Baxtertea's Weblog

Reflection on a start up company

baxtertea — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:43:47 +0000

One this day 2 years ago while sitting by a fire at camp, I can up with the idea to start a tea store. When I initially started, I was only going to carry iced tea. I wasn’t even going to have a website. I wanted to sell in the gourmet food section of Amazon. So when I got everything together and applied to gourmet food section I was told they had just closed it to new companies- check back in a few months. My heart sank. There goes that business plan. Say goodbye to all that planning and those sales projections. I started to doubt myself- “This is a bad idea- I should just get a job” but deep down, I
knew this was a great idea! Not wanting to give up before I even really started, I persevered. I hired an amazing web designer (Isite Development) who helped me create an impressive online store. There was no way I was going to have an online store with just a few flavors of iced tea so I started adding products- I am now up to over 200 items! Not only do I carry a wide variety of teas and tea accessories, I have expanded into coffee as well as a successful fundraiser program.

This business was started as a result of soul searching. I knew I wouldn’t be truly happy working for anyone else but myself. So my advice is: Trust your gut- it’s usually right!

Weather+ Mood= My tea choice

baxtertea — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:54:36 +0000

I was at a speaking event last week and someone asked me what my favorite tea was. My answer was simple: depends on the weather and my mood. I got some confused looks. Doesn’t anyone else change their choice of caffeine based on mother nature? For example, if it is sunny day and I’m feeling energized, I like a bold cup such as our China Black Mango or Dutchess Grey. If it is dark and grey, I gravitate towards something soothing like our China Black Congou Rose or China Green Jasmine. If the weather and my mood are indifferent- I am open to trying new things. I get a lot of tea samples and it honestly takes the right day for me to try them. We have a Cinnamon Chai Rooibos that is amazing but it took weeks for me to try because I just wasn’t in the mood for it. Regardless of the weather and my mood, if I want something sweet after dinner that doesn’t have any calories, I choose Blueberry Rooibos or Creamy Island Rooibos. They both taste decedent and don’t kill the waistline! So my question to you: what is your favorite tea?

Why do you think people get so passionate about tea?

baxtertea — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:39:25 +0000

Two words- fond memories! I learned about tea from my grandmother and surrogate grandmother. The ritual of tea was very important to both of them. I would go visit my surrogate grandmother at her 200 year old house overlooking John’s Bay in South Bristol, Maine. Everyone that came into her house drank tea- children, adults, coffee drinkers- you knew you were having tea from a Wedgewood Pot and China tea cups. I remember fondly she always had sugar cubes, which was such a novelty. When I would visit my grandmother, I would watch her prepare tea in a brown earthenware that she bought at the local Woolworths. My grandmother would have tea ready every day when my mom came home from school and they would sit and talk about their days and that tradition continued to her grandchildren. My grandmother believed that the ritual of tea was essential to good health. For me, tea has come to symbolize togetherness and bonding.

Drinking tea alleviates eczema

baxtertea — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:30:13 +0000

Eczema effects millions of people. It can be downright unbearable some days. Nothing seems to really work- the steroid creams are good for a few days but then it comes back! After the steriods comes prednisone- truly a miracle drug for as long as your taking it. So in my quest to escape the grips of eczema, I went online-desperate to try something new- something all natural that doesn’t have horrible side effects (like the irritability that comes with prednisone). I found a study done in Japan that was published in the Archives of Dermatology. Researchers discovered drinking oolong tea improved people’s eczema in as little as one week. In just one short month, a remarkable 63 percent of the 118 participants who completed the study showed positive results.
I know I am going to start drinking more oolong tea. If you have tried this and it works, I’d love to hear your story!
Happy Tea Drinking!

Coffee and tea fundraiser program

baxtertea — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:28:13 +0000

We have started an amazing fundraising program that I am so proud of! I went to a private school growing up so we were always fundraising for something since we didn’t get any outside funding. We usually had to sell unhealthy chocolate candy bars or glittery wrapping paper or the one I dreaded the most- MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS. People didn’t buy the products because they liked or needed them- they did it because they wanted to help your organization or didn’t want to make a little kid cry.

Well, I came up a way to help schools and non-profits raise money and have the customers love the products! I started a coffee/tea fundraiser. In addition to our iced and loose teas, we added 9 flavored coffees including my personal favorite “Simply Sinful“, which is a decedent blend of chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and a touch of cinnamon! Students sell our products and get 40% of each item sold. This fundraiser guarantees success because virtually every household, office and business buy/drinks coffee and tea.

