

4 tsp. Green rose lavender tea (Our Cherry Blossom tea will work great in this recipe)*

*In using Tozy Tea Cherry Blossom tea, use two pyramids.

Using the first two ingredients of the recipe, follow the directions for starting your gelatin using the microwave directions on the unflavored gelatin box. I used Kroger brand. While gelatin mixture is standing, put sugar and loose leaf tea in a T Sac (or use 2 of our pyramids of Cherry Blossom Tea) of into a bowl. While holding the tea inside the bowl, pour hot water into bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolves. Let the tea steep for 3 minutes. Remove tea. Continue stirring gelatin in order to help it cool down faster. Pour into a 9x 13 baking dish. Chill.

If you like, you can add some of the tea leaves and rose petals before you chill this tasty dish.

This dish is truly refreshing and tasty. Enjoy!

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Kindness in a Cup

Hot tea is nice and warming to drink.  But think about how tea can also make people feel welcomed, comforted, and cared for.

If you have a neighbor who has just moved into your neighborhood, take them some,brewed tea, tea goodies, and introduce yourself.  Tea is the perfect ice breaker.  Make sure you also have a few tea cups with you, as you never know how much or how little they have unpacked.

Another idea, is to take brewed tea and goodies to someone who has recently suffered a death in the family.  A great cup of tea mingled with a friend's listening ear can be quite comforting, especially after everyone has left and things have quieted down.

Let's not forget the friend or neighbor that lives alone and may not get out much.  What a great idea to take some time out of your day and bring that person some brewed tea, conversation, and tea goodies.  Maybe you even invite them over to your own home for some tea.  It is nice knowing that people really do care.

Certainly, you can do this without taking tea.  However, it can make the visit and time together so much more memorable.  Not only will they have had a visitor, but also a wonderful warm treat of tea.

So be encouraged to take time out of your morning, afternoon, or evening and visit a friend while bringing along that special warmth and kindness in a cup.

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Tea at Mackinac Island

Here's a great write up on afternoon tea at Michigan's Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island.

If you're a tourist in Michigan and you aren't in Frankenmuth, Mackinac Island is a fine substitute.

How do Kids Take Their Tea?

Through the years I have known that there are kids that really enjoy drinking tea.  Unfortunately, I have only known a few kids over the years that really do enjoy drinking this wonderful beverage.  Recently, however, there have been more and more kids that like tea.. Growing up I was always a big tea drinker, but I never really thought that any of my classmates might also have been in the same boat. But now as these kids and their parents come up to our table at Farmer Markets all excited, I always have a multitude of questions that I want to ask:

1. How do they take their tea?
2. What kind of tea is their favorite?
3. When they drink tea, is just the tea itself, or is it consumed with food?
   a. If yes, it is consumed with food, do they have tea with snack foods e.g. cookies, scones, etc?
   b. Is it consumed with a meal? 

One girl I spoke to said she loves to have high quality tea when she is sick because it makes her feel better. Another girl was strictly an English Breakfast tea drinker. Then there was a boy who was good to go with green teas.

It's just a curiosity as to what kinds of teas kids like and how kids like to have their tea. So, I ask you, if you have kids or grand kids we would love to know how they take their tea and what kind of tea they like. Please take the time and send us comments. We really would love to hear from you.

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Picking Tea is not for the Feint of Heart

Where's my tea?

Some people have a stereotype that tea is for wimps or aristocrats.  Not so.  Four workers in India suffered injuries when wild boars invaded their tea plantation.

So be thankful for your tea, producing anything is a lot harder than one might think.  Feel free to say a little prayer for the workers and their families.

Thanks to Tony (@WorldofTea) for alerting us to this story.

Be Nice to Your Green Tea

This morning, while I was enjoying my breakfast with some of our Cherry Blossom tea, I pondered the thought that some people may be unaware that they are hurting their green tea. Shock! What? Hurting green tea? How is this possible? As these thoughts and questions go racing through your head, trust me, you can hurt your green tea. Green tea likes water temperatures that are cooler than those for black teas. Essentially, boiling water will ruin your green tea and you do not want to do that.

Personally, I believe this is one of three reasons that people if they have had green tea, say that they do not care for it. They will say it is bitter. So be sure your water temperature is correct for the tea you are using. The second reason is that people steep their tea way too long. The third personal theory is that people may be using inferior tea. We use gourmet teas and the flavors are phenomenal.

