New Year, Old Roots, Same Abbi

A new year is upon us, and I can't help but feel the need to make some changes. For most of my time with Abbi's Teas & Things I have used social media to reach, connect & share my thoughts, teas & things. But the root of this little tea story of mine starts with a blog. Before the tea shop ever came to be, when I was in my "hustle" years of corporate advertising - there was my tea blog. It started out as teatumblr dot com, then transitioned to myteasteeper dot com. From about 2011 to 2017, this was where I shared my tea thoughts & knowledge along with a variety of tea reviews from tea shops & tea companies in the US and afar. It was a big outlet for me from the fast paced corporate ladders I was climbing and I got to try a TON of different types of tea which only honed my blending mastery.

Many of you may know about how I hit a wall in the corporate world, and then I took that year off when my dad passed away. You can read about it on this blog post I wrote about putting my heart on a shelf several years ago. And well, I have kept up with the blog here on abbiteas.com off and on over the years but not with great consistency. For 2025, I think it's time to go back to the roots of my love for tea. I'm even thinking about having some guest posts from some of my favorite tea folks! If that interests you, let me know!!

1993 Abbi at Manteo Elementary School

I think it's good to go back to the basics, and let's face it: I am growing weary of the song and dance of social media. I feel like I spent the last 7 years building this online audience on all these platforms, creating ALL this content, and now with the platforms catering more to AI bots, misinformation, and just the general slog of people sharing stuff none of us really wanna see or care about - I just want to get back on the blog. 

I feel like I have been blogging since I was 13 when I hand coded my own geo-cities website complete with flash star fall flash animation & an interactive guestbook. From geocities, I found myself sharing on livejournal in the high school years and in college it was Xanga. Oh, the millennial nostalgia I feel reflecting on those blog sites of yester-year. And, let's not forget Myspace Notes. May she RIP! lolol

I won't completely disappear from Facebook and Instagram, but I am going to be slowing down how much effort I put into those platforms this year. I am ready to clear out the bots and spammers and the weird stuff in my newsfeed - most of which isn't stuff I even actually follow.

The way I see it, the people who really care will show up here and read - when and if they want to which (for me at least) make it a little more intimate & meaningful.
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Everyone is talking about 2024 and for me, what a year. It felt like same level of hurdles I endured in 2020. Just a lot of unexpected weird life, family and day to day stuff to overcome. But we are putting that year in a box and moving forward, maybe a little beat-up and bruised, but we've still got a lot of fight left. Some of the things that got me through 2024 were good books, good music, and good friends. Thank goodness for that! Be on the look out next week for my 2024 top lists. It's gonna be a good one with some special songs, books and poems.

In the meantime, here's a few of the winter tea blends now available:

 🍌 Banana Nut Roo  - this brew is tried & true. I think this roo is about 4 or 5 years old now, I remember coming up this blend after trying a different banana tea that just tasted horrible like an old piece of laffy taffy. Bleh. I wanted to a banana tea that was smooth and creamy and not artificial tasting. I used sweet notes of honeybush and rich nutty textures of red rooibos with creamy marigold and whole hunks of unsweetened banana chips. It turned out delicious, too! For awhile, this was served over at Rocktown Distillery as a tasty hot toddy with their Bourbon Cream. Highly recommend. This blend is now offered year round, but I am mostly sipping it in the cold winter months. 

❄️ Winter's Solace  - a beloved winter blend of mine. One of my most missed throughout the year, I think. This was an oopsy blend. I wasn't paying attention and poured gunpowder green tea in with the baihao yinzhen and so I added some spearmint, rose hips, and orange peels and there she was as if I was meant to blend her all along. I like to describe this blend as a softer Moroccan Mint type tea. The soft silver needle pairs so nicely with the rose and orange and the gunpowder elevates the whole cup of tea. I have a handful of customers, looking at you Denise, who swear this is their secret elixir for a bad day or a bad cold. I always love it when accidents become happy miracles. Life can be that way, sometimes.

🍊 Spiced Orange - oh how every single tea house, shop, company has a Spiced Orange tea on their menu. But I will forever stand by mine. Rich citrusy notes with deep & delicious ceylon cinnamon chips, and the soft finish of cardamom seed. In my personal opinion, it's the best spiced orange tea out there but I am partial to it because I brewed this one for ME. I just hate the artificial flavorings a lot of tea brands put over their tea leaves. I used a nice orange extract over a ceylon black tea along with really high quality cinnamon and cardamom. The orange peels are organic if that matters to you, and this cuppa just brews so well. It's aromatic, it is full flavored, and with a spot of your favorite local honey - there's really nothing better for a cold winter day.

The full line up of my deep winter tea blends is now available under Seasonal Blends on the online store. If you're needing to stock up on some teas, I recommend them all - but these three are a few of my most favorite winter staples! Happy Steeping!