New Atlanta Showroom – Americas Mart May 18, 2009

For the past 3 years Tea District has been exhibiting at the Atlanta International Gift Show at Americas Mart in both January and July within there temporary gourmet section.  These are wholesale shows, open to business owners only looking to purchase products to resell in there stores.  We’ve always had great experience and exposure there and have always planned to come back. 

 

In January, Americas Mart opened a brad new building 2 West Wing, offering permanent spaces for companies, like Tea District, to be able to permanently set up and lease space to sell there goods.  In February we decided to check out the area to see if it would be a good fit for our growing company.  It was impressive!  There is a cooking demonstration area, very friendly atmosphere, and is very well layed out.  So guess what – we signed up!

 

Over the past weekend, myself and my mom – who totally rocks by the way – flew to Atlanta to set up our space. 

 

Day 1 we woke up at 4 Am, flew to Atlanta, went to IKEA to pick up the 1,200 lbs of wood displays.  Loaded them into the car, fortunately at the loading dock at the mart, the guys unloaded our car and brought all of it up to our showroom for us.  My mom started building all of the back bookcases while I painted.  After the 2nd coat of paint and over half of the displays built, we called it quits at about 6 pm. 

 

Day 2, Headed off to Target at 8:30 then back to the mart loading dock by 10:00 am… where we started to build some more.  I kept saying we’ll be done in about 2 hours, but I think I said that about 4 times!  At 9:00 pm we were officially done.  No Breakfast, Lunch at IKEA at 2:00 – 1 hot dog and 1 ice cream cone each, dinner at 9:30 pm, bed at 11:00 pm

 

Day 3, Decided to take a Stand By flight that left at 6:35 am.  Woke up at 4:00 am, at the airport by 5:00 home by 8:00 am!

 

All and all…

 

1 gallon of paint – 2 coats

13 pieces of wood display pieces to build

14 cabinet doors to mount perfectly

1 table and 2 chairs to put together

2 tea district display units

240 cans of tea to unpack

1 big pain in the a** decal to stick to the wall (8 feet by 2 feet)

4 magnetic strips for loose teas to mount to the wall

 

and only

1 trip to Sherwin Williams

2 trips to IKEA

2 trips to target

1 trip to Lowes

 

Looking forward to seeing you at our new showroom if you are a wholesale buyer!  Come visit us at Americas Mart – Atlanta – Building 2 West Wing, Floor 8 – 8127A kiddie corner from the cooking demonstration area.  Next Mart:  July 7 – 15, 2009.  For more information on the mart, please visit www.americasmart.com

If you would like our wholesale catalog before you come visit us, please call our office at 866.532.5268, email sales@teadistrict.com, or check us out on the web at http://www.teadistrict.com/.

Enjoy –

Lindsey Valentini – Tea District Owner

 

The pictures are a little dark as the hall lights weren’t on, but still looks great!

Our NEW Tea District Mascot May 8, 2009

What a cutie!

I thought I’d share some images of our new mascot.  At just 9 weeks, she’s 5.5 lbs, quite energetic, a cuddler, and still needs her sleep!  Her name is Lola, she’s a puggle – pug / beagle mix, and is very sweet.  She’s been sleeping on my desk in the middle of the day on her little bed, right between my two computers, while I work away creating new tea blends and marketing the existing brand.  I hope some of you will be able to meet her some day!

All About Black Tea April 27, 2009

Black Tea

Black tea is a “true” tea made from leaves more heavily oxidized than the white, green, and oolong varieties. It is generally stronger in flavor and contains more caffeine than more lightly oxidized teas. Black tea tends to preserve its flavor for several years unlike green tea and therefore blends and mixes well with various plants in order to obtain a variety of flavors.

