Felicitea's been STeaPed

Check out this informative post over at STeaP. 

Brandice asked me some questions about Felicitea and how I work. Very exciting. 

She's also announcing a little something I'm doing with STeaP... 

check it out!

Magnetic Tea Tins

Who knew?

Apparenlty Laura over at The UniqueSheep as she sent me this email this weekend:

By the way, I LOVE that your tins are magnetic. I have so many now that they were making a real mess of my counter—overflowing my tea basket and making it hard to find anything. So I stuck a magnet sheet from the craft store on the inside of one of my kitchen cabinets and now all my tins are stuck to it! I can easily see all of them and pick out the one I want, and my counter space is much neater! I was afraid that the magnet sheet wouldn’t be strong enough for the larger tins but even the 2.75oz one (the largest I have) does fine!

Much perplexed, I emailed her back with an "Oh really?!" She responded, ever so sweetly, with this picture and explination:

Kitchen stores sell boards for this purpose (but for spices) but I found a magnetic sheet at A C Moore for a lot less $$ that works just fine. Then used some of the sticky “tape” sold for hanging posters and frames to hang it inside my cabinet door. The gap in the middle is so that it doesn’t hit on the shelf.

I'm so impressed I think I'm going have to aquire a similar board myself. What a wonderful way to store your teas!

Changing the world one tea at a time

I love that I work in a business with businesses that care. Caring is important to me, not only in how I take care of my clients, but also in how the product I supply to them takes care of the people who make it possible.

That is the one of the reasons I work with The Simple Leaf as my source for many of my teas. The people there care not only about the amazing teas they share with us, but about the estates and the people that work on them. Not only are the teas utterly remarkable, so are the people that run the estates these teas come from. (Their unique teas are in the Earl Grey Brandice, Vanilla Spice, Vanilla, and Apple Spice blends.) 

The Honeybee, a delightful oolong that I am currently transitioning into the Oolong Summer blend, has this wonderful story behind it. They're not only changing "traditional" thought about oolongs, but about the way tea estates care for their employees. 

I like to think that you and I can help out with that, even if it just enjoying our morning cuppa. Every cup of tea you have that has tea from estates like this goes towards encouraging these beautiful small estates to keep changing the world. 

What does it mean to you that the people who create the things you enjoy are well compensate, educated, fed and safe? What does it mean to you that your tea can help change the world?

Tea cup gift sets!

Tea gift sets are now available! (I'll have some at lululemon and Tailgate market tomorrow.)

Gift sets include one haiku tea cup, custom designed by Summer, two sample tins of hand-blended tea and a tea-inspired soap. 

They'll be up on Etsy by Wednesday evening. 

Two New Health Teas Available

We're delighted to introduce two new teas today.

Cough & Cold Tea: A blend of hyssop, peppermint, chamomile, lemon balm, and raspberry leaf help ease congestion, inflammation and nausea from cough & cold.* 

PMS Ease: Nettle, crampbark, chamomile, rose hips, raspberry leaf, and valerian ease cramping, bloating and discomfort caused by the menstrual cycle.*

Both teas are made with the same quality local and/or organic herbs as the rest of Felicitea's teas.

And if you're having a hard time falling asleep due to stress, or just a evening cup of tea, don't forget about Starry Night. The combination of mugwort, catnip and chamomile will have you drifting off in no time!

*This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Tea may delay onset of auto-immune disorders and Type 1 Diabetes

This fascinating article from Science Daily shares:

Researchers were testing EGCG, green tea's predominant antioxidant, in a laboratory mouse with type 1 diabetes and primary Sjogren's syndrome, which damages moisture-producing glands, causing dry mouth and eyes.

"Our study focused on Sjogren's syndrome, so learning that EGCG also can prevent and delay insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes was a big surprise," says Dr. Stephen Hsu, molecular/cell biologist in the School of Dentistry.

They found it also worked well in their original disease focus.

In the mouse, EGCG reduced the severity and delayed onset of salivary gland damage associated with Sjogren's syndrome, which has no known cure.

For the full story go here.

Vanilla Spice @ Saturday's Tailgate Market

The Tailgate remains open! And will do so through the week before Christmas. (I hear we're getting fresh cut trees in December!!!!!)

