Just call me gypsy

Today was my first day ALL ON MY OWN at a Farmer's Market. It went really well!! I had a great time! Nevada City was very welcoming and I was extremely happy with how we did, especially considering it was a.) our first time at that location and b.) I wasn't sampling iced tea.

I am beginning to really feel like I (we) are a part of that whole "world". It's funny, it must be quite similar to that of what a gypsy would have been like. We (the vendors) all pack up our wares in our wagons (or cars, :) ) and display them just as pretty as we can manage hoping for someone to turn our way and see what we have to offer. The whole "gypsy world" is quite inviting and everyone really looks out for one another. At the end of any given selling session, you can see vendors trading back and forth. I love that I may come to the market with just tea, but leave with homemade dog food, flowers, radishes, spinich/bell pepper bread and bunches of lavender. What a great job!!! And what amazing people. How lucky am I?

Busy week ahead....need caffeine

We are thrilled. Beyond thrilled. At the Saturday Market in Grass Valley, we were approved to do the Tuesday Night Market in Nevada City along with being invited to yet another market in Nevada City on Wednesday night followed by our regular appearance at the Mill Street Market in Grass Valley on Thursday night. Whew!! I'm exhausted just thinking about it! BUT! Super excited. We are starting to get our name out there.

High Five for Blend Teas!

Yes! We received confirmation today that we have been accepted into the Nevada County Growers Market on Saturday mornings in Grass Valley. We are very excited about this as this is really more of your "typical" farmer's market. It is such a quaint, happy place and the vendors and patrons genuinely want to be there. We are thrilled beyond belief to be joining this group of people. Come see us there!

Website underway

YAY! I've been working like crazy on our website and I think we're finally getting somewhere with it. I should be able to launch it soon (waiting on our domain to get released from our prior domain holder). I'm meeting with our wonderful friend and fantastic photographer, Rebecca Butterfield, on Monday to get some product shots for the online store. Be looking for that! Very exciting stuff!

On another note, I'm working on developing our latest line, called Reme-Tea. With Fall coming up soon, colds and flu's will be more and more prevalent and this new line will not CURE, but will help in aiding your comfort as you fight your ailments.

Working on getting ourselves accepted into Grass Valley's Cornish Christmas. Keep your fingers crossed. Until then.....happy brewing!

Stepping out...

So today I began the arduous task of promoting Blend Teas in stores. I feel that it went fairly well, but the "proof is in the pudding", or so the saying goes. I will expand further on those new stores if (when??) things develop other than just initial contact. On another note, we have received notification that we WILL be at the Grass Valley Celtic Festival in October (yay!)and are working on participating in several other weekend events. Will keep you all informed.

Another fun night tomorrow at the Mill Street Farmer's Market. We will again be sampling two varieties of Twisted Southern Style Sweet Tea along with two others.

Starting to work more on the development of the website. Have had a few good leads, so will be following up with those...I'm hoping that the etsy.com account works out well. We shall see.

Pros??? Well, maybe :)

It is farmer's market eve....quite an event in the Blend Teas household. We run around like Santa's elves trying to package, check and recheck our lists and inventory. Big sighs. BUT so exciting too! I find it very interesting to place our bets the night before on what will be the big seller of the evening. I'm finding (and this will be a total shocker to those of you out there who are reading) that whatever we sample is (in general) the hit of the night.

Last week we launched our new line of Twisted Sweet Teas (thought up by my husband and inspired by his mother). Yet another surprise! Who knew that the Northern California folk would be so taken with Southern Style Sweet Tea??? Certainly not us, but alas! We are thrilled to be proven wrong in this instance. Last week we sold out of our sample, the Sweet Southern Blackberry. This week?? We're sampling TWO! Sweet Georgia Peach and Sweet California Boysenberry. Nor-Cal, we are ready for you to welcome sweet tea into your home!

Packaging continues to be somewhat of a learning experience. While our black tins have had a quite positive response, we are also finding that our "refill" bags are growing in popularity. A few weeks ago, we introduced our 6 ounce size with much success. This week, we will slowly be adding 12 ounce sizes in select teas for those who are REAL tea drinkers (like yours truly). We welcome feedback from our customers. Let us know what you like and why.

On another note, we have received confirmation that we will be vending at the Grass Valley Celtic Festival in October! Yay! Come see us then! We will update you about other events we will be attending.

Happy Brewing....