The news that Starbucks purchased Teavana for six hundred and twenty million dollars was stunning. The tea industry doesn’t seem to know what to make of it. There had been a very lively and interesting conversation… Continue reading
Everything I know about tea, I learned. Deep, right? I began my tea journey with Bigelow’s Constant Comment. No, I’m not getting on my “bagged tea tastes like crap” high horse here. I drank it for years and was happy… Continue reading
Our research on specialty tea started in early 2004. It was extensive. It involved years – yes, years – of researching the opportunity, the market, the competition, the suppliers, the concept options, the locations, the recipes, and the product mix. It involved opening our first retail store in 2007, weathering … Continue reading
Like many I have spoken to, I was guilty of initially entering the tea business and thinking, “I am all about the tea – not the herbals, not the blends – just tea. Whilst nodding profusely to Charles Cain’s last post, I feel the same could be said for herbal … Continue reading
Recently, there has been quite a bit of discussion on T Ching about tea bags and sachets (aka large tea bags). It inspired me to think about this more than I usually do, because even among what are considered “specialty tea retailers,” there seems to be promotion of these vehicles of … Continue reading
Many years ago, I designed a new tea bag delivery system. It was aesthetically beautiful, yet simple. My goal was to provide a product that would enable whole-leaf tea drinkers to bring their tea from home to work or out for dinner – at the time, it was almost impossible … Continue reading