From 10-1 tomorrow we'll be at the corner of Park Ave & Camden like every week before. Just colder. I'll have Vanilla Spice in the pot hot and available in a big cup for just $1. If you're in Charlotte stop by. You can't get a cup of tea for $1 anywhere else in town. 

Come pick out from the most beautiful fall squashes and greens in town. Plus, the Secret Chocolatier is back! Come get some chocolate and tea - that's the right way to start off your weekend.

Only 1 ounce of Earl Grey Brandice available!

After what has been a long wait, the bergamot finally arrived. All backorders were filled - I am ordering more tea but it may take time. Maybe next week? If you want some for the holidays, contact me now.

Now, there is currently only one ounce of Earl Grey Brandice available. 

It is $9 an ounce (at 20-30 cups that's a mere 30-45 cents a cup!). First person to email me or respond to this post gets it.

*It's taken!*

Harvest Sale - 15% of all in-stock teas!

It's the time of year when the farmer's markets are wrapping up with fantastic fall produce and at Felicitea we're getting a new harvest of herbs from our local growers.

To help celebrate and make room for the new herbs and teas on our shelves we're having a sale!

15% of all teas in stock. 

There are limited supplies of certain teas while we await the next harvest, so pick yours up quick!

(Discount applies to online sales only!)

Saving Our Kids Healing Our Planet Expo

Come join us at the Saving Our Kids Healing Our Planet Expo at the Charlotte Convention Center.

 
Saving Our Kids, Healing Our Planet is the brainchild of a pediatric nurse with 30 years experience working with children's health issues using nutritional methods (Maureen McDonnell, RN) and a mom (Jill Urwick) who has recovered two of her children, one from ADHD and one from autism, using natural interventions. Given their knowledge, passion and experience, these two women are forging a new approach to preventing and reversing many childhood illnesses and disorders that plague the recent generations of children.

By creating a Green Expo focused on children's health, the co-founders of SOKHOP will highlight a multitude of safe, effective and naturally oriented products and services that positively impact various physical, behavioral and developmental problems. At the core of this effort is the belief that many of the physical and mental health issues affecting our children and in turn causing so much heartache, suffering, and emotional and financial drain on families today are preventable and recoverable using natural treatments.

Too many industries have polluted the air, earth and water.  Numerous intra-body toxins are found in almost every child and adult tested. These toxins, combined with suboptimal nutrition are causing, if not exacerbating many of the conditions that are now so common in our children: Allergies, Autism, ADHD, Asthma, Bipolar Disorder, Diabetes and Childhood Cancers.  The World Health Organization states over 80 percent of major diseases are significantly affected by environmental exposures. This means many diseases could be prevented.

The bottom line is our children and the children of future generations have become victims of a culture that is choosing to use over 87,000 chemicals in our food, water, air and vaccines.  Because of this decision to abandon common sense and choose profit over people, we now have a lost generation of children.

To help parents, pediatricians, teachers, therapists etc learn safe and effective ways to prevent and reverse various health problems, SOKHOP will provide a forum for solutions.

So take the time to stop by and check it out. I'll have a full selection of teas as well as some hot tea to sip as you walk around!

Hope to see you there!

It Tastes Good

Brandice talks about her Earl Grey

Brandice complained often and loudly about Earl Grey's on SteapTV. After a number of blending attempts of her own, (which didn't work out so great) I talked to her about making her a custom blend.

Now she has it in hand, and cup, and here's what she's got to say:

How do you feel about your Earl Grey Brandice?

I think that Felicitea has created a blend that is both perfect for me and achieves a very subtle and intricate level of flavor that I really enjoy. I like that the tea itself has a lot of body, while never being overpowered by the oil of bergamot, and the tea smells like absolute earl grey heaven when I open the tin. I occasionally just sniff the dry tea for a bit before making a pot.

Is it everything you hoped for?

Absolutely. This is a strong, full-bodied tea that manages to also remain complex. I love that I can drink this tea on the go with big gulps and get really good flavor, or I can sit and really savor the flavors. The tea lends itself to either type of tea-consumption, and that's something that I need, as a tea lover and a very busy person.

How do you drink it? What are your recommendations?