To make sure people can have the best cup of tea possible, we at Tozy Tea have made the water temperature and steeping times as easy as possible for the customer. All of the water temperatures and steeping times are highlighted on the front of each and every canister of tea.

So take a little extra time and be sure you have the perfect water for your great gourmet tea.

Please note that the label above is not for any of our green teas. It only shows where to find this information on our labels.

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Who Owns that Tea Company?

A common strategy for a big company with a brand suffering from overexposure is to come up with a new name not associated with itself. This is especially true of a company trying to enter a premium market where people want the cache of buying something more exclusive.

Just for fun, here's a list of a few common tea brands with the parent company. Some people may find some of these a bit surprising. It's possible that many people who thought they had found an exclusive little mom and pop brand are really buying from one of the biggest companies in the world.

Lipton. Unilever.

Tazo. Starbucks.

Nestea. Nestle'.

Celestial Seasonings. Hain Celestial Group.

Honest Tea. Coca-Cola.

Tea Forte'. Sara Lee.

Stash Tea. Yamamotoyama Tea Company.

Talbott Tea. Jamba Juice.

Twining's. Associated British Foods.

As for Tozy Tea, it's that corporate behemoth known as Chris and Heidi.

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Cooking with tea - II

If you are looking for a way to play with your food for dessert here is an idea. Brew, cool down, and chill some Northland Blueberry overnight. When you are ready for dessert, say fresh berries of some sort, prep them and have them ready in bowls. Then add Northland Blueberry to heavy whipping cream with a little sugar or sweetener. Next, whip the cream and Northland Blueberry together. Put on berries right away. Don't let the cream mixture set overnight as the water from the tea will separate from the cream. 

 This topping combination also works well on raspberry pancakes. However, since this mixture does not have all sorts of preservatives, it will melt on your pancakes. It's not like the whipped cream in restaurants that stay in perfect form. But don't let the appearance of melting cream fool you. It is sooooooooooooooo good!

Another quick and equally easy recipe is Northland Blueberry cream cheese.  Using softened cream cheese, add some of the Northland Blueberry infusion left over from the whipped cream recipe. Add the infusion to the cream cheese and mix with a hand mixer.  This cream cheese is great on English muffins, bagels, and toast.  Enjoy!!!

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Getting Tea Steeping Times Right

I noticed the other day on a package of lower end tea that it recommended a steep time of 8 minutes. That's a lot more than the 3-4 minutes on our black teas.

Similarly, my dad sampled Up North and said that it was way too strong. When asked how long he steeped it, he said maybe 12 minutes. That's a bit too long, sorry Dad.

Because premium teas are stronger, you don't have to steep them nearly as long. So avoid making your tea too strong by following the instructions and using a timer.

We make that easy by featuring the time and temperature in the top right corner of every package.

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Cooking with tea - I

When you were young and at the dinner table, you may have heard an adult say, “Stop playing with your food!"  Maybe right now you conjure up images from either personal experience or stories that you've heard or read about children playing with their food that would just make parents roll their eyes. But playing with your food is not always a bad thing. Rather, it can about discovering new and wonderful flavor combinations by mixing different foods together that one might not normally put together.

Recently, I've jumped back in to playing with my food full speed. It's a natural thing for me to do, but recently, I've delved even deeper.

A few weeks ago, I decided to make a dish that I used to make a lot while in college, rice with sauteed mushrooms and onions. This time I decided to step it up a bit. Chicken broth was used instead of water (that's normal in this household) and then I cut open a pyramid of our Up North! Tea and dumped it in the broth, followed by the brown minute rice. Meanwhile, I sauteed the small to medium onion in olive oil and then added the mushrooms. In the end I combined both the rice and mushroom mixture and served it with a salad using lettuce and other vegetables from the garden. It was really, really, really good. The earthiness of the mushrooms was complimented by the tea. It all went together so well. I'm getting really hungry thinking about that yummy meal.

So be bold and play with your food!

More cooking ideas to come in future blogs.

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Gift of a Passion Flower

Yesterday, I saw a woman wearing  a flower that I knew would normally not grow in Michigan, at least during the winter. This woman had a knife handle that had been fashioned into a vase and then made into a pin with a passion flower in it. She seemed surprised that I knew what kind of flower she had with her.

At the end of our conversation she gave me the flower to keep. Thank you! I immediately took pictures of it, as I am not sure how many people have ever seen a Passion Flower.

