Hello to you all and I hope that everything continues to be well!
The holiday season is fast approaching and we have lots of exciting happenings inside and outside the shop. Our holiday teas, samplers, and popular tea mug sets are available in the shop and online shop for shipping nationwide and pre-orders for pick up at the shop. Please see below for our complete list of available holiday teas and the few autumn teas that remain. I've also included our complete list of available macarons below if anyone would like to pre-order for your holidays :)
Don't forget about "attending" the 20th Annual Women's Expo, which is being held this Thursday 12/10! Details are below.
As a reminder, the shop will be open for extended hours and additional days for all of your shopping needs during the holiday season. Please note that the schedule has been changed and the one below replaces the one that was communicated for the past few months. I apologize for the inconvenience. Our current hours and schedule updates can always be found on the shop website www.infuseteabarny.com.
And to show my appreciation for your support of my small business throughout the year, I'll once again be having a holiday raffle. The details for the 9th Annual Holiday Raffle are below!
As you are aware, I have been communicating in the monthly newsletters and the facebook page relevant policies and procedures in the shop since the appearance of COVID-19 back in March. These policies and procedures have been put in place to mitigate potential risk and to be proactive and get ahead of the anticipated increase in wait times at the shop that will occur during the busiest times. For your reference, the latest COVID policies and procedures have also been added to the shop website www.infuseteabarny.com. As the COVID situation continues to be fluid, any additional updates will be communicated in future newsletters, on our facebook page, and put on the shop website. If you missed any of the newsletters or are new to the community, all of my newsletters from January through November have been posted on the online shop website www.pleasuresoftea.com for easy reference . Details regarding the new policies and procedures were communicated in October's newsletter, but not all were posted on the website. If you would like to read all the details, please click here.
As always, there is a need to reduce tea service at this time of year in order to redirect much-needed focus on the retail aspects of the shop. And this year even more so. Beginning this Saturday 12/12 through Thursday 12/24 I will not be able to accommodate any transactions that only include teas to be consumed and/or purchases from our small bites menu. I am planning to still offer the teas hot or iced and most of the items on our small bites menu during this time for holiday shoppers to take to-go, but this may be discontinued if it has too much of a negative impact on the flow of traffic. To-go tea preparation will resume on Saturday 12/26. I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding as I try to continue to navigate during these challenging times.
Lastly, a reminder that pre-orders for pick up at the shop are strongly encouraged to reduce lines and wait time outside. The vast majority of my 500+ loose leaf teas and herbal tisanes are available in the online shop www.pleasuresoftea.com. A few more tea ware items have been added, but they are off-the-shelf and do not require the amount of time that pouching up your teas does. As you know, there is a much larger selection of tea ware and accessories available in the shop for you to browse. I continue to ship nationwide and the online shop will make it easy for you to place your pre-orders for pick up at the shop. Details and tips for placing your pre-orders have been communicated over the past several months, so in the interest of space, I am not going to provide all of the details below. I will, however, provide some of the key points. I thank you for your assistance and cooperation in helping me to ensure that I can continue to serve you in the best way possible.
I appreciate your continued support of my small business and I wish you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season!
-- Kristine
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This Thursday 12/10 is the 20th Annual Women's Expo! Usually held at Middle Country Public Library in October, this year it will be held virtually. This is a great event to find wonderful gifts for the holidays and to support some extremely talented, creative, and hard-working women entrepreneurs from around Long Island. Register to attend at www.womensEXPOli.org. From the registration website you may also purchase tickets for the raffle prizes - I donated this tea gift basket filled with lots of holiday goodies.
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Holiday Schedule
The shop will be open on several additional days and for extended hours during the holiday season for your shopping needs and to hopefully spread out the anticipated increase in traffic during the busy holiday season. Please also note the days the shop will be closed and our annual post-holiday break for some much needed recuperation. This schedule is in place of our usual hours beginning Wednesday 12/16 through Wednesday 1/13. *Please note that this is a revised schedule - the shop will no longer be open the weekend of 1/2 and 1/3 as was originally communicated in October and November. I apologize for any confusion. Be sure to stock up your teas before the break begins promptly at 3:00 PM on 12/31.
Additional Days & Extended Hours
Wednesday 12/16 through Sunday 12/20 11:00 to 6:00
Monday 12/21 through Wednesday 12/23 11:00 to 7:00
Christmas Eve Thursday 12/24 11:00 to 3:00
Saturday 12/26 through Wednesday 12/30 11:00 to 5:00
New Year's Eve Thursday 12/31 11:00 to 3:00
Closures
Christmas Day Friday 12/25
New Year's Day Friday 1/1 through Wednesday 1/13
As a reminder, current hours, along with future schedule changes and policies, can always be found on our shop website www.infuseteabarny.com.
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Pre-Order Reminder for Pick Up at the Shop
As you know, my shop is not an off-the-shelf shop; instead, I offer a customer-focused approach where everything is custom prepared to order and I offer the unique option of having any of our 500 teas prepared fresh for you either hot or iced. The benefit to this approach provides the greatest flexibility to personalize your experience and best meet your needs, but the downside is that everything takes time to prepare and there are no shortcuts. Due to the personalized nature of your shop experience, the need to limit the number of people in the shop and follow COVID-19 guidelines, all transactions take much longer to process and I am not able to assist as many people at a time or in a day as I used to. As a result, new procedures have been implemented in the hopes that they will provide more structure to the operations at the shop, reduce your need to wait in a line outside in the cold, and enable flexibility so that I can keep the traffic moving into and out of the shop, while still being able to maintain the welcoming and educational atmosphere as best as possible.
