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Many people are just starting to discover tea, and in-order to promote this trend, New Mexico Tea Company has tea tastings every Friday from 6 to 7:30pm. These tea tastings have been popular, and the slots are filling up weeks in advance. In-order to provide this service to everyone at a convenient time, i have decided to let groups of 4 to 6 people arrange a tea tasting for any evening. Just call and speak with me, and we will set up a reservation.
The tastings are free of charge and cover a wide selection of teas offered in the store. We also discuss tea history, brewing techniques, and anything else that comes up.
Products:
Valentines Tea: In just a few weeks your going to be on the spot to deliver a romantic gift to that special someone. We have the blooming fortune teas in their hand made origami boxes. (redesigned for V-day, $7.50) we also have tea chocolates ($5),tea soaps ($5), and a special hand made card with a love poem by Robert Browning ($2.50). I have taken special care to make gifts available for both men and woman, so no matter who your giving the gift to, you can find something special here.
Tea-ware:
People ask me what i think is the best way to prepare loose tea. If you are just making a cup at a time, randomly, then a tea ball, or disposable filters will work. However for the serious tea drinker, it's hard to beat a teapot with an infuser built in. This month we have a new tea pot called the "ipot", which stands for infuser pot. It is a great way to easily make loose tea on a regular basis. (17oz for $20, 40oz for $30)
South African Tisane:
We offer many different Tisanes from South Africa. The most popular one being Blood Orange which is good served hot, or as an iced tea, or even with milk and sugar. The Chocolate Mint Rooibos is also a favorite this time of year. Note: Rooibos, and other herbs are officially not called "tea" because they do not come from the tea plant.
Tea History:
The Khoisan people of South Africa had been using Rooibos for ages, but it was not known to the outside world until the Dutch settlers to the Cape adopted rooibos as an alternative to black tea, which was expensive to import. In 1903, Benjamin Ginsberg (a Russian settler to the Cape and descendant of a famous tea family) realized the potential of rooibos. He sold his "Mountain Tea" to settlers in the Cape and shortly became the first exporter of rooibos using contacts from the family tea business. In the 1930s, Ginsberg started to encourage local farmers to cultivate the plant in the hope that it would become a profitable venture. Large volume cultivation was a disaster due to the small size of the seeds. They are no larger than a grain of sand and so were difficult to find and gather. This resulted in the seeds soaring to an astounding $156 a pound, which was far too expensive for local farmers. Fortunately for Ginsberg, who employed collectors of the seeds, one woman had found a rather unusual source of supply. While she was searching one day for the minute seeds, she chanced upon ants dragging them. She followed their trail back to their nest and, on breaking it open, found a granary. Since then, rooibos has grown in popularity in South Africa and since about 2002 or so, has gained considerable momentum in the worldwide market.
Tonight 1/1/08:
FHAB Gallery, next door, is having a "first friday" art event tonight. "’08 Ice Breaker" party will be treating the senses at all levels with video, music, and fine art including new work by owner Nick Harmon, Celeste Boals and other gallery artists. They will be serving Ice Water, and New Mexico Tea Company will have three different Iced Tea's available. Starting around 6PM. (Gallery Page)
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