Teapot hits the O-List!!

We couldn’t have been more pumped to see the gorgeous presentation of our Automatic Teapot in the May 2008 issue of O-Magazine, which has just started showing up in subscribers’ mailboxes. In fact, I think the VERY first O-subscriber to see it must have been my co-founder, who fetched it out of her mailbox after midnight one night this week and promptly called me screeching the news. And what a cool O-List it is – the bike, the meringues… and our pretty Oprah-green teapot!

Teapot hits the O-List!!

We couldn’t have been more pumped to see the gorgeous presentation of our Automatic Teapot in the May 2008 issue of O-Magazine, which has just started showing up in subscribers’ mailboxes. In fact, I think the VERY first O-subscriber to see it must have been my co-founder, who fetched it out of her mailbox after midnight one night this week and promptly called me screeching the news. And what a cool O-List it is – the bike, the meringues… and our pretty Oprah-green teapot!

Teapot hits the O-List!!

We couldn’t have been more pumped to see the gorgeous presentation of our Automatic Teapot in the May 2008 issue of O-Magazine, which has just started showing up in subscribers’ mailboxes. In fact, I think the VERY first O-subscriber to see it must have been my co-founder, who fetched it out of her mailbox after midnight one night this week and promptly called me screeching the news. And what a cool O-List it is – the bike, the meringues… and our pretty Oprah-green teapot!

Show me Your O Face!

Hooray! Our sweet, sweet Automatic Teapot has graced the pages of the May issue of O Magazine! Which, for those of you who have been living under a rock in recent past, is Oprah's magazine. Our new, key lime Teapot got a spotlight on "The O List," a list of things that Oprah thinks are downright smashing. I mean come on, if Oprah likes it, it has to be wonderful and awesome and full of rainbows, right? Right! In any case, grab the mag off the newsstand and take a look, or go online once they upload the new issue at: http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/omag_landing.jhtml


The Automatic Teapot is a 20-ounce stoneware teapot that automatically steeps your tea, without using batteries or electricity. The infuser basket doubles as a counterweight, an amazing feat of mechanical engineering thanks to TeaSpot Founder Maria Uspenski, which is triggered to turn over once the timer finishes. This means you can literally set the timer and carry on doing whatever is was you were doing; whether you were teaching your kid to ride a bike, watching Return of the Jedi (again), or voraciously researching O Magazine's average monthly circulation numbers. The dripless spout and generously sized handle truly make loose-leaf tea-time an easy endeavor. Check out our website for more info at the-teaspot.com!

Take a Moment

Hello Team!

Today is a day to recognize the importance of slowing down and taking time out to enjoy the little things. According to the American Institute of Stress (how's that for a day job?!), at least half of all Americans are concerned about stress levels in their everyday lives. Considering what a roving pack of cell-phone carrying, laptop toting, errand-running, work-too-much-ing go-getters many of us have been and are becoming, it's no surprise that we inevitably feel that life is going by waaay too fast. For example, can anyone tell me how the hell it is April already? How did this happen?! It's no mystery anymore that stress also has a negative impact on our mental and physical health. Can you say "cardiac infarction?" It is time that we, as a society, place more importance on our personal health over our jobs. This doesn't mean you should go to work tomorrow and quit, but there are many small steps one can take to show a little self-devotion.

One wonderful way to take a small load off is to sit the hell down for 10 minutes and enjoy a pot of tea. While I wouldn't personally recommend it, you could even get some work done at the same time, but I find that my own mental health is instantly smoothed over when I can sit with my tea and read a magazine or surf the web for completely inane information that requires no significant mental activity. You know, like cruising through best of craigslist.org or reading the latest mindblowing headlines at theonion.com. When I am feeling particularly stressed about anything, I brew up a cup of our Meditative Mind. Perhaps it is the suggestive nature of its name, but the relaxing scent and soothing taste do wonders for my nerves when they are frayed like the open ends of a torn cable wire. Like they were the other day when I caught someone stealing tips from the tip jar.