I drink the tea with a 4 minute steep, sometimes 4 and a half minutes if I know I'll be drinking the tea quickly. This, like most black teas, is a strong black that can become stronger (i.e. eventually bitter) if let to sit on a warmer for long periods of time, so I use a shorter steep time for a pot I'll be drinking slowly, and a longer steep time when I'm on the go and will be drinking the tea quickly. This is a black tea that still holds a good amount of flavor with even a three-minute steep, so worry more about over-steeping than under-steeping.

What was your favorite part of the custom blending process?

Trying all of the different blends to choose the final blend that would become Earl Grey Brandice was definitely a lot of fun, but I really enjoyed answering the questions that Summer asked to get a picture of what I wanted out of my custom Earl Grey. I felt as if she asked the perfect questions, and the questions actually helped me to better solidify what I really wanted overall from the tea she was blending for me. I liked writing out a description of what a great Earl Grey is for me, and then tasting the actual embodiment of what I'd asked for.

Did you enjoy the process?

Loved it! I plan to hopefully work with Felicitea to create other custom blends for me in the future, when I've stopped drinking Earl Grey Brandice almost exclusively. :)

Did you feel that Felicitea was clear through out the process about what was happening?

Absolutely. Felicitea was clear, helpful, allowed me many options and different samples to try, and if I asked for any further information during any part of the process, Summer immediately got back to me. It was a very easy and straightforward process, and I felt good about the process.

Would you recommend custom blending to someone else? Why?

I would recommend custom blending to anyone, even someone who's never really been that into tea. Summer is gifted at blending flavors, and the process is much, much harder than it looks. To get a custom blend of tea, you have to really know what you're doing, and unless you have eons of extra time on your hands to learn the ins and outs of flavor and tea, you should let Summer help you find the blend that's right for you.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of this process! I'm unbelievably happy with the result and left feeling really good about seeking out further custom blends. Plus, Earl Grey Brandice will now make such a wonderful gift for loved ones and friends!

To see what both she and Joe had to say about it, check out this weeks SteapTV:

Vendor Profile: The Simple Leaf

Owned & Operated by Nikhil Roychowdhury and family, The Simple Leaf is a lovely little tea company I heard about on SteapTV. I checked out the website and very impressed with their teas, their mission and their carbon offsetting, so I dropped him an introductory email. Our first phone conversation lasted over an hour - and was entirely focused on tea and his (very cool) experience growing up steeped in tea culture.

I have been delighted with every tea from them, his father has an amazing palate and I am deeply in love with Chloe. It's become my go-to green many a day (and I'm not a "green tea person" by any means). I actually love this tea so much that I took it to the guys at TeaRex and insisted they try it. I promise you, that if I take a tea to those guys, it's gotta be good.

I use their teas for blending Earl Grey Brandice, and intend to expand my use of their teas as much as possible, because I know that The Simple Leaf believes in the same things I do. Good tea from good people that is grown and treated in a good way makes a good cup - a perfect taste of happiness.

Here's what Nikhil shared with us:

What do you do? grow? make?
We import single estate loose leaf tea directly from growers in India and Nepal. We also have a selection of tea accessories and gifts.

What's special about your company?
1 - We don't carry a hundred varieties of tea. I believe in having a more manageable selection of outstanding teas that appeal to many palates. We try to carry tea that isn't readily available here. For example, most retail tea shops will carry a pretty representative Indian black tea, but how many have an Arunachal Pradesh green tea? Or a Nepalese oolong tea? Our intention is to showcase the incredible diversity of single estate teas from South Asia - its not just about your standard-issue Indian black tea any more!

2 - I believe knowing the source of your product is very important. We are very close to our growers (see our Behind The Cup series). My father, who is also our buyer/taster lives there and personally tastes every tea we carry before submitting samples to me for consideration. We import all our teas ourselves, so we know its fresh and has not spent months sitting in a warehouse or distribution center before it gets to us.

3 - Increasingly, we are focusing our attention on sustainability and climate change. Many of our growers are either converting their gardens to organic / bio-dynamic agriculture or have already done so. Happily, this trend seems to be picking up steam. We are very proud of our relationship with Carbonfund.org. We participate in their small business program, and contribute to reforestation, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. We also give our customers the opportunity to purchase carbon offsets for their online orders, which many of them love. We recently changed our label coating material to a corn-based laminate (instead of petroleum-based). A minor change to be sure, but its a start in the right direction.

