Blog

It was a great way to kick off 2020 for us: a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York city where some priceless tea articles from Japan were on display as part of the exhibition "Kyoto: Capital of Artistic Imagination."

Two things I most love about my job - spending time with customers, and visiting the tea gardens back east. Every time I am driving around the hills where the tea is grown, the beauty of the place makes me feel utterly blessed that I can do this for a living.

I just got back from India after a two and a half week trip. Although it was not the intent but me and my travel companion, who in this case happened to be my 12 year old daughter, Tara, ended up "Chasing the Monsoons", like the travel writer Alexander Frater in his once popular book. And like Frater discovering -  in our case rediscovering - the overwhelming life force of India even as the heavens hosed down the sub-continent.

It was wonderful to see Nepal tea given a lavish spread in New York Times food section recently. We have been selling Nepal tea since spring of 2014. Our customers and us know that these teas are special and have been enjoying every cup of it for all these years. Happy to be ahead of the curve!

Disregarding an unusually misty and chilly spring morning, we decided to party with our 2019 spring Nepal teas - Himalayan White Tea and Himalayan Spring Tea. And boy did we had a good time!  

As part of our Earth Day celebrations this weekend we donated couple of thousand dollars towards making our Finger Lakes region even more pristine. Thanks to our partner, Finger Lakes Land Trust and most importantly you our customers who made this possible!

 Join in the revelry with some really strong green tea which you can have all this week at 15% off! Offer valid both online and at Leaf Tea Bar. And there is no need for coupons! Offer ends March 18. Please don't use existing coupons when availing of this discount. 

"Strolling through a pine forest or bamboo grove, viewing the rock formations, arrangement of plants, and cascading waterfalls, pausing to ponder the quiet surface of the lake and the shoreline - little by little we are encouraged to lay aside the chaos of a troubled world and gently nurture the capacity within to hear a more harmonious, universal rhythm…This is the tremendous power the Japanese gardens at Morikami Park hold for us." - Hoichi Kurisu, Master Garden Designer of Roji-en.

After nine years of residing in Rochester, I finally crossed over to the other side of Ontario Lake, to get to the Canadian city of Toronto - thanks to its annual tea festival. For the efforts - which included an early rise and a hangover from the polar vortex of the century - we were richly rewarded. Our day trip was filled with many cups of warm wonderful teas, encounters with equally warm tea enthusiasts, and topped off by a documentary on Darjeeling tea!