Image via celebteatime.com

If a couple of girlfriends want to get together and catch up, how do they do it? Over a cup of tea, of course! It seems celebrity girlfriends are no different. Kate Hudson was visiting Sarah Polley’s home town of Toronto, Ontario not too long ago, so the two actresses met at the quaintly-named Wanda’s Pie in the Sky .

Given all the sweet treats on the menu, it’s a tribute to the power of tea that they emerged from the store not with a slice of cake or a couple delectable slices of pie, but with a single cookie and two cups of hot, delicious tea, which they enjoyed on the sunny patio outside. Good friends, a summer day, and a cup of tea… sounds like a little piece of heaven!

Kate and Sarah proceeded to have a long and animated conversation, proving what we at Bigelow Tea have known all along about friends and conversation: All you need is tea!

Image via www.flickr.com

We’ve talked a lot of baseball here at Bigelow Tea. With the season in full swing (pun intended) and the passing of the incomparable George Steinbrenner, our minds sometimes drift to the thoughts of cracker jacks, homeruns and extra innings. We do love America’s Pastime!

And so with both baseball and tea on our minds, we like to focus on members of the Bigelow Tea family, like our friend and tea-lover Joe Torre, in the middle of his third season with the LA Dodgers. Joe has been in major league baseball for an incredible 45 years, with an impressive award-winning career as a player, followed by an amazing coaching career as a manager. Joe ranks fifth in all-time in victories among Major League managers – and has more postseason victories (84) than any manager in Major League history!

Joe Torre baseball card from 1966

Image via www.flickr.com

We’re proud to say that Joe enjoys Bigelow green tea regularly, and he’s been a loyal Bigelow spokesman for years (along with other sports greats like Terry Francona, Phil Simms and Wayne Gretzky).

As Joe told us, “when I found out how good green tea was for me, Bigelow was easy to love!” Well, Joe, the feeling’s mutual. We wish you the best of luck with the rest of the season as we finish off summer and move into fall. We look forward to sharing tea with you again soon!

Check out our video of Joe Torre and Phil Simms talking Tea with Cindi Bigelow in New York City’s Madison Square Park!

Image via Wikipedia

In a genius move, Bigelow Tea shared the spotlight with the smartest guys on TV—the cast of CBS’s The Big Bang Theory. In a past episode (original air date 5/24), main characters Howard and Rajesh accompany Sheldon to a local coffee shop to meet his blind date—who, as Big Bang fans will agree, may be a little too perfect for Sheldon, the geeky genius.

Image via cbs.com

Bigelow Tea on Display!

But we, and fellow Bigelow Tea fans, did find a little perfection of our own in that coffee shop.  It was the perfect placement of a well-stocked array of Bigelow Teas….we like to think the cameo appearances of our Green Tea, Constant Comment and Cozy Chamomile Tea was a natural prop to the coffee shop set. After all, isn’t that where you find your favorite cup of tea away from home? Which only proves what we at Bigelow have always known: no coffee shop is complete without tea!

If we were to take tea’s role in the movies as our sole source of “who is drinking tea,” we may be inclined to think that only English sisters from Jane Austen novels and kooky mad-hatted fellows partake of the beverage! Fortunately, at Bigelow Tea, we know that this is most certainly NOT the case in the real world.

Tea does play a lovely and important supporting role in two films based on Jane Austen’s novels: Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice. In both movies there are several scenes where the main characters—sisters—are pouring tea, sharing tea and drinking tea. It’s all very proper and English and civilized.

Image via Coffeeworks.blogs.com

Quite on the opposite end of the spectrum are the scenes from this year’s Alice and Wonderland and the original classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) where the Mad Hatter and Mr. Wonka certainly enjoy their tea. In the recent Alice, Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter joins a tea party in a bizarre world filled with characters like the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit.

And Willy Wonka, played by Gene Wilder takes a few moments to sip from a daffodil teacup at the end of the song “Pure Imagination” … and then he eats the teacup itself!

