Family Stuff Archives - Anna Tea Shop

Tea for Healing the Body

Tea for Healing

Recently we’ve been thinking a lot about the different reasons we love tea so much. Tea can do so many things for us but one of the most poignant is healing effect it can have on our bodies.

Brenda with her sisters!

Currently, Brenda’s brother-in-law is being treated for cancer. Guess what some of the doctor’s orders were…drink four cups of tea a day! We weren’t surprised to say the least. But for someone who doesn’t drink tea regularly this seemed like a monumental undertaking.

However, with Brenda’s help, he learned how to Brew the Perfect Cup of Tea. She also put together a gift set for him, part of which was some of our Ceremonial Matcha. The matcha is really the star of the show when it comes to healing the body and encouraging healthy cell generation! It contains many potent antioxidants, one of which is EGCg which may aid in the prevention of cancer. Furthermore, matcha also contains compounds called Catechins which researchers believe may not only slow or stop the progression of cancer cells, but possibly even kill them!

After learning the ins and outs of tea from the master herself he was ready to begin his tea journey! But she’s not done with him yet! Next on her list for him are our Green Tea Bundle and our Relaxing Herbals Tea Sampler. The teas in both of these sets are sure to calm the stress and help the healing of the body!

Another longtime Tea Shop friend drank tea for healing during her cancer treatment too!

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen tea help someone heal during their cancer treatment. One of our dear friends Joyce King Vazquez has told us her story of how tea helped her overcome Stage 4 Throat Cancer! Read her inspiring story here! Some of her favorites include Mountain Mao Feng Green (a Chinese green tea) and Golden Pu-Erh (a premium black Chinese tea that is semi-fermented).

As Brenda says:

“I began my tea journey because of health issues. It has led to better health and lots of pleasure for me.”

By Megan W|2017-05-02T21:40:47-05:00April 27th, 2017|Brewing Tea 101, Drinking Tea, Family Stuff, From Brenda, Megan's Tea Muse, Tea Gifts|2 Comments

Painting with Tea

April gets me into a crafty mood. My mother, sister and I each have our favorite crafts. Mom loves to cross-stitch and scrapbook, Lexi loves to bake, and I love to decorate and organize! I also have a little brother named Chase who is in kindergarten.

Celebrating Easter is a big deal for us and one of our traditions is dyeing Easter Eggs the Saturday before Easter. At 5 years old, it’s awfully special to watch Chase experience arts and crafts for the first time.

Each Tuesday I post Avery’s Tea Tips on Anna Marie’s FB and Instagram . All sorts of unique and some crazy new ways to use tea!

Not just for eating or drinking. Staining fabrics with tea is one you have probably heard about. Tea naturally stains fabric that creates a rustic look. But painting with tea is a little more fluid with a lot of fun options. All you need is hot water, your desired tea bags, mugs, paper, and a pen or pencil. With different results each time you paint, it is always a surprise to see the finished product. It is easy to do and easy to clean up, plus who wouldn’t love the relaxing, wonderful aromas as you create?! Such a fun craft for all ages.

First steep your tea bags leaving them in the water. On your paper you can draw an outline of a picture. Take the tea bag and drop the brewed tea onto the paper or drag it across the paper. Once you are done all you have to do is throw away the tea bags and dump the tea (or better yet, drink it!) and that’s it! Super easy and super fun! It is also a great sensory activity for little ones.

The strawberry shown below is colored with Strawberry Kiwi Herbal and Strawberry Cream Green. The tea bag is colored with Peach Black and the lavender bunch is colored with Lavender Grey Black tea. Of course I chose to paint with several favorite Iced Tea Blends. The healthy hibiscus included in these blends make bright red, orange, and other great colors.

Don’t forget to order your Gentle Hints of Summer Tea Party Tickets. A great time to try several blends with hibiscus and other iced tea favorites.

The basis for this activity was found on http://teaching2and3yearolds.com/preschool-art-with-tea-bag

By Avery C.|2017-04-07T18:01:21-05:00April 7th, 2017|Family Stuff, Tea Tips|Comments Off

Grandma Diane’s Southern Sweet Iced Tea

Growing up I loved any chance I got to go over to my grandma’s house to spend the night. Grandma Diane was always having a good time and made sure I did too! With spring upon us and summer right around the corner I realize there is a lot about iced tea season that makes me think of my southern-born feisty & lovable grandma!

