Jun

23

The Meaning of Tea

June 23, 2008 | 2 Comments

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Paul and I saw this film at the Tea Expo and I’d say it’s definitely worth checking out. Most of it is shot on 16 mm film, and it really is the scenery that makes the movie. It does a wonderful job at showing how cultures are linked by universal rituals. In this case it is the rituals and re-connections that come with taking time for tea. We get a glimpse into the social aspects of tea in China, Japan, India, Morocco, the UK, the US and beyond. Actually, the US segment leaves a lot to be desired. This is one of my main critiques of the film as nothing was done to show the tea renaissance that is indeed happening here. I’ll leave it at that for now and let you be the judge if you get a chance to see it. In the meantime, check out the movie’s website which features several clips. The main clip is pretty good, but it’s the country/cultural-specific clips that are most interesting. You have to deal with a minor site intro., but it’s over pretty quickly. We plan to screen this film sometime in the future. Perhaps we will even be able to arrange a proper showing in a larger venue with the filmmakers, Q&A, etc. This film will also be available for purchase in the shop and online.

Thanks for checking in.

- James

Jun

16

Events

June 16, 2008 | 2 Comments

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Here’s a quick snap of Christi and Paul at last week’s gala event at the Old Firehouse in South Park. It was hosted by the Golden Hill CDC and featured food and drinks from several local businesses, including Halcyon Tea! Since it was a warm day we went for iced teas and served a classic black, a matcha with fresh lemongrass, and a white tea with fresh pomegranate juice. They were a hit! Restaurants like the Guild and the forthcoming Alchemy also served up some amazing samples of what they do best. Alchemy will open directly across the street from us, so we are really excited about that. The best part of this evening was meeting so many great people from the area. As we’ve said, we’re proud to be a part of the South Park/Golden Hill business community.

On that note, this Saturday (6/21) is South Park’s 9th Annual Old House Fair from 10 am to 4 pm, right on our street at 30th & Beech. Think music, food, and vendors that specialize in restoring, refurbishing, and renewing old homes. There will also be other local businesses, a trolley tour of South Park for $5, a home tour ($15 dollar admission), and a free walking tour.

Well, it looks like June 17th will come and go as our opening target. We are so close, but we now have to do a more extensive plumbing job than we anticipated. It’s a simple tea scoop that has us required to do a full commercial sink set up. We will get this done as quickly as possible and have doors open as soon as the last detail is in place. We are almost fully stocked in the shop, just waiting to have the final teas shipped right before doors open.

This has been an amazing learning experience, and we appreciate your patience. We have had so many people tell us they can’t wait for the shop to open. Neither can we.

As always, thanks for checking in.

- James

Jun

9

New Arrivals

June 9, 2008 | 5 Comments

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photo: soriyanagidesign.com

We have had some exciting new teaware arrivals this week, and this item is one of my favorites. This kettle was designed by Sori Yanagi in 1994 and received Japan’s Good Design Award in 1998. It is Yanagi’s most popular design in Japan, constructed mainly of handmade parts with a wide bottom for rapid heating. This is one of those objects that just feels good in the hand. Many kettles and teapots often place looks over function and tend to feel unbalanced when you use them. Not this one. Yanagi has played a major role in the development of Japanese industrial design and is still actively designing at age 92. Internationally, he is perhaps most known for his Butterfly Stool (below), designed in in the mid-1950’s and influenced by his visits with Charles Eames.

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There’s more good stuff to talk about with the shelves being stocked and new teas arriving. We have a few things to hash out before the doors open. We do appreciate your patience!

Thanks for checking in.

- James

Jun

4

Other Blogs v.2

June 4, 2008 | 2 Comments

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In the spirit of “Other Things We Love,” Grain Edit is definitely among my current favorite blogs. Once in a while we’ll stray from tea to feature our favorite design, food, music, etc. There are so many good design-related sites and blogs out there these days; so if you’re into that stuff stay tuned. In the meantime I leave you with this smart cover design for Chicago 3: a catalog of work from the Artists Guild of Chicago, Chicago Society of Communicating Arts and the Society of Typographic Arts. This gem of a cover is from 1969. I love the double read—3 C’s or C3—nice! The work is founded in the same modernist principles that are clearly evident in a lot of design today. It’s an enduring aesthetic that has spanned many decades—not considering that minor hiccup in the 80’s. You know, this one.

Hope all is well. Thanks for checking in.

- James

Jun

1

But I don’t have any pictures to post (sorry). Photos within the expo were prohibited and for some reason we just didn’t break out the camera during the rest of the trip. Perhaps it’s because “the rest of the trip” was a whirlwind overnight stay that began on Friday with a 4 am wake-up for a 6:30 am flight to Vegas. We left the next day at 7 pm, a perfect amount of time to get everything done while not staying longer than necessary. Mandalay Bay is like being in a little micro city where the outside world is a different universe. Even when you only have one beer during the entire trip, Vegas can be its own kind of hangover. We did find a pretty good Asian noodle restaurant where we had a couple of meals that were better than the fish tacos we had our first night. That’s what we get ordering fish tacos in the desert.

Anyway, it was nice to see a few new noteworthy companies and products. Since we are pretty solid with our Indian, Chinese and Japanese teas, we were mainly looking to tighten up the list and connect with some growers from different countries. A couple of these will likely make it on the list. There were other interesting products that we will indeed feature in-store and online. We’ll talk more about all of these as they arrive.

As always, thanks for checking in. Stay tuned, things are happening.

- James