Processing

After the harvest, the leaves are withered by blowing air on them followed by 1 of 2 processes. The CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) or orthodox method is used for lower quality leaves that end up in tea bags and are processed by machines. This method is efficient and effective for producing a better quality product from medium and lower quality leaves. Orthodox processing is done either by machines or by hand. Hand processing is used for high quality teas. While the methods employed in orthodox processing differ by tea type, this style of processing results in the high quality loose tea sought after by many connoisseurs. Next, the leaves are oxidized under controlled temperature and humidity. This process is also called fermentation, though no fermentation takes place. The level of oxidation determines the quality of the tea. Since oxidation begins at the rolling stage itself, the time between these stages is also a crucial factor in the quality of the tea. The leaves are then dried to arrest the oxidation process, and then finally, the leaves are sorted into grades according to their sizes (whole leaf, brokens, fannings and dust), usually with the use of sieves. The tea could be further sub-graded according to other criteria. After sorting, tea is ready for packaging.

This is some of the best English Breakfast black tea you'll find on the planet!

Another Tea District Shipment is on its way with NEW Teas! April 23, 2009

Another Tea District shipment is on its way! Our tea cans for the new Organic line of whole leaf tea in pyramid sachets are on there way to the USA where they’ll by filled with the delicious Organic Loose Teas in Pyramid Sachets! You can check out all of these on our website by visiting here:   http://www.teadistrict.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=20&keyword=&manufacturer_id=0&Itemid=117&orderby=product_name&limitstart=0

 

 

Here’s what’s on the shipment:

• Organic Ginger, Peach, Apricot Black Tea
• Organic Fruit & Spice Rooibos
• Organic Wildberry  Green Tea
• Organic Moroccan Mint Green Tea
• Organic Orange Blossom Green Tea
• Organic Pineapple Sweet White Tea
• Organic Pomegranate White Tea

All of these are currently available on our website as a whole leaf loose tea as well in either 1 lb, 2 oz, or sample size options! Here’s a picture of one of the shipping containers that will depart port tomorrow!  It’s so exciting!

Tea District Container with Organic Tea Cans

Green Tea Health Benefits and Weight Loss Answers April 17, 2009

Peope often ask…

What is Green Tea? What are the Health Benefits of drinking green tea, and Does Green Tea help with weight loss. Below you’ll find some of the answers!

Green Tea

 

 

Green tea is “true” tea that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea got its popularity from China and Japan since the beginning of its history 5,000 years ago, and recently has become more popular in the United States due to the health benefits and factors that have been raised in studies.

 

Green Tea Field

Health Benefits

Many studies have investigated a link between the consumption of green tea and a lower incidence of a range of cancers in populations. The wealth of plasma antioxidants that green tea provides contributes to the connection it has as a cancer-fighting product. Beyond the antioxidants that have been revealed, Catechin, the active ingredient in green tea has also been found to outperform Vitamin C and Vitamin E.

Green Tea & Weight Loss

In addition to the health benefits that green tea studies have shown to provide, recent studies also claim that contents in green tea also provides help in weight loss.

While some studies support possible preventative or curative properties of tea, other studies have found none. One should consult a doctor before using high concentrations of tea for disease prevention, as this can cause serious health problems.

Are you looking to take advantage of these health benefits? Click on the images below to learn more about these great tasting teas with all of the added benefits you just read about:

Pick your tea by clicking on the images!

Golfing April 14, 2009

This morning I woke up and had a very lovely cup of our Tea District Chai Tea. It is one of my favorites to have in the morning. It is loaded with robust black tea and spices and is very rare that I don’t have less than 3 cups at a time! I’ve been drinking all kinds of different teas lately for testing purposes so it was nice to go back to the roots and have one of my old time favorites.

Over Easter weekend I was able to get out and play 9 holes of golf with my hubby and my parents. It was my first round since last September and boy was it ugly! It definitely reminded me that I needed to get over to the range. So, today over lunch, guess where I’ll be!?!?!?

My husband and I joined a golf course this year – Southview Country Club. We actually live right off of the tee box of # 14 and across the fence from the putting green and driving range, so there is really no excuse for me not to be able to practice anymore. Here’s a view of #14:

I’ll be having left over Easter dinner today, so it will be pretty quick! And then after swinging the club for 10 to 15 minutes or so, I can’t wait to get back to work with a large cup of our NEW Organic Fruit and Spice Rooibos blend. If you haven’t tried this one, you’ll have get some for yourself. It’s slightly sweet, with hints of spice and fruits, and is loaded with antioxidants! We currently sell it on our website as a loose tea and will also be available shortly in a pyramid bag. Here’s a link directly to the Organic Fruit and Spice page as well as an image below: http://www.teadistrict.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=59&category_id=26&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=117.

