Our new front door
Big news! We have finally set an official opening date for our new location.
The Jasmine Pearl’s
Grand Opening will be on:
Friday, October 1st
That also means we can now begin our countdown to the opening day – only 28 days away! That’s right, exactly a month from today. By then we will all be welcoming the crisp days of fall and you will probably need to stock up on some new teas. What a great excuse to come into our shop!
As we get closer to our grand opening, we’ll post more details about what exciting things we’ll have in store for you. We hope you’re as enthusiastic as we are – we can’t wait to have customers into our new space to taste tea that we can actually talk to face-to-face.
Until next time, have a great Labor Day weekend! We hope you will all be able to relax and enjoy the last bit of summer with some tasty iced tea.
Chucking mudding the wall
Everything is coming along here at The Jasmine Pearl’s new location! Our storage and blending rooms are completely set up and running efficiently. The tasting and retail front room is also making progress.
Last weekend the tea bar was completed when the hardening finish and sealant were applied to the concrete top. The end result looks fantastic! You will all have to come and see it in person once our shop is open to see its almost slate-like appearance.
Heather and Chuck have been busy this week creating a textured effect on some of our front room’s walls. Heather got the inspiration from expensive woven wallpaper that we considered getting for the space. Doing a similar do-it-yourself finish was much more economical! Chuck applied the mud to the walls and Heather followed along with a broom to create the texture. It
Heather applying texture
definitely warms up the room.
Just yesterday we received a shipment of some gorgeous Japanese tetsubin cast iron teapots as well as some fun tea tins. Soon we will have the tetsubins up on our website for purchase (or you can plan on stopping in to see them once we’re open)!
We also received the tins for storing all of our teas on shelves behind the tea bar. That way, if you come in and want to purchase a few ounces of tea we can easily grab the appropriate tin and bag it up. It has been quite a project gluing on the brackets and inserting the labels, but they look great up on the shelves.
The rough estimation of our opening date is in about a month – think beginning of October. Once we have the actual date nailed down, I’ll be sure to start the official countdown! Each week we get more and more excited with the thought of our customers coming in, sitting at our tea bar and tasting teas.
Japanese tetsubin teapots
Tea tins
New display shelf that will be in our front window
Well we’re all moved into our new location! And by moved in I mean we have transported everything from one place to another; a large portion of it is still in disarray, but at least it’s in the right place. It’s amazing how much space we have now! Looking at all the boxes and bags of tea up on the shelves in the storage space it’s a bit mind-boggling how it even all fit in our old location.
We have been hard at work all week putting things away, building furniture, painting/staining, and plugging away at the hundreds of little tasks that need to be completed. It’s coming together but there’s still so much to do! I can say, however, that I’ve enjoyed watching the progress of the front tea tasting area; each day it looks better and better.
I also just wanted to say thank you for your patience during any delays this week – we’re back up and running on schedule now. Feel free to order as much tea as you need in order to make iced tea and stay cool (in Portland we’re supposedly going to get the hottest days of the summer during this weekend and into next week)!
We’re getting ready to move into our new location!
Since our last update, the countertop of our tea bar has been poured, sinks have been installed and we’re starting to move over tables and shelving for our blending room. This week we’re also having all the various inspectors come in to approve our space. Quite a step up from our current location, our new facility has over 2,000 square feet of blending and storage room as well as a 500-square-foot tea tasting and retail area! We’re really looking forward to customers being able to come into our shop, chat with us, taste teas and purchase tea and teaware on the spot!
A small taste of the tea bar's concrete countertop
We’re planning on actually moving ourselves next week – this means everything, from all of our office equipment to all of our teas. Because of this, we anticipate some delays in order fulfillment from Friday, August 6th to Thursday, August 12th. We’ll try to get orders out as quickly as we can, but if you think you’ll be in need of tea soon, now’s the time to place an order!
After we move in it will take us a few weeks to get settled, work on all the details and iron out any kinks before we will open to the public. Once we set an official grand opening date, we’ll be sure to let you know right away! Until then, keep checking back for updates.
