Tea Blog

Zhi Tea will be pairing up with Austin’s own Blissed Out Chocolates for an afternoon of tea and chocolate pairing. This class (or a version thereof) was the most highly attended and rated class at the World Tea Expo. I was there and it was amazing so I decided to do a version of it here at the Zhi Tea Gallery.

Of all the chocolate companies in Austin, I decided on Blissed Out. Erika, who runs the company has similar values as we do; quality, sustainability, beauty, and a strong grass-roots local focus. And, of course, her chocolates are amazing.

So we decided to do a pairing class of 5 of our teas with 5 of her chocolates. This will be a fun, tasty, and totally interactive class.

Cost is $15 and includes all your teas and chocolates. Admission also entitles you to discounts on tea and chocolate gifts for the Holidays if you so choose.

Seating is very limited, so don’t wait!

Blissed Out Chocolate is local Austin company dedicated to brining the purest, most bliss inducing dark chocolate to the world. We specialize in organic gourmet gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, raw chocolates. Raw cacao, the main ingredient in all Blissed Out chocolates is one of the world’s most nutrient dense foods. Vast arrays of these nutrients are destroyed during the conventional chocolate making process. They hand craft each small batch in such a way that ensures the 300+ enzymes, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals remain intact.

It has been a very successful year for Zhi regarding Events in the Austin, TX area…..

We are excited to be hosting the Second Annual Edible Austin Tea Festival right here on the grounds of the Zhi Tea Gallery in East Austin SATURDAY 5th December from 10a-2p.

We will be joined by eight other local tea purveyors; Barefoot Botanicals, Jade Leaves, Sesa, Steeping Room, Sweet Leaf, Tea Embassy, Texas Medicinals, and Buddah’s Brew Kambucha. We will all be sampling our lovely varieties of fresh teas and herbal tisanes.

Also on hand will be Jesse Bloom, chef extraordinaire of Ecstatic Cuisine. Jesse will be serving an Indian themed hot lunch with help from the young folks at Urban Roots. It is sure to be amazing as all of his creations are; using local, fresh ingredients. All proceeds from the lunch will go to Urban Roots.

10% of all sales at the Zhi Tea Gallery will to to Urban Roots.

Last year the event was attended by over 400, including a substantial influx of cyclists who were en route in the Urban Farm Bicycle Tour. Both of the above mentioned events are part of a huge week-long series of events known as Eat Local Week.

The Third Annual Eat Local Week is an invitation to Central Texans to explore and celebrate the abundance of local food and to raise money for Urban Roots, a youth development program that uses sustainable agriculture as a means to transform the lives of young people and to increase the access of healthy food in Austin. 15 farm interns, ages 14-17, are hired to work from February to July, growing more than 22,000 lbs of produce every year—donating 40% of that to hunger relief and selling 60% at farmers’ markets and farm stands run by the farm interns.

Edible Austin Eat Local Week will kick off on December 5 at the Austin Farmers’ Market with the City of Austin’s proclamation and with support from GO TEXAN and other Central Texas communities.

Every once in a while you hear folks proudly exclaim that they are, “living the dream”. While this may come across in a somewhat Tom Cruise-type fashion, I do believe that most folks are genuinely sincere in their proclamation.
But what is meant by this? Where does it come from?

The reason I am pondering this today is that I found myself saying exactly that a few days ago and caught myself. “Am I really?”, “What do I mean by that?, and, “What dream?”

Upon reflecting on my feelings in the moment and where they originated I do believe it was merely an outpouring of gratitude for all my blessings, challenges, and life circumstances. Quite simple, really. Nothing to do with trappings of success, money, or power. In fact, I am quite humbled by my personal journey and the journey of Zhi Tea so far. It has been awakening to say the least.

So, living the dream must indeed be more about being present in the moment, a sense of true feeling, as opposed to some idea that one is getting what they want. Or perhaps, when one is dialed into their true wantings, the sense of joy is indeed imminent; as the universe generally appears to provide. Provided, of course, that there is some sense of alignment with the desires of the Self.

It seems the desires of the Self in fact do feel like a dream, at times. Remote, vague, and shifting. We see this realm as if through a bank of clouds. Occasionally, the clouds part, clarity is revelead, and we exclaim, “I’m living the dream.”

I heart Groupon. I got a half price haircut at the place I already go to and love, Bird’s. I also got a half price box of fab organic produce from the awesomeness that is Greenling.
When they called me a few weeks ago I was totally skeptical. Why would I want to do this? And pay you for putting up some lame ad? It took a bit of discussion and investigation, but I realized that this was an example of the new marketplace and I better get with it. People pay en mass for a deep discount and have 6 months to use the coupon. It drives people to our store who may never otherwise have ventured, and rewards our fans, as well. BOOM.
So I did, and today we are watching the numbers go up for our “$10 for $20 worth of tea at the Zhi Tea Gallery” groupon. It is going at about 30 per hour now. Shockingly cool!
So I am anticipating yelling “100!!” really loudly in about an hour and a half at this rate.

Looking forward to the coincidentally timed Groupon launch party here in Austin tonight at the very nice Paggi House. I get to meet Morgan, the gal who gracefully walked me across the river of unknowing into the world of Groupon.

My initial guess was 146 sold today. I think we might even double that.

A previously unknown supplier who appears to be solid and reputable sent me the biggest box of tea samples EVER. I can’t believe it. Huge.
It will take months to go through them all. So far the three or four I have tried have been very, very good. A fantastic ti quan yin and a really good mao jian among them.