Tea Appreciation Society – We love tea
Tea
A cup of tea and a good book
Jan 20th
If you’re familiar with the Tea Appreciation Society’s Manifesto you’ll be aware that item number 7 proclaims that “We want to visit museums and libraries, encourage philosophy.”
Imagine how intrigued and in awe we were of some extraordinary scenes unfolding in Scotland last year.
Sculptures carved from paper started appearing from March 2011 in Scottish libraries.
The first sculpture had a message attached that read “We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books… a book is so much more than pages full of words.… This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas….. a gesture (poetic maybe?)”
Nobody knew where it came from, nor was anyone forthcoming with information in person or online, despite a fair amount of local news coverage.
Sculptures continued to appear throughout the year and then in August 2011 one appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival that we at the Tea Appreciation Society really love, for obvious reasons…
The tag on this reads:
To @edbookfest (their twitter name) ‘A gift’ This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas…… & festivals xx
It includes a teabag filled with cut out letters, on the tag of which are the words “by leaves we live”. The cup on the top has a swirl of words which read ” Nothing beats a nice cup of tea (or coffee) and a really good BOOK”, and on the ‘tray’ next to the cupcake it says “except maybe a cake as well”.
We are indebted to Chris Scott who spends most of his time documenting the literary scene in Edinburgh and as a result found himself the accidental biographer of the paper sculptures. You can read his excellent blog and see all the sculptures here.
10 copies of The Three Hungry Boys book to give away
Dec 6th
If you haven’t heard of the Three Hungry Boys yet, you will soon enough. Their second series will air in the new year on Channel 4. What’s that got to do with tea you might ask, well the boys are good friends of ours and they LOVE TEA. They’ve dedicated a spread to tea in the book, and they’ve given us a mention, which is jolly nice.
The boys have kindly signed some copies of their book for us to give away to 10 lucky Tea Appreciation Society official members. This is an exclusive offer to official members only.
Simply email your individual membership number to hello@lovetea.co.uk before December 9th and we’ll choose 10 lucky winners that will all receive a signed copy of the Three Hungry Boys book. Great to keep for yourself or to give away as a Christmas gift! Also available to buy from Amazon.co.uk
Becoming an official member of the Tea Appreciation Society couldn’t be easier. It’s only £5.00 for a Personalized Membership Pack. Become a member yourself or buy as a wonderful (and affordable) gift for a loved one…
Membership includes: A welcome letter from the Tea Appreciation Society co-founders Shayne House & Stephen Nelson. A Personalized Certificate with individual membership number. An exclusive members only badge. An I Love Tea sticker, and 2 x cups of tea (string and tag in a sleeve).
Tea Appreciation Society ‘heart’ Urban Outfitters
Dec 4th
The Tea Appreciation Society has been on the look out for the best deals for tea related Christmas gifts this season. Over the next two weeks we’ll be featuring a number of top brands and retailers that are offering great tea related gifts…
We are particularly impressed with Urban Outfitters who commissioned street artist Vhils to transform the exterior of their recently opened Exeter store.
Urban Outfitters have a great deal on mugs with 30% off when you buy 3.
Visit Urban Outfitters online by clicking here or on any of the images above.
Tea Appreciation Society mugs are also available with 25% off when you enter the code IMNOMUG at the checkout of our online shop.
Tea Appreciation Society in the Foodie Bugle Magazine
Nov 17th
Co-founder and Director of the Tea Appreciation Society Shayne House appears in the Foodie Bugle magazine.
Rachel Wilson Couch writes in the Foodie Bugle article: The philosophy is simple and ancient. We all do it. In a moment of crisis, indecision, togetherness, tea is a distraction, a comfort and a prop. For Shayne, there is “a correlation between drinking tea and being creative.” Have you got work to do? Make yourself a nice cup of tea. This is a statement that is testament indeed to his own prolific, creative output, ranging from film making to photography, writing to surfing, illustrating to music. But he goes still deeper into the leaves and into spirituality. “It’s all about taking time out. Years ago, while I was reading the Tao Te Ching (the Chinese text on the philosophy of Taoism), I realised that the tea in my hand was more than just quenching my thirst. Tea drinking is actually one of humanity’s most noble practices. It transcends borders and nationalities.”
You can read Rachel’s full article in the Foodie Bugle here.
