With Charleston, South Carolina designated as a must-see destination, Bigelow Tea is sharing a video featuringanother wonderful reason for taking a trip down south: tea! Located on Wadmalaw Island, in the heart of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, our Charleston Tea Plantation is the perfect place for a day trip. If you’re thinking of going and want a preview … or you can’t make it there in “real life,” take a “virtual tour” around our 127-acre property.

Your tour guide, Cindi Bigelow, will take you through the factory and show you how our American Classic Tea is made. You’ll also see a gazebo used for weddings and other special events, and an antique trolley you’ll be dying to ride! Come join us and see what makes Bigelow Tea’s Charleston Tea Plantation and gift shop so special!

Being a family-owned company, we at Bigelow Tea have great respect for traditions that bring multiple generations together. As Passover begins on March 25, we are fond of the holiday’s custom of gathering loved ones around the dinner table to share in the Passover Seder.

For our friends who keep Kosher, we wanted to let you know that many Bigelow Teas can be served at your family meal. Some of our most popular flavors have been certified as Kosher for Passover. They include our first tea, “Constant Comment”®, Cinnamon Stick, English Teatime, Earl Grey, Plantation Mint and many more! You can even try our recipe for Plantation Mint Punch with Lime, below, which makes for a unique and refreshing beverage.

Finally, if you’re attending a Seder or other Passover event, you can be the most popular guest by bringing our Tea-licious Basket! All 104 tea bags in this round and reusable basket are certified Kosher for Passover. Varieties include black, green, herbal and decaffeinated teas.

Happy Passover from our Bigelow Tea family to yours!

Plantation Mint Punch with Lime

Ingredients:

4 cups water
6 Bigelow Plantation Mint® Tea Bags
6 tablespoons honey
½ cup fresh lime juice
1 cup Rose’s Lime Juice
3 cups club soda, chilled

Yield: Serves 6

Instructions:

Place 4 cups boiling water over tea bags in heat-stable container. Let steep 10 minutes. Remove tea bags, add honey and stir until dissolved. Let cool. Pour the tea base into a 3-1/2 quart pitcher. Add fresh lime juice and Rose’s lime juice. Stir. Just before serving, add chilled club soda. Pour into ice-filled glasses and serve.

Top image by Edsel Little via Flickr.com

At Bigelow Tea, we’re ready for the first day of spring! After being dormant during winter’s dreary days, bulbs and flowering trees will emerge in full bloom. Hyacinths, crocus, tulips, and daffodils will show their true colors. And a new round of planting begins, with seeds set in the soil for fall arrival.

Like our fellow tea drinkers, Bigelow Tea loves flowers. In fact, flowers can actually be found in some of our teas. Chamomile, which look like the daisy, is the centerpiece of a trio set of Bigelow Teas featuring Cozy Chamomile, Chamomile Mango, and Chamomile Mint herbal teas. Hibiscus, a tropical flower, is paired with cranberry in our Cranberry Hibiscus Herb Tea. Both plants blend in our Sweet Dreams Herb Tea.

Besides our teas, we show our appreciation for nature through our Sustainabili-Tea efforts. We’ve significantly reduced our landfill waste at our facilities in Kentucky and Idaho and at our Connecticut headquarters. Land preservation is also our “priori-tea.” A decade ago, we purchased the Charleston Tea Plantation to save it from future real estate development. We’re also committed to upholding our founder Ruth Campbell Bigelow’s act of preserving 220 acres of open space in New Hampshire.

As you tend to your garden, we hope spring flowers—and our teas!—reinvigorate your spirit.

Top image by Curtis Fry via Flickr.com

Despite its bleak reputation weather-wise, February still shines as the season of love! Many proposals take place on Valentine’s Day, and for couples planning a spring, summer or even a fall wedding … now is the time to begin preparations. No wonder the bridal industry has declared it National Wedding Month! Bigelow Tea knows that one of the first decisions brides and grooms make when planning a wedding is picking the venue. And boy do we have a wonderfully romantic suggestion: our own Charleston Tea Garden—the largest working tea garden in the U.S.!

Tucked away on Wadmalaw Island in the heart of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, the Tea Garden features breathtaking views of tea fields and towering live oaks, as well as several options for planning a unique celebration in a natural setting brimming with old-fashioned southern charm. One lovely tradition is for couples to trade vows under the branches of the Tea Garden’s oldest live oak, fittingly named “the Wedding Tree.”