Even though traffic is not at the levels of the past, order preparation is getting backed up because of the amount of time it takes to prepare everything. Even not reaching the levels of daily holiday traffic that have occurred in prior years, I have estimated that 75% of daily orders at the shop will need to be pre-ordered in order to keep up with traffic. As of now, only 35%-40% of daily orders are being pre-ordered. I am trying to keep the shop open for everyone to be able to browse and offer the flexibility to meet your needs, but I need your assistance in order to be able to achieve this.
Key Pre-Order Points
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Place your order at www.pleasuresoftea.com. Put the date and approximate time of pick up in the Comments section in the Cart. This does not need to be exact; it just helps me with workflow to ensure your order is ready when you arrive. Select the pick up at shop option - not a shipping option if you plan to pick up at the shop. Pick ups are only during shop hours, so please be sure to request a date and time that the shop is open.
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Please DO NOT input your credit card info if you plan to pay in cash or browse and/or add items to your order at the shop. Instead, please select the "Pay when picking up order" payment option so everything can be processed as one order.
- As a reminder, the minimum quantity for each tea in the online shop is the standard 2 oz. pouch (unless it is $15/oz or more). If there are a few teas that you would like to order a 1 oz pouch or if there is a tea or functional herb that you couldn't find in the online shop, then please mention the tea and quantity in the Comments section at checkout. Please DO NOT input your credit card info for these orders; instead select the "Pay when picking up order" payment option.
- Please do not email any orders to me. I get about 300 emails a day and am often behind, even more so at this time of year. Orders placed in the online shop will be in a portal for easy viewing and there will be no possibility of any being missed.
- Orders will be filled in the order of requested pick-up date and then in the order that they are received. I am doing my best to keep up with orders and request that they are placed AT LEAST 24 hours before requested pick up time so that I have enough time to see them. I am rarely alone at the shop and on particularly busy days I don't get a chance to review new orders that have come in. If looking to pick up on the first day that the shop is open, please plan a pick up after noon in order to allow enough time for the order to be prepared.
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Pre-orders are prioritized! If you do not pre-order and the shop is busy, you may need to wait outside while your order is prepared or you may be asked to pick up your order on another day.
- Please place any re-stock orders for personal use by Friday 12/11 (if possible), in order to reduce traffic during the two weeks leading up to Christmas, or stop in the shop after Christmas. These two weeks are peak browsing time and people tend to be in the shop longer as they look for holiday gifts. This will further slow down the flow of traffic in the shop and increase wait time and lines outside. In addition, I am not able to have the level of added help in the shop this year as in the past, which may further slow down the flow. The shop will be open the entire week after Christmas from 12/26 through 12/31 for any necessary re-stocks before the shop is closed for a much needed post-holiday break.
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The remaining policies and procedures and more details about specific pre-order situations that were communicated in October's newsletter have been posted to our shop website for easy reference and can be accessed by clicking here or by accessing the October newsletter that can be found on the online shop.
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9th Annual Holiday Raffle
This has been an extremely challenging year for everyone and small businesses, in particular, have been severely impacted. My business has not been spared, but I am still here because of your support that has kept me afloat. To show my appreciation and thanks for your support during the year, I am having the 9th Annual Holiday Raffle. This year, I am giving away two $40 store gift certificates, which may be used to purchase anything in the shop or in the online shop. In order to be entered, you need to like us on facebook, Infuse Tea Bar by The Pleasures of Tea, and like the raffle post on Monday, December 14th by the deadline at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, December 22nd. If you do not utilize facebook, then please reply to this email and be sure to include your name. The winners will be announced on our facebook page on Thursday, December 24th and in January's newsletter.
Good luck!!
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Holiday Teas & Goodies Are Available!
Holiday Teas are available! Returning favorites include: Christmas Blend Black Tea, Chocolate Peppermint Black Tea, White Chocolate Peppermint White Tea, Rooibos Christmas Cookie (Vanilla & Walnut) Herbal Tisane, Rooibos Orange Gingerbread Herbal Tisane, Holiday Punch Fruit Tisane. Holiday Tea Samplers and our popular Mug Gift Sets are also available. Seasonal White Chocolate Peppermint and Chai Macarons are as well :)
The following fall teas and tisanes remain available, some in limited quantities: Gingered Vanilla Toddy Black Tea, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Black Tea, Pumpkin Pie Black Tea, Roasted Chestnut Black Green & Yerba Mate Blend, Maple Walnut Green Tea, Rooibos Maple Walnut Herbal Tisane, Rooibos Pumpkin Creme Herbal Tisane, Rooibos Pumpkin Spice Herbal Tisane, and our house-blended Mulling Spice Organic Herbal Tisane.
The complete list of macarons that are available in the shop include: Birthday Cake, Caramel Fleur de Sel, Chai, Champagne Brut, Champagne Rose, Dark Chocolate, Chocolate Raspberry, Coconut, Cookies 'n Cream, Creme Brulee, Earl Grey, Honey Lavender, Lemon, Matcha, Nutella, Orange Blossom, Passion Fruit, Peanut Butter Cup, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Pistachio, Pumpkin Cinnamon, Raspberry, Rose Lychee, Strawberry Smoothie, Vanilla, Wedding Almond, White Chocolate, and White Chocolate Peppermint.
Macaron Pricing: $3.50 each, 3 for $10, 6 for $18, 12 for $35
*You may order at the shop or feel free to include in your pick up pre-orders by including your selection in the Comments section in the cart.
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106 Main Street
West Sayville, NY 11796
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500+ Loose Leaf Teas & Herbal Tisanes
Certified - Tea Professional, Tea Sommelier & Tea Health Expert
Student of the Art & Science of Herbalism
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