In fact, when I was really young, I never thought I got in trouble at her house and I never once saw her get mad… that’s because I was too young to understand that my grandma was a true southerner (she grew up in Alabama) and with that came the southern sayings. Instead of getting mad at me she would sit back, smile, and say in her best southern accent, “Oh, Avery! Bless your heart.”

That being said, I grew up influenced by every aspect of the south like good southern hospitality (good manners were always expected), good southern food (my grandma hands down makes the best fried chicken), and of course SWEET ICED TEA! At my grandma’s house there’s a pitcher of sweet tea out at all times just waiting to be poured into a glass. Most little kids drink water, milk, or juice out of their sippy cups but as for me and my siblings, we walked around with sweet tea in ours! As my sister and I got a little older, we would have a tea party with my grandma every time we came over. It would generally consist of cookies we would make and, you guessed it, sweet tea! Now that I am getting older I have ventured out and really began to like all kinds of tea, hot and iced! Working at the Tea Shop has certainly helped me be able to try all different kinds and flavors. Lately I have been enjoying Jasmine Monkey King green tea as well as making iced tea out of our Lavender Grey black tea.

Gentle Hints of Summer Tea Party – April 22 at 10:30am or 2:30pm

Adding fruit to your iced tea is a great way to sweeten up your tea without adding sugar. Any fruit will work but my favorites are fresh peaches, blueberries, oranges and of course raspberries! Using Frozen Tea Cubes made with fruity or scented teas also adds lots of yummy flavor without the sugar.

So, getting back onto memory lane and my southern Grandma Diane. It didn’t take me long to realize that “Oh, Avery! Bless your heart!” was not always a good thing and usually had an edge to it. My vocabulary quickly grew to include “it’s blowin’ up a storm!”, “pretty as a peach”, “madder than a wet hen”, and “hold your horses!” among countless others.

Mark your calendar to pop into the Tea Shop, this Saturday, April 1 for our FREE Fruit-a-Licious Iced Tea Tasting or gather up friends, take a walk down your own summertime memory lane and find a new favorite iced tea at our Gentle Hints of Summer Tea Party on April 22!

By Avery C.|2017-03-27T12:33:34-05:00March 21st, 2017|Drinking Tea, Events, Family Stuff|Comments Off

Finally “on the square” – Woohoo!

Thank you D’Agee Co & Florist for the beautiful welcome bouquet in our Gold Teapot!

Finally…on the Liberty Square! Last Saturday, was the Grand Opening for our little Tea Shop now located right on the square.

7 W. Franklin. What a fun filled day of new and old tea friends.

Needless to say, after 22 years of shop keeping “just off the Square” it is quite exhilarating to Brenda as she now can say her shop is “on the Square”! And it is also quite pampering to be able to “sneak up stairs” and have Alex and his Hammerhand Crew brew us up a cup of one of our own teas. Out of the Anna Marie’s tea selections that Hammerhand carries Brenda says to be sure to try her favorite…Organic Genmaicha.

We hope you stop in soon to check out our new little Tea Shop then pop upstairs for a little tea-pampering at Hammerhand Coffee. Be sure to check out more of our Grand Opening Photos on our Facebook Page.

Love, love, love our welcome bouquet from our Tea Suspects!!

Amazing Tea Shop Hours

Tuesday 10-5
Wednesday 10-5
Thursday 10-4
Friday 10-6
Saturday 10-5
Open till 9pm each 4th Friday! 🙂

By Selena S.|2017-03-08T12:18:09-06:00March 7th, 2017|Events, Family Stuff|Comments Off

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

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

Midwest Tea Fest – Kansas City’s affinity for tea

People love their affinities. Call us hobbyists, collectors, or connoisseurs. Affinities encompass – the accouterments, pursuit of, hidden treasures, and sharing & expanding of knowledge. We enjoy our affinities and the satisfaction that comes with a shared experience with others who have the same affinity as our own. That satisfying place where we can say “Yes, these are my people!”

Tea Drinkers…come and find your people on Saturday, May 7. The 2nd Annual Midwest Tea Fest. Kansas City’s very own shared affinity for all things ‘Tea-ing‘ in the Midwest. How we drink our tea, why we drink tea, the accouterments, tea sippings, and simply connecting with others who share your affinity for tea.

