Every year on February 2nd, folks in the frostbitten northeast turn to groundhogs for meteorological prognostication. Six months before the first official day of spring, this is the groundhog’s day in the sun, or out of it.

Most of us who have shivered through the bitter gray doldrums of winter hope that there is not a shadow in sight when these famous groundhogs emerge from their groundhog houses.

The first groundhog in North America to make his prediction is Shubenacadie Sam, the weather predicting groundhog at the Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park in Nova Scotia. And according to this article, there will be free tea for all who attend the breakfast held in Sam’s honor.

The most famous groundhog in North America is Pennsylvania’s own Punxsutawney Phil. Every year, thousands of spectators gather in the out-of-the-way town of Punxsutawney to watch Phil make his prediction.

If you find yourself in Punxsutawney this Groundhog Day, you may want to make reservations to stay at the Plantation Getaway Bed and Breakfast, where guests are offered an authentic English Tea.

In 1993, Phil accepted the role of himself in the movie Groundhog Day, alongside Bill Murray (who starred in Lost in Translation with Scarlet Johansen, and served tea in the 2003 film Coffee and Cigarettes).

If you are unable to make it to Punxsutawney to see Phil in person, you can find a warm spot on the couch, a hot cup of tea and watch Bill Murray relive Groundhog Day over and over again.

Note: While Bigelow Tea does offer several seasonal teas, a Groundhog Day themed tea (neither the film nor the holiday) has yet to hit the shelves.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, with a chance to win an unprecedented sixth NFL title.

I’ve been a Steelers fan all my life, and have lived in Pittsburgh for over seven years. After the Steelers beat the Ravens in the AFC Championship I gave my sister a ride home, and as I drove across town I watched as fans poured into the streets, their terrible towels twirling wildly above delirious chants and blaring car horns proudly proclaiming the Steelers’ victory.

So what is the relationship between Bigelow Tea, Pittsburgh, and the Super Bowl?

This mug is the perfect gift for the tea-drinking Steelers fan.

Edward Manning Bigelow (who coincidentally shares the name of Bigelow Tea founder Ruth C. Bigelow, and Super Bowl MVPs Payton and Eli Manning) was the Director of Public Works in Pittsburgh in the late 1880’s…now Bigelow Boulevard runs through Pittsburgh.

Super Bowl XXI MVP, Phil Simms, is an avid supporter of Bigelow Tea. In fact, he participated in this Bigelow Tea video. The video was filmed by a Pittsburgh native.

I can not deny the curious confluence of Bigelow Tea, the Super Bowl and Pittsburgh. While I don’t plan on attending a Super Bowl Tea Party, as nerve racking as regular season games are, I may partake in a warm cup of herbal tea to calm my nerves on Sunday.

Ben

We have spoken often about our efforts in environmental consciousness, commitment to the community, support of our employees and dedication to the highest quality product. The time has arrived to talk further (once a month) about sustainability, which is something that Bigelow Tea has always focused on throughout the past 60 plus years, as you can see in the Bigelow Tea Mission Statement.

In the words of Cindi Bigelow, President, “Why have a Sustainabili…TEA program? Why be ‘green’? Why put so much energy into protecting our planet? Because it is the right thing to do…”

We have just launched the most delicious new teas for the Valentine season…White Chocolate Kisses and Sweet Cinnamon Hearts. White Chocolate is an amazing blend of black tea and smooth chocolate (with a few other magical ingredients sprinkled in) and Sweet Cinnamon is a delightful herbal tea made from sweet apple and healthful cinnamon.

Both are beyond words….they are only out on a limited basis….so look for these really fun teas that actually taste better than you could imagine…and no calories (not bad for a Valentine treat)!

Cindi Bigelow

Say goodbye to 2008 and the Year of the Rat, and say welcome to 2009, the Year of the OX! The Chinese New Year falls every year between January 21 and February 19 on the Gregorian Calendar. In 2009, the Year of the Ox starts on January 26. Why name years with the names of animals? Legend has it that Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year, and then named a year after each of the twelve animals that came. He decreed that people born in each animal’s year will share some of that animal’s personality. And for those who are counting: 2009 translates to the year 4706–4707 on the historical Chinese calendar.