Where are you located?
Chicago, IL and Calcutta, India.

How did you start working with Felicitea?
I have Twitter to thank for that! I first heard about Summer and Felicitea through Brandice and Joe from SteapTV. I had been "following" Felicitea's Twitter updates for a while, and then Summer sent me a really wonderful introductory email telling me about her business. Needless to say, I was intrigued, and we spoke on the phone soon after that, exchanging stories of our experiences with tea.

What do you like about working with Felicitea?
Well, I have enormous respect for anyone willing to accept the risk, uncertainty, joy and fear that comes with starting your own business. I was also struck by Summer's extraordinary knowledge of flavoring, and her passion for finding the best natural and locally procured ingredients. Blending and flavoring tea is an art that requires endless patience, creativity and the willingness to experiment - qualities that I had suspected Summer had in abundance (confirmed after I tasted her Earl Grey Brandice!). I also appreciate Summer's openness, honesty and deep engagement with her customers - I wish more businesses would do the same.

Nikhil also added:
I grew up in India, and spent most of my childhood in Calcutta and Darjeeling surrounded by tea and watching my father, a professional taster, at work. After 8 years in management consulting, starting The Simple Leaf has helped strengthen my roots and connections to family in India. That makes it all worth it.

You can find out more about The Simple Leaf at www.thesimpleleaf.com (check out the lovely new website) or by dropping them an email at info@thesimpleleaf.com. You can also follow Nikhil on twitter.

Chocolate + Tea = Happiness

As you may imagine, at Felicitea we encourage all forms of delectableness. Especially when it directly involves tea.

Enter The Secret Chocolatier. Then comes Brandice. After time, talk and forceful encouragement we come to this delicious place we end up seeing a sign that says:




Which is super exciting! Few things are as wondrous as tea or truffles. Put them together and you have heaven for the mouth.

These truffles are hand made by Bill in his top secret Chocolate Lab. Really. He makes each by hand, which is apparently a very delicate operation.

Everything is processed in a cream steeping method to bring out the peak flavors for your enjoyment. These babies are nothing like your everyday chocolates. Though if you have the wallet for it, they could be. These come in at $3 a piece.

But they are worth every penny. Just ask these people:



(click to see videos of people on-the-spot reactions)


Available at Tailgate Market and Gateway Market.

Market Quote from August 5, 2008

Little boy to his mother when told to share his Mint Tea with his sister:

"But it's too yummy to share!"

Community Commitment

I'm a locavore. For me that means most of the food I eat is grown or produced within a 150 mile radius. It has become my passion, more so over the last year then ever before.

I grew up with parents who gardened. I took a wonderful Ag class my freshman year of high school where we learned how to plant with the seasons and got our hands dirty. I fell in love with, and still miss, the Central Market in Lancaster, PA, where I lived most of my life. Lancaster is a agricultural area, and what part of the economy that isn't tourist related, depends on that agriculture. I can tell you what the season is by the smell of the fields. When I lived in Pennsylvania, eating local was easy and something I didn't think about.

In Charlotte it's not as easy or simple. We may be a small city, but we're definitely urban. When I moved here I learned what eggs taste like when you buy them at the store. I definitely prefer my eggs fresh from the chickens who laid them. If you look hard in this town you can find local foods and products that come from people who have a passion for their produce. Or if you go to the Tailgate Market in South End you just have to look around: everything offered here is locally made or produced with local products.

I bring this passion and community to Felicitea. We use local products, as much as possible, in the teas, soaps and gifts. I believe that local is more sustainable. And, since I know the growers, I know the products are produced safely and organically, even if they don't have the USDA's seal of approval.

Eating local is about relationship, community and commitment. It's about supporting each other and creating a relationship of knowing interdependence. Felicitea is also about relationship, community and commitment. The custom blend process is about communicating our relationship with tea, with each other, and our selves. Sharing these teas with each other we create a community where we share each others tastes and stories. We commit to make tea a wonderful experience that we can share or enjoy alone, creating a space where we can tell stories or sit in peaceful silence with friends. Choosing local means choosing peace, passion and sustainability. Isn't that what tea means to so many of us?