I have consistently been blown away with the responses we have been getting. Here is what a few teachers have said:

“Baxter Tea & Coffee is such a fantastic fundraiser! It was completely stress-free, the students did a fantastic job selling, and the products are incredible. This fundraiser brought in the most profit of all the fundraisers we did for this school year. My students and I are hooked on Baxter Tea & Coffee!”

– Carrie Ricker Middle School, Maine

“We have had such success with your fundraiser- we will doing it every fall and spring! Once people try the product they will keep coming back for more.“
-Hall Dall High School, Maine
To help us get the word out about our fundraising program, if your refer an organization and they complete a fund raiser- you will get $35 in free products- anything in the store! Who can’t use something free these day!

Baxter Tea Company update

baxtertea — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:48:39 +0000

Hi everyone! I am going to be adding gift boxes to my lineup in a few weeks. The gift boxes will be featuring Maine blueberry scone mixes and a great book called Reflections of Maine by a Maine author, along with a tea infuser, tea caddy, demi spoon and tea, of course. One of the baskets will also be featuring some hand made chocolates from Maine that are filled with raspberry- yummy!! I am going to try my hardest to make sure they are available in time for Mother’s Day!

Have a great day!

Brief history of iced tea

baxtertea — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:44:59 +0000

I love iced tea! Right now I have ginger peach on tap! As I sit here with my glass of refreshing iced tea, I wonder how it became so popular. The answer: The 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Mr. Richard Blechynden, India Tea Commissioner and Director of the East Indian Pavilion was not getting many sales for hot tea during the hot days of the fair so he decided to serve it chilled and offered it free to perched fair goers. After the success at the fair, he took his “invention” to New York City and offered it to people during the hot summer months. It didn’t take long for iced tea to become a popular summer time beverage!

Green Tea Margaritas

baxtertea — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:44:03 +0000

After a long hard day, I love coming home and having a margarita! I just tried this receipe from Bromley’s and it is so YUMMY!! I never thought green tea would go in a margarita but the flavor is just fantastic! In case you’re wondering, I used their Temple of Heaven Green Tea. I also have a Mandarin flavored Sencha that I bet would be awesome! Give it a try and let me know what you think…
For each drink, you will need:
1 lime or lemon wedge
saucer of sugar for coating rim of glass
1/2 to 2/3 cup of strongly brewed green tea frozen into 6 to 8
small ice cubes
2 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) premium tequila
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Cointreau
2 tablespoons sugar
Rub the lime wedge around the rim of an old-fashioned glass. Dip and rotate the rim in the saucer of sugar, making sure to keep the sugar on the outside. In a blender, combine the green tea ice cubes, tequila, lemon juice, Cointreau, and sugar. Blend on the pulse setting until slushy. Pour into the sugar-rimmed glass.
Variations: For those who prefer their libations over ice, fill a sugar-rimmed old-fashioned glass 1/3 full of green tea ice cubes. Follow the recipe for Green Tea Margarita, using the blender’s pulse feature to blend the ingredients until the ice is coasrsely chopped and the mixture is frothy. Strain the mixture through a bar strainer into the prepared glass.

Green Tea and Weight Lose

baxtertea — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:31:57 +0000

The question was: Do you think the claims for any of the highly touted green weight loss teas are valid?

Answer: Catechin, an ingredient in green tea, may promote healthy weight loss. Along with being a great antioxidant, a new study shows that drinking green tea may also have an effect on your waistline.

“The study showed that people who drank a bottle of tea fortified with green tea extract every day for three months lost more body fat than those who drank a bottle of regular oolong tea. Researchers say the results indicate that substances found in green tea known as catechins may trigger weight loss by stimulating the body to burn calories and decreasing body fat”. The findings appear in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

How much tea should one drink daily?

baxtertea — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:30:56 +0000

I get some really great questions from customers that hear about these fad tea diets and thought I’d share with you some information I found to be extremely helpful…

“When it comes to a healthy diet, many people focus on what they eat but not on what they drink. Given that beverages now account for more than 20% of total daily calories, about twice as many liquid calories as nutrition experts recommend, this has become an issue of concern. Recently, a panel of leading nutrition experts created “Healthy Beverage Guidelines” that apply the nutrition principles of balance, variety and moderation to beverages, to help consumers make better choices.

The Guidelines emphasize consuming water first because of its ability to hydrate- the primary goal of fluids- without adding calories. The beverage recommended after water is TEA. Up to eight servings of unsweetened tea per day are recommended because tea is naturally calorie-free and provides the added health benefit of antioxidant flavonoids. For full details about the Healthy Beverage Guidelines, visit www.teausa.org