This lovely flower also happens to be one of the relaxing and soothing ingredients in our Brahms Lullaby Tisane. When you look at it closely, it is a very intriguing flower. There may even be people out there that might even classify it as being something that looks like some alien being from outer space,but it's not. In fact, it is a delicate flower that blooms for a day and then it's done.

Originally, I thought Passion Flower grew in tropical and sub tropical regions such as Hawaii and California. However, after further research, I discovered the passion flower grows in many places and climates. According to www.passionflow.co.uk there are 587 different known species of passion flower. Many of the plants produce a fruit from the flower, Passion Fruit. However, not all are fruits are edible. So if you are unsure as to whether or not the fruit is edible, proceed on the side of caution and do not eat it. If you ever have the opportunity to head to the Hawaiian Islands, be sure to try some Passion Fruit or at least some culinary treat that is made with this delectable fruit.

The Passion Flower was given its name by missionaries in Mexico, as it reminded them of Jesus Christ's death. Various parts of the flower remind us of the disciples (minus Judas and Peter), the crown of thorns, the five wounds, and finally the vine reminds us of Christ being scourged.

To learn more about the passion flower, please visit www.passionflow.co.uk. They are a great source of information and their website was invaluable to the writing of this blog.

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Pyramid Bags and Iced Tea

A few weeks ago we were in the Detroit area "fancy mall" and picked up an iced tea pitcher at Teavana. After experimenting a bit, it turns out it's a good way to make iced tea.

The pitcher is made of a special plastic that you can put really hot water in. It has a little strainer at the top where you put the tea leaves. Just heat up some water, put it in the pitcher, put tea leaves in the strainer, wait a few minutes, then remove the tea leaves and put the pitcher in the fridge.

I used several different loose leaf teas and herbs--an oolong, peppermint, even a white tea. They turned out pretty well. My only complaint was that the leaves were hard to clean from strainer.

So I took some of our pyramid tea bags and used them instead. I took the strings and labels off and used two bags. I added some sugar and it turned out perfectly.

And it was easy to clean after removing the pyramid bags.

So feel free to use our tea with their equipment. Don't worry, we won't tell anyone.

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Tea and Marathons

Marathon runners rack up many many miles with their workouts and races. They stay focused on their grueling training in the hope of improving their personal best time or even winning a marathon. People have different reasons for running. The possibilities range from loving a great challenge, running like the wind, to the exhilarating feeling they when they finish. No matter what their motivation may be for running, it always comes back to it being something they really enjoy doing.

You may be wondering how marathons link up with tea. Think of this way. Think about what a wonderful day it would be to go from one tea party to the next....

A good friend of mine became engaged a few years ago. Being her matron of honor I helped plan her bridal shower. It was decided that a bridal shower tea would be given. One of my jobs was a to take the bride to a tea room so as to not arouse any suspicion that she might be going to bridal shower.. I told her to dress to a tea (pun intended). This included hat, gloves, the works. After tea, I told her that I needed to stop by work and pick up something that I had left behind and needed in order to finish some teacher tasks at home. Pretending to be unable to find my key, my friend quickly found hers and opened the door. Surprise! There were about 100 ladies, plus children all ready for a bridal shower tea.

So that day we both had a marathon of tea parties. Hey, two parties separated by thirty minutes is not bad at all. Of course, we had all of the tea, tea sandwiches, and oh so many other delectable goodies all over again.

Two tea parties in one day is still my tea marathon record, which I have repeated several times since.

Hopefully, the record will change to three tea parties in one day, which would be absolutely fabulous and dreamy. Every marathon participant needs a goal, even an individual who loves tea and tea parties can have a tea party marathon goal.

Try this, get a group of friends together and and plan a tea party marathon. Have everyone prepare light tea party foods (Remember, you have to pace yourself if you are going to do this all day) that are ready to serve, along with great tea that you will brew after everyone arrives. Think of this as a tea party marathon.

Making Tea Go Farther

We received a tip from a customer the other day we'd like to pass along. It's a good example of how to stretch your resources.

She's a big fan of our Up North! black tea. She makes one hot tea in the morning, then saves the bag and brews iced tea for the evening.

All of our blends are strong enough to make two cups from one bag. Check out all our varieties at TozyTea.

If you have any similar helpful suggestions, please put them in the comments below. Or if you wish, send us an email at heidi@tozytea.com.

