August 24, 2016
It’s summer again and as the hot beverage business slows, we have time to revisit some old ideas for new tea blends and see where we can take them. Our Literary Tea Line has been hugely successful so far and we’re pleased to introduce you to its newest additions. We’ve been playing with a few ideas and we finally settled on the pair of authors for whom we’ve gotten the most requests. One of our new blends was created with the works of Louisa May Alcott in mind while the other was designed to evoke the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Born on November 29, 1832 to Transcendentalist parents, Louisa May Alcott grew up poor among some of the most famous intellectuals of the 19th century. She and her […]
November 20, 2015
This is the final blog of our Literary Tea Line introduction series. We only have three authors left and, as you can see in the title, they are some big names. This week, we’ll go through the life of the Bronte sisters, Beatrix Potter, and Lewis Carroll and explain why we chose the blends we did for each of them. First off, we have the the Bronte sisters. We decided to make one tea blend for all three so we didn’t have to choose between them. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne lived and wrote in Yorkshire, England. Born in 1816, 1818 and 1820, respectively, the sisters lived very short lives, with Charlotte living the longest at 38. During their tragically truncated lifetimes, each sister produced novels that would become […]
November 14, 2015
To continue our series of Literary Tea introduction blogs, we move on to some authors who are less well-known. You may have heard their names before or be familiar with their work, but these four don’t command the same immediate recognition that Shakespeare, Austen, and Dickens enjoy. Some of the greatest works of literature require a knowledge of multiple languages or a great translator to be enjoyed by English readers. Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote many such novels. He was born in Moscow in 1821 and spent the first sixteen years of his life among the orphans, criminals, and asylum patients with whom his father worked. The 1846 publication of his novel Poor Folk gave the young Dostoyevsky his first taste of literary fame, but it is Crime & Punishment […]
November 6, 2015
The Literary Tea Line is here! To introduce this brand new collection of tins, we’ve written a series of blogs that will provide both a short biography for each of the authors we’ve been inspired by and an explanation for how we decided what goes into their blend. Each of these authors provided unique challenges and we did our best to make sure that our tea blends captured their individuality. The scents and flavors of these blends will transport you to the cities and countries that your favorite characters knew and loved. Curl up with your favorite book and enjoy a cup of tea inspired by the life and works of its author. This week, our blog will focus on an introductory set of authors with whom everyone’s […]
October 22, 2015
By Connor Lofink In October, the leaves have turned from their summer green to the bright reds, oranges, and yellows of autumn. The air is crisp and it’s finally apple season. Every morning seems to start with a rake’s rhythmic scraping or the deafening whir of a leaf blower. Warm summer mornings are still fresh in your memory as you bundle up to brave the suddenly brisk dawns of Fall. By Halloween night, many trees have dropped their leaves and their gnarled limbs reach into the sky like boney fingers, ready to pluck a flying witch from her broomstick. The wind howls through the branches, twisting the trunks until they creak and groan like a ghoul. The spooky signs of the season are everywhere as people decorate their […]
October 19, 2015
Simpson & Vail is unveiling a new line of tea tins that we’ve been working on for months. The Literary Tea Line is a collection of blends that were created with a specific author in mind. The teas vary from a black tea blend to a flavored herbal blend and each is inspired by the authors’ works and lives. The Literary Tea Line is inspired by William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Emily Dickinson, James Joyce, Beatrix Potter, Lewis Carroll, and Charles Dickens. A warm mug of tea and a good book go together like, well, a warm cup of tea and a good book. Keep warm in any armchair with occasional sips of tea while letting the words of brilliant writers wash over […]
September 21, 2015
by Connor Lofink Simpson & Vail offers over 350 varieties of teas and tisanes and many of those are blends. Each tea blend had to be invented by someone and most of our flavored ones come from the wonderfully creative mind of Cyndi Harron. Ideas for new blends can come from anywhere. She might be struck with sudden inspiration or she might have to build an idea from scratch. The latter was the case with our new Valentine’s Day blend. This holiday is usually associated with creamy, decadent chocolate and rich, red fruits so when a customer emailed looking for a fruity chocolate tea, Cyndi went to work creating one. “When I first made the Valentine’s Day blend I was torn between rose and fruit,” Cyndi told me. […]
July 16, 2015
by Connor Lofink When Benjamin Ginsberg traveled from Moscow to the Cape of South Africa in 1903 with plans to make his fortune in the tea trade with his father, he was quickly introduced to what the Dutch settlers called “bush tea.” It was a brew made from the leaves of the Rooibos plant that grew in the nearby scrublands. The Dutch settlers had enjoyed this not-quite-tea for over a hundred years before Ginsberg’s arrival, but its popularity outside of the South African settlements was limited. Ginsberg recognized that an herbal beverage like Rooibos, which the locals assured him had medicinal properties as well, offered an appealing alternative to the Chinese and Indian black teas that people were used to. Those black teas were a rare treat down […]
June 18, 2015
by Connor Lofink A heat wave burned across the midwest on the morning when the India Tea Commissioner Richard Blechynden and his staffers set up the East Indian Pavilion for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Blechynden hoped that free cups of tea would convince people more familiar with the Chinese variety that his Indian tea had potential. But when the fair got underway, the temperatures did not subside. Instead, they rose and rose as more and more people gathered to see exhibits from 62 different countries. Women wandered the fair in full-length dresses and wore wide-brimmed hats to protect them from the sun while the men wore three-piece suits. The fashion of the day meant that everyone was suffering from the high temperatures. 20 million people visited the […]