Tetulia Tea - 100% organic, premium, hand picked, single estate tea from Bangladesh.

June 30, 2008

Thumbs up for Bengal Breakfast

Stephen of Teaviews.com gave Bengal Breakfast an 8.5!

“A smooth, clean-tasting black tea with a bit of natural sweetness in the finish… a fantastic tea I will certainly be drinking again.”

Thanks Stephen!  Read Full Review Here

June 25, 2008

Tetulia in SBS Teas!

We are excited to announce that Tetulia will now be carried in SBS Teas in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Check out their website at www.sbsteas.com

June 24, 2008

Tea and Food: on Tetulia

I wanted to share a wonderful blog post about Tetulia from Aaron over at Tea and Food. Thanks Aaron!!

In the rat race to coin the hottest new food descriptor, terms of substance are quickly eroded by the corner cutting of corporations quick to jump on the bandwagon. Take the kind of “free range” chickens that have a door to the outside but whose legs are too weak to carry their enormous, genetically modified breasts. Among these organic snake oil salesman, Tetulia Teas stands out as different and refreshing as a breath of fresh air or nice cup of green….Click Here for Full Article

June 23, 2008

BBC Reports on Neem: India’s Tree of Life

Tetulia’s Neem Nectar is a perfect way to take in the amazing benefits of the Neem herb. We recently came across a Report on BBC.com about the history of Neem and some of the wonderful uses.

“Daily life
In the villages of Rajasthan near Jodhpur, the Neem tree is still essential to daily life.

A man cleaning his teeth with a Neem twig

The Neem provides a popular traditional tooth cleaner

A large Neem tree usually stands in the centre of each village, providing shade and cool underneath its branches - it is said that the temperature under a Neem tree is always two or three degrees cooler than in any other shade.

When the British laid out the Indian capital, New Delhi, at the beginning of the last century, they planted avenues of Neem as a natural air conditioner for the new city.

The traditional uses of Neem are many and varied; when a child has a fever or chickenpox, Neem leaves are put on the bed.

For eczema, psoriasis, ulcers or any other skin problems, a paste of Neem bark or leaves is made up and applied directly to the skin.

When winter clothes are put away for the summer, Neem leaves are put between them to keep away moths, and its leaves are boiled to make a bitter drink to cure worms and diarrhoea.

Animals eat Neem leaves as fodder in this desert climate where little else grows, and the seeds of the fruit are ground to make a natural pesticide.

‘Antiseptic’

The tree is so crucial to life in this part of India that the Hindu villagers described how they worship it as a God, and told the story of Lord Krishna comparing himself as a God amongst men as the Neem tree is a God amongst trees.

Perhaps the most prolific use of the Neem tree throughout India is as a natural antiseptic toothbrush.

People break off a small twig, peel off the bark and then chew it into a soft brush at one end, which they then rub around the gums and teeth.

Finally, they split the twig in two and use the flat hard surface to scrape their tongues.” - BBC.com

To read the full article click this link: BBC.com Neem: India’s Tree of Life

June 11, 2008

Check out our NEW compostable packaging!!!

We are very excited and proud to share with you the Tetulia packaging. This canister is compostable (breaks down naturally within 150 days) and holds 16 biodegradable silken pyramid tea bags.

We went back and fourth several times on packaging between tins, boxes, and everything in between. When we stumbled upon this concept we knew immediately this was the route we wanted to go. Of course we wanted something that was kind to our earth, but sometimes it can be challenging to have an earth-friendly yet attractive package…. but we think we married the two just perfectly. Keep your eyes open for these on the shelves of your favorite tea stores, or you can buy them online at the Tetulia Tea Store.

If you prefer loose leaf tea, don’t worry, we have that on the Tetulia Tea Store, also.

Please share your thoughts on your new packaging and also, let us know what your favorite earth-friendly packages are!

June 6, 2008

To Sample or Not to Sample

I’ve been doing my daily blog reading, trying to catch up on the post World Tea Expo news and reviews, and I’ve noticed quite the trend - World Tea Expo is a “hot spot” for tea samples. One blog in particular, VeeTea even has a lovely photo of all the samples she received. (Mind you she was brewing a cup of our Neem Nectar as we were chatting about Tetulia samples). Another blog talked about collecting his samples and having his son schlepping them around (hey kid, everyone has to pay their way somehow). Of course, Tetulia was one of the many exhibitors handing out samples as well.

