🍓 June Newsletter

Today's newsletter contents:

☀️ Summer Solstice
🛖 Introducing tea.haus
🐟 Baisley Pond Park

But first, our June calendar:

RSVP-only events & volunteer opportunities in June:

📀 RSVP to Steeped in Sound
🗓️ June 1 – 2pm – Greenpoint

🪷 RSVP to Silent Sanctuary
🗓️ June 10 – 7pm – Ridgewood

🫖 RSVP to Tea Talk (topic: travel)
🗓️ June 11 – 7pm – Bushwick

🛖 RSVP to tea.haus
🗓️ June 13 – 7pm – East Williamsburg

🥬 Volunteer for Distro
🗓️ June 14 – 10:30am – BedStuy

☀️ The summer solstice approaches!

The summer solstice – the longest day of the year and when the sun is at its highest – is on June 20 this year.

In addition to abundant daylight, the summer solstice will bring along with it a flurry of goodies:

📗 Issue #3 of our zine, bōcha
📦 The next batch of Tea Boxes [Steepers]
🏠 A Town Hall [Sippers & Steepers]

Creating issue #3 of bōcha – our biannual zine published on the solstices – was one of the main focuses of May.

This third issue of our zine is unlike the first two: it is entirely dedicated to documenting and celebrating Perpetual Brew, our commitment of serving free tea in Maria Hernandez Park every single day of April.

A defining feature of Perpetual Brew was/is the participation of seven local artists. Not only did each artist "take over" for a day of serving tea in the park, but they also each created a work of art related to their tea-serving experience.

All of their artwork – which includes collages, poems, comics, and park guides – IS SO FREAKING COOL and is featured in the zine! I truly cannot for you all to behold their beautiful, hilarious, and thoughtful creations.

I have so much more to say about this zine, these artists, and all those who helped bring it to life (like Bethania Viana from Mil Mundos who is currently translating the zine into Spanish!), but I'll hold off until it's officially out in the world.

For now, just know: this zine is the best thing we've made to date. (Mostly because the artists' submissions make up the bulk of the zine!)

In parallel, the summer solstice Tea Boxes are "in production" and will be FULL of good things, like:

1) A crocheted, cyanotype-dyed coaster made by Naqiya of Khilna Collective

2) A postcard illustrated by local artist Sophia Livecchi

3) Delicious, curated tea from The Ridge

4) Issue #3 of bōcha

5) A custom, collapsible Travel Cup made by Stojo (only for 1st time Steepers)

~

This is our 4th batch of Tea Boxes; they the fullest-of-goodies of any batch thus far. We're so proud of and grateful for the community of local artists that make each batch unique 🧡

Steepers – expect to receive your Tea Box right around the summer solstice on June 20.

Last note on summer solstice stuff: Sippers & Steepers, mark your calendars for the next Town Hall on June 17 at 7pm.

We intend for these Town Halls – hosted virtually via livestream – to be a place for transparency and accountability. I (Miles) will share some springtime Tea Stand reflections and open the floor for Q&A.

If you have questions or feedback about the perks you receive, are curious about what our summer looks like, or want to suggest a collaboration, this is the place for you!

Thank you all so much for the support!

🛖 tea.haus: a late-night teahouse

Over the past two years, perhaps the most common question I've been asked at The Tea Stand is "what inspired you to come out here and serve free tea?".

In response, I always reference my travels to SWANA countries (e.g. Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan), where teahouses are literally on every street and function as a casual gathering space, especially in the evenings. Throughout my trip, I found myself drawn to these teahouses as a place to rest, reflect, and be surrounded by others in a space that felt warm and safe.

Often, the next question is: "so where can I find a late-night teahouse here in NYC?" to which I frown and offer the best I can. Places like Molasses Books, dear friend books, Qahwah House, Misfit Moon are all great (or so I've heard), but none have successfully filled the void of the late-night teahouse of my dreams: warm, spacious, and centered around tea and its calming energy.

And so, in collaboration with telos.haus – your local, experimental event venue and coworking space – we attempted to actualize this highly sought-after, late-night tea house and called it "tea.haus."

On a cloudy Friday evening, we transformed the telos.haus space into a cozy world of floor cushions, low tables, and free-flowing tea. We welcomed 30-40 visitors throughout the evening (the event ran from 7pm-midnight) who read, journaled, and chatted with friends new and old.

The only "organized" activity of the evening was a pair of gongfucha sessions on the roof, which I led. Gongfucha is a Chinese method of preparing and serving tea during which one re-steeps a single tea several times in a tiny teapot, making it an ideal way to share tea mindfully with a small group.

It wasn't my first time leading a gongfucha session for a Tea Stand event, but because of the intentionality and presentation, it felt like it was. I was nervous that I wouldn't know the answer to a question or mis-steep a tea – both of which happened to some degree – but we all learned more about this ritualistic brewing process, met our neighbors, and enjoyed the highest quality tea in our inventory (thanks Ravi from Bardo Tea and Serena!)

The gongfucha sessions were intimate, delicious, and insightful for all :)

In conclusion: the first tea.haus was a big success and we've already got another date on the books! Come by June 13 for our next tea.haus event – we expect it to be even more serene and restorative than the first.

Lots of love to Soran of telos.haus for bringing this vision to life, Cynthia for capturing the event in photos, Mae for keeping the tea flowing, and Naqiya for helping set up the space.