Image via Coffeeworks.blogs.com

We know tea has played a role in other great films over the years…but we’d love to hear from you, our tea-drinking fans. What’s your favorite movie that features tea in a scene? Let us know!

Image via islanddefjam.com

We already know that a good cup of tea is enjoyed around the globe, everywhere from China to England. Perhaps not as well known in the tea drinking world is Estonia, which recently came to our attention at Bigelow Tea because of the rising new star Kerli.

Born in 1987 when Estonia was a part of the Soviet Union, Kerli always knew that she wanted to sing.  Even after being discouraged numerous times, she never let her dreams dwindle. Her hit album, “Love is Dead,” which hit the Billboard 200 chart fast, is proof that anyone can accomplish what they want when they work hard.

Watch Kerli’s latest video Tea Party, from the album “Almost Alice;” it’s the most exotic and colorful tea party display since the Tim Burton film “Alice in Wonderland.”  Kerli’s Tea Party advises listeners to drink their tea with “elbows down and pinkies up.” Traditional or new age, you’ve never seen a tea party like this!

So even though Estonia might not be the first country one thinks of when it comes to tea, Kerli reminds us that a cup of tea really is a universal experience. As she sings in Tea Party; “Down to the last cup, we keep it boiling hot!” It’s true that all across the world we all share in the simple pleasure of a cup of hot Bigelow Tea!

Photo via Teaandbingo.com

Fancy a spot of tea with Sir Elton John? In a recent charity fundraiser for the launch of British soccer pro Rio Ferdinand’s Live The Dream Foundation, the hot ticket item on the docket was a personal tour of Elton John’s English home in Windsor, England – complete with an Afternoon Tea with the legendary singer/composer himself! At Bigelow Tea, we’re thrilled, albeit not surprised, that Elton knows the value of an Afternoon Tea. In fact, the bidding was enthusiastic, and it went for a cool £30,000 (approximately $48,000)!

Bigelow Tea is intimately familiar with the harmonious relationship between Philanthropy and Tea. We derive great joy from raising funds to benefit the community. After all, it’s the right thing to do. The great news is that Charity Teas seem to be catching on, whether it’s an Afternoon Tea or a Morning Tea. There’s nothing like a good tea gathering to inspire generous-hearted people to reflect on their own blessings and to extend themselves to those in need.

The significance of tea time is well represented in the folksy-blues song from John Baldry, “Everything stops for tea,” coincidentally co-produced by Elton John nearly 40 years ago!

Oh, a lawyer in the courtroom
In the middle of an alimony plea

Has to stop and help ‘em pour when the clock strikes four
Everything stops for tea

It’s a very good English custom
Though the weather be cold or hot
When you need a little pick-up, you’ll find a little tea cup
Will always hit the spot”

~ From Everything Stops for Tea, Long John Baldry, 1972.

Produced by Elton John and Rod Stewart

Photo via Wikipedia.com

Image via blog.syracuse.com/sports

From the beginning with the (then) down-on-their-luck NY Yankees, back in 1973, George Steinbrenner demanded the optimum performances from the team. Over the next decades he built a legacy of excellence with his challenging style, truly earning his nickname “The Boss.” He became the game’s most successful and best-known owner with his larger than life Yankees – and larger than life personality.

You know that here at Bigelow Tea we are huge baseball fans. “America’s Pastime” is like a long, cool glass of ice tea to us; refreshing, invigorating. Perfect. And George Steinbrenner’s many contributions to the great game of baseball, as well as his significant philanthropy, speak volumes. His passing comes eight months after the Yankees won their 27th World Series title, the first since 2000 – when Bigelow Tea spokesman Joe Torre was at the helm of the Iconic organization.

George Steinbrenner and Joe Torre as Yankees

Image: Al Bello/ via sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Joe Torre started with the Yankees in 1996, and guided them to an incredible four World Series titles in five years. Of course today, Joe (when he’s not enjoying his tea) is the skipper of the venerable Los Angeles Dodgers. He shared that George “…was a very special man. He made an impact on everybody that was connected with baseball.”

