The Fun, Feel and Taste of Fall – Teashop Events

Comfort and cozy. Sweet & spicy.

Fall flavors just play well with others…

These are the words that come to mind as I brew our newest fall tea blends. We are so excited to have our classic favorites back again! Vanilla Pumpkin, Autumn Blooms, Winter Apple Herbal, Spiced Coco-Mint Herbal. Just to name a few!

If you haven’t had a chance to stop by the shop and try out new teas we have two Free Saturday Events coming up. TEA Sampling and SCONES. Yum…Tea, Scones, and the season of Fall make even your simplest moments special. We hope you will join us for one or even both of these fun events – lets have our own little Fall Tea Festival Celebration!

October 29, 2016, no charge, 10:30-3:30pm. Nothing too fussy – just stop by the Teashop and say hi to Megan! She will be sampling Cinnamon Scones, Matcha Scones and Chai Scones. Megan will be serving Pumpkin Spice Lattes made from our classic Pumpkin Spice Tea. 10% OFF Fall Teas and Brenda’s Signature Scone Mix. 25% OFF Gluten Free Scone Mix. Follow us on Instagram and meet Megan. Megan knows tea and can tell you lots about tea including how awesome it is for your body! Megan is a grad student at KCU and is working on her masters in biomedical sciences. WOW.

November 19, 2016, Scone Making and Tea Brewing 101, no charge, 10:30-3:30pm. Brenda will be holding Scone Baking Demos with her favorite additions and mix-ins! Of course Fresh Baked Scones will be available for your sampling pleasure. Along side Brenda we will be holding Tea Brewing Demos all day long, too. Master your own tea brewing basics and be amazed at how delicious and amazing those loose leaf teas really are – even when you brew them yourself. 10% OFF Fall Teas and Brenda’s Signature Scone Mix. 25% OFF Gluten Free Scone Mix.

By Selena S.|2016-10-17T16:50:55-05:00October 4th, 2016|Brewing Tea 101, Events, Scones and more|5 Comments

Matcha Tea – nature’s work out and recovery drink

Drinking tea and October go together like best friends…Autumn tea blends are the fun, the feel, and the taste of Fall. But not all teas are consumed for the same reasons, right? Fall is also the best time to learn something new! Searching out the best work out and recovery drink is now trending and so is matcha.

Purists of all kinds – work out, health and tea are on the same hunt for all natural, organic and premium. Nature providing to nature what our bodies need.

Here at Anna Marie’s Teas we see how these connect. In our own research we stumbled across a fantastic article outlining the The 8 Wonders of Matcha Green Tea. The article was written by a contributing writer at bodybuilding.com. The article is spot on with the super facts about matcha but not written by a tea person or a tea company. The author is 100% about health, working out and what matcha provides for the body. Jam packed with every reason your health and work out needs matcha. Here are the highlights:

Cancer Preventer
Anti-ager
Lowers “LDL” bad cholesterol
Weight Loss
Detoxifier
Mind Improver
Fiber
ENERGY

Knowing and understanding matcha is a big deal. Our matcha is natural, organic, and premium. Anna Marie’s Teas next Matcha Workshop is scheduled for October 15. Blending demonstrations, sampling matcha and recipes. Plenty of time for Q&A. Sign up for the Matcha Tea Workshop and receive 10% off all matcha tea and our new Blender Bottle!

Matcha tea is a whole food context. Ingesting the whole tea leaf is what makes this a super food and the highest level of antioxidants to eat or drink. Regularly using matcha will reduce inflammation. Matcha tea provides a natural energy boost as well as a completely natural work out recovery drink.

Along with caffeine, matcha also contains L-theanine which counterbalances the “jittery” effects some experience with consuming caffeine. Matcha green tea promotes calm focus and clarity of mind without producing nervous energy.

Before soccer practice – Haden’s matcha applesauce

By Selena S.|2016-10-04T15:48:20-05:00October 4th, 2016|Drinking Tea, Matcha Recipes|Comments Off

7 more reasons to love Autumn

TEA. Fall Blooms. Jeweled Leaves. Crisp Air. Pumpkins. Apples. COZY laughter.

Hello Autumn. Happy to Have You!

We simply love to drink good tasting premium tea and love sharing it with others. Autumn centers and reminds us to be thankful – and we are very thankful for tea and others who enjoy the simplistic, healthy life of tea.

