❄️ December Newsletter

I hope you are finding some solace & joy in the final days of fall. If not, the many offerings below may help.

Today's newsletter topics:

🎁 Member Giveaway!!!
🧺 Winter Solstice Teapotluck
🌐 Resource Hub

But first, here's our December calendar:

RSVP for upcoming events:

📀 Steeped in Sound (RSVP)
Dec 6 – Greenpoint – 2pm

🫖 Tea Talk on "home" (RSVP)
Dec 9 – Bushwick – 7pm

🧺 Teapotluck: Winter Solstice (RSVP)
Dec 21 – BedStuy – 1pm

Volunteer opportunities:

🥬 Distro with Riders4Rights
Dec 13 – BedStuy – 10:30am

📦 Prepare Tea Boxes
Dec 15 thru Dec 19 – Bushwick

Housekeeping notes:

• Reminder: you can gift memberships! Simply sign up (here) with your own info, then reply to your welcome email with the giftee's information.
• New discounts for members! Discount codes can be accessed here.
  • 20% off the 2026 issue of The Other Almanac (here), a re-imagined farmer's almanac calculated specifically for NYC
  • 20% off a year's subscription of Leafhopper (here), a newsletter all about tea written by award winning journalist Max Falkowitz

🎁 Thank you, Sippers & Steepers!

A couple of weeks ago, we reached a milestone: there are now over 100 people making monthly donations toward The Tea Stand!

As a thank you to all of the Sippers & (Big) Steepers out there who are making this project possible, we are giving away some goodies to our members. If you're not a member, you aren't eligible for the giveaway... but you can always sign up here!

Below are the three gifts we're giving away – check them out, and reply to this email by Thursday which gift(s) you'd like to enter the giveaway for.

(You are totally encouraged to put your name in for all 3 gifts; I just want to make sure people only receive items they are excited about.)

Gift A: Teacups

A pair of teacups made by Darren Chitt, an Indiana-based artist & massage therapist. Darren gifted us these teacups upon our first encounter at last month's Tea Talk – such astonishing generosity! (The wisdom he shared during the the Tea Talk was also a gift.)

These medium-sized (4-6oz) teacups are perfect to use a host cup or to welcome a guest with a small serving of tea. And the lightly glazed exterior makes for a lovely hand-feel!

More about Darren here.

Gift B: Tea

Some delicious tea! This tea bundle includes...

• a rich black tea by white2tea (more)
• a 2008 vintage pu-erh cake by Bana Tea (more)
• a Tieguanyin oolong by Of Tea (more)

Whether you're familiar with these teas or not, this bundle will deliver dozens of delicious cups of tea. The retail value of these teas is well over $100! Thank you to Jill, Linda of Bana Tea, and Suling of Of Tea for donating these teas.

Gift C: Creature

This ambiguous creature serves no master and has unknowable powers.

My mom, my favorite artist, made this creature with the intention of creating a pitcher, but some clay got stuck in its mouth, so it doesn't pour. (If you're feeling bold, get a Dremel in there and you may be able to unclog it.)

It is beautiful, hefty, and mysterious.

Donations made by Sippers & Steepers make up about 80% of our income, and thus directly enable the continued existence of this project and my ability to work on it full-time.

Without the 100+ of you supporting this project, we would not be able to...

• serve thousands of free cups of tea a year (we just served our 4,000th cup of 2025)
• collaborate with & support local mutual aid groups, independent artists, and other community orgs
• create spaces for people to slow down, meet their neighbors, and connect with life around them (without needing to spend any money!)

Thank you to all of you who are financially supporting me, The Tea Stand, and our community of neighbors & collaborators. Your support is deeply appreciated 🧡

You can learn more about our membership program here and/or explore the perks received by members here.

🧺 Winter, Ritual, and Lucky Pots of Tea

For me & The Tea Stand, the solstices & equinoxes represent opportunities to celebrate special days which aren't contaminated by capitalism.

In celebration of the winter solstice on Dec 21, we're hosting a Teapotluck event in Herbert von King Park! RSVP here.

This winter solstice celebration will follow a similar format to previous Teapotluck events – we will be asking visitors to bring some tea along with them, we will be making a big ole brew with said tea, and one cup of this communal brew does guarantee good luck (which lasts until the next Teapotluck).

In addition to our signature giant pot of tea, we'll also have copies of our new issue of bōcha, writing prompts to reflect on the seasonal change, and a build-your-own-wreath activity using natural materials led by local herbalist Serena Kleeman.

We'll also bring some Tea Boxes if we have any left, and there may be some CDs with a winter solstice mix curated by The Tea Stand??? _wow

By observing the solstices & equinoxes, we can be mindful of our environment (like growing cycles & weather patterns), honor the natural cycles of life, and come together to celebrate change, the sun, and each other.

For the winter solstice in particular, we seek to embrace this period of cold and darkness while recognizing the days only get longer from here on out. As Tobie Whitman writes in An Encyclopedia of Radical Helping,

We are told endless summer is the goal in all domains. How are you? Doing great! But seasons of perpetual sun don't exist. Possibilities await when we admit and embrace the darkness. Have you wintered? Did you slow down? Did you rage? Were you overcome with fear? Did you shed a skin? Did you transform? Tell someone about it. We need to know.

🌐 Resources for all!

Over the past three years, The Tea Stand has collaborated with hundreds of artists, spaces, community orgs, mutual aid groups, etc. While we've done our best to spotlight all those we work with, we recognize it can be overwhelming to keep track of the many projects & people in our orbit.

Introducing the Resource Hub: an online directory of folks we've collaborated with and/or admire from nearby. Check it out here!

The Resource Hub contains 50+ community initiatives, local artists, tea shops, and more. Each entry has a very brief description and a link to their website / social media. Explore as you please.

Sharing community knowledge – resources, stories, local happenings – is a fundamental function of The Tea Stand. It'd be a stretch to say that we serve tea just to facilitate these exchanges, but it's not so far from the truth.

We hope that you all can benefit from the Resource Hub in various ways:

• finding event venues & organizers
• exploring mutual aid initiatives to get involved with
• supporting local artists
• furthering your tea journey
• stumbling upon something that makes you say _wow

All of the people & projects in the Resource Hub have influenced me & The Tea Stand in some positive way, from providing event space to illustrating postcards to serving our neighbors together – thank you!

We'll update the Resource Hub on a monthly basis from here on out :)

That's all for now! Thanks to...

M & Katelyn from Unfurl for organizing a tea donation drive for The Tea Stand! We received several boxes of whole leaf tea from tea enthusiasts around the US, like Olivia, Lena, Tracy, Sarah, Andrew, Mat, Kyra, Suling, and more. And thanks to Ana & Bender for donating tea separate from this drive!

Sarah, Lucas, Steven, and Emily for becoming members.

You, for reading! Hope to see you at one of our December events (calendar here).

Keep Steeping,
Miles 🍵