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300 Likes Celebration

We just got our 300th fan on Facebook and we're having a celebration for our FB fans. Buy two or more teas and get free shipping. Go to our Facebook page and hit the Exclusive Offer button to get the coupon code. Enter the code at checkout, and voila, no shipping charges.

The coupon expires August 29 so act quickly.

Thanks to everyone out there.

The Power of Pyramids

Have you ever been at work and wanted the perfect cup of tea and yet have not had a great tea or all of the equipment? We have the answer to this problem.

The Power of Pyramids - Our pyramids allow our teas and infusions to have plenty of room to fully expand which allows the full body and characteristics of the tea to be savored and enjoyed. On top of the great cup of tea you will be drinking, you will be happy to know that our pyramids are ecofriendly. Being made of cornstarch makes them 100% biodegradable! So when you are done with your pyramid, feel free to compost it!

Have you ever been concerned whether or not you have the correct amount of tea for your hot water? This was something I used to be concerned about when I was a young 10 year old tea brewista. I mean, come on we had this tea ball infuser why shouldn't it be completely full when brewing one's cup of tea. Good grief! I learned quickly, but for a long time there was always the little nagging question of whether or not I had too much or too little tea. It was for this very reason that we wanted out teas and infusions in pyramids. This way, the brewer would always know that they have the perfect amount of tea every time they brew.

So with the pyramids, there is no need to get any infuser of any type, or even loose leaf tea leaves. For these very reasons there is no muss, no fuss, no mess, no stress. It's just so easy and convenient to use our pyramid teas and infusions, you'll never want to go back to the old way of doing things again.

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A Childhood Tea Story

Childhood memories...those thoughts from a time in our past. Sometimes, these memories make us smile, laugh, or even cry. Hopefully your mind is flooded with all sort of great memories. One of my memories from my childhood revolves around tea...actually there are quite a few, but for now let's just stick with this one.

One evening our family went out to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant owned by a classmate's grandfather. My brother and I settled into our chairs as we started to look over the menu and decide what we were going to have for dinner. I'm not sure what we had, but it most often always included Mu Shu Pork. YUM! After we ordered our meal, my brother and I had this idea to see who could drink the most tea. Wow! My classmate's mother kept bringing us teapot after teapot of tea. She did notice that we were consuming more tea than usual, but I can't remember what her comments were anymore. Thank goodness our mom was a good sport about this contest. I seem to remember that she said something along the lines of, "Remember to save room for dinner."

In the end, my brother won the tea drinking contest with 36 cups of tea!...But I was not far behind. :-)

So remember to take time out of your day and make great lasting memories with your kids, family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues with a little or a lot of tea. Sup it. Sip it. Savor it.

With all this talk of tea, I'm going to have a cup of our Up North! right now.

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On Tea and Pizzas--Easy to Read Instructions

Frozen pizzas and premium tea have something in common. Both require the correct time and temperature to come out right. No one is surprised that is true of pizzas, but many people don't realize that if tea is steeped incorrectly it won't taste right.

Green teas have become very popular in the last few years, but are much more sensitive to overheating than black teas or herbals. It's important to make green tea at a cooler temperature, around 180 degrees or so.

Of course, do you really want to have to remember that? Most tea labels, if they have a temperature or time listed, put it in tiny print like that on a bottle of aspirin. Not good when you're bleary-eyed in the morning. Even worse when you don't know to even know enough to look.

To solve this problem, every Tozy Tea label has a summary instruction in the upper right with the proper time and temperature for that tea. Red means make it very hot, close to boiling. Yellow means not so hot, around 180 degrees. So no guessing, no trips to the optometrist. Detailed instructions are on the back of the can as well.

Check us out at TozyTea.com. Or stop by our Facebook page and see what people are talking about. And if you like the article, like us on Facebook as well.

Does Premium Tea Really Need to be so Complicated?

We were at the mall in Ann Arbor yesterday and stopped by the big national tea chain's store there. They've done more than anybody to introduce premium tea to America, but it struck me that for the average person it's still overwhelming.

The samples are great but I think many people would not even realize you can buy ready to drink tea in the back of the store. Also, does the average non-tea drinker get turned off by the $250 water heater, $13 measuring spoons, and randomly placed $90 Buddhas?

That company is trying to bring good tea to the masses, but they're still holding on to their eclectic roots. The appeal is mainly to people who are already initiated into the tea world.

At Tozy Tea we're trying to do something different. We want people to experience great tasting tea--every day without changing your overall lifestyle. A $250 water heater is nice but not necessary. With a pre-measured sachet like ours you don't need the measuring spoon.