All types of tea, all types of tea drinking life styles, all types of people. The tea community – gathered together in one place sharing the experience of “tea-ing” in Kansas City.

The Teashop Family is excited to be a part of this amazing event in Kansas City! We will be in our Anna Tea Shop booth sampling 20 of our favorite teas through out the day. Look for Brenda over at the Cafe Tea Tastings and Two special Tea Presentations. We look forward meeting new faces and embracing old tea friends. A place where we say “Yes. These are my people”.

Anna Tea Shop’s Presentations:

Flavoring Your Tea Naturally at 1:00PM and Lifestyles of “Tea-ing” in America at 3:00PM.

By Selena S.|2016-04-28T13:21:05-05:00April 28th, 2016|Drinking Tea, Events, Family Stuff|Comments Off

Tea we love to serve at Easter Brunch

4 boys who fell in love with Peach Apricot Honeybush. Haden, Carter (hiding behind plate), Vinny, and Weston making their way through the smorgasbord line.

How are you enjoying these early spring days? Sometimes March can feel so…grey. With Easter falling early this year it is nice to know spring and summer are close!

How do you spend Easter? Here at the Teashop we love to celebrate Easter. It’s really important to us. The Saturday before Easter as tea customers pop in they are quickly purchasing tea to serve at their own holiday meal. The joyful atmosphere is wonderful!

Our own family gathers with an eclectic group of our loved ones – family, friends, extended friends of family….and we do a super casual Swedish style smorgasbord.

Everyone brings their own favorite dishes and we make it a meal to remember. Of course iced and hot tea is always served. And this is when we discovered one of our teas that EVERYONE loves… all ages – iced or hot. Peach Apricot Honeybush.

Peach Apricot Honeybush is a naturally caffeine free honeybush, filled with all kinds of fruit – peach, apricot, pineapple, papaya and rose petals. We knew we had a winner when the adults AND kids kept coming back for more. Rooibos is so easy to brew – very forgiving if you happen to not be a good tea timer or have the perfect water. The leaves are tiny so a disposable T-Sac is a great way to keep your leaves from escaping. Brew it the night before Easter and chill it in the refrigerator. Or cold brew your iced tea anytime. Serve from a pitcher .

By Selena S.|2016-03-09T16:12:07-06:00March 9th, 2016|Drinking Tea, Family Stuff|Comments Off

Holiday Pick Me Up

Well…here we are – nearing that last week before Christmas. The holiday entertaining and events have been in full swing now. Maybe you still have a few Christmas gifts left to find, purchase, and deliver. Probably a holiday gathering to cook for or prepare a dish for. Hmmm…or maybe you have two or three of those to complete. And oh man…we want to fit in that cool Christmas light show before its too late! Christmas programs at church and school. Add on top of all that what about those few minor Christmas decorations that you know you don’t have to do but you really wanted to do??

How are you doing? Even more..how do you feel? How is the holiday preparations working for you? Probably more than a few of us are getting a bit draggy at this point of the month. A little more run down and maybe even a little annoyed we can’t seem to sit down without our minds racing with our “To-Do” list! I can’t fib. I know I do. Some days in this frolicking month of December it seems as though I wake up in the morning with the afternoon cobwebs already being woven! You know that feeling in the late afternoon when you need an extra pick me up to clear the mind and wake up?

Well here at the Teashop this is when the three of us tea ladies kind of get “back to the basics”. Those basics of tea that aren’t all that fancy sounding on the outside but we know will not only make us feel good but will make us feel fantastic, alert and ready for the next round of fun. Each one of us has our favorite basics but they all have a few things in common. The teas are basic, premium, and give us a small amount of caffeine!

So if you are feeling a big draggy and your holiday oomph is sagging consider a cup or two of good premium tea. Doing this just for yourself will help you slow you down for just a moment. Brewing premium leaves takes only a few minutes – yet is a ‘slow’ food not a fast food. In a matter of minutes a hot cup of tea can take you from Saggy Draggy to Alert and Awake! Plus, if you reach for a green tea you receive the added benefit of more L-theanine. An amino acid that literally peacefully calms you down just as the tea wakes you up with a nice little dose of caffeine. No jitters here.

So, give your self a little R & R in a cup. Reach for a cup of healthy premium tea and start enjoying the season again!

By Selena S.|2015-12-12T18:53:39-06:00December 7th, 2015|Drinking Tea, Family Stuff|Comments Off