Blog | Loose Leaf Tea, Tea Gifts & Tea Room in Albany, NYAlbany's Premier Tea Lounge and Bubble Tea Bar

What’s Brewing at S&S in October

October 18, 2014 What's Brewing 0

Anniversary Celebration Tuesday, October 7th

The celebration starts now with 20% off all loose tea and accessories, $2 for a pot of tea served in house or to go cup, and $1 teas for the children.

Also, if you bring a friend that has never been to the Tea Shop, both of you will receive a free tea sample of your choice and be entered to win a prize. All first time visitors are eligible.

On Tuesday, October 7th from 5-7 we’ll have an open house party, We’ll showcase our new line of tea sandwiches for private parties and of course sampling new teas that we just added during this Fall. So, stop in for the free sampling!!

The Addition of Ten New Exciting Teas

I don’t have room to list them all here, but they are a wide variety of new teas including oolong tea, black tea, mate, rooibos and an Tulsi (Holy Basil) herbal. The most exciting blends include Fit and Slim tea blend that helps aid digestion and a White Tip Oolong from Formosa. Keep an eye to facebook for our tea spotlight. https://www.facebook.com/shortandstouttea

Tea Basics and Tastings are Wed 10/15 and 10/29

Tea Talks are back and they are happening now twice a month. On Wednesday 10/15 our Tea Basics topic is “What is Tea” and we will be tasting four teas. On Wednesday 10/28 we will be doing a Black Tea Tasting.

Each month we will be discussing different topics and tasting different tea. Each event costs $3 and early registration is suggested.

Craft Fair Updates for October

We will be at Goold Orchard Apple Festival from Friday 10/10 to 10/12un and festive event for everyone in the family. Click here for more info http://www.goold.com/festival.html

We will be at Niskayuna High School Saturday 10/25. It’s never to early to start shopping for the Holiday Season.

4 Examples of Breakfast Teas

September 29, 2014 Tea Talk 0

What is a Breakfast Tea?

There is more to it than just a tea for a hearty breakfast. Breakfast teas are a blend of black teas from different countries. The most common blends are English, Irish and Scottish. Keemun from China was highly prized as the English’s favorite black tea, but it became rare and expensive during trade disagreements. To make Keemun last longer the British blended it with more common teas, hence English Breakfast.

English Breakfast is by far the most common. It is the lightest of the major three. most of the blend is Ceylon for Sri Lanka. This happens to be the place where Sir Lipton got most his tea. Other regional teas in the blend include Keemun and Assam.
Irish Breakfast is a stronger blend with the majority of tea coming from Assam (India). Assam black teas are the boldest teas in Asia. The timing of higher Indian export of Assam Tea and the rise of tea interest in Ireland led to a favoring of Assam in the Irish blend. Other regional teas in this blend include Ceylon and Keemun.
Scottish Breakfast tea is bolder than Irish with it’s combination of Kenyan Teas and Assam Tea. It is said that Scottish Breakfast is the strongest of them all because of the soft water in Scotland lead to lighter infusions.
A lesser known breakfast tea is Queen Catherine. Queen Catherine was married to King Charles II in 1662. She popularized breakfast tea and her blend is lighter than English Breakfast since it is a blend of Chinese Black Teas including Keemun.

So there is your five minute explanation of what breakfast teas are and what makes them different.

What’s Brewing at S&S in September

September 7, 2014 What's Brewing 0

New Artist’s Installation

African Sunset

We are excited to have Tim Dobert fromDobertsCanvas.com showing his artwork at Short and Stout Tea. Tim has great range from detailed butterflies, Buddhism inspired hill tops and terrific ocean scenes. He is making his amazing paintings even more affordable with a $50 off groupon.

Check out the deal here at Groupon.com

Mopar Car Show at Short and Stout Tea

with Cafe Calabria Sept 13th

On Saturday, September 13th from 9am to 12 noon with Café Calabria, we will be sponsoring a Mopar Car show in our parking lot. We will be offering free tea and pastries for registrants. More details will be available on our facebook page and atCapitalCarShows.com

Craft Fair Updates for September

We will be at Apple and Wine Festival in the Altamont Fairgrounds on September 13^thand 14^th. This is a fun and festive event for everyone in the family. We will be at the BIZ Expo at Colonie Center Mall Friday September 26 through Sunday 28th. This event will feature unique home-based, small business and party plan companies including a select group of Arts & Crafts.

Details on Our One Year Anniversary Celebration

From October 1^st to October 7^th, we will be offering 20% off loose tea and accessories, $2 for a pot of tea served in house or to go cup and $1 teas for the children.

Let the gift of Short and Stout Tea be the gift given to your friends. Bring a friend that has never been to the Tea Shop and both of you will receive a free tea sample of your choice and be entered to win a prize. All first time visitors are eligible. Even if your friend doesn’t love tea, don’t worry, that is just a challenge for our staff to find the right match!