And the Pavilion, located in the tranquil tea fields, is an ideal spot for the reception. It provides overhead lighting and ceiling fans, and can be decorated myriad ways to reflect a special theme or your personal style. In need of inspiration? Wedding trend watchers are seeing a growing preference for elegant details evoking the style depicted in the popular PBS series Downton Abbey and recent film adaptations of Anna Karenina and The Great Gatsby. Think crystal glassware and gold silverware and chargers, darling. But elegance doesn’t have to be stuffy. As wedding planner Ivy Robinson tells Bridal Guide, couples often take an eclectic approach “combining natural, outdoorsy details with elegant elements.”

Whether you prefer minimalist décor or plenty of glitz, Charleston Tea Garden provides a stunning backdrop for an unforgettable wedding day. Cheers!

The New Year is still young, and we’re feeling giddy with the can-do spirit! As our own Cindi Bigelow reminds us in this fun video, people accomplish amazing things when they follow their passion—whether it’s creating art, making a hand-crafted item or starting a new business. So this February, Bigelow Tea is celebrating “Do It Yourself Month” to encourage all enterprising dreamers in the pursuit of their goals!

After all, Bigelow Tea traces its roots to the aspirations of one determined woman: Ruth Campbell Bigelow, who created “Constant Comment”®, the first Bigelow Tea, in her kitchen back in 1945. With the support of her husband and family, along with succeeding generations of “tea believers,” the business has thrived and grown to become America’s number one specialty tea maker. We honor this tradition of entrepreneurship and find inspiration in the creativity of other business owners and artisans.

This video emerged from one of Cindi’s trips to Charleston, South Carolina, home to our Charleston Tea Plantation. She explored the city’s lively arts scene and talked to some amazing do-it-yourselfers who are making jewelry, baskets and more. After viewing it, you just might get the itch to tackle a special project of your own.

What’s great about the DIY track is that anyone can jump on with an idea and see where it leads. A modest plan to freshen your décor can morph into a full-fledged home-improvement project. Or, a crafting hobby can turn into a lucrative part-time job. Even trying new recipes in your kitchen can lead to creative ideas!

So tell us … what fuels you? We’d love to chat on Facebook and Twitter about the ideas you hope to unleash in 2013!

Are you exploring the wonders of tea in honor of Hot Tea Month? Here at Bigelow Tea, we know that while tea is an ancient beverage, there is always something new to discover about its natural goodness. Writer Kim Gordon Moore certainly proves the point with her article offering “12 Ways to Celebrate National Hot Tea Month in January.” We’re sharing interesting tips from the list, along with a few of our own for indulging your passion for tea. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to step outside your tea comfort zone … and fall in love all over again!

You might study tea pairing, make a tea recipe, visit a tea house, or learn about samovars and gaiwans—Chinese lidded bowls used for the infusion of tea leaves—as Moore suggests. Her recommendation to “patronize tea businesses that give back to the community” is one we wholeheartedly endorse, too! She also gives a nod to our own Charleston Tea Garden, the only working tea farm in the continental United States, as an idyllic place to see actual tea plants.

These are all wonderful ideas, of course, but our favorite suggestion is to savor each cup of tea. With more than 120 varieties, Bigelow Tea won’t let you get bored. If you’re a devotee of unflavored black teas, why not try fun flavors like new Caramel Chai or one of our many Green Teas? And conversely, if you always go for rich tea blends, it’s a perfect time to discover classics like English Breakfast and Earl Grey, which have distinctive flavor profiles. Feeling adventurous? Give Chinese Oolong or Jasmine Green Tea a whirl. Herb teas, such as Lemon Ginger Herb Plus and Orange & Spice, offer refreshing flavors without caffeine.

Enjoy your tea journey all month long and throughout the year!

Off we went to our third plantation. We were now heading up to 6000 feet to the top of the mountain to our third (and one of our company’s favorite plantations that produces teas for our blends).  It is called Pedro.

Cindi Bigelow

From there we left to continue our journey through the mountains, once again through windy roads, through miles and miles of tea bushes, headed for the Dessford plantation. Eventually we arrived at Dessford. We were late, my MO (Modus operandi) for the entire week, but they received us with huge smiles and great warmth — the usual Sri Lankan way!