Whether you drink tea, take a 5-minute walk, meditate, take a lunch break without your cell phone, exercise, read, or throw stones into a lake, it is important to remember that you must take time for yourself to do whatever it is that makes you a happier, healthier person. Just like the glorious line from the 1991 film classic (ha), What About Bob, we must take "baby steps to one o'clock!"

New Store Hours!

Greetings, fellow tea snoots!

GOOD NEWS! Our downtown retail location will have NEW, LONGER hours starting April 1, 2008 for the Farmer's Market. Our new hours will be as follows:

Monday - Friday: 7 AM - 7 PM

Saturday: 8 AM - 7 PM

Sunday: Noon - 6 PM

Come visit us at 1801 13th Street, Suite 170. We are located on 13th Street in the One Boulder Plaza, between Canyon and Walnut. We have a huge wall of tea, premium espresso drinks, fresh salads and sandwiches, biscotti, pastries, cookies, gourmet chocolates, free wireless and of course, our entire line of Steepware and Loose Leaves. There is cozy seating inside, and outdoor seating for when the sun is shining. We've got it all! Why wouldn't you come check us out?!

Arizona TV Tea Segment

It's a thrill to turn new customers on to loose leaf tea every week! Each thank you note and compliment that comes through our website gets circulated around the warehouse and pumps each of us up... We've also been fortunate with the interest our mission and products have generated in the press. Several weeks ago I was a guest on a Phoenix-area morning lifestyle show, Sonoran Living, hosted by the charming Stephanie Sandoval. She made it impossible to mess up in front of the cameras, and great fun to tell the story about loose leaf teas on TV!

Not your grandma’s teapot…

After three years of working to bring this project to fruition, I’m beginning to understand why it’s the first of its kind – integrating a miniature mechanical timer with a tea infuser proved to be far more complex than we ever could have imagined. After engaging some engineer friends, old classmates, my brother (yes, they’re all mechanical engineers) we went through several design approaches, and chose a rotating tea infuser design that lifts the tealeaves out of the water at the end of the timing sequence. We applied for a technology patent, and our US patent was awarded a few months ago. Early prototypes of this piece were not pretty… but after engaging a hip bay-area design group, we were able to finalize a stylish and functional automatic teapot design. Shown here is the evolution of the Automatic Teapot (aka “tea Maestro”), currently on display at the San Francisco Airport.

Not your grandma’s teapot…

After three years of working to bring this project to fruition, I’m beginning to understand why it’s the first of its kind – integrating a miniature mechanical timer with a tea infuser proved to be far more complex than we ever could have imagined. After engaging some engineer friends, old classmates, my brother (yes, they’re all mechanical engineers) we went through several design approaches, and chose a rotating tea infuser design that lifts the tealeaves out of the water at the end of the timing sequence. We applied for a technology patent, and our US patent was awarded a few months ago. Early prototypes of this piece were not pretty… but after engaging a hip bay-area design group, we were able to finalize a stylish and functional automatic teapot design. Shown here is the evolution of the Automatic Teapot (aka “tea Maestro”), currently on display at the San Francisco Airport.

Not your grandma’s teapot…

After three years of working to bring this project to fruition, I’m beginning to understand why it’s the first of its kind – integrating a miniature mechanical timer with a tea infuser proved to be far more complex than we ever could have imagined. After engaging some engineer friends, old classmates, my brother (yes, they’re all mechanical engineers) we went through several design approaches, and chose a rotating tea infuser design that lifts the tealeaves out of the water at the end of the timing sequence. We applied for a technology patent, and our US patent was awarded a few months ago. Early prototypes of this piece were not pretty… but after engaging a hip bay-area design group, we were able to finalize a stylish and functional automatic teapot design. Shown here is the evolution of the Automatic Teapot (aka “tea Maestro”), currently on display at the San Francisco Airport.