Tea Tasting Days are fun over here at the Teashop. Yes, we do get excited to BLEND, BREW, and CHOOSE new Tea Blends! Last week all of us found 7 more reasons we fell in love with Autumn all over again! For our fall line up we have 4 NEW teas (organics and private blends), 1 Fall Favorite (welcome back big pumpkin!) and 2 special events. Why to love fall? The list is endless but here are 7 great reasons just in case you need help jumping on the fall pumpkin wagon…

Autumn Blooms Private Blend – This tea is a cozy cup of blessing! It’s simply all comfort in a cuppa. Rich and tasteful with a touch of sweet ginger, cinnamon and caramel. A black and rooibos blend.
Vanilla Pumpkin Private Blend – dreamy creamy vanilla meets Chinese Hunan black tea blended with a strong pumpkin spice. Creates a good balance.
Spiced Coco-Mint Organic Herbal– this is our new cozy-up-on-the-couch favorite! An organic herbal blend of cinnamon, cocoa, and peppermint. Not just an evening tea but the tea to create your own “cozy” where ever and whenever!
Chamomile Mango Organic Herbal – A unique tea centered on relaxation and holding close those fabulous warm days of summer vacation! Subtly and slightly sweetened with organic stevia. Mangoes and flowers – just a bit of tropical heaven in an herbal brew.
Pumpkin Spice – welcome home our Favorite Fall Friend! The perfect pumpkin tea that is strong enough to handle becoming the best pumpkin around. Brew strong for your own latte. Chai lovers love this one. Having a Halloween Party? Yes, this is the ONE TEA that makes the sinfully delish and super easy Pumpkin Spice Latte.
10% Coupon off online orders through the month of October! Coupon code 10offnow.
October Tea Sampling Saturdays – Stop by the teashop any Saturday for a cup of one of our new autumn teas.

By Selena S.|2016-09-29T11:42:41-05:00September 19th, 2016|Drinking Tea|Comments Off

How I became a lavender farmer

Welcome to Lavender Week at Anna Marie’s Teas! We like to call this our own little festival of herbal R-E-L-A-X-A-T-I-O-N. Tis the season when our clay pots are spilling over with rosemary, basil, thyme and LAVENDER. This Saturday, Sept 10, Purple Shades of Autumn Tea Party will once again be our utmost relaxing tea party. Diffused essential lavender oil, teacups filled with lavender tea, vintage recipes with lavender will be enjoyed along with our friend Karla’s Lavender Jelly! Karla is a suburban lavender farmer and has been cultivating a bountiful lavender garden for years.

How I became a lavender farmer

“Growing up on a farm in Iowa, we always grew a large garden and a variety of fruit trees and berries. One of my ‘chores’ was picking strawberries and raspberries. I was in 4-H, so every year I would exhibit some type of canned item to our Mills County fair. Then one of my jars of cherry jam won a blue ribbon at the Iowa State Fair! It was at the Iowa State Fair where I was introduced to the herb Lavender. An English lady who had a booth in one of the agricultural buildings (the same one where the butter cow was exhibited) would hand out samples of dried English lavender. This lavender sample was one of my favorite things about the fair and I tried to save it as long as I possibly could!

Lavender has always been a part of my garden. A valued herb that can be tricky to get established in a perennial garden. Start by choosing a lavender variety that will grow in our zone of the country. Through the years, I have learned lavender roots don’t like to be wet especially during the winter season.

Karla’s elevated lavender garden

My lavender clumps grow in an elevated flower bed on the south side of my house bordered with rocks. The rock border provides plenty of drainage. I have enjoyed drying lavender and making lavender jelly! My jelly is made with organically grown lavender, pure cane sugar, filtered water and pectin.

The more open the flowers the prettier the jelly. Lavender has calming effects, so it is not surprising it goes well with tea. I have also tried stirring a teaspoonful of my lavender jelly in a cup of hot black tea.

Lavender jelly is so good spooned over the top of one of Brenda’s scones! I also love tea blended with lavender, like Anna Marie’s Lavender Lemon Herbal (my favorite iced) or Provence Rooibos (delicious iced or hot with a little honey). I hope everyone takes a few minutes to relax and enjoy lavender!” ~Karla King

By Selena S.|2016-09-02T14:38:43-05:00September 2nd, 2016|Tea Parties|2 Comments

Tea Tins that Spark Joy

Brenda’s “joy spark” table arrangement from the Tea in Paris August 27.

Over here at the Teashop we are buzzing like bees this week. Our To-Do List contains beautiful things that spark joy in our family. Preparing our beautiful 1928 Dutch Colonial bungalow to sell is Brenda’s job. Uploading the brand new 2016 Byers’ Choice Carolers onto the website is Selena’s job. ALL OF US are super excited to be in the final stages of the first round of our new tea tins.

