Teajo Blog and Articles

Is your favorite loose tea from a farm or a factory?- March 8, 2010

After having watched the movie, Food Inc., I realized that there are many similarities between food and tea. If you know anything about the book or movie, you understand that most of the food we consume in the U.S. is processed in a factory environment from a small handful of large food companies. Even when you see the words "Farm Fresh" on the labels of your favorite beef or poultry, you can rest assured that the contents in the package most likely did not come directly from a farm. Everything today is highly processed and rarely fresh, primarily because it is cheaper to do so.

The same thing applies to your favorite loose tea. 99% of the tea in the supermarket or tea shops are highly processed, consist of factory blends produced by consolidators and are certainly not direct from tea gardens/farms. Why do they do this? It is cheaper, plain and simple. Just like there are very few retail choices for consumers to shop for organic meats, there are very few places for a tea drinker to purchase organic and garden-fresh loose tea.

The choice is yours. Pay a little more and eat better tasting and healthier food or eat cheap and risk your health. Also, if you are looking to make a change to a more organic lifestyle, do your research and visit your local natural foods stores.

Our flavored loose teas are now available in more stores- March 4, 2010

Teajo Teas is proud to announce that our flavored loose teas are now available through a quality chain of 13 natural food stores located throughout the Midwest and Florida. Akins Natural Foods Marketplace has stores in Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, where as Chamberlin's Natural Foods, the sister company of Akins, is located throughout Central Florida. For more information, please visit http://www.teajo.com/wheretobuy.php.

Is drinking loose tea safe during pregnancy?- January 24, 2010

Drinking tea and how it can affect pregnancy is a subject that has recently become very near and dear to our hearts, given that my wife and I are expecting in the next few months. Naturally, as a regular loose tea drinker, my wife is wondering if a cup of tea a day is considered safe to drink without adding significant risk to the pregnancy. Most doctors will tell you, including ours, that everything in moderation is basically safe. While there have been studies that show large amounts of caffeine can have adverse effects on the fetus, there are no conclusive studies that rule out caffeine completely. If you are pregnant, the bottom line is listen to your doctor and also to your body. The following is a well written article on what is considered safe in terms of caffeine intake during pregnancy...read more.

Green tea - one study shows link between consumption and symptoms of depression- January 18, 2010

Just when you think you've seen every benefit to drinking green tea, another one comes along. In one particular study, Japanese researchers discovered that men and women aged 70 and older who drank more than four cups of green tea a day were 44 percent less likely to exhibit symptoms of depression. Read more...

Loose tea is now available at Village Health Market in Tampa- January 12, 2010

Good news for our local customers in Tampa, FL, especially those living in the South Tampa area. Our teas are currently available at Village Health Market located at 3225 S. MacDill Avenue in the tea section. Teajo Teas are the first loose tea products to arrive on their shelves, which is very exciting. This is just another step in our mission to introduce and promote loose tea.

Loose tea flavors and variety - How much is too much and why is it important? - November 24, 2009

When it comes to flavored tea, how much variety is too much? In a perfect world, there would be no limit to the number of flavors one could create or offer to customers. What's the downside? Quality and freshness are at stake. As a customer, think about this very carefully. The more flavors that are offered, the more inventory that is accumulated, and the longer it takes to go through the inventory. The reason is not everyone will purchase every flavor, which means many of the flavors could sit around for a long, long time before they are replenished with fresh product. Ultimately, you, the customer, pay the price by getting stuck with stale tea.

Take Cold Stone Creamery for example, a retail chain of gourmet ice cream stores. They offer 20 signature creations and approximately 9 base ice cream flavors for custom blending. By keeping a limit to the variety, they are able to control the quality and freshness of their ice cream.

As a consumer, you should be thankful when you see a company or brand follow this type of strategy. Everyone likes variety, but there is a price to pay for too much variety. Of course there is no formula or magic number for the variety of tea flavors a brand should offer. But when you see a tea company offer 70 different loose tea flavors, approach with caution. They obviously don't have freshness or quality in mind and are interested in one thing...volume.

Custom blend your flavored loose teas - Is Raspberry Dark Chocolate the next flavor?- November 19, 2009

We discovered a new loose tea flavor by combining our Very Raspberry with our Dark Chocolate Dream at the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show in Washington D.C. The result was a huge hit with the customers. We are now seriously considering combining these two loose tea flavors and offering it as a special blend from time to time. Stay tuned for further updates.

Brewing loose tea with the Smart Tea Maker - Is it microwave-safe?- November 16, 2009

Recently, we have had a few customers ask us if the Smart Tea Maker is safe to use in the microwave. While many of our customers do use their Smart Tea Makers to brew their loose tea in the microwave, the manufacturer has not laboratory tested the units in the microwave. Even though many of our customers are brewing their tea in this fasion without incident, we cannot make the claim that the Smart Tea Maker is safe to use in the microwave.

If you want to use the microwave, our suggestion is to heat the water first in the microwave and then pour into the Smart Tea Maker. Of course, you can always use a hot water dispenser, a pot of boiling water or a kettle as well.

Flavored Loose Teas at the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show- November 13, 2009

We had an incredible response to our naturally flavored loose teas this past weekend at the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show in Washington, D.C. I wish we could have blogged and twittered from the event, but we were too busy serving samples and selling tea! The event drew over 20,000 foodies, and I would like to thank all those who attended and visited our booth. Sheetal and I would also like to thank Tej and Rupa for all their help, as we could not have pulled it off without them. Below are some of pictures from the event:

What is living a loose tea lifestyle?- October 26, 2009

What do I mean by the loose tea lifestyle? It's pretty simple, and it is not just about tea. Living a loose tea lifestyle means you actually place a priority on quality, freshness and flavor and not convenience. You are willing to spend a minute extra to brew loose tea over a tea bag. You are also the type of individual who actually chooses to use your kitchen to prepare a meal from fresh ingredients instead of opting for prepared foods. Sharing this experience with friends and family are also a part of this lifestyle. So how do you live your life...like a tea bag or a batch of fresh loose tea leaves?