Tea Forté a Journey in Tea

Tea Forté Lemon Sorbetti Announced as Silver Award Finalist

2012-05-08T14:36:00.002-04:00

We're pleased to announce the Silver Finalist Award for Best Hot Beverage was presented to Tea Forte for its Lemon Sorbetti Tea. The Silver Finalists are selected at the NASFT offices in New York City by a national panel of specialty food retailers, foodservice professionals and journalists.

Tea Forté Brings You the Tropical Taste of Paradise in Cup!

2012-01-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

I'm pleased to announce Tea Forté continues to expand its distinctive art of tea in deliciously healthy ways with the introduction of its new line of Coconut Tea. The Coconut Collection offers the tropical taste of paradise and catches the wave of growing consumer demand for coconut beverages. Crafting blends of only the finest organic tea with the creamy flavor of fresh cut coconut, Tea Forté’s coconut collection is available in Fair Trade Certified™ eco-friendly filterbags, and the company’s signature pyramid infusers.

The sunny offerings include:

• Coconut Mango Colada ~ GreenTea
A sunny infusion of organic green tea masterfully orchestrated with bright, sweet mango and the flavor of fresh-cut coconut. Madagascar vanilla and the exotic tang of tropical lime makes an uplifting cup.

• Coconut Chai Latte ~ Black Tea
The zesty zing of cinnamon, cardamom and clove takes over the first sip of this tropical treasure, followed by toasty island coconut. Try with milk and sweetener then enjoy hot or iced for a creamy, tropical latte.

• Coconut Chocolate Truffle ~ Black Tea
This delectable and decadent organic black tea begins with the smooth and seductive taste of chocolate cacao nibs and creamy island coconut. A hint of hazelnut is added to this confectionary cup for an entrancing tropical truffle.

I hope you join us for a tropical taste of paradise in a cup!

Teas for the New Year

2011-12-20T13:17:00.000-05:00

What a year it has been for Tea Forté. To be honored with one of our industry's highest awards is one thing, winning two is quite another. We are proud that our TEAS FOR THE HEART has been voted the gold award winner "Food Gift of the Year" by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. TEAS FOR THE HEART is the perfect year-round gift of awareness for mothers, daughters, sisters, wives and friends that can make a difference in the lives of millions of women and those who love them. In recognition of its superior quality, our Herbal Retreat Blueberry Merlot was the recipient of the prestigious World Tea Expo First Place North American Tea Champion Award. We are humbled by the accolades and even more committed to bring to you the extraordinary teas and exceptional experience that is Tea Forté.

For 2012 I'm excited to introduce a delicious assortment of must-have Superior Grade green teas, brought together for the Essential Greens collection. For a vacation you'll love, we present the lush, tropical taste of our new Coconut Teas. We hope to have these available on-line in a few short weeks.

Since starting Tea Forté it has been my ongoing journey to bring to you all the joy, the beauty and the bountiful health benefits that can be found in a simple cup of tea. I thank you for joining me in that journey and wish you a healthy and happy New Year.

Harvest Apple Spice

2011-11-19T16:40:00.001-05:00

I can't think of two flavors that remind me more of the fall than apples and cinnamon. I'm pleased to say we have blended these two ingredients for a cup reminiscent of Mom's apple pie! We are featuring this blend exclusively in our Warming Joy Collection for 2011.

I was pleased to read this review from one of our customers:

"One of the very best I have tasted! The apple flavor really comes through without being overpowered by the cinnamon... I have many "favorites" but this tops the list...will have to stock up to get me through to spring!"

As always, I truly appreciate your feedback! Happy sipping!

Think Different - Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T18:30:00.001-04:00

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

Introducing Skin Smart Beauty Teas

2011-09-01T12:05:00.003-04:00

Offering "beauty from within" we are pleased to present our innovative new line of SKIN SMART™ Antioxidant Amplifier Teas. These USDA Organic, and Fair Trade Certified™ teas offer a holistic approach to beauty they provide. These teas deliver the detoxifying effects of abundant plant-based antioxidants, a strong tool in skin recovery and the fight against visible signs of skin ageing.

Some say beauty is in the eye of the beholder when in fact, emerging science suggests that it is found in the nectar of the leaf.

Since starting Tea Forté, it has been my dream to bring to all the beauty and bountiful health benefits that can be found in a simple cup tea. I thank you for joining me in that journey.

Herbal Retreat - Blueberry Merlot

2011-08-09T11:02:00.005-04:00

We are so pleased to share with you the exciting news of another important honor bestowed upon Tea Forté in recent months.