Have a great day!

Lindsey Valentini
Owner – Tea District
http://www.teadistrict.com

Organic Fruit & Spice Rooibos

[caption id="attachment_16" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="View of #14 at Southview Country Club"][/caption]

Joe the Intern April 10, 2009

It’s high time that I did a new blog. Yes, I’m two months behind and hopefully this will be the jumpstart of at least one a week and maybe more if I’m really good. Today I thought I’d tell you about a new addition to the Tea District team.

In February, Joe, our new intern started. He’ll be helping out with sales calls, customer service, marketing and website stuff! He’s a junior at a local college in town and is very eager to learn the ropes of the real world! I’d like to welcome him aboard!

Since January, Tea District has some other new additions besides Joe. We have a new wholesale catalog. Here’s a sneak peak of the cover! Its pretty cool. It includes all of the information our All Natural Teas, NEW Organic loose teas in pyramid sachets, Organic loose teas in bulk, Flowering teas, as well as our displays that we sell filled with tea!

We have some really cool flowering teas too. The pictures aren’t quite up on the site yet, but will be soon.

Happy Easter! I love Cadbury eggs and can’t wait to eat them this weekend!

- Lindsey

Gift Market Month January 26, 2009

Today is Monday, January 26th, 2009. I haven’t had a day off since Sunday, January 4th and am loving every second of it! By the way, this is Lindsey Valentini, owner of Tea District.

I decided to add the blog to our site for a few reasons:
1. My customers get to know me better, which means, I get to know you better, and I love to meet and learn about new people and there businesses!
2. I get to educate more people about tea and Tea District. Tea is a fascinating thing and I hope that more and more people love to drink what we do best – Blending Flavored Teas!
3. I always thought that some day it would be fun to write a book, so this is good practice!
4. Everyone will get a little peek at the reality of life within our office and daily lives!

So, back to me not having a day off and liking it! Well, it’s Market Month as I call it. It is one of our busiest months of the year because all of the Gift Marts across the country have shows taking place, which of course we exhibit at! I love it mostly because I love what I do, but also because we’re getting positive response from our current customers as well as new accounts.

The media continues to talk about the oh so negative news of the economy. We here at Tea District are choosing not to take part in it, and we only hope that you do too. How you might ask??? That’s easy! Don’t talk about it! (Yes, you’re thinking to yourself, but she’d talking about it) Well, here’s the deal, if you talk about it with your customers in your store, the negativity passes on to them and there dollars stay in there pocket, even if they have it to spend in your store! So, my advice. Stay positive. Don’t talk about it. And Hire another Sales person!

I’m looking forward to this Saturday, sort of. It will be my first day off after being in Atlanta for the gift show, San Francisco for the Fancy Food Show, and at the Minneapolis Gift Show (oh, and we also had someone work at our showroom in Dallas at the Dallas Market Center). The not so fun part about Saturday however is I will be jumping into White Bear Lake with a prom dress form the 80’s on. Yes, I’m crazy, but I’m doing it for a great cause “Special Olympics Minnesota”. If I jump, they get $200.00. If I don’t, then they don’t get the much needed donation. So, for 30 seconds, my lungs will collapse, I will be almost frozen, and probably screaming right after I jump.

Beyond the crazy market month, my husband and I are also refinishing our basement off and opted to do about 25% of the work ourselves. We helped the electrician run wires, tore out old sheet rock ourselves, and have painted quite a bit… We’ve had many nights where we were up until midnight! Some pictures are attached. More to follow when it’s all done!

More updates on this month later. Back to work!

Tea District’s Test Blog January 16, 2009

This is a test blog!

Welcome to the Tea District Blog! December 20, 2008

Hello All and welcome to the Tea District blog. Check back for updates.