🍎 September Newsletter

Our summer slowdown is OVER! We're hosting / participating in 20 events this September, which must be a Tea Stand record. You can find us serving free tea in Crown Heights, Staten Island, Queens Botanical Garden, and our usual parks – explore below!

Today's newsletter topics:

🛒 Merch Store is OPEN!
🚽 Please Don't Flush
📦 Tea Boxes

September at a glance:

RSVP:

🕯️ Silent Sanctuary (RSVP)
September 8 – BedStuy – 7:30pm

🚽 Please Don't Flush (RSVP)
various dates + locations

Housekeeping:

• Submissions for bōcha issue #6 are officially open! If you're interested in submitting a creative piece to our community zine, fill out this proposal form by October 11.

🛒 Merch Store is OPEN!

Our online merch store is open now until the end of the month!

We've got four items available for purchase: short-brimmed hats, enamel mugs, bōcha issue #5, and washi tape. All proceeds go back into The Tea Stand and bring us closer to financial sustainability.

A few other merch store updates:

• Shipping is now a flat $4 per order (free shipping for Steepers!)
• Steepers receive 20-100% discounts (tier-specific)
• Washi tape price reduced to $5

We're stoked to finally be re-opening the merch store! The plan is to keep it open through the end of the month, close it down for October, and hopefully re-open once more before the end of the year.

Most of these objects, and many others, were debuted at our summer solstice event back in June. It was our first true "merch drop" and it went way better than expected – we sold out of hats, shirts, and tanktops (shoutout Andrew).

We've been taking the past few months to restock, rethink pricing and member discounts, and simplify the offerings.

We're really proud of all of these items and how they came to exist. If it weren't for the serendipitous encounter with Danielle (our hat plug), the generosity of Sara from Lucky Pocket Press (our zine printer), and the creative talents of Val Yang (our washi tape illustrator), we likely would've never made any of these objects in the first place.

Which is another way of saying: we've been intentionally slow to make merch of any kind, never wanting to make something just for the sake of having something to sell. Any step in the direction of selling, rather than serving, is one we take with great care.

We're still finding the right balance with the merch store – ideally, it's a way to put some beautiful objects into your hands, collaborate with local artists, and raise funds for The Tea Stand and our community.

Here's the link to our merch store. We hope you enjoy what we have to share!

🚽 Please Don't Flush

We're back with FREE CHAI FOR ALL!

We'll be serving free, homemade masala chai at 4 performances of Please Don't Flush, a comedic play about a community board meeting where neighbors are debating a mysterious waterfront development. This play is part of the Flood Sensor Aunty extended universe – a community play which we partnered with for over 20 performances at public spaces across NYC.

Here are the dates and locations of Please Don't Flush performances:

• Sep 19, 5pm – Staten Island Justice Center
• Sep 20, 5pm – Baisley Pond Park (Jamaica)
• Sep 22, 6:30pm – Van Alen Institute (Gowanus)
• Sep 27, 1:30pm – Queens Botanical Garden

All performances are free (as is the chai!) – you can RSVP here.

I have yet to see the play – I'll be seeing it for the first time at the Sep 19 performance on Staten Island, hopefully with some of you – but given that it's a natural extension of Flood Sensor Aunty, featuring most of the same cast members, I have no doubt that it will be hilarious, incisive, and educational.

On top of all of that, we'll have free masala chai for attendees at every performance! Our friend Divisha's famed chai will be making a return (proclaimed "the best chai I've ever had" by dozens) and we may be looking for one additional chai maker – reach out if you're interested!

And look at those venues!!! It's so fun to explore the city through collaborations like this. Baisley Pond Park is one of my favorite parks in all of NYC, and I'm always looking for an excuse to visit Staten Island and the Queens Botanical Garden. I'd never heard of the Van Alen Institute but they seem awesome.

My relationship with Sabina (the director) and the cast of Please Don't Flush began two years ago, when I found myself at a rehearsal in a theater studio surrounded by people with extraordinary talent and presence. I may have just been "the tea guy", but I was received with open arms and found the sessions incredibly inspiring and enlivening. Reflecting now, it's clear to see that my participation with FSA/PDF has been a defining force in The Tea Stand's evolution toward community art and creative collaboration.

I have so much love and gratitude for all those involved in these performances – the performers, the sound wizards, the community partners, the venues, everyone. It's an honor to continue to be a part of this ensemble of socially-oriented artists using their energy for good! I highly recommend attending a performance.

Once more, here's the link to RSVP. All performances are free!

📦 Tea Boxes

The fall equinox is three weeks away, which means it's nearly time to prepare 100+ Tea Boxes for the folks supporting our work as members ($9/mo tier + up).

This batch of Tea Boxes features organic chai, a green tea from the Taimu mountains in China, and roasted dandelion root. Each box contains 2 bags of each tea type, for a total of 6 tea bags. Plus a postcard illustrated by local artist Vero B!

New members also receive a custom enamel mug (the same one on our merch store), discounts at local tea shops, and a variety of additional perks based on the specific tier you sign up for.

If you'd like to receive a Tea Box delivered to your door every equinox and solstice (4x/year), sign up here!

If you'd like to support in a way other than becoming a member, you can also help us prepare the Tea Boxes.

Every day from Sep 14 thru Sep 17, we'll put out a call for volunteers to come over and help with specific tasks: bagging tea, stapling tea tags, assembling boxes, etc. It's super simple (albeit tedious) work that's way more fun in the company of others. And of course we'll be drinking copious amounts of tea as we work :)

To volunteer, join our group chat here! We usually need 2-4 volunteers per day to stay on track.

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

Our new member: Elton.

Those who donated tea: Mae, Aidan, and Aloe.

You, for reading! Hope to share tea with you soon.

Keep Steeping,
Miles