🐟 Free tea in South Jamaica, Queens

Once a season, we ask our community of Sippers & Steepers where we should serve free tea. We randomly pick one of the suggestions and host a Popup there!

For our springtime community-decided Popup, we got about a dozen suggestions, ranging from Tompkins Square Park (Manhattan) to Saratoga Park (Brooklyn) to Captain Tilly Park (Queens). Thanks to all who voted!

The famed Adin – longtime friend, Tea Stand advisor, website architect, chai master, etc. – ended up with the winning pick: Baisley Pond Park in South Jamaica, Queens.

Below is a brief re-telling of my first visit to Baisley Pond Park!

I arrive around 10:45am and bike a lap around the titular pond – 2.5 miles in distance; almost 10x the distance around Maria Hernandez Park – looking for the perfect spot: high foot traffic, calm energy, and a nice view for me and visitors.

The park is serene, lush, and quiet. I decide to set up right where I first entered the park on the northside – there's a cricket game happening on the lawn nearby and I'm excited to watch (and hopefully serve some of the fans / players).

As I'm setting up, a woman approaches me.

"What are you doing?" she asks in a friendly tone.

"Oh, I'm gonna be serving free tea here today. I'm not quite finished setting up, but can I offer you a cup of tea?"

"Oh no, that's okay, I was just curious."

I ask for her name – it's Naomi – and we make light conversation while I finish arranging the items on the table.

"So how long have you lived in South Jamaica?" I ask her.

"Well, I guess it's been about ten years now," Naomi replies.

"And where did you come here from?"

"I grew up in Brooklyn, but my uncle evicted my family so that he could sell the house. It was my grandma's. It's one of those brownstones, it was so beautiful. So we moved here and have been here since," says Naomi.

"Damn, I'm sorry. Where was the house?" I ask.

"On Van Buren Street," Naomi says.

"No way. Like in BedStuy? That's where my partner lives!" I say.

We confirm that my partner doesn't live in Naomi's former home, but the same-street coincidence is enough to shock us both.

"I haven't been back since I left ten years ago. I'm sure it's changed so much," Naomi says gently.

"It most definitely has," I reply, thinking back to all the conversations I've had with residents new and old in Herbert von King Park, which marks one end of Van Buren Street.

After sitting with this for a moment, Naomi changes the subject and asks, "So brings you out here serving tea?"

"Well, the main reason is to create spaces where people can meet their neighbors over a cup of tea," I answer.

"Not only do we need to meet our neighbors, but we need to take care of Earth. I'm out cleaning on my street while others throw trash wherever. People love Earth when they're in this park and then forget about it as soon as they leave," Naomi says.

I nod vigorously and share my agreement.

"You know what, I think I'll take a cup of tea actually," says Naomi.

Around noon, I'm surprised when someone suddenly appears out of my periphery and says, "I heard there was free tea!"

It's my friend Nik, who I met via Flood Sensor Aunty, a community play directed by local artist Sabina Sethi Unni. Nik and Sabina are partners; Nik helped out at most of the performances.

I wasn't expecting to see any familiar faces out here in South Jamaica, but Nik lives nearby and was in the area helping with a garden clean-up at York College.

While we chat about local politics (EARLY VOTING FOR THE NYC MAYORAL RACE STARTS JUNE 14 PEOPLE), the cognitive dissonance needed to live in today's world and the concept of wétiko, a man fishing directly in front of us starts reeling in his first catch of the day. We pause and take a closer look.

"Oh my god, he caught a turtle," I say once I'm able to make out the shape hanging from the fishing line.

We watch, concerned and curious what the man is going to do with the turtle. A moment later he turns around, sees us watching intently, and says,

"I was fishing but then I caught this turtle! I'm gonna put it back in it's natural habitat."

Nik and I are relieved on behalf of the turtle and eager to talk more with this man.

"Do you fish here often?" Nik asks.

"Oh, yeah. I've caught bluegills, I've caught catfish, I've caught black bass, I've caught, uh, I've caught eel, I've caught carp..."

And as if anticipating our next question, he adds,

"I take them home and I eat 'em. Except some species, they don't let you take them home. They're pretty strict about that."

"Wow! Plus there's so many birds, I saw this really cool one with orange on its wing earlier," I reply.

"Oh, yeah, we've got all sorts of birds here. We got blue herons, we got snow egrets, we got Canada geese, we got mallard ducks... there's even ospreys here!" Rodney exclaims.

Moving on from the wildlife, Rodney starts sharing with us Baisley Pond Park's history dating back to the nineteenth century – from the city's plan to turn it into a public water source in 1852 to the recent beautification and addition of athletic facilities in 1984. (You can read more here.)

"I consider this my park," Rodney says before we part ways. "When I see trash in the park, I pick it up. I come here to enjoy nature and to see other people doing the same thing."

I only served five cups of tea during the five-hour Popup at Baisley Pond Park, but each conversation left a lasting impact on me and seemed to drift toward the same themes: appreciating our public spaces, respecting nature, and playing our roles to take care of the land and wildlife around us.

Thanks again Adin for suggesting Baisley Pond Park, I'll definitely be back – for the fish, the birds, the tranquility, and the people :)

Thank you for reading!

Hope to see you at one of our events in June (calendar here).

Keep Steeping,
Miles 🍵