31st January, 2007: The Constant Comment Experience
It never ceases to amaze me the stories I hear about “Constant Comment”. I was recently making a sales call and the buyer had such fond memories of sitting around the table with her mother and drinking “Constant Comment”. It was the only tea her mother drank and it was the product that got her into tea today. I wish I could bottle all these stories and “reintroduce” the tea to all those individuals with similar experiences. It never fails, I then open up our stay fresh package and have them take a “whiff” of the tea-after taking a slow inhale, they seem to go to another place, a big smile comes across their face and then they comment about drinking it again.
As a family company, it is so important that we come out with new and exciting flavors that the customer wants but to see the reaction to “CC”, well I just know if people would have a cup today, they would fall in love with “Constant Comment” all over again. The good news is, that tea is still the number one specialty sold in the United States, but just think about all the people that have not had “CC” for a while, and how drinking one cup would bring them back to place long ago and provide a delicious and special experience….
Posted by Cindi at 6:36 am | Comments (3)
29th January, 2007: How we make tea
With this recent trend in cold temperatures our tea bag machines here at Bigelow have been running to make sure we have enough tea bags available for everyone. Our teas taste great cold or hot but the majority of people tend to drink it to warm themselves up so we are the busiest during the winter time.
We produce our tea bags on machines that run from 100 tea bags per minute all the way up to 300 tea bags per minute. Even at that speed we have to run overtime sometimes to keep up with the demands of our customers, but that’s ok. Our machines get lonely if we do not run them enough. So if you are feeling cold or just want to relax with a hot cup of tea we are here making sure there will be plenty of tea on the shelf when you need it.
Posted by Dean at 6:37 am | Comments (8)
26th January, 2007: New Ideas, New Products
Just had our sales team at the office for the day and I have to say the meeting was very invigorating. We have so many potentially exciting projects happening…I can’t disclose the details with you now, but what I can say is that it was great fun to share all the ideas with our team and see the reaction.
We have to move at lightening speed to compete in today’s marketplace but if even half of what we talked about today comes to fruition, I will be very excited and very proud of Bigelow Tea!
Posted by Cindi at 11:51 am | Comments (4)
24th January, 2007: Tea Trivia and History
God Save the Queen…from Cracked China!
The British Standards Institute has proclaimed that milk is best poured before the tea, though this is debated by some tea lovers. Those in favor say that the hot water scalds the milk, which brings out the tea’s flavor. (And they never use cream, as it masks the tea’s taste.) Others have speculated that the milk-first theory prevents the china from cracking in reaction to the boiling water. However, Queen Elizabeth II reportedly enjoys her tea by adding the milk afterward. Oh, those reckless royals…
Afternoon Tea
Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford, is reputed to have created the idea of afternoon tea in the early 1800s. She conceived the idea of having tea around four or five in the afternoon to ward off the hunger pangs between lunch and dinner. Some time earlier, the Earl of Sandwich had the idea of putting a filling between to slices of bread. These habits soon became a good reason for social gatherings and started a trend that is still a large part of our daily lives.
Tipping
Tipping came about as a response to proper service developed in the tea gardens of England. Small, locked wooden boxes were placed on the tables throughout the garden. Inscribed on each were the letters “T.I.P.S.” which stood for the sentence “To Insure Proper Service”. If a guest wished the waiter to hurry, to insure that the tea arrived hot from the often distant kitchen, he dropped a coin into the box upon being seated. Thus, the custom of tipping servers was created.
Posted by Sabine at 8:41 am | Comments (3)
22nd January, 2007: ABC Primetime Challenge Continues: SCALES AND CAMERAS
In a healthy partnership for healthful living, ABC and Bigelow Tea joined forces this summer. A competition was set to follow two teams testing weight loss moTEAvators. The Bigelow Tea Team was on a quest to become healthy for one’s sake. The Bridgeport Bluefish Corporate Office who took on becoming healthy to avoid humiliation. he The ABC Primetime Challenge Weight Special, which aired December 20th, followed the story and people who took part in the event.
Oh Those Scales!
Throughout the challenge, the single most debated topic centered on the accuracy of our scale readings. Three weeks into the challenge, the warehouse scale wasn’t putting out accurate scale readings. A new scale was purchased, yet the debates about accuracy continued. A third scale was brought in for comparison purposes. Yet, the results were disheartening –- three different scales all produced different readings!
Keeping our fingers crossed, we felt confident the digital scale was within a 1-2 pound variance from ABC’s. To be on the safe side, we thought an additional loss of two pounds would ensure that we would not experience any last-minute surprises at our final weigh-ins.
Oh Those Cameras!
Our three team members, Liz, Mike, and Don, were given cameras by ABC. They were asked to record the challenge as it happened. Each of them took their assignments seriously. Their keen and witty insights captured the essence of their personal journeys as well as the team adventures.
Feeling a little camera shy at first, Liz recorded everyone else but herself. One morning, she experienced a tearful meltdown and her son reached for the camera and began recording her innermost thoughts.
The comical camera buff, Mike, always looked for the unexpected rare moments. “Things seemed good to film at the time. If it airs, I’ll probably be in trouble!”
