Tea is an awe inspiring plant, with gentle care and attention to detail, you can create a masterpiece. It’s no surprise then that tea and art are very similar, which is why April, artist & owner of the Rose Hip Barn is kindly allowing Epi Tea & Enchantment for Your Table to share our passion of tea with the customers who visit her store.

The Rose Hip Barn is an adorable shop in the historic town of Thornton in Thornbury Township, Pennsylvania (South East, right above the Delaware border). April takes old furniture she finds at auctions or picks up from people who no longer want to deal with them, and refurbishes them into works of art. She has quite the following and customer base, which stands to show her skill & unique style.

Epi Tea for the remainder of the year will be a regular feature of her store. In the back room she has a lovely 150+ year old wooden counter about 20 feet long which we set up at and share our delicious blends with April’s customers, as well as offer full cups of tea and of course our tins. April has set up the back room with tables & chairs for people to come in and relax while they enjoy their premium tea.

This coming weekend, we will be there Friday & Saturday. These two days will be our first venture into making the experience more of a »tea café». We will be offering delicious seasonal baked goods such as biscotti, scones, pumpkin bread and more, as well as cups of fresh brewed tea. We will be there 9am-3pm on Friday and 11am-3pm on Saturday. If you live nearby come check it out!

A recent study conducted by The European Heart Journal has concluded that adding milk and other products such as soy milk can «reduce the bio-availability of galloylated catechins from tea in humans.»

This is certainly a fascinating finding. Granted most of the time I drink my tea unsweetened and black, I do sometimes like having that milky sweet morning brew. This study won’t stop me from drinking milky tea. I suppose when I do drink milky tea I will just have to drink twice as much «black» tea! Challenge accepted!

Original Article from World Tea News.

Now you can shop for a new delicious blend of Biodegradable Pyramid Sachets while still on Facebook!

Hello tea drinkers!

In line with keeping true to our promise of being as socially integrated as possible, we’re taking our tea to Facebook! Check out our new Facebook page: Shop!

Original Article: NaturalNews.com

Rooibos tea, more commonly known as «red tea», comes from a broom like bush which is native to South Africa and has been used there for many hundreds of years to cure illnesses and for ritual purposes. However, rooibos tea in recent years is making a star performance on the world stage. Its popularity in America and in Europe is on an impressive rise! And with good reason. Rooibos tea has many health benefits and it all comes with the added bonus of being naturally caffeine free.

Here are some of the health benefits of Rooibos tea:

• Reduces heart disease by providing protection through ACE inhibition

• Contains quercetin and luteolin, which are known to have cancer fighting qualities

• Is an anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-mutagenic and anti-spasmodic

• Eases nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems

• Limits uric acid production, which can help gout sufferers

• Soothes asthma and eczema

• Boosts the immune system

• Cures nagging headaches

• Fights insomnia

• Strengthens bones and teeth

• Relieves severe stomach cramps

• Eases hypertension/lowers blood pressure
• Is considered to have anti-aging properties

• Prevents DNA damage

• Suppresses fasting glucose levels

• Improves glucose uptake and insulin secretions after a meal

Many coffee shops are now also offering Rooibos tea in many different styles. However, you are not likely to see it listed as «rooibos» per say, but something along the lines of a «red latte» or «red tea».

If you haven’t tried rooibos before I highly recommend that you do! It has a great deep color liquor with hints of earth and a sweet soft finish! Try Rooibos Tea

We are pleased to announce that after months of preparation, Epi Tea Shop is now open to the US, Canada, and many European Countries!

We are now ready to begin sharing our Biodegradable Pyramid Tea Sachet blends! This has been an incredible journey for this college student, yet none of it would have been possible without the enthusiastic readers of our blog!

Share this article with your friends!

Our Sachet Blends, 25 Sachet count Tins:

Lavender Earl Grey: 

Epi Tea’s Lavender Earl Grey is a unique blend of black teas delicately accented by natural Lavender Flowers.

Ingredients: Organic Black Tea, Organic Lavender Flowers, Organic Flavorings

Irish Breakfast: 

Epi Tea’s Irish Breakfast is a great morning brew with a deep malty flavor and a smooth finish.

Ingredients: Organic Black Tea Blend

Serene Chai:

Epi Tea’s Serene Chai is a rich black tea blend with gentle chai undertones and soft finish.

