Hot Tea Month and New Year’s Resolution Contest!

Happy 2012! As we journey into the New Year, it’s a great time to reflect on goals and aspirations for the coming months. To celebrate Hot Tea Month while renewing (or beginning!) a commitment to a happier, healthier life for many folks, we’re giving away four herbal teas: Chamomile, Peppermint, Ginger, and Rooibos.  To enter, just let us know your New Year’s resolution below. We’ll pick a winner on January 23^rd.

Happy Hot Tea Month! Save 10% on all herbal teas January 3rd-17th!

January is Hot Tea Month and to celebrate, we’re offering 10% off all herbal teas January 3rd-17th, 2012 with promo code HOTTEA. With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season coming to a close, herbal teas are a great way to help you recover from your holiday indulgences and ease into the new year. And a cup of hot tea is an excellent start to your New Year’s resolutions for health and wellness.

Wishing everyone prosperity, health, and happiness in 2012!

Happy Holidays! Take 10% off ALL teas December 1st-15th!

Here at Choice Organic Teas, we wish you and yours a very happy holiday season!

From December 1st-15th, 2011, take 10% off your entire online order with promo code WINTER2011. It’s the perfect time to stock up on your favorite teas for the upcoming winter months or to save on gifts for all of the organic tea lovers in your life. Wishing you peace, joy, and many comforting hot cups of tea this season!

Chai It, You’ll Like It: How to Make Loose Leaf Chai

As we move toward the darker, colder days of winter, it’s the perfect time to rekindle old traditions and begin new ones ̶ especially yummy ones made on the stove!  For those of you that have never made loose leaf chai before, winter is the perfect time to give it a try.

We offer a couple different sizes of loose leaf chai: a 2.1 oz box and a 2 lb bag, also in decaffeinated versions too!

Here’s a couple recipes to get you started:

Traditional Method

Combine in a pan 2/3 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of loose leaf chai. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add 1/3 cup milk (or your favorite non-dairy alternative). Simmer 5 minutes and strain into a serving cup. Add sweetener to taste, then sip and savor. Makes one serving. Increase portions for multiple servings.

Un-traditional Method

In a French press, pour 2/3 cup boiling water over 1 teaspoon of loose leaf chai and steep for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, warm 1/3 cup milk in a saucepan. Press and pour brew into a serving cup. Add warmed milk and desired sweetener. Makes one serving. Increase portions for multiple servings.

Remember:  You can experiment with proportions. Use more chai mix for a stronger, spicier tea. Use more milk for a smoother taste. Try adding a dash of vanilla extract to your cup, or serve it cold. Chai is as individual as the maker!

What is your favorite way to make chai? What sweetner or creamer do you use, if any? Have you tried loose leaf chai before, or do you love the convenience of a tea bag? Let us know below, and one random winner will be chosen to receive a 2.1 oz box of Original Chai and Decaffeinated Chai, plus a box of our Chai Spice! We’ll choose a winner on Wednesday, November 23^rd!

Save 10% on Black Teas November 2nd-16th!

Tea season is now in full swing! To celebrate, we’re offering 10% off of all black teas from November 2nd-16th, 2011. To take advantage of this offer, just enter promo code FALL2011 during check out.

Hope you’re enjoying your fall and staying warm with a nice hot cuppa!

Fair Trade Tea: Promoting a Healthier Environment

Fair Trade aims to lift farmers out of poverty around the globe. But beyond improving living and working conditions, it also plays an important role in elevating and maintaining the health of the environment for Fair Trade farms and estates. Through specific standards required for certification, encouragement for farms to transition to organic methods, Fair Trade premiums applied to programs and innovations that have positive environmental impacts, the Fair Trade program helps develop and sustain healthy ecosystems.

Fair Trade Standards

A portion of the requirements for Fair Trade certification sets environmentally responsible criteria for production conditions. For instance, producers must work to protect the natural environment of their gardens and properly manage water usage and waste. Farms and gardens are prohibited from using harmful agricultural chemicals and genetically modified organisms in production. Additionally, minimizing energy use is also encouraged, especially that of non-renewable sources. The higher prices set by Fair Trade ensure that farmers aren’t struggling to make a living, which can result in deforestation, erosion, and use of pollutants. By setting standards such as these, long-term sustainability becomes a working goal instead of only an ideal.

Fair Trade & Organics

Though Fair Trade certification doesn’t require farms to be organic, it certainly encourages producers to head in that direction. Because harmful chemicals and genetically modified organisms are prohibited, gardens have already taken an important first step in becoming organic. Fair Trade also sets higher prices for organic items, another incentive for farms to convert entirely to organic agriculture. Gardens that are already organic have taken it one step further through the adoption of biodynamic practices, as utilized in the Oothu Singampatti Tea Garden in India and the Greenfield Tea Estate in Sri Lanka.

Community Development Premiums

Fair Trade community development premiums play an important role in reinforcing sustainable and organic farming techniques. The Da Zhang Shan Tea Garden Cooperative in China has implemented training programs funded by Fair Trade premiums to develop knowledge of organic agriculture among workers. The group is dedicated to expanding its membership, improving working conditions and economic efficiency, and spreading knowledge of organic agriculture and environmental sustainability.