In some regions of China, New Year’s starts with a cup of tea with lotus seeds. As you take a sip, you say “tiantian mimi”, meaning “life will be happy“. Sounds like a great start to the year! Since tea was discovered in China, an excellent way to celebrate the Year of the Ox is with a Chinese New Year’s Tea Party. You can use red and gold for table decorations; red symbolizes fire to scare away bad luck, and gold stands for prosperity. Paper lanterns make great decorations, and don’t forget your Ox ornamentation! The Chinese New Year is celebrated for 14 days — so a New Year’s tea party any time during those two weeks after January 26 is appropriate.

There are many more preparations and tasks for the traditional Chinese New Year, but the basic theme is familiar to celebrations all around the world — a time to reflect on the passing year, and to welcome the promise of the New Year to come.

In mulling over the post-holiday blues with my friend Jean, she interestingly pointed out that what she likes to embrace most during January are strawberries and tulips, since both are highly visible and readily available in every market you go into this time of year. Granted, I always find myself purchasing these items instinctively to brighten my day, yet, I never quite thought of it in Jean’s terms. Say it out loud…“January is about strawberries and tulips.” Don’t you feel better already?

Photos Courtesy of Wikipedia.org

Embrace January too…Treat yourself to some bright pink tulips, some juicy red strawberries, and while you’re at it, make yourself an amazing lunch, like the one below.

If you haven’t seen this recipe before, here’s a spinach salad you’ll love. It uses great ingredients like mandarin oranges, apples, cucumber, tomatoes, artichokes…and strawberries. Perfect for after all the rich holiday indulgences and a great healthy start to the New Year!

Julie

Spinach Salad Spectacular with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
4 cups (1000mL) baby spinach leaves washed and dried (about 10 oz.)
1 – 8oz. (250mL) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 – 8oz. (250mL) can artichoke hearts (not in oil), drained
Optional Ingredients
2 medium-sized red apples, cubed (such as Red Delicious or Gala)
5 large ripe strawberries, cut up
1 cucumber, peeled and cubed
Tomato, cut up
4-5 pieces bacon, well cooked, drained and crumbled

Yield: Serves 6 – PrepTime: 15 minutes

Instructions:

Combine baby spinach leaves, mandarin oranges, artichoke hearts and almonds. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Use any or all of the optional ingredients.

Toss salad with enough dressing to coat.
Dress salad with any one of our delicious Bigelow® Tea Vinaigrette Dressings. Recipes for these dressing can be found in the Salad and Side Dish Category.

Red Raspberry Vinaigrette

Instructions:

Steep 6 tea bags in 1/2 cup of water for 10 minutes; after the tea bags have been removed, yield will be about 1/4 cup of Red Raspberry® Herb Tea.

Saute minced onions and minced garlic in 1/2 of the oil, until translucent in color. Add tea, vinegar, salt and sugar. Simmer for about 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Add the remaining oil, whisk vigorously until emulsified. Transfer into a bottle and shake it up before using.

Salad suggestions – 1lb. of baby spinach, 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 2 tbs. of gorgonzola chesse with the addition of this vinaigrette.

For a more intense raspberry flavor, replace the rice vinegar with Raspberry vinegar.

To see more great recipes, go to http://www.bigelowtea.com/entertaining/recipes/

I was upgraded with a new computer the other day, and boy, I did not realize how “slow” my old one was. I really did not think I needed a new one but I had the oldest and it was time for mine to be retired. I have come to really enjoy the speed and features of the new one. Like my computer, we at Bigelow Tea continually look at our equipment to make sure we are upgrading when we need to. Our oldest machine is 15 years old and the newest are just a couple of years old. Every year we rebuild the equipment to make sure it is staying in tip top shape but there is a difference between the age group. The older machines are driven more by gears, levels, and mechanical means where as the new machines are driven by servo motors and computers. The speed is slightly different as well, the older ones run around 150 tea bags per minute where as the new are over 300. We have tried to balance out our tea bag capacity to the demand of each flavor and the location where we make the tea bag. During the busy season we need to run all the equipment just to keep up but then during the summer months we can cut back on the number of machines that need to run.