Get your hands on one of the splendid fine bone china mugs being modelled by the dude in tweed above… For a limited time only you can get 25% off by using the promo code ‘IMNOMUG’ in the Tea Appreciation Society shop.
Tea Festival at Gyllyngdune Gardens
Aug 25th
Tea Appreciation Society are proud to support Gyllyngdune Gardens first Tea Festival!
This bank holiday Sunday 28 and Monday 29 August
A celebration of art, music, crafts, entertainment, fun…and of course Tea!
What’s going on?
- Listen to a talk on Tea & Creativity by Tea Appreciation Society co-founder & director Shayne House. Take your tea in the quiet and relaxing space within their canvas soulpad on the lawn.
- Join textile collaborators Lyrebird & The Other Things for drop in inspiring and creative making workshops – bunting ahoy! First come first served
- Browse the many craft and tea related stalls and exhibitors
- A tea talk by Gyllyngdune gardener on Camellia sinensis, will have you finding out how your cup of tea made it from twig to teapot
- Follow the tea trails throughout the garden
- Live music on the bandstand
- Speak to artisanal tea merchants from ‘The Essence of Tea’ and sample tastings of Chinese teas, brewed in the traditional ‘gong fu’ style
- Sample a variety of teas and delicious cakes from the new café
- Funky Faces will be on site so don’t forget to get your face painted, will you be the queen of hearts or the grinning Cheshire cat?
Extra for Sunday:
- The Cha-Cha-Cha Tea dance is coming to Gyllyngdune! Join fancy footed dance instructors and The Skyliner, 11 piece big band in the Pavilion hall from 2pm- 5pm for a Tea dance extravaganza! Whether your looking to brush up on your old fashioned dance skills, or learn some new steps, let the delectable Miss Foxy Trot teach you the moves in true vintage fashion… All ages are welcome, no partner needed, vintage apparel encouraged!
- Cirque de Ciel will be bringing their “Alice’s mad hatting workshop” to the quarry garden, young hatters should join Alice’s drop in workshop to make their own crazy headwear
- Quintessentially English, why not enjoy a cream tea while listening to Pendennis Brass performing on the bandstand?
Extra for Monday:
- The Travelling Talesman will be entertaining old and young alike all afternoon with daring adventures and tall tales of tea in the quarry garden
- See young whippersnappers “Flats and Sharps” for a bit of busking bluegrass on the bandstand
Tickets:
Adult Day Ticket: £5 * Sunday / Monday
Adults Ticket with T Dance Extravaganza: £6 * (2-5pm Sunday only)
Children’s day ticket: £4.50 ** Sunday / Monday
Family day Ticket: £15 (2 adults, 2 Children) * ** Sunday / Monday
* With each adult ticket you can claim a complementary cup of tea from the café. On the day pick up your wristband from the box office which will allow you to take part in the drop in workshops and sit in on the talks throughout the day, on a first come first served basis.
** When you buy a children’s ticket don’t forget to collect your tea trail activity sheet and collect their wristband so that they can take part in the drop in workshops and activities.
Throughout the day, talks, activities and workshop are available on a first come first serve basis, check the programme timetable to ensure you don’t miss out & make sure you see all of our lovely stalls and exhibitors on the day
To book contact the Box Office: 01326 211222
Don’t miss out, download a timetable for the festival (Activity locations may be subject to change, depending on the weather)
Tea in tweed
Aug 14th
A thoroughly British, and quite frankly, marvellous affair.
The Tweed Run from Studiocanoe on Vimeo.
Thanks to Natalie at www.quiethare.blogspot.com for this one.
Operation Cup Of Tea
Aug 12th
Would you like to be part of a special ‘Operation Cup Of Tea’ digital billboard montage in central London this weekend?
If so, send a photo of you or a friend drinking a cup of tea to operationcupoftea@gmail.com
Little Urn’s UK Lap of Honour…
Jul 27th
Little Urn’s UK lap of honour has begun! Having returned from his mission to bring Brits in the US a proper brew, Yorkshire Tea’s tea-mobile is now catching up on his domestic duties.
After a day on the beach at Brighton, and a tea party with the good people of the Ethical Tea Partnership in South London, his next stop is Kensington, where he’ll be serving up tea at Tesco on West Cromwell Road today from 1-4.
For more info on Urn’s tour see www.Facebook.com/yorkshiretea