I am blessed with the ability to share a cup of tea with most of the people who's products we use here at Felicitea. I can go take a look at the place where the products are grown or raised. Our teas come from companies who can go look at the estate, talk to the pickers and tea masters and estate owners. Each cup of tea you drink comes thanks to the hands that grow it, pick it, dry it and then pass it on to me where I blend it together just for you with my two hands. Every sip of tea was created by a community of people with names, stories and a passion for their work.

To widen this community and allow you to know the people who grow and participate in the creation of Felicitea products we'll be honoring and introducing you to them. In this space we'll share the stories of the people who grow and produce the ingredients in your teas, soaps and gifts. We'll also be sharing profiles of the vendors who offer Felicitea products along with those who carry and create complimentary products such as chocolates infused with our teas or local honey to sweeten your cup. There will even be a stories from customers - the people who not only enjoy the final product of this communities co-creation process, but support its continued existence.

My hope is that even if you're too far from Charlotte or India to shake the hand of the people who bring you your tea, you'll get a sense of who these people are and what they bring to your cup. Knowing this community of amazing, passionate people has made each cup of tea a happier experience for me. I hope it does the same for you.

Check out the contest entries!

Over the past couple days wonderful contest entries have been coming in. So far we have prose and a couple poems.

Check all the entries out here!

If you haven't entered yet you still have time. All entries are due by Midnight EST this Thursday.

Bigger Better Coffee to Tea Convert Contest

June was a busy month. Weddings, graduations, baby showers, babies, more weddings, trips to the beach or up to the mountains. No one was home. No one had free time (consumed by the travel between said showers, weddings and graduation parties). So, sadly, no one was able to enter the video section of the contest. (Apparently one can not edit video and attend a baby shower at the same time. At least, not and get invited again.)

This is a boon for you, my tea and coffee drinking compatriots. This means that we here at Felicitea have extra prizes to give away!

So here's the new deal:

Write: We're looking for poetry, prose, whatever you like. Feel free to haiku or make up a limerick, or write out a concise little paragraph. Just write about tea and it's relationship to you, your friend, or your last cup of coffee.

We want to connect new drinkers to tea, convert a coffee drinker (or other non-tea drinking people) or two over (at least get them to try good tea!) and reconnect tea lovers with what it is they love about tea.

• Tea drinkers it is your responsibility to help the coffee drinkers of the world. You are charged with helping them understand the joy of tea. If you are a convert tell your story. If you love tea, but still enjoy an occasional cup of coffee it's okay, but what about the tea keeps you coming back to the pot all day? Share with the Internets why they should kick that coffee habit. If you have a friend you're nominating, be specific.
• Coffee/Non-tea drinkers this is your chance to tell us why you drink coffee (or something else) instead of tea. This is your chance to tell all us tea drinkers what it is that makes you go for the espresso instead of the Earl Grey. Did you have a bad tea bag experience? Convinced all green tea is bitter? Are you willing to give it a shot but don't know where to start?

The details:

1. It's got to be words. (However, if you want to go wild and make a video of yourself reading your prose, we encourage such blatant acts of attention getting.)
2. It's got to be clear which side of the line your on - do you love tea, or do you need converted.
   
3. You may enter someone else, by proxy, by writing about why THEY should be converted to tea. They then will win the coffee drinker's prize. You are welcome to enter as many friends as you like, and enter your own self in the tea loving side. (If you write something especially brilliant for a friend, we might just find a little something to pass along your way too.)
4. You may only enter once for yourself.
   
5. It must be no longer then one screen load. We shouldn't have to scroll to read any of it.
   
6. Post it online. Either to your blog (comment with your linkage) or if you don't have a blog, post it here in the Felicitea Forums.
7. Your words are due by July 31st. That gives you over two weeks to come up with something to say!

In return for your generous elucidation about why tea is awesome, or why you don't get all the hype, you'll get something in return. (Because really, what's a contest without a prize?)

Just for entering you'll receive a sample tin from Felicitea. We'll contact everyone who submits an entry, and you'll be able to pick out a sample that you'd like to try - for free.

