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.