Ingredients: Organic Black Tea, Organic Cinnamon, Organic Ginger, Organic Cardamon, Organic Red Pepper & Natural Vanilla, Cinnamon & Ginger Flavorings

Berry Rooibos:

Epi Tea’s Berry Rooibos is a celebration of the unique South African Rooibos tradition in a satisfying blend of mixed berries with a natural sweet finish.

Ingredients: Organic Rooibos, Organic Hibiscus, Organic Rosehips, Organic Elderberries, Organic Black Currents, Organic Cranberries, Organic Flavorings

This is a story about a guy who walks into a tea shop expecting to get a restock of his favorite Oolong (Iron Goddess) but instead has an experience which felt like tea culture smacking him across the face with the Paddle of Amazement.

Yerba Mate got me Flabbergasted:

My first experience with Mate was at a locally owned brick and mortar tea retail store months ago which had sample tasting tables out. Most of the blends they had for sampling I had at least heard of before, yet there was one which really caught my attention, the Yerba Mate. I must have looked shocked staring at the name Yerba Mate on the sample dispenser because the store owner came over to me and said in a very quiet voice, «Are you okay?»

I was more than okay, I was excited! I had found a tea or tisane (I did not know what it was at the time to be honest!) which I had never heard mention of before. «Well» I told the kind lady, «I would love to try this sample you have here.» She started pouring out a cup and I watched as the resin colored steamy liquor poured out of the dispenser with great anticipation.

Being «that guy» who is always carrying around a smartphone, before she was done pouring me the sample cup I was already on google trying to discover what exactly this unknown and bewildering beverage was. What I found was something like this:

•  The Mate Plant or Yerba Mate in Spanish (scientific name: Ilex Paraguayensis) is a plant cultivated in Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil for use as a herbal tisane. However, in recent years it has caught the eye of international markets and is now being grown elsewhere as well.

I had finished reading that tidbit of info and realized there was a cup of the mysterious blend in my hand. I’m sure the lady who owned the store thought I was the strangest of characters, she must have been holding the sample cup out for me to take from her for an awkward amount of time, had been looking at me (busy googling), and just decided to put it in my other hand and walked away. Of course I felt bad about appearing rude, and quickly apologized and thanked her for the sample.

My first sip of the Yerba Mate had me flabbergasted. It tasted very herbal and if not a little grassy. it had the same kind of leafy kick that a good strong green tea has but with more of an earthy forefront of a pu-erh. In other words, it was extremely tasty. Quickly wanting to know more about this Mate, I asked the store owner about it. She said that it came from South America and is most popular in Uruguay where it is common to see people of all ages carrying mate in hollow gourds in the streets.

«Okay, hold on a second,» my mind begins to talk to itself again, «one is meant to drink Mate out of a gourd? People carry around hollow gourds in the streets of Uruguay like Americans carry coffee? Thats Awesome!» She was very accommodating to my questions, saying that Mate, while being an herbal tisane, can have as much caffeine content as coffee. The amount depends on how the tisane is prepared and how long one steeps it.

Culture Tidbit: The Mate Preparation & the Gourd:

«Traditionally, the dry leaves are placed in a cup, or gourd called a maté, then cold water is added to moisten the leaves and protect the nutrients and flavor. Next, hot water is added until all the leaves are covered. Rather than removing the leaves, you sip the tea through a straw called a bombilla which has a filter or strainer at the bottom to prevent the leaves going through the straw. As you drink the tea, you add more water to the cup.» — gosouthamerica.about.com

There are multiple, more contemporary methods of brewing mate, but I quite like that traditional method of making tea. Not only does it make it easy to carry around with you in a stylish gourd, but it allows for easy refills for those days when you just want to be drinking tea all day, which would be of course, every day!

In Conclusion:

That day a guy went into a local tea shop expecting to buy a old favorite. Yet the will and seemingly limitless power of tea culture would have none of it, and take its’ Paddle of Amazement and strike me flabbergasted over Yerba Mate. How could I refuse the drive of adventure, of expanding my tea culture experience? Needless to say, I walked out of that tea shop with a paddle mark on my face, and a bag of Mate in hand.

Hello tea lovers,

In celebration of our store’s launch within the next couple of days we are giving away a tin of our Biodegradable Pyramid Tea Sachets!

How to Enter to win a Free Tin of Tea:

Simply go to our Pinterest Post and repin it onto your own board! You will then be entered into a drawing for a Free Tin! When the picture has received 50 repins a winner will be drawn!