A beautiful tea tin sparks joy to the Tea Enthusiast. Like opening a present every day, scooping tea from a favorite tea tin is like opening a special gift every time you brew a cuppa. But after the tea leaves are gone what to do with the beautiful tin….

Re-purposing every day items in new ways is more then just a trendy lifestyle.

Re-purposing is loving what you love, knowing what you love, and using what you love. Your tea tin collection is no exception.

Tea tins make gorgeous vases, cupboard and drawer organizers, and a unique way to gift wrap. Use your tea tin to house flowers and herbs from your garden. Grace your dinner table with a bouquet of herbs. Use your tea tin to wrap up a small gift, money, or a boring old gift cards. Tuck your present and a note inside.

Keep and use those beautiful tins simply because of the joy that sparks inside of you!

The possibilities are endless when it comes to re-using tea tins. Discover more ideas on how to re-purpose things that “spark joy” in your life by reading Spark Joy by Marie Kondo. (Selena’s current favorite read!) Based on personal experience this book is even more brilliant while drinking a cup of Anna Marie’s Teas! To view other gorgeous Tea Tin Vases visit The Ribbon in My Journal by Phyllis Hoffman.

By Selena S.|2016-08-29T16:06:20-05:00August 29th, 2016|Family Stuff, Tea Gifts|Comments Off

the little gold teapot

Hello Tea Friends!

Happy Back to School day! A day that has looked different for our family business over the past 22 years. The opportunity to enjoy a new beginning with rejuvenated energy. And with our retail brains we aren’t afraid to pretend it is officially fall. Permission to start looking ahead and dreaming of cinnamon, pumpkins, and cooler weather.

In addition to fall, we are super-duper looking forward to our new tea cans AND the new teashop location! Although we can’t make the official announcement where the new location is just yet….it appears as though we might be a little closer to our original location when Anna Marie’s first opened in 1994!!

Through the years, our happy little gold teapot seemed to follow us where ever we went. Al hand-sketched the original gold teapot over 14 years ago one Saturday night after a big tea party. We love the crooked lid and funny handle. Today, the updated happy gold teapot rests over hand-sketched drawings of a tea plant and beautiful herbals such as rooibos. Sketched by a young graphic designer – who also happens to be a new mom. 🙂 We can’t wait to show off our new tea cans!

Stay tuned as we get closer to unveiling our new packaging and finalizing the new location. Until then enjoy your own ‘back-to-school’ moment and toast a cup of tea to health and family!

By Selena S.|2016-08-17T14:46:11-05:00August 17th, 2016|Drinking Tea, Family Stuff|Comments Off

August brings a harvest of Tisanes

August. Last month of summer…do you ever get that feeling inside like a restlessness? A little feeling that says…”Hey there… it’s time to try something new!”

Maybe it’s that old back-to-school feeling even when you are way past the back-to-school years. Well in our little tea world we get that same feeling.

In this last month of summer what feels fresh and AND REFRESHING?

We often reach for something simple like sweet dried apples and tart hibiscus blossoms brewed together and chilled in a tall glass. Or an herb like mint – only this time the mint is poured over freezing ice…

Strawberry Kiwi Herbal Chilled it is a crisp tart brew. Simply Peppermint Herbal is a big family favorite. Yes, enjoyed year round but wow…! Chilled in the summer this light colored brew is absolutely the best digestive tea after any meal. In this heat sometimes any meal feels heavy. FYI – No sweetener needed. 🙂

Yes. August is the perfect month to discover your favorite chilled tisane (pronounced tee-zahn). Tisane, French for herbal infusion, is typically caffeine free. Herbal infusions are blended with a wide variety of flowers, berries, roots, seeds, peels and leaves. Tisanes will not include leaves from the Camilla sinsensis plant or tea plant. Popular herbal infusions often include healthy herbs and flowers such as chamomile, ginseng, rose petals, hibiscus, peppermint, Valerian, lavender and jasmine.

We look forward to serving Provence Rooibos at our Tea in Paris tea this month. A yummy herbal rooibos infusion which proudly boasts blueberries, red and black currants, rosehips, rose petals and delightful note of culinary lavender! Tickets are still available for the 2:30pm Tea in Paris August Tea Party!

Embrace August for what she offers most…A refreshing infusion of both bountiful herb harvests, fresh beginnings, and refreshingly new flavor favorites! Enjoy tisanes in your tall chilled glasses and short tea mugs. Healthy, good and quenched.

By Selena S.|2016-07-30T15:12:12-05:00July 30th, 2016|Drinking Tea|Comments Off

Tea-Spice Blend Recipe

Cooking with Tea. A superior way to add flavor without adding extra sodium or other unwanted ingredients. Here is a multipurpose spice blend recipe from The Daily Tea. Delicious on many different things but especially meats such as chicken and pork. Mix up and start experimenting with your favorite flavors!