The buildout of the new space is going remarkably well! It’s amazing how quickly things can go when you have very helpful and hardworking people like Chuck’s parents, Pam and Fred, busy at the new location every day. They even constructed a one-of-a-kind tea bar for us! The bar is now in the space, but still has many elements that need to be added to it – including the concrete top that is going to be poured on Friday.
The not-yet-completed tea bar
In addition to the bar, the bamboo flooring has been put in, all the walls are up and painted, the sinks are about to be installed and there’s shelving ready to be put up. Everything is really coming along. We’re all planning on moving to the new space in the next few weeks to get ourselves settled and set up before our grand opening, which we’ll be having in the next couple months!
We’ll keep you posted…
Nathan, Chuck and Heather being goofy in our booth
One angle of the Purple Haze farm
We’re back from the Sequim Lavender Festival! The festival took place this last weekend on the northern Olympic Peninsula of Washington in Sequim (for those of you unfamiliar with this town like I previously was, it’s pronounced “sqwim”). Although there seemed to be less visitors than years past, we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had fun talking to people about tea. Purple Haze Lavender Farm, where we had our booth set up, was beautiful and I must say I didn’t get tired of the scent of lavender that would drift over to our booth with each passing gentle breeze. The farm had red poppies mixed in with its lavender plants which provided a great contrast of color as well as a gorgeous sight to view the whole weekend. We also lucked out with the weather – even though all three mornings started out foggy, by early afternoon that would lift to reveal perfectly blue skies. On Saturday we even sold out of all three kinds of our iced tea we were serving: Ginger Peach, Jasmine Harmony and Clementine Sunset! Being that it was the Lavender Festival all around town, our most popular seller by far was Jasmine Harmony since it contains dried lavender.
Heather doing a tea demo
Each day at 2:00p.m. Heather did a tea demonstration and gave out free samples of our tea. On Saturday she even ended up doing a couple extra tastings because it was the day with the most visitors and the demos also helped to draw people in.
Overall, we’re happy we decided to attend the Lavender Festival again after our hiatus from the previous year. It was nice to hear from many people that we were missed last year! I personally enjoyed the experience, my first festival and event with The Jasmine Pearl. Then again, who wouldn’t want to spread joy through tea?
Lots and lots of lavender
We all know lavender as the pleasantly fragrant, purple flowering plant that’s utilized extensively for its distinctive scent. Its dried flowers and essential oils are included in everything from aromatherapy to bath products to medicines to sachets and potpourris. Less commonly known is its inclusion in foods and beverages.
Lavender’s dried blossoms can actually be quite delicious when brewed as an herbal infusion – its taste stays true to its floral aroma. Since it can be pretty strong when brewed alone, lavender is more enjoyable when blended with other herbs and teas. Lavender produces a soothing brew that is slightly sweet and is said to help relieve stress, fatigue, headache, upset stomach and insomnia. As we’ve just begun summer, now is a great time to discover that lavender is also refreshing when used in an iced tea or tisane.
At The Jasmine Pearl, we have several blends that include dried lavender:
- Lavender Honey Spice (herbal)
- Rest Easy (herbal)
- Lavender Rose (white tea)
- Jasmine Harmony (green tea)
- We also sell lavender flowers on their own
Lavender Honey Spice
Rest Easy
Lavender Rose
Jasmine Harmony
We’re looking forward to attending the annual Sequim Lavender Festival – just a couple weeks away – in Washington from July 16-18. We will have a booth for The Jasmine Pearl with iced tea readily available as well as our teas and teaware for purchase. If you’re going to be there, make sure to stop by and say hello to us at the Purple Haze Lavender Farm – we would love to see you!
Serving loose leaf tea is often avoided in coffee shops and cafés because it is thought to be harder to brew than teabags and also take up a lot of space. However, Michael Stout from The Golden Moon Tea Company recently wrote an article featured in the June 2010 issue of CoffeeTalk, titled “How Coffee Houses Can Earn an Additional $20,160 Per Year Using Loose Tea.” In the article, Stout gives advice on how to easily make the switch to loose tea from teabags while also making a larger profit.
What you might first be curious about (I know I was) is how Stout came to his $20,160 figure. Here’s his explanation:
- Let’s say you’re currently selling a teabag for $1.50 and your cost of materials (teabag and cup) is $0.10. Your profit is then $1.40.
