It’s not often that you get to walk into one of the hottest night clubs in L.A. without waiting in line. Yet there I was walking through the side entrance of Social, right past the large, ear piece wearing security guys with nothing more than a cool nod.
Ok so it was actually 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning – which made the scene all the more surreal. I had arrived at “A Soolip Wedding” to show off Art of Tea to those looking for creative, beautiful, and unique wedding ideas.
I made my way past rooms full of photographers, dressmakers, bakers and stationary experts. Then I noticed a small sign on the entrance to a room that simply read “Tea Room & Lounge”. The room had a pool table in the middle that was being draped with a white table cloth. Around it were low cocktail tables and plush lounge chairs for people to relax. At the back of the space was a six foot table draped in green. “Perfect”. We had our own room – an oasis in the storm if you will.
With no billiard balls out to play a game, I could only sit and wait for my guru, Steve Schwartz, to arrive with the rest of our supplies. He is often a few minutes late for things. His world doesn’t revolve around Grenich Mean Time like the rest of us. Steve lives in a calm and peaceful time zone that I call Tea Time. It never matters because he is always ready. This is a guy that has found “it” in his life and I try to absorb “it” whenever I am around him. Today would be full of extra “it”.
He had an unusually happy grin on his face as he pulled a small round orange stick out of a box. It was about eight inches long and had the letters T N T on the side. “What are you doing?” He looked at me and laughed. As he handed me the “stick” I quickly noticed under the dangerous moniker it said “Happy Tea”. “What’s this – a joke?”
Steve assured me this was no joke and that I was one of the first people in this country to hold this particular stick of TNT. He explained that on a recent trip to the East he met a seventh generation Chinese medical practitioner. This woman was developing a new line of teas that are based on generations of her families’ experience in herbal medicine. The product was different than anything I had ever seen. The stick contained 20 small round pressed disks. Each disk was a mix of organic herbs, fruits and flowers. The disks would brew half a liter of tea each and could probably be brewed a second time. We quickly heated some water a brewed a pot of Happy Tea. Steve poured a cup of the orange elixir for me and just smiled. The flavor was fantastic. It was soft on the palate and very fragrant on the finish. It lingered in my mouth kind of like taking a bite of a really ripe peach. Organic, caffeine free, positive health benefits and delicious – this stuff was Steve’s newest “it”.
I was honored to be with him as we introduced TNT to the attendees at Soolip, and America, right there in the billiard room at Social. Not a single person at the event had anything bad to say about it. We poured TNT along side our Rooibos based “Citrus Blossom” and “Blooming Bliss” – the fantastic jasmine scented blooming tea. Despite the popularity of these two, most everyone agreed the TNT was something truly special and exceptionally delicious.
The end of the day brought some bad news. I wanted to know when I could take TNT out with me to share with my partnering restaurants around town. Steve informed me that the four sticks we had on the table were sent as samples only, so for now there is no more to show. The good news however was that Art of Tea will be receiving TNT in about six weeks and our shipment will include more flavors. With names like “Chill Out”, “Tea for Her”, “Tea for Him” and “Happy Tea” here Steve has defiantly found a new “it” for all of us to enjoy. Stay tuned it should be an explosive summer………generic online propecia
Mengyang, China, also known as land of plenty and land of the song and dance. Mengyang enjoys all four seasons and is a prime source of raw tropical land rich in fertile soil. In the whole town there governs 8 village meetings, 50 different ethnic villages, 58 village groups in a national territorial area of nearly 100 square miles.