And whoever write the most interesting, intriguing, whimsical, heartbreaking or overall just awesome entries on both side will win:

2 Grand Prizes containing:

• A sampler set from Felicitea's current tea selection
• A haiku tea cup
• A custom blend, for a 1/2 pound of tea.

2nd place in each category will receive:

• A eight(8) tea sampler set from Felicitea's current tea selection
• Two(2) 1oz tins of their choice

Write about tea - there's happiness to be had!



The fine print:

1. To be eligible for prizes, the winners must be US Citizens.
   
2. All entries must be post 12pm EST on July 31.
   
3. Eligibility to enter may be prohibited by law or loved ones (Disobey at your own risk. Felicitea will not be held liable for any actions you or your crazy friends take.). Immediate family of Felicitea employees are ineligible to win (though they are encouraged to enter!).
   
4. Keep the language PG-13. Children read the Internets. R-rated language in postings will result in linkage being removed from Felicitea's site.
5. Winner's will be contacted directly by August 7th. If for some reason, a winner does not respond by August 10, 2008, the prize will be transferred to the next entry. After all winners have been notified, the winner's will be announced on Felicitea's blog.
6. Have fun!
   

New Yummy Things

I enjoy the quiet moments between the storms of tea orders (blend, pack, label. Rinse. Repeat. Reorder.) because they give me a chance to work on new things. New, yummy things. There are number of new, and delicious, coming out the kitchen.

First up, in an attempt to make happy Brandice, of SteapTV, I have been blending up something special. Brandice likes Earl Grey, as any good Trekkie ought, and has searched far and wide to find one that was perfect for curling up on the couch and getting down to work. She is currently taste testing the five sample blends I made up for her, and soon we'll be able to announce when it will be available on the site as she has very kindly agreed to share! Assuming you can get some before she orders it all! Her exact words:

I think that Felicitea has made me fall in love with Earl Grey again.

You can't ask for anymore then that. That's what Felicitea does people, helps you fall in love again. Can you get any happier?

As a follow up to this delightful new tea blend, we're sharing it with The Secret Chocolatier. He's going to make Earl Grey Truffles. Yes. Truffles. For those of you in Charlotte, I will pass on the date when they will be released at the Tailgate Market. For those of you not lucky enough to live the Queen City, I've asked if he's able to ship. He's not able to with summer's heat, but later this year, if you get lucky, shipment options will be in place.

Also, in response to the wonderful response the Rooibus Sweet Tea has been getting, I'm working on some more Rooibus blends. As soon as they're ready, we'll share details with you right here.

Soon there will be even more ways to find your very own moment of happiness!

Saturday Morning at Market

A Day in My Tea Life

I've been asked a number of times to show a little bit of how I do what I do. Apparently it's novel to spend your day playing with tea leaves. So for those of you who've been asking, "what exactly do you do?" here's a little peek behind the curtain.

Many days aren't full of cuppings and taste testing new blends with four different kinds of sweetner. (I believe in rigorous taste testing.) Mornings start off with a cup of tea and a quick read of what's going on in the tea world - keeping up on the employment issues in India, who's tasting what (there are so many tea blogs out there), and a peek at new stuff coming out.

I handle everything on the tea side from start to finish - which means I unpack every box, stick on every label and fill every tin. As you can imagine, this can be a long process when there's a couple hundred tins to prep. (I crank up the sing-a-long tunes and rock out while labeling your teas. Happiness indeed!)

Once all the tea tins are labeled, they're ready for their tea. Each tin gets filled with tea and then packed up either for market or to head off to a lucky customer.

On days when tea needs blended, things become a whirlwind of activity - teas and herbs in their containers waiting to be blended, the top secret recipe list comes out and the bins await their precious cargo. Teas and herbs are measured out and mixed one batch at a time, literally, by my two hands.

Market days are the busiest. Tea must be made for iced tea samples, stock has to be checked and filled if we're out of something from last week. Mugs must be carefully wrapped and soap has to be prepped for the sometimes dangerous journey to market (this have this tendency of slipping around in the car). Market days are wonderful fun because it's a chance to talk to and focus on the customer, catch up with returning tea drinkers, and find out what's going on in the local food scene. It's always bustling, and I'm always exhausted after it's over.

