Loose leaf tea to the rescue, yet again, in ways you'd never predict!

"When the lorry overturned, its cargo of loose tea was spilled as well as some diesel. Firefighters used the spilled tea to absorb the diesel and prevent it from entering the drains" is the conclusion to the news report in today's Sunderland Echo from the UK. Caught my eye, to say the least.
Smart firefighters!! Those of us who often have copious amounts of experimental batches of tea around know what a great cleaning and deodorizer it makes.  If you've ever walked into a loose tea merchant's place, the comforting aroma wraps you as soon as you get through the door... 
The same characteristics that make tea leaves so easy to scent (with jasmine flowers, or bergamot oil) make it a wonderful (but pricey, if it's tea that could ever be drunk!) dust and odor absorber for wood floors.  Just sprinkle some old tea in your dirtier areas an hour or two before sweeping - not only will all the dust particles glom on to the tea leaves, making your sweep a no-brainer, but your room will smell fresh and sweet.
For the full Sunderland truck accident story, go to: http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Driver-of-toppled-lorry-is.6028824.jp

And credit goes to the UK mirror for use of the photo :)

Coffeecakes.com- Retails The Tea Spot teas and Steepware!

Hello Tea Spot fans!

This year I would like to focus on all of the wonderful retailers, e-tailers and food service customers who sell and serve our teas. All of these shops have unique and wonderful traits with one thing in common, selling The Tea Spot products. Follow me each week to read about another one of our retailers.

I will start this series with Coffeecakes.com!

Coffeecakes.com and The Tea Spot became partners in what seemed to be a whirlwind of serendipidous connections. Literally a day after I had contacted Coffeecakes.com to see if they would be interested in trying our products, I received a contact form that someone from Coffeecakes had filled out on our website, requesting wholesale information! It couldn't be that easy right?

It was!!! Shortly after I sent samples out for them to try, we were in business and hit the ground running. Let me give you a bit of background on the company.

The incredible ladies who started Coffeecakes.com, have been running the business for 15 years. Not only are their products amazing, but the wonderful way they treat everyone, from customers to vendors, makes you want to keep in touch and keep coming back for more. Coffeecakes.com sells not only coffee cakes, but entire lines of mouthwatering desserts and sweets. Seriously, just check out their homepage http://www.coffeecakes.com/. Three words: To Die For. Fortunately their sales in the coffee and tea realm led them to us and I to them. Shortly after I sent samples out for them to try, we partnered up and it has been a blast working with them ever since. Our loose leaf teas compliment sweet desserts very well, and their customers seem LOVE our teaware.

If you're looking to find some amazing sweets to pair with tea this Valentine's Day, look no further than Coffeecakes.com . And if you're interested in putting together a gift basket that pairs their sweets with our teas, e.g. Bolder Breakfast with Chocolate Walnut Coffee Cake or Red Rocks with their Chocolate Surprise Squares, contact them here to and ask for their Personal Gift Basket Specialist!

It has been a pleasure working with Coffeecakes so far, and I'm looking forward to what we can do together in the future!

STEEPWARE by The Tea Spot: Essentials Steeping Tools

How do you choose what kind of device to buy to steep your tea; there are so many out there?

Hope this short little video helps you understand why STEEPWARE designs are essential.

What's your favorite steeping device? We'd love to hear from you...

Tea Beer on Tap, this Thursday

Head Brewer at Left Hand Brewing Company, Ro Guenzel, has created a new Weizenbock with our Lapsang Souchong tea. He first launched it at the Big Beers, Belgians, and Barley Wine festival in Vail earlier this month and it was a hit! They'll be pouring a keg of this beer for the first time in their tasting room this Thursday, January 28th. They'll be tapping the keg at 3pm and pouring it until it's gone. We'll also be there, sampling our lapsang souchong tea alongside so you can experience this unique pinewood smoked black tea in full form. Please stop by and introduce yourself.

Brewmaster's Tasting Notes:

The beer is a strong wheat beer or Weizenbock. It is fermented with a special Bavarian yeast strain that produces strong ester and phenolic aromas. The beer pours dark hazy brown with a rocky white head. Aroma is of banana and faint clove with a interesting spicy smokiness. The beer tastes of banana, soft wheat and chocolate. It starts sweet and then is dried out by the tannic smokiness of the tea. The 6.2% ABV is well hidden amongst the interplay of malts, tea and yeast.

Keg Tap Event:
Thursday, January 28th, 3pm-8pm
Left Hand's Brewery & Tasting Room

1265 Boston Ave., Longmont CO 80501 Google Maps

Lapsang Souchong Tasting Notes & Origins:

This unique black tea is smoke dried over pinewood, giving it a heavily smokey aroma and a deep, rich liquor. The tea leaves are first withered over pine root fires, then panfried, rolled and oxidized. The leaves are finally placed in bamboo baskets and hung on wooden racks over smoking pinewood fires to dry and absorb the smoke. This results in a powerfully smoky aroma coupled with a smooth taste.

Legend has it that the process for smoked tea came about during tribal times when a village burned all their possessions and inadvertently smoked the tea. Another story states that during the Qing Dynasty, an army unit passing through a village occupied a tea factory filled with fresh leaf awaiting manufacture. When workers could get back into the factory, they realized that for their tea to arrive at market in time, it was too late to dry the leaves the usual way and open fires of pinewood were lit to hasten the drying. When the tea reached the market, the smoke flavor created a sensation and a new product was born.

View Lapsang Souchong Details

Haitian Fundraiser at Left Hand Brewery

In the aftermath of the tragedy in Haiti, we want to get the word out about people contributing to the needs of Haitians. One of our local breweries, Left Hand, is holding a fundraiser tomorrow night to raise money for the Colorado Haiti Project - a local non-profit that has been involved in grassroots efforts in Haiti for the past 20 years. The event runs 5-8pm Thursday, January 21st, with a live band, food donated, a silent auction, proceeds from beers purchased, and a representative from the local non-profit. All donations, earnings from the silent auction, tips for the band, and $1/pint sold will go directly to the help the cause.

The Tea Spot has donated $100 online gift card for the silent auction, so go get your bid on to help out.

View more details on Left Hand's Blog.