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Review of Té Company, East Village Tearoom

Té in the West Village of NYC, is one of my favorite tearooms. So, when an East Village Location of Té Company opened, I couldn’t wait to try the new tearoom.

Tea bar at the East Village location of Té Company

I’ve been to the East Village location of Té twice now. Once, before hours, for a tea tasting–a wonderful experience. The second time, I met my daughter-in-law for tea there. Also a wonderful experience. I like to visit a place more than once–if I possibly can–before I review it.

Great news: This location, as far as I can tell, has the same excellent selection of Taiwanese teas as the original Té. (See my review of the original, West Village location here.)

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Blog Events

Spring Rest Kit for Tea Lovers

Make it easy to have restorative and mindful tea sessions this spring: purchase your Spring Rest Kit for Tea Lovers!

Imagine carving out time to enjoy a peaceful, mindful tea session. You spend a few moments using a practice to ground yourself. Then, you mindfully drink your tea and take time to journal. Maybe there is even music playing. At the end, you notice that you feel more at ease and peaceful.

I designed this Spring Rest Kit for Tea Lovers to help you have experiences like this!

The words "Spring Rest Kit for Tea Lovers" and "Tea Infusiast" appear in a teacup nestled into purple phlox flowers.
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Blog

What’s Mindful Tea?

Ever wonder what people mean when they refer to “mindful tea” or a “mindful tea session?” This post shares one vision of what that could look like.

You carve out 10 minutes. Or 20 minutes. Or 30.

Imagine sitting down in front of your tea things with resources to help you have a convenient, restful, and mindful tea session. Or, you just have your cup of tea.

Glass fairness pitcher of amber tea with sun shining on it next to blooming white orchids.

Maybe the sun is streaming through a nearby window. Maybe the rain is sliding down it.

Perhaps you’ve arranged your tea space with intention. A smooth rock from a beach vacation is next to your teacup. Blooming flowers are nearby, as is your journal.

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Blog Tasting Notes

Ode to Roam

This post is my ode to Roam–a loosely compressed Dian Hong black tea blend sold by Crimson Lotus Tea. (This post is NOT sponsored.)

Front wrapper of Crimson Lotus Tea's 200g Roam tea cake. The wrapper is white with a red "bison" and a red lotus flower.
200g loosely compressed tea cake of Roam from Crimson Lotus Tea. It's circular with an indentation in the middle. The leaves ranges from very dark brown, almost black, to caramel colored.
Back wrapper of Crimson Lotus Tea's 200g Roam tea cake. The wrapper is white with the word "Roam" in black font and says "2021 Dianhong / Black Tea" it's from Crimson Lotus Tea.

Some teas are beautiful (to me) in ways that are easy to explain–heady floral bouquet, deep minerality, silky texture, notes of cream, chocolate, or berries, and so on. By contrast, other teas win my heart and it’s much harder to explain why. Roam is one of those teas!

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Blog

Tea, Flowers, and Happiness

Tea, flowers, and happiness (I mean sunshine!) can help me slide more easily into presence. Please allow me to explain.

tea leaves in a white dish with a gold border on a bamboo mat. Sunshine is coming through a nearby window and falling on the orchid flowers.

In my regular meditation practice, I meditate in all kinds of spaces–my living room, a doctor’s office, in a meditation center, and in my car. The list goes on.

One of my favorite places to meditate when I am not practicing with others is at my kitchen table in the morning with my tea things. Taking a few minutes to set up this space is a great enhancer of the experience.

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Blog Events

Tea Meditation on Campus

Recently, I led a tea meditation on the campus where I teach. It was an honor. The Mindfulness Center organized the event and invited me to offer it in their serene space. I have experience offering tea meditations online and in person. In person is trickier in the sense that I often have to bring some of the tea things. So, for this event, I needed to think about what items campus had, what I must provide, and what I might also bring to enhance the experience.

space set up for a tea meditation. It includes meditation cushions, tea bowls, and cloth napkins on a woven mat.
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Blog Events

Presenting at the Toronto Tea Festival

Traci Levy AKA Tea Infusiast--a white woman with should length silver hair and glasses, wearing a blue sweater and skire and red boots, standing in front of the 2025 Toronto Tea Festival sign.

Let me share my great experience presenting at the Toronto Tea Festival!

I was delighted that the Toronto Tea Festival organizers accepted my workshop proposal: “ConnectiviTEA: Tea Lovers Unite” for the 2025 event.

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Blog

What You Need to Steep Tea Gongfu Style

A question from another tea lover on Instagram inspired me to write a post about how to get started and get what you need to steep tea gongfu style!

What is Gongfu Cha?

Two gongfu cha teapots and two teacups next to a tea leoaves

Gongfu cha (skillfully prepared tea) is a style of brewing tea that originated in China over 1,000 years ago. It involves using a higher ratio of tea leaves to water than Western-style tea brewing. Small steeping vessels–teapots or gaiwans–are used with small cups. (A gaiwan is a kind of Chinese bowl with a lid.)

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Blog

Companies that Sell Loose Leaf Tea Samples

Let’s talk about tea companies that sell loose leaf tea samples.

So, you are interested in exploring loose leaf tea. Perhaps you are even interested in brewing with a gongfu cha approach. But, you aren’t sure where to get the tea or how to start looking.

I have some suggestions!

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