- Let’s say your cost of materials for a cup of loose leaf tea (tea, cup and paper infuser) is $0.26. Although the initial cost for you is higher, you can charge more for loose tea and customers will pay it because of its additional benefits. With loose tea, you can charge a premium of $1.00. If you currently charge $1.50 for a cup with a tea bag, that means for loose tea you would charge about $2.50. With this price your profit is $2.24, which is $0.84 higher than the $1.40 you would make from a teabag.
- An extra $0.84 can seem insignificant if you don’t sell much tea. Stout goes on to explain: If a coffee shop makes $400,000 a year in sales and 9% of that is from tea, that’s roughly 24,000 cups of tea. With an additional $0.84 per serving of tea, profits would increase $20,160 per year.
Obviously your increase in profit will not be exactly the same as the number Stout came up with. It will depend on your specific cost of materials, the difference between what you charge for loose tea versus a teabag, your annual profit and what percentage of that profit comes from tea sales.
Brewing Loose Tea
Filling a paper infuser
Stout goes on to discuss why it may be assumed that brewing loose tea is difficult. A lot of the time, it is because the wrong tools are being used – such as thinking a teapot needs to be used to brew a cup of loose tea. A great way to serve a to-go cup of tea is with a disposable paper infuser, generally known as the brand name T-Sac. T-Sacs are oversized teabags you fill with loose tea that are also inexpensive and all natural. Since these infusers are bigger than typical packaged teabags, it allows room for the tea leaves to open up and release flavor. Using a paper infuser is not hard to do: simply open the container the tea is stored in, scoop out a single serving of tea, fill the infuser and place it in a cup with hot water.
Displaying the Tea
In addition to paper infusers, the only other items you need to start serving loose tea are containers to store the tea, scoops for serving, and the tea itself, so the initial starting costs are not very high. Good containers for loose tea are made of tin or glass and are square – containers with round edges waste a lot of space on a shelf. Even more space is saved if the containers are stackable. When first carrying loose tea, a good number to start with is six different teas. This will allow a nice mixture of black and green teas as well as herbal blends and will also not take up a lot of room. Once you have all the necessary materials, it’s a good idea to create an eye-catching display, which glass containers are especially good for. With glass, customers are able to see the tea before they order it.
Benefits
Since most cafés serve teabags, just having loose tea available will interest customers, as many people have not seen it up close. In the article, Stout attests that people are willing to pay more for loose tea because it looks nicer, smells nicer and tastes better than bagged tea. Loose tea is composed of whole tea leaves while teabags contain ground up leaves called “fannings,” which lose their flavor much quicker than full tea leaves. With loose tea, customers will appreciate the extra step of service and that you’re willing to go further for quality. Overall, serving loose leaf tea over bagged tea is a win-win. Your business will end up making more money and your customers will be happy you’re serving a better quality product.
Working on the back counter; paint samples on the wall
The sun has finally arrived in Portland (at least for the time being) and construction at our new space is underway and going very well so far! The ceiling has been patched up, floors are being worked on, doors are being moved, walls are being constructed and paint samples have gone up on the wall. Everything is moving along quite quickly and we’ll be sure to update periodically with pictures of our progress so check back regularly!
Wall frames for our offices
Herbal “teas” are not technically tea because they do not contain any part of the Camellia sinensis plant. More accurately, drinkable herbs and herbal combinations should be called “tisanes,” “herbal blends” or “herbal infusions.”
Here at The Jasmine Pearl there are three bases we use for our herbal blends:
- Rooibos (or Redbush) – A South African bush that is harvested and allowed to oxidize. It is similar to black tea in body and flavor, however it contains more nutrients than tea but no caffeine!
- Green Rooibos (or Greenbush) – Comes from the same bush as rooibos, but is unoxidized. Green rooibos brews and tastes similar to green tea but has no astringency as well as no caffeine.
- Honeybush – another South African herb that is similar to rooibos. It is bold, has lots of body and contains honey and vanilla notes.