"In recognition of its superior evaluation, World Tea Media and The World Tea Expo presents the First Place North American Tea Champion Award to Tea Forté for its Herbal Retreat - Blueberry Merlot. The Tea Championship Ranks the World's Finest Hot Teas and is the premier event for the industry."

We describe our Blueberry Merlot as "A deep taste of succulent summer-sweet blueberries with a wisp of sage to heighten an excellent cup. Corkscrew not required."

We are very proud of our extraordinary teas and take great care in sourcing and blending the best. It is the biggest compliment to know that people are buying Tea Forté for the flavor, not just the beautiful packaging. In a few weeks we will be introducing yet another new line of Tea Forté culinary inspired teas. As always, I hope you find a moment to relax and enjoy a warm cup of tea with friends or just to grab a moment for yourself.

Teas for the Heart

2011-07-12T15:51:00.003-04:00

We are honored that our TEAS FOR THE HEART collection was annouced as a Gold SOFI Award Winner for Best Food Gift last night in Washington D.C.

We are excited to partner with WomenHeart.org and their important mission to increase the awareness of prevention and early detection, accurate diagnosis and proper treatment of heart disease. We wanted to remind women, especially younger women, how to live a more well-balanced, heart healthy life.

Since starting Tea Forté it has been my dream to bring all the beauty and bountiful health benefits that can be found in the a simple cup of tea. I thank you for joing me in that dream.

A Spa in a Cup

2011-03-07T14:51:00.001-05:00

As we continue to travel the world in search of only extraordinary special-find teas that deliver delighting and luxurious taste, it is with great joy that we celebrate our most exciting launch of teas to date.

New for the season, our line of Herbal Retreat organic relaxation teas. Not only are these teas delicious, they are Fair Trade Certified, something we're striving for with all of our blends. We look at these tisanes as a "spa in a cup" with such irresistible flavors as: Apricot Amaretto, Blueberry Merlot, Kiwi Lime Ginger, Cherry Cosmo and what has become a fast "office" favorite, Mojito Marmalade.

Since starting Tea Forte, it has been my dream to bring all the beauty and bountiful health benefits that can be found in a simple cup of tea. I thank you for joining me in that journey

Blending Up Surprises

2010-12-03T22:23:00.002-05:00

I’ve always liked stronger flavors. Maybe it comes from growing up in a Lapsang Souchong-drinking family. When I hear someone say that tea is bland or weak, I hope to introduce them to its intrigue and surprise.

That sense of surprise is what guides my blending process. Sometimes I look at a flavor that might seem a bit pedestrian and I want to make it feel new. Chamomile is a good example. There are many places to get a good chamomile, but it isn’t always a tea that stands out. I thought it would be interesting to start with an organic chamomile and add citron, hibiscus, rose, and mint. Suddenly we had a light minty flavor to complement the chamomile and a gorgeous pink liquor. I wanted to be sure it was memorable.

I must confess that once in awhile my blends are developed from a name. That is what happened with my personal favorite, White Ginger Pear. I fell in love with the music of the name and I wanted to create a tea that tasted like that sound. It’s like cooking -- a pinch of this and a pinch of that, trying to find a sense of balance. The flavors can’t battle each other; they have to meld.

In a few weeks we have a new line of teas we’ll be introducing to our line. We hope you find them intense, flavorful, and memorable and give yourself a moment to pause, a moment to retreat from your busy day.

Apple Cider & Bombay Chai Tea

2010-10-10T16:37:00.009-04:00

Bombay Cider from Tea Forte

Today is one of those pefect, brisk Fall afternoons. Since we went apple picking this afternoon, I was inspired to share a Cocktail Infusion recipe we came up with last Autumn. It's an adult version of the classic "hot apple cider" ....... with a Tea Forte twist.

Of course, you can always leave out the rum. The aromatic spices of cinnamon, ginger and cardamom are sure to help keep you warm!

      1 Silkroad Chai infuser
      2½ oz light rum
      3 cups apple cider
      2tbs maple syrup

   - Place infuser in glass.
   - Pour light rum over infuser and steep to desired strength,
      3-5 minutes.
   - Heat apple cider with maple syrup.
   - Spike with infused rum to desired strength.
- Garnish with optional cinnamon stick and fresh apple slice.

Single Steeps Loose Tea Pouches

2010-09-19T08:40:00.001-04:00

One thing I always notice in my travels to China is people carrying jars or glass bottles full of tea. Beautiful loose leaf tea sits in the jars and more water is added throughout the day. It has always seemed like such a simple way to enjoy good tea.