I love the mornings I get to taste test new blends, try out new teas, and work on custom blends for customers. There's something very exciting about creating something new and special just for you.

And all of this mixed in with massage clients, writing haikus on tea cups and all the work of keeping a small business running.

I hope that helps to answer the "what do you do?" question. "A little bit of everything" is the answer. You can be sure you're get the best quality teas and tea inspired products from start to finish - I'm there making sure it happens. My goal each day is to help bring you a taste of happiness.

That's my biggest reward - the happy smiles on faces when someone tastes their tea. The mmmm's and wow's are what make this the best job in the world for me.

Are you working on your video?

We're half way through June, and you've got a little less then two weeks to enter your video about why tea is better then coffee for the CTC Contest.

This first entry is from a nabaztag - he couldn't upload it himself, so he asked me to do it for him.



You're not going to let the rabbit win are you?

Introducing Tea Haiku Tea Cups

Exciting news, happy tea people!

Exclusively from Felicitea you can get your very own tea cup haiku.

Each mug is hand-lettered, make each unique and special. These tea haiku's are custom written for Felicitea - and coming soon - custom mugs incorporating a friend or loved one's name, favorite tea, or a special message. (Want to say happy birthday? Celebrate a wedding? Even propose? We can make a mug for that.)

With little details related to the haiku, each one has a little bit of happiness built right in. A leaf, heart, or even a little wisp of steam may be hiding at the bottom of your cup!

Want one of your own? Currently, they're available over at Etsy and at the Tailgate Market, here in Charlotte, NC.

Soon we'll be come out with more, truly one-of-a-kind pieces that have custom, personalized haiku's for you or your favorite tea drinker. Keep your eyes (or RSS reader) peeled for the new cool items to come!

Pictures from The Tailgate

Today was the second Saturday at The Tailgate. Lots of tea was sampled and sold, new tea friends made, and something new was shared with the world. (Details coming up here soon on what that is.)


The Tailgate is a wonderful experience in community and staying local. I even brought home a (safe) tomato, beans, beets and an amazing basil olive oil today. Felicitea is proud to be a part of and a partner with the local food community.

If you're in Charlotte and get a chance to stop by, please do. We'll all be there Saturday mornings 9-1 and Tuesday evenings 4-7!

This Little Tea Went To Market

Saturday morning was oppressively hot - even at 9am when the Tailgate opened. With high that reached nearly 100F everyone was sweating early.

Thankfully, there was iced tea. Delicious iced Rooibus Sweet Tea and Sloth Tea were on hand for sampling at Felicitea's table along with selection of loose leaf.

It was a great morning and I got to talk to people about our teas, the benefits of tea and herbs, as well share a taste of happiness with many from the Charlotte area. In fact, we nearly sold out of the 1 oz tins.

Last night was also sweltering and sunny. (I ended up with sunburn on the back of my knees - ouch!) I shared samples of Oolong Summer, Hibiscus Mint and Jasmine Hibiscus which people loved.

We're sharing teas with The Secret Chocolatier to make nummy tea truffles. We'll let you know as soon as they're available!

We're really happy to be apart of the Tailgate Market. If you're in the Charlotte area stop by Tuesday's between 4 & 7 and Saturday mornings from 9-1 and say hi!

CTC Phase 1 Deadline Extended

Apparently June is the month of celebrations - graduations, parties and weddings galore. For a number of people, this mean they're super busy and time to make a snazzy video is limited.

So, in honor of all the graduates and June brides, we're extending the deadline for video submission to the end of June. This means you've got a full 24 days left to come up with the coolest videos about why you love tea!

We can't wait to see what you come up with!

See You at the Farmer's Market

Starting this week, Felicitea will be regularly showing up at Tailgate Farmer's Market here in Charlotte.

The Tailgate is open Saturday mornings 9-1 and Tuesday evenings 4-7 at the corner of Camden & Park.

We're very excited to be joining Tailgate for several reasons:

• The Tailgate sells only local food and products. Everything has some local component. Felicitea uses local grown herbs when possible.
  
• It'll give us the chance to interact with customers.
  
• Customers will get see, smell and even taste our teas.

In a couple weeks, we'll also have a selection of our eye, neck and body pillows as well as soaps.

If you're in the Charlotte area stop on by and say hi!