Thursday, June 16, 2011

Releasing Our Inner Pooh - The Tea + Honey Store


Exploring a city on foot gives the walker an opportunity to see the metropolis up close and personal. The bigger the city, the more ground there is available to discover. Every place, whether urban or rural, has its own charms and every step we take is a decision towards discovering them.

For those individuals who ignorantly say that cities like New York lack trees, I merely inquire when was the last time they walked through Central Park? Surely at least one tree may be found on the 843-acre public park. This photo shows a few trees that I noticed during a recent walk and they do not appear to be saplings. Perhaps the person is unable to see the trees for obsessing about concrete. Nevertheless, excuses prevent discoveries. It is time to keep walking.

Blooming Where You Are Planted

Productivity produces evidence. When trees produce buds, blooms and blossoms, it is a visual expression of life springing up from the roots. The blossoms announce that there is work in progress and the fruit is on the way.

Additionally, blossoms stand out among green leaves and their uncommon quality attracts those who recognize their worth, i.e. bees. Honey, the collaboration between bees and blossoms, is a sweet example. I imagine Alan Alexander Milne's character Winnie-the-Pooh would be quite pleased at discovering such productivity.

For the Pooh in You - The Tea + Honey Store (New York)

As a rule, I prefer to keep my palate sharp and to add nothing to my teas and/or tisanes. A tisane (pronounced "tis-an"), or herbal, is an infusion which  does not contain the actual camellia sinensis tea leaf. Curiosity, however, motivated me to try boosting my immune system via adding local honey to a rooibos tisane.

Rooibos (pronounced "roy-boss"), is the red bush herbal grown in South Africa.When it came to selecting and purchasing honey, I visited Nicolas Sampedro and my friends at The Tea + Honey Store on the Upper East Side. Please note: the Grand Central location is closed.

My first ever non-tea purchase at The Tea + Honey Store was Hamptons Honey Wildflower Blossom. I am happily conducting my experiment. Regardless of how the experiment turns out, I have blossoms, some honey and a bear as reminders for me to keep producing. Life is indeed sweet. Cups up!


2 comments:

  1. Hi V,

    Beautiful! There is no place like Central Park!

    The Tea & Honey Store sounds interesting! Do they have a large tea selection?

    Thanks for sharing! Blessings

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  2. Dear Darlene,
    The Tea + Honey Store carries a wide selection of black, green and oolong teas as well as recognized brands like Palais des Thes and Ajiri Tea. In addition, the teaware makes it hard to focus strictly on tea.

    If you visit, then be sure to tell me what you think.

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