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Spring Teas in Bloom, Tea & Health, India's Troubled Tea Trade, Hints on Storage and Handling Teas in Your Shop
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Spring Offerings Are in Full Bloom
We're marching right into spring this year with a slew of new selections that bring you the best of the season. Plus it is not too early to start planning your Summer offerings! We have some of our Summer flavors listed, and MORE TO COME!
Check out the SPECIAL OFFER COUPON at the end of this newsletter.
Nothing says spring like floral and fruity flavors. You'll find that we've assembled a delightful array of teas to transport you to your very own garden full of sunny days and sweet sensations.
 | | Blanc de Blueberry Organic White Tea |
One highlight is Blanc de Blueberry White Organic Tea, an organic white tea accentuated with hints of blueberry. The best part? No artificial blueberry flavoring whatsoever! Blueberry lovers will enjoy one of their favorite flavors the way it's intended to be savored: "au naturale."
 | | Cherry Blossom Tea |
No seasonal stash would be complete without a great Cherry Blossom Tea. If you're familiar with the traditional Japanese custom of hanami (which also has a firm following in the United States), you'll want to make sure to have this brew ready for your flower-viewing picnics.
 | | Subtle Strawberry White Tea |
If you're a fan of hot or cold sweet teas, but hate getting a whole mouthful of sugar upfront, make sure to try out our Subtle Strawberry White Tea. It's a fragrant and smooth white tea that won't overpower your palette. Looking for more spring selections? You can check out our entire lineup . |
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Tea & Your Health
When it comes to your favorites brews and how they can affect your health, we love to stay on the beat and keep you informed. This time around, we're looking at two different stories from the web.
 | | Can green tea reduce the risk of breast cancer? |
From Nutra Ingredients comes
a story about a study published
in Nutrition Journal that outlines a connection between drinking tea and reducing your risk for breast cancer. For regular tea drinkers, the level of oestrone metabolites found in urine was significantly lower. What does this number indicate? Read on to find out. To reap the benefits, check out our green teas.
Feel free to file this one under "weird, wild stuff." Digital Journal shares a story about a very particular kind of tea, brewed from the droppings of insects who only eat camelia sinensis, the tea plant. Westerners call it dragon ball tea, and while it doesn't look like it will be hitting stateside markets in a big way any time soon, its potential benefits are definitely intriguing.
Looking for more news relating to tea and your health? Check out The Tea Smith's blog.
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India's Troubled Tea Trade
Reading the tea leaves, it's hard not to paint a somewhat bleak picture for southern India's tea industry. As one of the biggest producers of tea in the world, India's problems could have widespread effects, allowing new nations
to emerge as viable competitors or assuring the predominance of other producers like China and Japan.
Some of the problems at hand include erratic weather patterns, damaged crop land that has yet to be repaired, and competition from fierce rivals like China, which hold a tremendous, firmly held stake in the tea market. In addition, government subsidies for pesticides and fertilizers have also been cut short in a
 | | Can India Strike a Balance Between Fair Wages and Low Production Costs? |
push to promote organic tea farming.
While increased wages at tea
plantations have been a boon for workers, labor costs have increased rapidly. Countries like China are able to produce tea with much cheaper labor, helping to maintain and build upon a robust tea industry. Cuts in workforce and the addition of farming machinery have helped assuage the problem a little, but the cost of labor remains high.
In response to the crisis, India has joined five other tea producing nations (India, Kenya, Indonesia, Malawi, Rwanda and Sri Lanka) in creating a tea cartel aimed at stabilizing the price of tea production. There's no telling if they'll be able to achieve that goal with other countries producing tea more cheaply.
Get the full story >
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Hints on Storage &
Handling Teas in Your Shop
Not too long ago, a new customer sent us a sample of a tea they wanted us to identify and supply. When we opened the bag, the first thing we noticed was that it smelled of hazelnut coffee. They had been packaging their tea in the same area as their flavored coffees were packed.
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Use Airtight Containers, Like This Canister, Airscape 32 Green Tea
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Teas absorb aromas, so keep them in air tight containers and try not to expose them to strong aromas from other products. The containers don't have to be fancy. Many shops store their working supply of tea in small Tupperware containers with tight fitting lids. The balance can be stored in the barrier packs in which we ship your teas, or in canisters with tight fitting lids.
Tea does not need to be refrigerated, but should be kept away from light, air and strong aromas. Light speeds the aging process, so do not store large amounts in glass containers in well-lit or sunny locations. If you would like to display teas, consider a container with a small window, or put a small amount into a spice jar so your customers can open them
to experience the aroma.
You select teas from The Tea Smith in part because of the great flavor and aroma you enjoyed when you first were introduced to them. Proper storage and handling of your teas will extend their shelf life and deliver the same wonderful experience to your customers.
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Thanks for sharing your love of tea. Let us know if there is something you'd like to see in the newsletters for the upcoming months. E mail us [email protected]
Sincerely,
Tim Smith, Chief Leaf
The Tea Smith, L.L.C. |
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| Save 10% |
Just to help get your Spring Season off to a bright start, we are giving a gift of a 10% discount on your next purchase of Seasonal Teas. EnterSPRING2013 at checkout and Hit REDEEM.
Use it to make a little more on the teas you already offer, or to try out a flavor that may just become your next best seller.
| | Offer Expires: March 31, 2013 |
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