And even the most experienced tea drinker sometimes wants to make some tea swiftly and easily. In addition, if you're an experienced tea drinker have you ever wanted to give tea as a gift to someone who you think will like it but just finds it too hard? We want to solve that problem.

We're about making it easy. We'll help you get the temperature and time right. We'll also make sure you pick a flavor that you'll probably like. Those are the only secrets you really need to know. You can enjoy great tea without spending a fortune on the extras.

Let us know what you think. If you liked this post, please head over to our facebook page and hit "like." Also, feel free to check out our products at www.tozytea.com.

Tozy Tea is Environmentally Friendly

We at Tozy Tea care about the environment. Even though we're a new company with a simple product line, we have taken a number of steps along the way to make sure our products are environmentally friendly. Here are a few features.

First, rather than using metal cans like many of our competitors, our canisters are made of 100% recycled paper. Our community has a paper recycling program and when we are finished with a can we put it in with the paper to be recycled. If your town has a paper recycling program you may be able to recycle the can as well.

And you won't end up with a cabinet full of fancy cans with pictures of magic dragons and happy rainbows (or happy dragons and magic rainbows for that matter!).

Second, our pyramid tea sachets are made of bio-degradable cornstarch. They will not be sitting forever in a landfill somewhere after you enjoy your tea.

Another feature that is not obvious is that it is possible to get two cups of tea out of a single tea bag. That conserves resources and saves you money. Don't hesitate to double dip.

Our gift bags are also made of 100% recycled paper.

If you have other ideas we can incorporate as the company grows, please let us know.

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Cheers!

Tea is About Sharing

Here's a wonderful tea story from one of our customers in California.

"Just wanted to tell you that today I offered a cup of tea to the man who was selling us shutters for out house. He Said he was a green tea drinker, so I gave him some of your Cherry Blossom. He loved it, and took your card, and will probably call you or maybe order online."

Thank you for letting us know about and sharing this story.

What's In a Name?

We've had many people ask how we came up with the name Tozy Tea. Also, what does "Tozy" mean?

It's not nearly as mysterious as Victoria and her secret. Here's how we did it.

We had a number of requirements we hoped to fulfill with a name. First, we wanted something that started with "t" so that we could have something alliterative with the word "tea."

Next, we wanted something short so that it could be big on labels and in ads.

We went to a website that allows you to generate a list of all the words starting with a certain letter of a given length. We looked at four letter words starting with "t" and then went down the list.

"Tozy" jumped out because it's not a common word. In fact, you have to go back to dictionaries about 100 years old to find it. It means "soft and fuzzy." It also evokes a common tea term--"tea cozy." The old English roots also bring up mental images of the tea drinking culture. And it just sounds nice and catchy.

Even better, no one is using the word as a brand name. So we reserved www.tozytea.com and the rest is history in the making.

Thanks for reading, stop by and see us. If you got here from Facebook and liked the article, please take the time to go to our page and "like" the link.

My First REAL Cup of Tea

Unlike Heidi, I'm a relatively recent convert to tea. My "Saul on the Road to Damascus" moment came on a trip to England. At the urging of Rick Steves, we went to the Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee.

For those of you who might want to visit the museum, you should check first as it was closed for some time. The website currently seems active but indicates the museum itself is closed.

I was intrigued when Mr. Bramah said that it has been a "diabolical" century for tea. First, who says "diabolical" in every day conversation? Second, why was it so bad?

The tea bag has been a disaster for tea, he explained. Tea bags require the tea to be ground up into fine bits which ruins the flavor. In addition, tea bags allow for the use of lower quality tea which of course does not taste as good. Lastly, the art of making tea has been lost.

The museum had a little cafe attached to it with crystal clear instructions on how to make proper tea. I selected a loose-leaf Earl Grey for no other reason than Captain Picard drinks it on Star Trek.

I should point out that if you buy our pyramid sachets, you don't need any of the following. However, here are the instructions if you want to go the loose leaf route:

(1) Choose the right size teapot, preferably with a grill at the base of the spout.

(2) Warm the teapot with water that's just below boiling point. Swirl the water and drain it out.

(3) Use one teaspoon of loose leaf tea for each person and one for the pot.

(4) Fill the teapot with freshly boiled water. Never re-boil the water.

(5) Stir the tea gently for a few moments and replace the lid.