I realized there was a missing piece in the way tea is packaged and sold outside of Asia. For small servings, we mostly offer teabags. Loose leaf is usually sold in large packages. Why couldn’t well sell individual servings of really exceptional loose leaf tea? Tea drinkers wouldn’t have to worry about how much tea to use -- it would already be measured. Easy and always perfect.

We created organic loose tea Single Steeps -- pouches of loose tea that are pre-measured to make 12 ounces of tea. It’s convenient and the tea stays fresher. Most importantly, it is easy to brew a wonderful cup of tea. Pour the contents into our Kati Loose Tea System and add water. The perfect measure for the perfect cup.

The simpler we can make our tea to enjoy, the more that we can make it a part of our every day routine.

DFS Galleria in Waikiki

2010-08-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

I spend a lot of time traveling from the east coast to west coast setting up displays for Tea Forte. A recent trip took me to Waikiki to work on our display at DFS Galleria in Hawaii. I'm very pleased to announce Tea Forte will have its own store located in the Galleria.

The Great Wall of China

2010-08-16T14:30:00.001-04:00

Just found a little iphone video from the Great Wall on my phone.

I love my staff

2010-07-30T12:54:00.003-04:00

I was cleaning off my hard drive and found these photos from last year. I was on vacation and returned after my Birthday. My wonderful staff left me this "Welcome back to the office" upon my return. I was told 64 pads of sticky notes were used.......and yes, when it was all said and done, they put them back together and reused them! And now you know, I love my staff and this is why!

The Tea Forté Experience

2010-07-06T13:20:00.001-04:00

It all went together: the tea bags, the blends, the cups. We needed all of these pieces to share a feeling and mood, to make the Tea Forté experience.

First there was our unique tea pyramid. These pyramids have some personality and we wanted to show them respect. What better way than to make the tea trays act as a stage? There’s a little whimsy and humor in the idea of a stage for your tea; I think that really captures what we’re all about.

We always like to add a little magic: an unexpected flavor, a surprising style, a quirky feature. The covered cafe cup is a great example. I couldn’t figure out how to make a covered cup work for the unique shape of our tea pyramids. It hit me. What if we poked a hole in the lid for the top of the pyramid to stick out? It made me laugh. It was so comical: the leaf growing through the cover, like a flower growing through a crack in the pavement.

Every product we create is designed to evoke a particular mood. We think about the fun, delicious, wonderful, whimsical world we want our tea drinkers to experience.

An enchanting presentation for extraordinary tea. That’s the goal of the Tea Forté experience.

Travels in China

2010-06-24T10:30:00.000-04:00

I promised earlier I'd write a little bit more about my trip. The best time to visit China is spring. Before the brutal summer heat sets in, everything is lush, green, and vibrant. It is tea harvest, always a magical time for me to visit this amazing land.

I spent ten days this spring immersed in the culture of Hangzhou. I walked through our tea fields, imagining that these leaves would some day be in our teas. I spent time in our workshops, talking to our staff as they crafted and filled each tea pyramid with amazing care and artistry. In the morning I would walk along West Lake. Kites flew over the lake. People danced to all types of music. Others performed tai chi in silent meditation. Another man quietly painted calligraphy with water on stones along the lake path, his words evaporating as the sun warmed the earth. I thought I’d post a little video I took on my iPhone so you could see the calligrapher I described above.

I’m now back in West Concord, excited about the new teas we’ve created and the other fun products we’ve been working on. Hangzhou will never be far from my mind.

Happy National Iced Tea Month!

2010-06-11T09:35:00.005-04:00

When I think about summer, I think about warm days, casual get-togethers, and relaxing weekends. I don’t want to have to do too much planning. It’s the time for impromptu visits with friends.

It’s always been a frustration of mine that iced tea, my preferred summer beverage, takes so much planning. In the winter, if someone stops in I can just offer them a cup of tea. It takes a few minutes and we’re ready to go. In the summer, if I didn’t think to make the tea the day before, we’re out of luck. And cooled tea just doesn’t taste as good as good as it did when it was fresh; 24 hours in the refrigerator and the flavors change. I decided that I needed to come up with a better way.

I wanted to figure out how to make fresh tasting iced tea quickly without much equipment. How could I brew the tea in the moment and then cool it immediately? I knew the solution would involve steeping the tea and then pouring it over ice. I needed a container that wouldn’t crack when the hot tea met the ice. The other key was in the ratio -- Too much ice and the tea would taste watery; not enough and the tea wouldn’t cool.

I tried so many designs. One was a pyramid but the corners were too hard to clean. Another looked like a torch and the tea would drip into the base but it was unsteady and occasionally the stopper would pop out, spilling boiling water everywhere. Clearly these would not do.

