Newsletter Archive Dec. 30, 2022

A group of smiling people standing outside in front of a mural, with Zhuping and Austin in the center.

Dang! It’s been a weird, scary, challenging, and amazing year. We always say this at the end of every milestone, but it’s always true – it’s a gift to still be here, doing something we care about, and getting to share it with so many people we care about too. Of course, none of that would be possible without you.

In that spirit, we’d like to try something different for this weekend. We’d like to extend those feelings of gratitude into an actual thank you gift.

If you place an order this weekend (Friday – Sunday) and spend over 100 dollars, you’ll find an extra bag of rare tea in your order as a gift from us. Each gift is a surprise – it may even be a tea that’s not in our regular catalog – we will choose the tea but we will do our best to complement your tastes based on what you order. This offer extends to purchases in the teahouse as well. Just let us know you’re a newsletter subscriber when you are checking out.

A row of people in front of a mural cutting ribbons, as a crowd watches and confetti flies in the air. — The grand opening of our new teahouse wouldn’t be possible without you.

If you take advantage of this offer and get that extra bag of tea, we hope you’ll let us know what you think of it. It’s been one of this year’s greatest pleasures to reconnect with longtime tea friends and supporters who’ve wished us well on our new tea house, sent their observations on 2022’s teas, and shared the joy of discovery with us.

Our resolution for 2022? Do more of that. We’re looking forward to more time well spent with our family, friends, suppliers and customers. We’re planning to spend time face-to-face with those in China, conditions permitting. On the U.S. side, we’re planning more events at our teahouse. Also, if you’ve ever wanted to sit down with Austin to brew a cup, talk tea and history or just shoot the bull, he’s happy to schedule an afternoon with you. Just send us an email and we’ll get you in contact.

A wooden statue of Guanyin and a large bouquet in front of an intricately carved wooden divider in the teahouse. — Our statue of Guanyin in the teahouse.

Lunar New Year Puer Tasting – Saturday, Jan 21st

Join us for a celebratory tasting of fifteen different Puer teas. Sheng, shu, aged, and young – we’re brewing the whole spectrum of flavor. The event starts at 9:30 AM on Saturday, January 21st, so you’ll be leaving the year of the Tiger and going into the year of the Rabbit with a sophisticated appreciation of Puer tea and a hefty tea buzz.

The event is limited to 20 seats only. Sign up on our Eventbrite page.

Free Shipping Update

To keep up with rising costs, we’re updating our free shipping policy while still keeping the threshold as low as we can. Starting next week, all orders of $50 or more will qualify for free shipping. In other words, this weekend is the last chance to take advantage of free shipping on orders at the old threshold of $35 or more. Thank you to everyone for their support and understanding. We’ll see you in the new year!