I hope that everything continues to be well!
Last month I mentioned that we were able to find a new source for the teas from the PT Harendong Green Farm on the Indonesian Island of Java. I didn't have enough room in last month's newsletter to acquaint you with these lovely teas, so I decided to discuss them this month. I am excited to announce that I added another new tea from Indonesia - this one is a wulong from the island of Sumatra. You'll find information about all of our Indonesian teas below and I hope that you will explore them.
The implemented policies and procedures remain in effect to ensure the best possible experience in the shop as we continue through the remaining winter months and some of the key points are outlined below. For easy reference, all the details can be found on the shop website www.infuseteabarny.com. As a reminder, pre-ordering your loose leaf tea order in our online shop www.pleasuresoftea.com is strongly encouraged in order to reduce wait time and the need to potentially wait outside while your order is prepared. Your order is not finalized until you pick up, so there is no need to input your credit card info. This allows flexibility to browse the shop, add more teas, a cup of tea, or some of our goodies to your order.
I appreciate your continued support of my small business and I wish you much health and great tasting cups of tea!
-- Kristine
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Indonesian Teas
Many people have had teas from Indonesia without even realizing where the tea was from. In fact, Indonesia is the seventh largest tea-producing country, with the majority being grown and produced on the islands of Java and Sumatra. Indonesia is an island nation in southeast Asia that is located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Camellia sinensis was brought to the islands by Dutch traders in 1648 as a decorative plant, but its cultivation for consumption didn’t begin until the 1830’s. The island is planted predominantly with the robust Camellia sinensis assamica, but some of the higher elevation gardens have also planted Camellia sinensis sinensis. Indonesia benefits from a hot and humid, tropical climate that allows year-round harvesting from its rich volcanic soils. The higher elevation mountainous regions enjoy a subtropical climate that is ideal for growing quality tea.
Java is one of Indonesia’s largest islands and is located in the southern part of the country. The majority of the tea is grown in the mountainous highlands in the western part of the island, which can reach elevations exceeding 5,000 feet. Java produces teas that are milder and more aromatic than those from Sumatra. Sumatra is Indonesia’s second largest island and is located northwest of the island of Java. Tea is predominantly grown in the highlands of the western and northern part of the island. Generally, Sumatra produces teas that are stronger than those from Java.
Most of the tea is commercially produced CTC and broken leaf black tea that is mainly used in blends for export to the Russian and Middle Eastern markets. A few decades ago, some gardens began to produce good quality artisanal black, green, and wulong teas. These latter teas are the ones that I am most interested in and I am delighted to offer to you a selection of unique teas from these islands. In order to reduce space, only a brief description is provided and you may click the link to our online shop to view additional details about each tea.
Santosa Estate BOP Black Tea: produced from Camellia sinensis assamica leaves in West Java Province of Java at elevations between 1,500 and 3,500 feet. The broken leaf grade yields a smooth, medium- to full-bodied infusion that is low in tannin with a Ceylon-like flavor and malty, fruity, and subtle floral notes.
PT Harendong Green Farm: an organic tea garden that is located near Mount Halimun Salak National Park in the westernmost Banten Province of Java. Tea plants thrive in the rich volcanic soil of this pristine mountainous region at an elevation approximately 2,700 feet. The entire garden has been planted with a cultivar of Camellia sinensis sinensis that is used to produce Taiwanese wulong teas. We offer five of their teas - one black, two greens, one lightly oxidized wulong, and one mid-oxidized wulong.
Sumatra Hand-Rolled Black Tea: amazingly complex black tea from Sumatra. Leaves of a Camellia sinensis sinensis cultivar that is typically used for the production of Taiwanese wulongs is grown at an elevation of 3600 feet, yielding a medium–bodied, bright, flavorful and smooth infusion with sweet notes of molasses and fruit and deep, rich notes of cacao.
Tie Guan Yin Dark Roast Sumatra Wulong Tea: this new addition to our menu is from Bengkulu Province in the southwestern part of Sumatra. This cultivar that is typically used to produce wulong teas in the Fujian Province of China it thrives in a mountainous region at an elevation around 3,900 feet. Mid-oxidized and heavily charcoal-roasted rolled leaves unfurl to yield a medium–bodied, smooth, viscous, sweet and flavorful infusion with rich notes of caramelized sugar, cacao, and a subtle spice and roast.
All teas are available in the shop and in the online shop, so feel free to go on an excursion to Indonesia and taste these wonderful teas! :)
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Valentine's Day is this Sunday, February 14th!
Give the gift of chocolate or floral teas and/or macarons :)
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COVID Procedures and Pre-Order Reminder
For those of you who are regular readers of my monthly newsletter, you have become familiar over the past year with my consistent communication of policies and procedures related to the ever-evolving COVID-19 situation. These policies and procedures have been put in place to mitigate potential risk and to be proactive in identifying and addressing issues that would negatively impact your experience in my shop, including extensive wait times during the busiest times. This past year had been challenging to navigate the ever-changing environment, while balancing the needs of running my business well enough to stay afloat and continuing to provide excellent customer service so that you can have access to your teas and tisanes for immune support and stress relief. 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 for me to change how I operate and the services that are offered, 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, procedures were implemented several months ago to provide more structure and streamline 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.
I continue to monitor the situation and will communicate any relevant changes in future newsletters, on our facebook page Infuse Tea Bar by The Pleasures of Tea, and on the shop and online shop websites. If you missed any of the newsletters or are new to the community, all of my newsletters from 2020 (except the weekly updates during the three months the shop was closed) have been posted on the online shop website for easy reference . Details regarding the new policies and procedures were communicated in October's newsletter, but not all were posted on the shop website. If you would like to read all the details, please click here.
Lastly, a reminder that pre-orders for pick up at the shop are strongly encouraged to reduce lines and wait time outside, especially during cold and inclement weather. The vast majority of my 500+ loose leaf teas and herbal tisanes are available in the online shop. 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.
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 - hours are posted at the bottom of the home page on both websites.
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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 almost always days behind. 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 do 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 (usually Thursday), 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.
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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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New at the Shop
Very limited supply of our autumn and holiday teas are available, so grab them before they are gone!
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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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