(6) Allow tea to infuse for exactly 5 minutes. Don't guess, use a timer.

(7) While infusing, use a tea cosy to keep the pot warm.

(8) Pour milk at room temperature into each cup. 1 1/2 tea spoons per cup.

(9) Use a mesh strainer to keep the leaves out of the cup. Fill the cup to within 1 cm from the rim.

(10) Leave teas in the pot. Add more hot water to the pot.

(11) When refilling your cup, dump out the existing cold tea before refilling.

The results were wonderful. Like most Americans, I'd never had good tea in my life. The combination of tea, milk and sugar gave it a consistency a lot like good hot chocolate but not quite as sweet. It was an eye-opening experience to say the least.

For me, this is too much work on a daily basis even with the vastly superior results. That's true of most people, that's why the tea bag won out even though the tea tastes nowhere as good.

Our pyramid tea bags give you the best of both worlds. It's exactly the same tea as loose leaf tea, but it's pre-packaged so you can make it either in a teapot or (like I do) right in my cup.

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Bellsmith Graphics

We've gotten a lot of compliments on our logo and brand concept. We've been working for several months now with John Bellsmith of Bellsmith Graphic Design and he deserves a lot of the credit for our look and feel. Beyond his obvious artistic talent, we really appreciated his ability to take our directions and needs and turn them into something real.

We wanted to make sure our logo was different from other brands of teas. I remember telling John we wanted no "faux heraldry" and no "new agey weirdness." The world's got enough of those things.

We also had some practical requirements. We wanted something that looked good in landscape so that it would work on the website, yet we needed something that would make a good icon for social media. In addition, we wanted something that would work in monochrome (for when we get those corporate t-shirts made!).

We're delighted with our modern logo that you see on the website and the packaging. In addition, the "t" with the cup makes a great stand-alone symbol.

John also designed our business cards as well as the layout for our packaging. We wanted our product to look different and modern and I think we've achieved that.

We certainly recommend John if you're looking for an artist to help with your business. Let us know what you think.

Tozy Tea at Frankenmuth Farmers Market

Heidi had a great time meeting people at the Frankenmuth Farmers Market yesterday.

One highlight is that a young man stopped by who said he was very excited by our commitment to the environment. He said he liked the idea of our bio-degradable pyramid sachets and that the cans are recycled paper. He even liked that our shopping bags are recycled paper.

In addition, he liked the quality of our tea. He said he'd check us out further on the internet.

We look forward to seeing you at future market days.

Off to a Great Start

Thanks for the great support. In our first week, we've had visitors from 60 different cities, in 4 countries, on 3 continents. Kudos to all of you out there!

Tozy Tea's First Customers

The other day, a friend wanting to put cream in her coffee, mistakenly added some of our Northland Blueberry Infusion instead.  She loved the great flavor.  She said it was so nice having a shot of flavor without it being syrupy sweet.  Before we knew it, she and her husband had purchased the Northland Blueberry and another tea as well.  They were our very first customers.  Thank you Paul and Laura!

Check out their website at Kapow Soap.

The Starting Lineup

Our guiding principle at Tozy Tea is to make it easy for anyone to enjoy great tea. Our first six blends are ones we know most people will like. Other companies rely on a bewildering array of flavors, some too exotic for most people.

We want you to rest assured that when you order you and your friends will like the flavors we have.

So what do we have?

Two black teas--Up North! and English Breakfast. Both have caffeine and taste better than your typical grocery store teas. Up North! is a bit stronger in taste.

Two green teas--Moroccan Mint and Cherry Blossom. Moroccan Mint is green gunpowder tea with peppermint. You have to admit that drinking anything called "gunpowder" is pretty cool. Cherry Blossom is more complex, a sencha green tea with cherry and rose flavoring. Green teas have caffeine but typically less than a black tea.

Two infusions--Northland Blueberry and Brahms Lullaby. Infusions don't contain tea at all. Northland Blueberry, already becoming our best seller, has blueberries and other fruits. Brahms Lullaby's main ingredients are camomile and rooibos making it an excellent herbal tea. Neither has caffeine.

If you have other teas or infusions you'd like us to see, just let us know. We're starting with sure winners and we'll be expanding from here.

Welcome!

Welcome to Tozy Tea. We are pleased to announce that our website is up and running. We look forward to serving you and hope you like our tea as much as we do.

Please feel free to stop by and talk tea. We're always looking for new ideas. Drop us a line and let us know what's on your mind.