Finally we hit upon our final Tea-Over-Ice design: two stacking pitchers that were subtly reminiscent of our pyramid shape. The bottom pitcher is filled with ice and the top pitcher receives the tea and hot water. When the tea has steeped properly, it is poured onto the ice. Just half the ice melts, resulting in a fresh, perfectly cooled iced tea for two or three friends.

I’m enjoying these warm days that have hit our area over the past few weeks. And I’m really enjoying being able to make a quick glass of iced tea any time I want.

Returning from China

2010-05-24T09:15:00.002-04:00

I'll have more to post later as I've just returned from a wonderful trip, but wanted to leave you with a spectacular view of the Great Wall of China.

The Pyramid

2010-05-12T08:39:00.000-04:00

I’ve always thought it looked like a person waving.

I think most people have come to know Tea Forté because of our little pyramid. From day one it has almost felt like a mascot to me, a tea bag with a unique personality.

When I began thinking about how I wanted to present my tea, I decided to throw away all my previous ideas about what a tea bag should look like. I realized that I could make it look any way I wished. I would make it from scratch. I had the freedom to re-imagine what I’d always assumed about tea bags.

Tea bags were flat, whether round or square. If I went to a coffee shop with a friend, he’d have this frothy, beautiful drink and I’d have a cup with a soggy, bunched-up tea bag on the table. I knew I wanted my tea bag to have more personality. It had to stand up.

If you want a tea bag to stand, you really have these options -- a cone, a cube, or a pyramid. The pyramid gave me a big shape, something that was a bit human in form.

So, a pyramid it was. I wanted it to be tall so you could see it over the top of the cup. I also didn’t want the tag to hang down. I wanted to stay with the idea of a person, so I made sure the tag could stand -- like a person waving.

I sat down with a mat knife, paper, and a printer, and I hand-cut version after version until I had created exactly what I wanted. I knew that this wasn’t something that a machine was going to be able to create.

Night after night I created pyramids by hand. I wanted each one to be perfect. But how could I make those tags stand up? Amazingly I found a company just 20 miles away that used turn-of-the-century machines to weave candle wicks. Wired string! This was exactly what I needed. I think they were a little stunned when I walked in the door and told them I would need about 1 million feet of string every three months!

The last piece was the tag itself. I could think of no better tribute to those beautiful tea leaves than a perfect little leaf adorning the top of each tea bag.

The next step was showing those bags to others, so they could fall in love with them as I had. That's a story we will have to leave for another day.

We’ve certainly expanded our horizons since those early days and I continue to think about all the things that I could do differently. It’s like we’re on this amazing journey and we can go in any direction we choose. I think it’s likely though, that even as we make new blends, create new teaware, and offer other packaging options, this pyramid will continue to be an important part of our family.

The Journey in Tea

2010-05-04T12:01:00.004-04:00

For me, it’s all about the tea.

From my earliest days, tea was a constant in our house. My parents instilled in me the belief that it was always time for tea. The scent of Lapsang Souchong warmed our rooms with its beautiful smokiness. I came to relish a steady flow of green tea into my system. Tea holds such powerful and comforting memories for me yet my decision to launch a tea company came in an unexpected way.

I was always the creative type – the round peg for the square hole. Traditional schooling was not for me and when I finally had a chance to decide what I would study, I headed off to the Rhode Island School of Design. I was in my glory and after four years of hard work graduated as a product designer. I was passionate about it. A side benefit came when I had the chance to visit Asia-- a lot. What better place could there be for a tea lover to visit? I was often alone on these trips, and became fascinated with the young, hip tea culture. Instead of hanging out in bars as people might here in the US, friends would meet up in the local teahouses, sharing and enjoying each other's company with tea as the centerpiece. The social energy was powerful and inspiring. It is here that the idea of Tea Forté was born.

I believed that tea’s appeal needed to be far more universal than it may have seemed in the past. I wanted to offer blends that were worthy of being given as a special gift, but were also something you could drink every day. They also had to be a little bit surprising so that they could feel new even to people who were already consuming tea. I knew we had the chance to help people experience how powerful a moment with tea could be. Our teas and blends had to be exceptional, and presented in a new way. I wanted to create a modern spin on the ceremony of tea.

Here we are, 10 years later, making this vision real. Through this new blog I want to introduce you to how Tea Forté came to be, where we hope to go next, and what new products you’ll be seeing soon. We have exciting plans on the horizon and we want you to be part of them.

Please join us on our exciting journey.