Since caffeine is not a concern when tasting herbals, we sampled a pretty extensive list of our blends at The Jasmine Pearl! Some notes on each, including their ingredients:
Honey Cup
Lavender Honey Spice
Rest Easy
Honeycup -
Rooibos, natural honey flavoring and bee pollen. This is a lovely, sweet cup with honey flavor that is great on its own – no sweetener or milk is needed.
Lavender Honey Spice -
Rooibos, cardamom, lavender, bee pollen, and natural honey flavoring. A full, slightly spicy blend with just a hint of floral notes from the lavender.
Rest Easy -
Rooibos, chamomile, lemon verbena and lavender. True to its name, this blend is calming and great in the evening. It’s sweet, fruity and floral all at once.
Clementine Sunset
Red Chai
Clementine Sunset -
Rooibos, chamomile, orange peel, orange essential oils and clementine essential oil. Clementine Sunset is delightfully fruity and light. It is wonderful both hot and iced.
Red Chai -
Rooibos, cardamom, cinnamon, anise, peppercorns, nutmeg and cloves. Great as an after-dinner or dessert tea since it doesn’t contain any caffeine, this chai is full, spicy and sweet.
Lime Twist
Yoga Blend
Detox Blend
Lime Twist -
Green rooibos, ginger, lemon myrtle, lemongrass and lime essential oil. This blend is mellow, fresh and unique and is enjoyable both hot and iced.
Yoga Blend -
Ginger, cinnamon, honeybush, fennel, black peppercorns, cardamom and nettles. On top of being quite tasty and a tiny bit spicy, this blend stimulates digestion and warms up the body.
Detox -
Dandelion root, milk thistle seed, sarsaparilla, yellow dock, ginger, lemon myrtle and honeybush. This blend is composed of naturally detoxifying herbs and has a mellow, earthy flavor.
Rose Verbena
Women's Blend
Feel Better
Rose Verbena -
Lemon verbena, spearmint, rose petals and rosebuds. Rose Verbena is a great bedtime beverage as it doesn’t contain any caffeine and is mellow, with citrus and floral notes.
Women’s Blend -
Raspberry leaf, cinnamon, lemon verbena, orange peel, nettles, sarsaparilla, red clover and red and pink roses. The herbs were combined specifically to cleanse and balance a woman’s body. It also produces a nice-smelling brew that tastes great any time of day.
Feel Better -
Chamomile, ginger, lemon myrtle, eucalyptus and peppermint. A delicious and calming combination.
Mint Medley
Lemon Hibiscus
Red Hot Hibiscus
Mint Medley -
Peppermint, spearmint and lemon myrtle. This blend is great for those who enjoy mint. The small amount of lemon myrtle helps bring out the best flavors (and calm the intensity) of both mint types.
Lemon Hibiscus -
Hibiscus, lemongrass and lemon verbena. Lemon Hibiscus produces a gorgeous deep pink brew that is tart, fruity and floral in flavor. Because of the bold flavor of the hibiscus, this tisane is great iced.
Red Hot Hibiscus -
Cinnamon, hibiscus and orange peel. This infusion gives a bright pink brew and is sweet and tangy. It’s delicious cold and tastes similar to cinnamon candy.
Yerba Mate
Yerba mate is a shrub in the myrtle family that grows in South America. This herb has a very unique, smoky, strong flavor. It also contains less caffeine than coffee, but more than black tea, so it has become a popular drink for those trying to reduce their coffee intake.
Mint Mate
Yerba Chai
Mint Mate -
Yerba mate, peppermint and spearmint. A refreshing combination of the earthiness and smokiness of yerba mate and the zest of mint.
Yerba Chai -
Yerba mate, cardamom, cinnamon, anise, peppercorns, nutmeg and cloves. Best with milk and sugar, this chai is more earthy and mellow than other chai varieties.
Why drink herbals?
- A lot of the astringency in tea comes from the caffeine; since herbals are often caffeine-free, astringency is not a concern.
- Herbals are very forgiving with how they are brewed. They can be brewed too hot or for too long and still taste good. If tea is over brewed it often becomes bitter but this is not true of herbals. Herbals may become stronger in flavor, however will not become bitter.
- Some herbals are said to have medicinal qualities. A couple examples: Citrus is known for providing clarity to the mind, which is good for studying. Ginger can help settle the stomach.