This time we got to see how they processed their tea. Each facility being slightly different to create their own unique blend. We finished up drinking their freshest tea which had been carefully hand-picked only a few days before.

They shared with us nuances of tea tasting that I could have never imagined they could pick up. These people made me realize why my grandmother fell in love with Ceylon teas (from the country now called Sri Lanka), more than 70 years ago because no one knows more, has more history and has been as dedicated to this delicious product.

Ceylon teas are the most expensive on the world market and I clearly knew why. It was the people. Yes the Camilla sinensis grows all around the world. But on the top of these mountains, the soil, the conditions and the people were what truly made Ceylon teas so exquisite.

We finally finished up after 7 pm and headed back to the Grand Hotel N’Eliya. When we arrived we were pretty exhausted. So we had dinner around nine and feel asleep around midnight. Visions of tea bushes filled my head. The memories of the day were overwhelming. It was a day like no other. And the good news was I got to have another one just like it the following day.

Cindi Bigelow

We continued our climb up.  As we ascended we started to see the most beautiful vision…tea bushes. The Camillia sinensis plant, thousands of them, everywhere. The mountain side was covered in these distinctive plants as far as the eye could see.  It was like nothing I have ever seen in my life. Here was the bush that three generations of my family has been dedicated to for almost 70 years, right in front of me.

Higher and higher we climbed. Past 4,000 feet then 5,000 feet, past monkeys, oxen, mongoose. Finally at around 5,500 feet we reached our first plantation, Waltrim, a state-of-the-art facility sitting high up in the Nuwara Eliya section of the Sri Lankan mountains (there are six regions total). It was a site for sore eyes.  Nestled in the hills was this plant that had over 1,000 acres of tea bushes.

I could never share what that visit meant to me (nor really what all the plant visits meant to me). Needless to say it was beyond words. I had so many questions for them, I thought their management team was going to send me home. But each time they shared more about their process (each factory is a little different). I had a ton more questions. It was so interesting. I mean really, I was actually seeing withering beds with my own eyes. I was watching the leaves go through the rolling machine then the Rotovane machines to be carefully chopped into different leave sizes, then laid out on special beds to finish the fermentation, finally dried at about 125 degrees after 21 minutes.

Tea was being made in front of my very own eyes. We only buy orthodox tea, which is all that comes from the high mountain gardens of this country. It is a slower method to process the tea but it produces the lightest brightest most favorable cup. The process is centuries old but timeless in ensuring that perfect cup.

Cindi Bigelow

Since we didn’t go to bed till 1am after dinner with the ambassador, morning came kind of early when the alarm went off a little after 5am.  We were ready to start up for the mountains at 6am. Prassana, with whom we had spent our first full day in Sri Lanka, was there with a welcoming smile. Behind the wheel was a lovely man named Ishanka. In the car we went, first heading out of Colombo and then slowly climbing up. Traffic was nuts. Of the 20 million people who live on the island, 2 million live in the city.

I knew we’d be passing by Pinnawala, the renowned elephant orphanage, on our way up. We just had to stop there!  So after about three hours out of Colombo we came to our first destination…the orphanage for elephants. It was so wonderful. This place was nursing back to health or just raising elephants of all sizes and ages that had been wounded or orphaned.  The first thing I got to do was feed a bottle to a four year old elephant. It was amazing. The elephant actually wrapped his trunk around me and the bottle. After that we walked around and saw two babies at 4 and 7 months of age. They were so sweet and never left each other’s side.

Then we headed toward the lake where they were all going to spend two hours being scrubbed and just having fun in the water. On the way there, they asked if I wanted to ride one. Me??  Sure!!!  So next thing I know I am on a 50 year old female named Guiena (or something like that).  Me!  On an elephant!! Are you kidding me? It was a most enjoyable ride. She was so gentle. But it was pretty crazy to be so high up on her back!  After that outrageous experience, smiling ear to ear, we started back up the mountain. We had two plantations to visit in the same day.

Slightly smaller than its African cousin, the endangered Asiatic Elephant grows to between 6.6 to 9.8 ft and can weigh 2.25 to 5.5 tons.  It can be identified by its smaller, more rounded ears.  They are fascinating animals.  I encourage you to find out more about them.

Cindi Bigelow