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I have to tell you, once I started working for a loose leaf tea company my mother was excited but skeptical. My entire life, and her entire life for that matter, we had grown up drinking Lipton, Tetley or Salada tea bags or some other tea bag that was most likely found in a plastic bag, in a Tupperware container, behind the bag of flour, at the back of the lazy susan. Despite the fact that we didn't know much about tea, tea was a part of a somewhat daily ritual, definitely a Saturday or Sunday afternoon ritual complete with biscotti, ricotta pie and friends. Still the idea of loose leaf tea seemed to evade my mother.
She wanted to learn about it, had heard from myself that it was so much better than what we had grown up with, and much better for you, but she wasn't sure that she could handle the process. So around February I sent her and my father their first loose leaf tea package, complete with STEEPING mugs,(my mom got the red one, red is her favorite color, dad got the blue) and the Tuffy Steeper. The tea arrived on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon I get a call while I'm doing a demo of our tea at a local Gourmet Housewares store. I don't pick up. By the time I can get a second to take a look at my phone, my mom has called three times in a half an hour. Now just to note, my parents live in Vermont and I am 2000 miles away, so when she called three times in a short span of time, I get nervous. I call her back and all I hear when I pick up the phone is "I LOVE this tea!!!" My mom repeated herself, "Oh my God Andrea, I LOVE this tea. I can't believe how good it is and it was so easy to make! I would be happy if I never had another tea bag again!" The tea she was referring to was Red Rocks, our Rooibos tea with vanilla and almonds. "And your father LOVES his Earl Grey," she said. She was so
excited that the tea was amazing and that it was easy to make, but was also saddened that she had been missing out on this her whole life! Every day after their tea arrived, I received one or two phone calls a day describing how much she loves her tea and how cozy the mug is. When my mom took a trip down to Boston to see our relatives she had to call me from the car "Do you know how hard my life is right now? The worst thing in my life is that I am going to your grandmother's house, and I know the only tea she is going to have there is Lipton, and all I want is a cup of Red Rocks!!! ". I quickly explained to her that she should have taken her Tuffy Steeper with her and some tea so she could have it on the road. She poo-pooed that idea saying that the Tuffy Steeper was for her office and that she would have to get another one to travel with. You can change some things with my mother, but once she has an idea in her head, its normally not all that easy to change. So why am I telling you all of this? I am letting you know that I grew up in a family who only drank pretty bland Lipton tea and now my mom is thrilled to have a cup of amazing loose leaf tea every day. Loose leaf tea and a STEEPING cup or mug is a fantastic gift for Mother's Day. For the mom's who are more on-the-go or traveling types, the Tuffy Steeper paired with a tin of tea is a great idea. No more searching or wondering how to get a cost effective and useful gift this Mother's Day! And if your mom or grandmother is anything like my Italian mother who is set in her ways, convince her that making a cup of loose leaf tea can be an everyday luxury and they will be very grateful to you!