Don’t forget to follow Epi Tea on Pinterest to get updates about future giveaways and promotions, as well as to contribute to choosing out next tea blend!

Epi Tea is in San Francisco today! Yesterday we got a chance to experience the Samovar Tea House off of Howard St. I knew that there were some modern/clean style tea houses out here in San Francisco, but I had no idea the tea they served would be so good! We ordered some Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong, and a house special blend which was a green tea base and some kind of sweet flower. They were both stunningly delicious!

Here is a pictureof the Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong tea. As you can see I was so excited to try it I spilled more tea than I got into the cup! My technique improved however and I got to enjoy this earthy and seasoned oolong tea with a turkey sandwich and salad.

Here is a photo of the tea house itself. The whole front of it was one giant glass window, which gave the whole tea house a lot of natural light of course. The side wall shown in the picture was adorned with tea storage tins. Although I would guess that they do not store their tea in most of these as some are quite far off the ground!

In the end, I was very pleased with the experience! There were quite a lot of what I suppose were business lunch meetings, however there were some casual hang out gatherings there as well. The tea house itself is a little bit hard to find for a tourist. It’s not on the street but at the top of a stairway from the sidewalk to a above street garden/park setting that the city has built. The glass window looks over the park/garden. A very nice setting for a tea house in a major city!

To follow me on our tea culture ventures, follow us on twitter!

Our Twitter page: https://twitter.com/epi_tea

Grand Opening:

Well tea drinkers, its almost that time! While we are putting the final touches on everything here for our launch, I wanted to take some time to reach out and thank all of you who have lent a helping hand in making our passion a reality. To the taste testers, to the samplers, to the press release contributors,  and to our growing community of tea drinkers, I want to thank you all for making Epi Tea possible.

Our online store will be opening within the next couple weeks for the U.S. and Canada. We are working diligently on outfitting our site to accept orders from Europe and Russia, and will be opening our store to those regions this fall.

Our Promise to You:

Epi Tea has made a promise to you, the tea drinker: We will share only great tasting teas. We have made good on this promise even in our pre-launch stage by discontinuing our Blood Orange Rooibos blend based on sampler feedback. More info on the decision here: http://epiteablog.com/quality-control-with-you-in-mind/

Which tea do you want in an Epi Tea Sachet?

Epi Tea is where your passions unite. Our ambitious goal is to form a tea brand which unites the people of the various cultural flavors of this world  through the common love of tea. In order to continue to deliver on that goal, and to continue to share only great tasting  teas, we are going to let you choose the next blend of tea we add to our line!

By letting tea drinkers from around the world connect and choose our next line of tea, you are  shaping a part of what Epi Tea is and will become an integral part in our mission to unite tea drinkers through great tasting tea!

This isn’t a set option poll! We aren’t giving you three options to choose from, we are giving you total freedom to pick which tea you would love to see in a sachet!!

Is there a type of tea that you would love to see in a sachet? Tell us! Comment on our facebook post!

Scroll down below the facebook header to see the post!

Hello tea drinkers!

Epi Tea Inc wishes only to share great tasting tea with communities around the globe. To bring the people of varying cultures and passions together through the sharing of tea. It is that idea which gives us our slogan, «Where Your Passions Unite«.

As many of you may know, in July we ran a Free Sample program via our Facebook Page. The objective of that sampling program was of course to get our name out but also to share our upcoming blends with tea drinkers around the globe. We received international interest in our products, getting orders from all corners of the world. Here at Epi Tea, we value your opinions and suggestions. The sampling program gave you the opportunity to tell us and the world what you think of our new blends.

Quality Control With You In Mind

Epi Tea’s Quality Control Team, with the goal of staying true to our commitment to you of sharing only great tasting teas, has discontinued our line of Blood Orange Rooibos Biodegradable Tea Sachets. The Blood Orange Rooibos Blend will not be included in our online store’s launch later this month. 

It became clear that our Blood Orange Rooibos blend was not up to par with what our tea drinkers expect, and therefore it is not a blend we wish to include in our brand and our identity. We have more samples to ship out, however any samples sent out after this date wil not include the Blood Orange Rooibos blend, as it does not meet our quality expectations.

Thank you all so very much for reviewing our teas and giving us your feedback.

Epi Tea will continue to share new tea blends with the communities around the world, in order to keep true our promise to you: to share only great tasting teas.