Tea-Spice Blend

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground anise seed
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground mustard seed
2 tablespoons finely ground Lapsang Souchong tea

Mix all ingredients well; store in a sealed jar or tin. For a sweet and savory blend add 2 teaspoons of brown sugar.

By Selena S.|2016-07-12T13:20:05-05:00July 12th, 2016|Living Well Recipes, Recipe Box|Comments Off

Getting ready for Fairies in the Garden

Every July we have two days of super fun with little ones and fun fairies of all ages! It’s sort of like planning and running a grand birthday party for all our guests. The Fairy Tea Party is traditionally similar each year – 3 Fairy Crafts, A Fairy Tea Party with books, A Fairy Walk and few more fun fairy ideas. One year we even celebrated someone’s 101st Birthday at our Fairy Party!

Order Tickets: 2016 Fairies in the Garden Tea Party

Some years the girls enjoyed dancing in a Fairy Ring – other years have brought different silly fun ways to enjoy the imaginations of little ones (and even us older ones get a chance to have silly-fairy-fun, too!

Tinley and Cooper’s Fairy Houses

The inspiration to host an annual Fairies Tea Party was born from several different ideas. But, one idea came a darling book we read one summer called Fairy Houses by Tracy Kane. A story about a little girl who spends the summer building a cozy fairy house in a nook of a tree. The fairy house she built kept her imagination creating all summer long little things she could add to her fairy house. Wren, Molly, and Haden had one summer building Fairy houses at a fishing cabin in Arkansas – and this year I was so excited to have my great niece and nephew – Tinley and Cooper join Wren and I in building their own fairy houses in the nook of that same old Arkansas tree.

2016 Fairies in the Garden Tea Party held on July 8 and 9 at 9:30 am. Tickets are still available for both days – but order quickly!

By Selena S.|2016-06-29T14:46:05-05:00June 29th, 2016|Events, Family Stuff|Comments Off

Flower Power Tea

Jasmine, Rose, Hibiscus. Blooming flowers of summertime. Beauty in the garden and tasty flavors in our cuppas! Next week, July 8-9 we look forward to our Fairies in the Garden Tea Party. A party that shifts focus from just tea…to flowers & tea. Truly a joy to watch the innocent imaginations bloom as we take our Fairy Walk in Brenda’s Gardens! Also, a good mid-way point of our year providing opportunity for mothers, grandmothers, and little ones a time to stop and ‘smell the roses.’

Lavender. Cornflowers. Sunflowers. Calendula (Marigolds). It is amazing how many of our premium loose leaf teas are carefully blended with flower buds and petals. Blended in to add flavor and eye appeal. The flower petals or buds are brewing right beside the tea leaves – opening up flavors and fragrance. Blooming flowers which soothes so many of our souls both inside and out. Chamomile. Safflowers. Outdoors in the gardens and inside our cups of tea.

Flowering Herbs are also an important part of special premium loose leaf blends. We offer several herbs that make great add-ins to flavor or enhance another tea such as Simply Peppermint and our newest – Stevia Leaves. Loose leaves are brewed just like a tea. The sweet liquid can be used as a healthy sweetener added to hot or iced teas. Here’s a great list of other herbs and flowers on GardenKnowHow.com. The article includes brewing directions and even health benefits. More Flower Power to you!

The Earth laughs in Flowers. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

By Selena S.|2016-06-29T13:59:12-05:00June 29th, 2016|Drinking Tea, Events|Comments Off

About Selena S.

Comfort and cozy. Sweet & spicy.

Fall flavors just play well with others…

TEA. Fall Blooms. Jeweled Leaves. Crisp Air. Pumpkins. Apples. COZY laughter.

Hello Autumn. Happy to Have You!

How I became a lavender farmer

The more open the flowers the prettier the jelly. Lavender has calming effects, so it is not surprising it goes well with tea. I have also tried stirring a teaspoonful of my lavender jelly in a cup of hot black tea.

Re-purposing is loving what you love, knowing what you love, and using what you love. Your tea tin collection is no exception.

Keep and use those beautiful tins simply because of the joy that sparks inside of you!

Stay tuned as we get closer to unveiling our new packaging and finalizing the new location. Until then enjoy your own ‘back-to-school’ moment and toast a cup of tea to health and family!

Tea-Spice Blend

2016 Fairies in the Garden Tea Party held on July 8 and 9 at 9:30 am. Tickets are still available for both days – but order quickly!

The Earth laughs in Flowers. -Ralph Waldo Emerson