Saturday, April 20, 2013

Tozy Tea Blog Moving to www.tozytea.com/blog

To make it easier for you, our readers, to visit both our website and blog, we're going to be posting new blog entries at the blog on our own domain.  Our content here on Blogger will remain, but our new entries will be there.

We're glad that you have followed us here.  We'll continue to bring you the same good information about tea, tea accessories, and tea events at the new blog.

Cheers!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Process

So you may have already read our previous blog on how we select our teas. Now, we will take you on the rest of the tour to learn more about the finishing process. So hold on to your seats here we give you rest of the tour..

After we find we our new teas, we move forward with the labels. Here we think about names. The name, we feel should reflect the tea and its characteristics. Sometimes the naming of a tea takes constant contemplation for a long time. Yet other times the name just pops out, such as with our Up North!. After Chris had tasted this tea and said he agreed we had to sell it, he said, “It's so Up North!” That's how Up North! Got its name. Of course there are still some teas where you just don't mess with name, such as English Breakfast or Earl Grey. In many ways naming a tea is like naming a child. You want to make sure the name is a perfect fit.

Then it's off to visit our graphic artist. He does a fantastic job! We sit down with him and give him the information for the new labels. Everything that must be adjusted is changed, such as water temperature, steeping time, name, description, list of ingredients and sometimes the outlying color is changed too.

Once we approve all changes and updates, the labels are sent to the label makers, who in turn forward proofs for us to see. After we have given the okay the labels are printed and then sent to Tozy Tea. 

Of course, then there are all of the updates that are made to the website, too. Some decisions are easy. If a new tea is a green tea, it goes under the green tea banner. Other items, such as the new teapot that we will be selling involves more thought, product placement.

As you can see, the job of introducing new teas and new items is quite a process, but you know, we love it!

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Friday, April 5, 2013

How We Select Our Teas

In just a few weeks we will launch our newest teas. For us, it is an extremely exciting process and one that we take very seriously, too. But what goes into this process and how is it done?

The first step, we listen to our customers. We want to know what kind of teas you want us to carry. If people ask for a certain tea, we will look into it. We also keep a running tally of teas that people are looking for. For example, one weekend last November, over 50 people asked is we carried a specific tea, We didn't have it, but looked into it right away. Unfortunately, this particular tea contained large pieces of other ingredients that were too large to be put into the pyramid sachets. That being said, we still have not given up, as we may possibly sell it as a loose leaf in the future.

The second step is quality. Our tea must be premium luxury tea. It must taste, smell, and look fantastic. If the tea doesn't pass the quality tests, we won't sell it, period.

Another step is figuring out what teas people will like, before they have ever heard of it or even tried it. This gets complicated, as everyone has different tastes. For example, some people like unflavored teas, whereas others prefer flavored,whereas still others are looking for an infusion, containing no tea leaves whatsoever.

Then there are the combinations for different blends, too. There are some blends out there where you know they will taste great and still others where you might say, “Really, this is supposed to taste good?” Then after you taste it, you find out it is fantastic. An example of this would be our Brahms Lullaby infusion. When you first read the ingredients and see things like oat straw, hops, passion flower, mixed with other ingredients and you get that thought of, “Really?!?”. Even with the interesting combination of ingredients Brahms Lullaby tastes really, really fantastic.

So you can see that that there is a lot of thought that is put into selecting teas.  We want you to have the very best teas and  tea experiences possible.   So the next time you have your cup of tea, remember that that cup of tea was designed for your pure enjoyment.  

If you have any suggestions as to teas you would like for us to carry, please contact us.  We will look into your suggestions.

Cheers!

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