The festivities culminate with a sampling party on Tuesday, October 7th from 4 to 6pm.

The most important thing tea drinkers should know

July 25, 2014 Tea Basics 0

Premium whole leaf tea sets itself apart from bagged tea in 2 important ways.

If you cut open a paper tea bag, you will find dust. That’s what the industry calls the smallest particles in the sorting process. Dust is produced when pounds of whole leaf tea are processed. The damaged and dried pieces of leaves fall to the bottom of the netting or bag. This is scooped up and put into tea bags. Part of our evaluation of new teas is fresh looking leaves with a shine and a pleasant bouquet. This is indicative of a leaf that isn’t dried out, has much of its essential oils intact and will provide a great amount of flavor. That is usually absent in bagged tea.

Another benefit from whole leaf tea is re-steeping. Many teas such especially Oolong, Pu-erh and Jasmine Pearls are shaped in a way that offers flavors after several infusions. Utilizing a brewing basket will allow the leaves to expand and circulate in the hot water to get everything the leaves have to offer.

There’s no wrong way to enjoy tea and bagged tea does have its place especially regarding its convenience. If you want to experience the best possible cup, make sure your making it with whole leaf tea.

What’s Brewing in July

July 1, 2014 How To..., What's Brewing 0

Iced Tea for $1

We are celebrating summer with an awesome iced tea deal. Each day we will be selecting one of our premium teas to brew as iced tea and you get to try them at a great price. It’s a great way for you to cool off and try a variety of teas you might not normally try. 16 oz of Iced Tea for $1 until the end of August, enjoy.

French Speaking Night

A French Speaking group is getting together at Short and Stout on Friday July 11th at 6pm. This is an open group for anyone to join.

Short and Stout Mugs

Our much awaited for mugs are here. If you’re a proud Short and Stout Tea Drinker show your stripes. They go for $6.95.

Ideas to Refresh Your Tea Stash

Do you have a drawer full of teas that don’t inspire you to enjoy them? Try these few tips to spark new interest from an old tea.

This time of year herbs are easy to find. Many herbs like mint grow like a weed and there is countless number of potential ingredients found in farmers markets. Go ahead and infuse them into your tea.
Combine flavors already found in your tea drawer. Try combinations like Earl Grey and chamomile and mix two different hibiscus based tisanes together for fruit medley. If you’re using two teabags for one cup make sure to reduce your steeping time or it will be too strong.
Try cold brewing your teas. Put a few teaspoons of tea into a pint of cold water and refrigerate. It’s ready after 6-8 hours, but if it steeped longer or is too strong, just simply dilute it with some water.

What’s Brewing in June

June 24, 2014 What's Brewing 0

Refresh with Iced Teas

With the warming weather our iced “CRAFTeas” have outsold our hot versions. House favorites include Black Berry Madness (Black and Blue Hibiscus, Moroccan Mint and loads of crushed black berries) and Iced Tea Punch (Orange Pineapple, Sencha Green Tea and a splash of sparkling water). Of course our sweet and creamy Thai Iced Teas and Bubble Teas are a big hit.

New Products Now Available

New additions to the shop include Short and Stout branded travel mugs. The aluminum and black mug has a nice sophisticated appearance.

Now that grilling season has started try our Chipotle Black Tea or Jasmine Citrus Green Tea rub. They are a great addition to meat, fish and vegetables. Add it to sour cream for a unique dip.

We have refreshed our pastry offerings to include an assortment from Pie Squared, Zachary’s Pastries and our own kitchen.

3 Steps to Choosing the Right Tea

May 10, 2014 How To..., Tea Basics 0

With so many teas to choose from, there is something for everyone. Whether you know your way around teas and tisanes or you’re new to it all, this guide gives you some practical advice to help choose from Short and Stout’s wide selection. Because who doesn’t get overwhelmed when presented with a host of choices?

Step One: Caffeinated or not. If you don’t mind caffeine, then your options include White, Green, Oolong, Black or Pu-erh tea as well as Yerba Mate tisanes. On the non-caffeinated side, your choices include decaf Black Tea, Herbal Tisanes, Fruit Tisanes and Rooibos.

Step Two: Flavored or Unflavored? Does an infusion of fruit or herbs sound good to you? A spicy chai or do you prefer a traditional straight Green or Black Tea?

Step Three: Consider whether you like bold or light flavor. Bold flavor and caffeine lovers will likely prefer black or Pu-erh tea or Yerba Mate, while those who prefer a lighter flavor will want to consider the White, Green and Oolong teas. Caffeine free bold flavors include hibiscus based fruit tisanes and some Rooibos like our Bomb line which include infusions of pepper. Lighter flavors can come from other Rooibos and Herbal Tisanes.

The options are intriguing and delicious; just make sure you’re having fun, because choosing a tea shouldn’t be frustrating. At Short and Stout, It’s Time for Tea.

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