So many sachets, so little time

“Are you a resolution guy?” I asked Richard the other day in the office.

“No,” he said. “Do you make resolutions?”

“Well,” I started, and gave him this long answer about breaking the year into quarters, and creating quarterly goals for myself. About the time his eyes glazed over, I asked Richard about any goals he might have for two leaves and a bud in 2010. He stood there for a minute, and then nodded.

“I want to make each one of our teas the best it can be,” he said.

Maybe you don’t know this, because you never thought about it, but our tea is always changing. New tea is picked by hand every year around the world, and put into sachets for us to enjoy. When it comes to the fruit and flower blends in our herbal teas, or even the spices that make our Organic Mountain High Chai have a certain flavor, we tweak those as needed on a regular basis.

Any Earl Grey fans out there know that their favorite tea is a sweet black tea from Sri Lanka, with an added touch of bergamot oil (extracted from the rind of oranges grown in Italy) for that characteristic Earl Grey flavor. People in the tea industry like Richard regular taste other Earl Grey teas to compare and contrast. Not long ago he opened a couple of air-tight bags of fresh Earl Grey (some samples he received), and the orangey scent that drifted through the office was unpleasantly overpowering. Nobody wants tea that smells like air freshener. So what can we do to make sure ours is the best?

For an example of one of our teas that’s getting better, Richard recommends ordering our Darjeeling off the website. This newest variety of Darjeeling is from the first flush harvest, which means the leaves are the first picked from the tea plants in the early spring, and are known for the best flavor.

So we’re throwing this question out to you — which of our teas could use a little tweaking in the new year? Comment here so we know your thoughts, or on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/twoleavesandabud.

A happy and prosperous 2010 to all of you, from two leaves and a bud tea co. We're looking forward to sharing some exciting new products with you, so stay tuned. Cheers!