One of our greatest assets is our flexibility to run a variety of tea flavors and package them in the appropriate boxes. With our three facilities and their equipment, we can juggle what flavors are run and where. It also takes a bit of planning to make sure we have all the components in the right location at the right time. Of course our forecasts are not always 100% right so at times we do scramble to keep the machines running but so far we have not missed shipping the product to our customers.

We continually work at forecasting demand for different teas and different quantities in order to streamline production. We are also working on being able to rapidly change and produce different teas with little lead times. This isn’t just changing machines, but more changing a way of thinking about how we produce tea, and what the processes are and how to make everything faster, and more reliable.

My new computer sure is faster, and so far more reliable than the old. I don’t think many of us would still enjoy our home computers or work ones if they still operated the same as the first ones or were as slow as our first ones. Here at Bigelow we are not happy if we don’t constantly improve as well.

Dean

From George Washington to president-elect Barack Obama, every president and first lady has understood the value of tea. The stimulating and warming qualities of tea have been helping advance our democracy for hundreds of years! Washington drank tea regularly, and always purchased the highest quality tea, from Great Britain initially, and then from the Dutch. Today Washington could purchase his quality tea right here in the “colonies” from the Charleston Tea Plantation, the only location in North America where tea is grown today. While commanding the Revolutionary War and as president, Washington, like most Americans in the 18th century, was a committed tea lover.

Once John and Abigail Adams moved into the Presidential Mansion — now called the White House — society ladies called on her for invitations to tea as often as a dozen times a day; an impossible schedule even for the most ardent tea lover. In the early 19th century, Dolly Madison, our country’s fourth first lady, sometimes served tea three times daily at the White House — at breakfast, in the afternoon and after an evening meal.

In the 20th century, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt enjoyed tea so much that she would have several teas in a row. And at what may have been one of the largest American tea parties ever, 4,000 guests were served sandwiches and cakes with gallons of tea on Inauguration Day 1941. And the 21st century? President-elect Obama is often seen in interviews with a cup of tea in hand, and on the Today Show Obama stated that it’s definitely tea over coffee for him, a fact that Bigelow Tea will appreciate for the next four years!

It is officially NATIONAL HOT TEA MONTH…I just love January for that reason. It is cold out, holidays are over, and we need nothing better than a warm cup of tea to make us feel cozy. Whoever picked January to celebrate hot tea knew exactly what they were doing! It is 15 degrees outside today in Connecticut…what a perfect time to put on the kettle.

I guess it would not come as a surprise to anyone that we make a big deal of this event inside our company. We send out tea facts almost daily, we hold tea parties, we have raffles events…for it is a national holiday (at least to us) or is at least nationally recognized. Either way, I ask you to raise your cup of tea (you have to go get one first — Bigelow I hope) and let’s cheers this special occasion….

Cindi Bigelow

Artwork Courtesy of David Borzo

A nice hot cup of Tea is like a favorite song that you love hearing again and again…it always hits the spot. Combine tea and music together, and you’re really setting the pot to boil. So it’s no surprise that there is a grand history of music celebrating the tea experience. Perhaps the earliest record of the language or melody of tea comes from Lu Yu, the 8th Century Chinese scholar who wrote The Classic of Tea, the first known book on both tea ritual and philosophy. Tea “music” itself dates back hundreds of years, most likely with tea pluckers who often sang to keep their energy and spirits up while doing the same repetitive motions, plucking leaves from the waist-high tea bushes. One famous Japanese song coaches to …pick all you can, young maids, for if you do not, we Japanese will have no tea!…

More recently there are several songs that celebrate tea, like “I’m a Little Teapot”, a childhood staple, and “Tea for Two”, a proposal from a young man to his love declaring they will be happy spending their lives together, sipping tea. One of the most popular bands of the last half century, The Beatles, were of course great tea lovers. In fact, in 1965, the first thing that John, Paul George and Ringo asked for when arriving at London’s Heathrow airport from a U.S. tour was a hot cup of tea. The Fab Four also wrote many songs with lyrics celebrating tea, including “It’s all too much”, and “Lovely Rita”. True to form, 35 years after the Beatles broke up, Paul McCartney included a fantastic tea homage entitled “English Tea” on his 2005 CD, proving that where there is tea, there is always a melody brewing.