Along with reading the tea blogs, I was also reading some general marketing blogs and one in particular really made an excellent point. Big Slice of Awesome pointed out that you can’t just shove samples down your could be customers throats. ( I encourage you to read this blog post…).

From putting the fact that tea lovers love tea samples together with the fact that NOBODY likes to have samples imposed upon them, Tetulia is leaving it up to you. If you want samples of our tea, just say so! We’d be happy to send you some.

All you need to do is email us and give us your address (to be used for teas samples only, no junk).

June 5, 2008

Tetulia Hearts Arbor Teas

Packaging from Arbor TeasOne of the great things about the World Tea Expo is meeting all kinds of new people that share a love of great tea. This year, it was our great pleasure to meet the folks of Arbor Teas. It might seem a bit odd that we’re fawning over a could be competitor, but Arbor Teas tickled our fancy from day one.

As we initially started to design our packaging, one of the most important things was that it reflect our core values - providing a great organic, premium tea while sustaining our land and people. This is when we ran across Arbor Teas of Ann Arbor Michigan. This husband and wife team have developed a solid foundation for a fun business that provides some of the finest organic and fair trade teas, but it doesn’t stop there. To further their belief in making a smaller “footprint” whenever possible, they developed an earth friendly package for their teas.

In the coming days (yes, just days) Tetulia will share with you our brand new packaging. You will see a completely compostable outer container, a recyclable inner freshness protector, and a biodegradable pyramid tea bag. While we were on this track all along, it was Arbor Teas that truly inspired us to go forward with it. Next time you’re shopping for teas, take a moment to consider what you are really buying and what happens to it when you get down to your last bit of tea.

Thank you Arbor Teas!

June 4, 2008

The Contact Keeper

As you know, we just returned from the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas. This trade show is ALL about tea! Bulk tea, packaged tea, tea cups, cars that look like a tea pot, everything tea! However, there is one gem I’d like to share with you that made this trade show so successful - and it has nothing to do with tea. Ladies and Gentlemen I introduce you to The Contact Keeper!

This little black book made storing business cards and follow-up notes an easy and organized must. Not only does it hold a ton of information, but it also lets you prioritize the importance of the contact, maintain a schedule of meetings, write additional notes in the back, and even store more information in an envelope in the back.

Gone are the days of coming back from a trade show with random business cards and no idea of what information you were supposed to send out. For anybody that exhibits or even attends trade shows, I urge you to get your own contact keeper. Your trade show experience will never be the same!

June 3, 2008

Tetulia successfully launches at the 2008 World Tea Expo

Tetulia at the World Tea ExpoWe are pleased to announce that Tetulia Teas has officially launched! We just came back from the 2008 World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, NV and couldn’t be more happy with how well we were received. Not only did we meet some great people, but the feed back on our packaging (photos coming soon) couldn’t have been better! I am very pleased to announce that as of next month, Tetulia will be sold in the following stores:

The Steaming Cup - Waukesha, WI

Cally’s Teas - Edmonton, Alberta Canada

Botanical Indulgence - Neenah, WI

Also you can also purchase tea through our online store at www.tetulia.com

May 16, 2008

The Uncultured Project

As I was browsing through the YouTube videos, I came across the Uncultured Project. This is an amazing idea brought forth by a very amazing person.

The Uncultured Project is a funny name given to a simple idea.

It’s not a charity.
It’s not a NGO.
It’s not an attempt at becoming a YouTube celebrity.

It’s just a project by someone who believes that if you want the world to be a better place - you have to do your part.

I got the idea while I was a grad student at Notre Dame. While there, I got to meet Dr. Jeffrey Sachs (author of the book “The End of Poverty”). Shortly after meeting him, I voluntarily withdrew from graduate school (in good standing), bought a camera, grabbed my computer, and flew to Bangladesh to see if I could make a difference.

I call it “The Uncultured Project” because there is no set plan, no formal training, and no goal other than wanting to make as much of a difference as possible. - Shawn, 27

I encourage everyone to checkout the Uncultured Project blog and the Uncultured Project videos, such as the one below, which is the first of a series. Also if you have found any great websites, videos, or photos - please share them with us!