As for Don, he’s been very quiet about his own efforts, but be assured he will share some laughs along the way. Overall, more than 30 hours of film footage was provided to ABC for incorporation into the show. Whether it was a weekly meeting, weigh-in, lunch, gym workout, or home video, everything was fair game for this camera crew.
Still the team never wavered from their moTEAvation – scales and cameras only recorded the action.
ABC News Primetime detailed the science of the challenge at their site. ABC News also covered the story. The ABC Primetime Challenge Weight Loss Special aired on local ABC channels on Wednesday, December 20th, at 10pm, EST.
Posted by Elizabeth at 8:00 am | Comment (0)
19th January, 2007: A Tea Drinker Asks and We Answer
I recently left a reply on a personal blog where they posed a great question about tea quality. Since many of our readers might not have seen it, I thought I’d repeat on this blog what I said. Argentius, in Seattle Washington, asked in a recent post
I am drinking some Red Rose black tea right now. It’s bad. It’s not AS bad as Lipton’s, but it’s not good at all. Kinda bitter, flavorless, and flat. What do they do to make Twinnings or Bigelow a bit better? Why is Stash “premium organic” tea especially good? Does it relate to the quality of leaves in the first place, the age of the product, the roasting method, or what?
Here’s what I said in the blog post’s comments:
You are so right, bad tea can really be bad!! First off, if you do not start off with hand picked tea, you will get machine cut product filled with stems. Tea loaded with stems does not have a clean taste like hand picked. It goes without saying, the tea made from pure tea buds is much smoother! Second, your ingredients have to be top notch…for example-our Earl Grey is a beautiful hand picked black tea with the real oil of bergamot. The leading competitor uses a tea leaf size called “tea dust”. Tea dust is the smallest size tea leaf possible; however, the problem with tea dust is that although it provides quick color into the cup, it has no real tea flavor. It also happens to be an inexpensive tea to purchase. We do not allow any “tea dust” in our mixes. The leading competitor of our Earl Grey also only uses a bergamot flavoring -not the real oil which is very expensive (not to mention much better tasting). So I cannot speak for why other teas are “good” to you except to say they are most likely using good ingredients and a rich tea!
The same thing does apply to the age of tea; you have to remember that tea is a leaf and will get stale and pick up other flavors, if exposed to them. The reason we take the time to overwrap all our tea bags is because we want to protect our tea leaves from air, light, other flavors, etc. That overwrap protects our tea up to two years from the day it is packed.
So there really is a difference in teas…thanx for noticing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cindi Bigelow, Co-President, Bigelow Tea
Posted by Cindi at 9:30 am | Comment (1)
17th January, 2007: Tea Facts for Hot Tea Month
The custom of drinking tea with milk has its roots not in taste but with economics. The long journey from the Orient made tea prohibitively expensive. Milk, on the other hand, was cheap and became the condiment of choice among the lower classes. The amount of milk added became a telltale of one’s social standing. The wealthy took their tea undiluted. The middle class poured the expensive tea and then diluted it with milk. The lower class filled the cup with cheap milk and then added a splash of the costly tea.
Posted by Sabine at 6:24 am | Comments (2)
16th January, 2007: Chilly Outside, Bigelow Tea Inside.
It is finally getting cold……yeah! I happen to enjoy a good, relaxing cup of Bigelow Tea all year round but I have to say that being chilly outside does add to the experience. SO the fact that the temperature is back in the 30’s in New England is a great thing.
I think I am going for a change in taste profile today and going back to one of “oldies” but goodies — Bigelow Earl Grey. However, I have to change how I drink it, no more milk. The University of Berlin researcher, Dr. Verena Stangl, just published a study claiming milk reduced the effectiveness of tea in the fight against cardiac disease. No problem, I like our Earl Grey either way….a beautiful black tea masterfully blended with the real oil of Bergamot. YUM
Posted by Cindi at 6:42 am | Comment (1)
13th January, 2007: Imus in the Morning
Did you hear Thursday the great insights Phil Simms gave on Imus in the Morning regarding the upcoming NFC and AFC playoffs? Phil is a great guest on his weekly appearance on Imus with terrific insights into game strategy and banter with Imus. Let’s hope for some cold weather so fans everywhere can feel like it is truly football season!
Posted by Bob at 1:10 pm | Comments (4)
12th January, 2007: January is Hot tea month: notes from the staff at Bigelow Customer Service
Two recent studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago show that drinking both green and black teas may help to prevent cavities in teeth and also promote fresher breath. In one study, people who rinsed their teeth with black tea for one minute 10 times a day had less decay causing plaque on their teeth than those people that rinsed with just water.
In the second study, polyphenols, the natural antioxidants found in tea, were incubated for 48 hours with the bacteria that causes bad breath, which resulted in this bacteria dying.
So, based on what the University of Illinois at Chicago says, we in customer service at Bigelow say drink your tea daily not only for comfort and satisfaction but for improved oral hygiene as well!
Posted by Sabine at 1:13 pm | Comments (2)
