Variety packs! So you can go tea crazy

Variety packs! So you can go tea crazy

Tea.

I could stop right there and many of you will be nodding. Smelling the air. Understanding that memory of your last cup. The taste, the texture, the ritual. Many of you will have absolutely no idea what I’m on about but we may have to forget about you, oh lost soul, for now. Just for a bit.

Stir Tea brand created right here in Queenstown  a brand that wants to give you that feeling of magic with every cup. I will explain.
There is a certain je ne c’est quai about tea. A ritual, a home coming, a massive hug. But also something that takes a stand and say’s ‘this is who I am’. I am not meant to be taken lightly. Not to be given too much milk. To let stand for hours waiting to be drunk. I am not coffee. Nor do I wish to be. I love that about tea. Like cake. I love thee. Stir Tea is something I have fallen in love with.

Tea tea everywhere and not a drop to drink

Tea tea everywhere and not a drop to drink

Always have it in china! It tastes so much better

Always have it in china! It tastes so much better

Etched in Stir Tea owner and resident of Queenstown Michelle Casson’s brain is the sentence “tea found me”. Ski season 2005, training for the New York marathon Michelle experienced what runners often experience whilst pounding the Queenstown Gardens. Ideas flow. New thoughts appear. Time to peel off the layers and sometimes the magic lies within. A new path, a new life. For Michelle accountancy led to tea. And aren’t we happy she found it.

Childhood Summer’s spent in Queenstown is where Michelle’s palette for smells began. Blue gum leaves crushed underfoot as a child, her English/ Irish heritage, and I think the start of her quality control around that first drop. It should be perfect. Water, movement, energy. Tea and it’s history saw Michelle enter the Speciality Tea Institute in the US and little did she know that this little leaf we’ve grown so fond marked the life of Stir Tea

2008 to be exact and Stir Tea was born. Camellia Sinensis is an evergreen shrub native to Asia. Boiled water is poured over the cured leaves and at exactly the right moment (I’m English don’t forget) milk can be added. Sugar too if you’re that way inclined. It’s simple, it’s sensible, it’s right and it’s proper. And I love it. Stir Tea now boasts around 50 types of tea for you, me, the husband’s mother. Teas for the soul, teas to wake you up and softly drift you off to sleep. Fruit teas (that if we’re getting technical aren’t teas by the way, something new I learnt, but rather Tisanes that are non caffeinated.)

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choose the right tea pot

choose the right tea pot

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The brand is something that sticks with me and many of my friends. The beautiful umbrella, shielding us from a soggy day, something to quench the thirst on a hot Summer’s afternoon. A staunch beautiful design with us forever, and like tea, solid, comforting and always there when needed.

Many of us have a ritual when we drink tea. Very personal and often private. I like mine when I’m ill, when I need comfort, when it’s raining outside and coffee just won’t do. I let it steep for a while and then just a hint of milk. Too much and it gets sent back. Even if my loved-one’s grandma made it, I would still send it back. As much as possible served in china with a small saucer. Room for a biscuit. Or two.

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bags hand pressed

bags hand pressed

Stir Tea is mighty in it’s origins but also in it’s progression over the years. Many think it is an international brand when it’s based right here in Queenstown. Tea knows no boundaries, young and old, male or female enjoy a cup of the good stuff.  As the brand grows so does her love for that simple pleasure and the fact that others online love it too. Letters come in thanking Michelle for the delightful, now permanent, little part of their day, Making actual tea in a pot. Searching through the variety packs to find just the right one for that moment.

Not sure where to start? Let me help you oh lost one. There are Black teas, Single Estate Green Tea, White Tea, Herbal.  A hint of spice, a spot of ice, a moment of tradition.  Now don’t be confused. The umbrellas and their specific colours lead the way. They indicate and decipher teas to suit your mood. A little red here, a little green there.

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Michelle at Remarkables Market

Michelle at Remarkables Market

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High quality loose leaf tea sourced and imported from around the world and then, another check, right here in Queenstown, and then and only then sent out to you. Quality, precision and the overarching need for you to have the best tea experience ever.

Stir Tea
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and found at many outlets in Queenstown and Central Otago.

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