They grow up so fast...

Well, Summer is almost over and Timmy has grown quite a bit since we last saw him. Here's what he looked like last time I blogged about him back in April.
And here's a picture I took this afternoon.


Just look at all those new leaves! Now that the first (Spring) and second (Summer) flushes are over, he probably won't grow much more until next Spring. Come say hi to Timmy next time you're in the shop!

NW Tea Festival Cups

Do you know about the Northwest Tea Festival? It's happening at Seattle Center on October 3-4th. There will be all kinds of tea tasting, vendors selling teas and teawares, tea experts doing presentations, tea classes and a bunch of other stuff! You can check out the festival website at www.nwteafestival.com.

For just a $5 donation (which goes to help fund next year's festival), you get a porcelain tasting cup so you can taste all the wonderful teas at the show. We just got the cups the other day and they are beautiful!







Our supplier says they're made in one of the four cities in China most famous for high-quality porcelain. The porcelain is so fine that if you hold it up to a light, it will shine through the cup.



Here's a picture for size comparison.


$5 is a steal just for the cups, but then you get to taste all the fantastic teas at the festival, too! You can only get the cups at the Northwest Tea Festival, so come by and see us at our booth while you're there!

Best of Western Washington

We've been nominated for best tea house in King5's Best of Western Washington!

You may have noticed the little button at the right side of the blog. Click on it to vote for us! You have to register with their site, but it also lets you vote for businesses in other categories, too, like our good friends around the corner from us at 94 Stewart. They're nominated for best French restaurant (although they're not exclusively French, more contemporary American...) so show them some love, too!

We managed to get 4th place last year, so let's see if we can make it to number one in 2009!

New Forlife Teapots!

We just got the new teapots from Forlife, and they are great! It's called the "Hospitality" line.

They all have a white ceramic body, with a colored spout. The really cool thing is that the spout is made of silicone! You definitely don't have to worry about breaking the spout on this teapot! In fact, they were originally conceived as teapots for restaurants and cafes, so they're made to take some abuse. The silicone also helps to make the pot drip-free.

And when I say drip-free, I mean it! I tried pouring out of this teapot and I couldn't make it drip if I tried! You're welcome to come to the shop and try it yourself if you'd like. It really is amazing.



The teapot also comes with a stainless steel infuser with a superfine mesh, so you won't get bits of tea dust in your cup. The pots hold about 12 ounces of tea, enough for a big mug or two small cups.

There are 7 spout colors to choose from: Red (pictured), Paprika (kind of a bright orange), Lime, Marine (a rich blue color), Black, Brown, and Grey.

We'll have these on the website soon, so keep an eye out for them.

Hey, long time no see!

It's been pretty busy in the shop, so I haven't been able to do as much blogging as I'd like. We've got some new stuff in, though, so I managed to squeeze in some time!

I think this new kid's tea set is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen, or at least the cutest thing we've sold in the store.

It includes service for four, with silverware, napkins, even a tablecloth! And it all comes packed in a lovely wicker basket, perfect for a picnic tea party.

You can find it on the website here, as well as in the store.

We're also expecting a new line of teaware from Forlife, the company that makes those great Curve teapots. They're really good at making high-quality, functional teawares. You can really tell that the designers understand what a tea drinker needs in a teapot. And the best part? Almost all of the teapots they make are drip-free! Hopefully we'll get the new stuff soon, and we'll let you know when we do!

Bye for now, and happy tea drinking!

Blend of the Month - August

It's certainly been great iced tea weather lately here in Seattle! On Wednesday, SeaTac Airport reported a record-breaking temperature of 103F! It's cooled down today, just in the mid 80s, but it's still important to keep hydrated. And why not drink iced tea? It keeps you hydrated, and you get the bonus of all those healthy anti-oxidants!

Anyway, on to the Blend of the Month - Peaches & Cream!



It's a 50/50 blend of our Vanilla Cream black tea and Decaf August Peach. It may seem odd to blend a decaf tea with a regular black tea, but the peach flavor in the August Peach seemed to match up the best. And really, how could we pass it up for the August blend of the month?

You can get it here in the shop and online all this month.

Caramel Pu-Erh

As some of you may know, we can often special-order teas that we don't normally carry, or seasonal teas in the "off-season". We usually have to order at least a pound or two, so if you have a few friends who want to go in on a special order, that's a great way to make it work.

Anyway, one of our customers recently special ordered a kilogram (it's a Canadian company) of Caramel Pu-Erh, a tea we carried last Winter. They never came to pick it up, so now we're selling it in the store!



Now, I know what you're thinking; "caramel pu-erh? Seriously?" It sounds crazy, but it's actually pretty good. The earthy richness of the pu-erh pairs nicely with the caramel flavor, making it a very satisfying cup. It's probably better in cold weather, but if you store it in an airtight container it should stay fresh until it starts getting cool again.

It's available here on our online store as well as our shop in Seattle.