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The Flowering of Chilean Tea Culture

This post overviews the flowering of Chilean tea culture. Specifically, it shares how tea displaced mate, and how Chile became the country with the highest per capita tea consumption in Latin America and the only one that drinks more tea than coffee.

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Events

October’s Virtual Tea Table

Join other tea lovers for a restful session around October’s Virtual Tea Table.

This series provides a welcoming weekday space to rest in community with other tea lovers online.

We integrate a meaningful break (30 minutes) into our workweek to slow down and recharge.

Sign up for as many or as few sessions as you like!

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Blog

Afternoon Tea at The Parlour in Park Slope

This post shares my experience enjoying afternoon tea at The Parlour in Park Slope. This New York City tearoom is one of two run by Brooklyn High Low. (BKHL also has a location in Prospect Heights.)

The Parlour’s Address: 69 7th Avenue, (under the stoop) Brooklyn NY 11217

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Blog

Review of Té Company Tearoom in Manhattan

Té Company is a tearoom in the West Village area of Manhattan in New York City. It specializes in Taiwanese tea and their own handmade and delicious tea snacks. You can also buy tea and snacks on their website. (Té is pronounced “tay.”)

Traci at Té Company in Manhattan, NYC, with her friend’s plushie bison (AKA a “luff”). Photo taken by Taniya Gupta.

I can’t believe I haven’t written a review of Té Company before! I have visited Té more than any other teahouse in Manhattan. The calm and cozy space, thoughtfully curated tea choices, excellent service, and delicious snacks keep me coming back. 

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Blog Events

Tea and Rest Practices

This post explains the relationship between my tea and rest practices, the journey they took me on, and how to register for the events they inspired me to create. My August and September 2023 events center on rest!

Traci Levy, a white woman with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing sunglasses and a black sweater, sitting outside and holding a blue and white teacup. Her face is serene and there are trees in the background.
Me–savoring a restful moment with tea.
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Blog

Supporting My Tea Work

Summer updates and information about a new way to support my tea work

Hello Tea Friend! Thanks for stopping by the blog. I have been focusing on several projects. This summer, I’ve held two tea meet-ups: weather and summer meant they were tiny, but lovely. I am about 60% through the online, 12-module meditation course I have been taking. (I mentioned it in my post, “Enticements to Speed Through a Mindfulness Course.”) Also, I’ve been at work planning August-through-December tea events. These projects have left me less time for posting on the blog lately. Thankfully, that is about to change!

Besides posting more on the blog, I am so excited to share my plans soon! You’ll usually find out first–and get exclusive discounts–if you subscribe to my monthly newsletter, Tea Infusiast News. Now for that new “support” part…

An image to represent "support my work:" Photo of two hands grasping beneath a lightbulb with a heart in the middle.
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Blog

Tea that Evokes a Non-Tea Memory

Have you ever sipped a tea that evokes a non-tea memory? It’s not uncommon for a specific tea to evoke a memory of a previous time or occasion when I have enjoyed it. Lipton, for example, will always remind me of growing up and having tea with my family. Black currant tea immediately takes me back to my bridal shower and that exciting time in my life. But, that’s not the kind of memory I’m exploring here.

Big and beautiful Qi Yun #23 leaves on the side of my tea bowl.
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Blog

Enticements to Speed Through a Mindfulness Course

In this post, I reflect on several enticements to speed through a mindfulness course.

My ever-evolving relationship with tea has been one of the main paths through which I have  deepened my mindfulness practice. I am also expanding my practice in new ways. Notably, I recently began an online mindfulness training program. The materials recommend we aim to complete the course in about three months, although we have flexibility. So far, I’m really enjoying the training program’s mix of information, stories, guided meditations, and journal prompts.

speed through mindfulness--icon of person running and person meditating
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Blog

No Input Experiment: Traci’s Perspective

What happens when you and a friend conduct a three-week “no input” experiment? In Part II of this two-part series, I share my reflections after blocking out at least 30 minutes every day not to read, scroll, or turn on anything to listen to. This experiment revealed some of my limiting ideas about when and how I practice mindfulness. It also pointed to a way that I was still buying into the cult of productivity. Changing my behavior gave me time to process my thoughts and feelings, find more contentment in the mundane, and (perhaps most surprisingly) cultivate a new relationship to traffic lights!

An icon of a book, a musical note, and a phone each with a red circle and line drawn through it. These symbols represent "no input."
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Blog

Tea as Art on the Trail

Tea on the Trail began on June 1, 2018 as an art project to drink tea and photograph thrifted teacups on hikes. Nicole McKinney is the talented photographer, ardent tea drinker, and kind soul who created it. In honor of the five-year anniversary of Tea on the Trail, I asked Nicole to reflect on her experience.

Tea on the Trail's Nicole McKinney--a blond woman, smiling, with sunglasses on top of her head, holding a footed pink teacup and matching saucer, in front of a field of bluebells.
Nicole McKinney of Tea on the Trail in her element!