In addition to organic efforts, Fair Trade premiums are often used for community improvements that have positive environmental impacts. The Sewpur Tea Estate workers in Assam have used premiums to purchase gas and pressure cookers instead of using firewood, lessoning smoke pollution and respiratory illness. Chamong Tee Exports, which has Fair Trade tea estates in Assam and Darjeeling, has harnessed natural water resources to produce hydroelectric power. Petroleum gas has also been implemented in these estates to limit the need for firewood and deforestation.

Healthy environmental practices not only encourage tea and other commodities to thrive on Fair Trade farms, but also the surrounding ecosystem and the people that live on and work the land. The Fair Trade community development premiums that producers receive allow them to invest soundly in environmental sustainability, knowing that they’ll see a return on their efforts. By maintaining the health of the land’s ecosystem, Fair Trade farmers ensure a richer and brighter future for themselves and their families.

This post originally appeared as a guest blog for Fair Trade Month on the Fair Trade USA blog on 10.27.11.

Happy Non-GMO Month!

Last summer, we became the first tea company to be verified by the Non-GMO Project, an initiative of the organic and natural product industry to create a standardized definition of non-GMO and verify product compliance. As the first exclusively organic tea company in the United States, we felt that having our Original Line of teas Non-GMO verified was an important step in continuing our support of sustainable agriculture and our commitment to producing safe, healthy, and high-quality teas. This October, we’re celebrating the second annual Non-GMO Month, focused on spreading public awareness about GMOs.

If you’re not familiar with them, GMOs or genetically modified organisms are plants and animals created through the gene splicing techniques of biotechnology (also known as genetic engineering). This technology combines DNA from different sources to create combinations of plant, animal, bacterial, and viral genes that would not otherwise occur in nature or traditional crossbreeding.  A common application of this technology in commercial crops is the creation of plant varieties that are tolerant of herbicides or produce their own pesticide within their plant structure. While this can be useful in preventing a particular pest or weed from attacking a GMO crop, many of these crops are meant to be used along with toxic herbicides or pesticides that can have harmful effects on the surrounding environment.

Another concern is the long term safety and health effects of GMO crops on the environment and humans, since this technology is relatively new.  The studies done to approve these crops in the U.S. were conducted by the companies creating and profiting from this technology.  Many countries around the world have either significantly restricted or banned the production and sale of GMOs, but the United States does not even require GMO containing foods to be labeled.

While we’re not experts on genetic engineering, we do believe that consumers have a right to know what is in their food.  Because GMO labeling is not currently required, the Non-GMO Project is the first step toward informing consumers and allowing them to choose whether the foods they eat are products of genetic engineering or not.

How do you feel about GMOs?  Would you like to see GMO foods labeled? For more information, check out the Non-GMO Project website.

Celebrate Fair Trade Month with 10% Off All Fair Trade Teas!

As the first tea company to bring Fair Trade Certified™  teas to the United States, Choice Organic Teas is proud to offer affordable, high quality, organic teas that also support tea growers in developing countries. Every purchase of Fair Trade Certified tea supports a better life for tea farmers and their families with fair wages, safe working conditions, and worker-managed premiums that fund healthcare, education, and other community needs. Through these community development premiums, the Fair Trade program works toward social justice and poverty alleviation, while creating long-term sustainability in the tea industry.

From October 11, 2011 to October 25, 2011, take 10% off of all our Fair Trade teas when you enter promo code CHOICEFT during check out on our website.

Don’t Miss the Northwest Tea Festival Oct. 1 & 2!

We are very excited for the fourth annual Northwest Tea Festival taking place this weekend at Seattle Center! If you’ve never been to the festival before, this is a true celebration of the world of tea. You’ll find vendors of all sorts of teas and tea wares, fun and educational presentations and workshops conducted by experts in the tea trade, and of course, tea tastings!

Admission is free, but a $10 donation gets you a porcelain tasting cup and gift bag, and also gets you into the tea tasting sessions.  The workshops fill up every year, so you may want to make a reservation in advance.  For a complete schedule of presentations and workshops, visit here.  Some folks even come both days of the festival so they can participate in as much as possible!

The Northwest Tea Festival has a new location this year, in the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center.   It takes place Saturday, October 1^st from 10am-6pm and Sunday, October 2^nd from 10am-4pm. We are proud to be a major sponsor of this special event and hope you will join us this year!

Update 10.13.11: We had a wonderful time at this year’s Northwest Tea Festival. If you weren’t able to make it this year, come out the first weekend in October 2012!

Thank you to Nicole Weinstock for these photos.

Come Visit Us at Natural Products Expo East!

If you’re headed to Natural Products Expo East this week, stop by and say hello to us at booth #2209!

On Saturday, September 24th, the Responsible Packaging Forum and Awards will be held in room #322 from 10:00am-12:30pm. If you’ll be around, come see us receive our award at 12:00pm for our compostable, staple-less tea bags and tags, with 100% recycled paperboard with 65% post-consumer content cardboard box. Hope to see you there!