Sure, George Steinbrenner butted heads. He fired managers. He rehired them, and then famously fired them again. He wouldn’t have it any other way. He also brought some of the greatest players to New York, for top salaries, and accepted nothing less than World Championship efforts. The results? Under George’s direction, the Yankees won seven World Series and 11 American League pennants.

And while returning the Yankees to greatness, George Steinbrenner changed the way baseball works today. At Bigelow Tea we raise our cup to a man who was ahead of his time.

Bigelow Tea knows that many celebrities really enjoy their tea. Everyone from British teen idol Robert Pattinson, to pop singer Christina Aguilera like to unwind with their tea every now and then. So when Bigelow Tea Blog and Facebook fan Kelly enlightened us about another musical celebrity who enjoyed his tea, we weren’t surprised. Even 6’6” rough-edged Chicago blues singers appreciate some good old-fashioned tea once in a while!

The late classic blues vocalist Howlin’ Wolf sang about his love for tea in his famous melody, “Spoonful.” Also known as Chester Arthur Burnett, award-winning Howlin’ Wolf was one of the greatest blues singers to come out of Chicago. His burly fashion, along with his fearsome musical style, landed him a place in the Blues Hall of Fame.

So just how did Howlin’ Wolf’s love for tea come to be? For one thing, he was born in Mississippi, a state that enjoys, along with many southern states, sweet tea as the drink of choice.  In fact, southerners have been drinking sweet tea by the gallon for years.  It’s no wonder a crooner like Howlin’ Wolf loved his tea!

So whether you hail from the celebrated jazzy and tea-drinking Chicago, or from the historic sweet-tea south, you know that a spoonful of tea always goes down smooth. The proof was in Howlin’ Wolf’s voice, captured for posterity in many historic recordings. Although, we do have to say that while a spoonful of tea is always tasty, we prefer the whole cup!

Any tea fan would agree that sipping a tall, refreshing iced tea is one sure way to stay cool when the temperature rises.  Because tea has been shown to replenish your body, both inside and out, it’s not too much of a surprise that in the July InStyle Magazine gave Bigelow Green Tea a beauty of a mention, in this summer’s first big issue!

Known for its healthful properties, it’s no wonder that green tea grabbed the spotlight for a DIY (Do It Yourself) Face Mist, a great way to stay cool and fresh on a hot day at the beach! And along with the refreshing misting action, what’s the beauty benefit?  InStyle says that the powerful antioxidants in the green tea brew that helps repair sun damage! So give it a try while the sun is high and at its strongest, and don’t forget your thermos of Bigelow Tea iced tea for a long day at the beach, too!

DIY Face Mist

Ingredients:

Bigelow Green Tea

Water

Ice

Instructions:

1.  Steep Bigelow Green Tea and cool

2.  Pour into a spray bottle filled with ice

Image via memory-alpha.org

Whether to clear his mind while tackling problems of universal significance, or just decompressing at the end of a difficult day exploring strange worlds and new civilizations, Jean-Luc  Picard, venerable captain of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame knows what he requires. As Facebook commenter Kelly Kostecki noted, the captain of the USS Enterprise–D needs his “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot!”

Patrick Stewart, the actor who portrays the Captain Picard character, over and over again turns to the comforting ritual of tea, and who can blame him? It is not surprising that his beverage of choice would be Earl Grey; like other black teas, Earl Grey is made from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant, but its distinctive flavor and aroma come from the addition of bergamot.  Black tea to sharpen the senses and a hint of citrus to lift the spirits:  just what the doctor – we mean the captain – ordered!

Image via cbc.ca

A classically trained performer, Stewart was recently knighted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. We at Bigelow Tea are sure that after the ceremony, tea was served – and have to wonder if it happened to be Earl Grey?

Earl Grey tea, taken with the Queen…there is only one response Captain Picard could have: “Make it so!”