Tea Time for Back-to-School Survivors
To all those adults who devoted the past weeks managing back-to-school pressures and challenges—namely, parents and teachers—we salute you. Congratulations—you made it!
It’s time for a reward.
Your summer schedule—so carefree and loose, so agreeable—vanished, not to get reprised for another nine months. Mornings came with stress and rushing. Post-school hours for parents involved piloting kids from sports and other activities, homework admonitions and dinner’s demands.
Teachers dream about collapse during the hours following the school bell—but they don’t often get to sink into sloth. Instead, they’re grading papers, getting ready for the next day’s classes and trying to also cook dinner—often for themselves and their families.
The return of the school slog comes with thrills and enchantments, for sure. But let’s never forget the hardships. So let’s spangle at least a little bit of sparkle among the adults for whom back-to-school means drastically rearranged lives. We think tea serves as a perfect reward.
It can jumpstart the day with joy. Punctuate the afternoon with indulgences. Soften and enrich the hours back at home. Back-to-school parents and teachers? It’s tea time.
With fall nearly here—and Labor Day Weekend arriving next weekend—it’s time to begin the new season with sippable autumnal pleasures. We’re ready to mosey away from the hot months’ teas, and swan into months of rich, spice-perfumed, ultra-satisfying teas—drinks to go with blankets on laps, fires in hearths and mornings crisp with frost.
Pro tip for the weeks ahead: Get out in those mountains before cold and snow prevents easy hikes! We pursue autumn hiking with abandon. The colors, the air—even the smell!—delivers some of the best mountains vibes possible. Consider enlivening your Labor Day Weekend with a hike in our glorious mountains.
Tea for Teachers and Parents: Pumpkin Spice Chai
Yep, we just went there. Pumpkin spice. In August. With fall’s official first month just days away, we’re running with it! We also think it’s a grand gift for teachers and parents, due to, you know, it’s absolutely stunning flavor. Yes, pumpkin spice—bring it! Our superlative bespoke blend leads with earthy, bold black tea. We pair classic Camellia sinensis with rooibos, the South African shrub that brews into fab tea—an elixir with herbal and even woody notes, along with serious health benefits in the form of electrolytes. Then comes the heart of the PSL experience: cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger. We even add real pumpkin to our Pumpkin Spice Chai!
Tea for Teachers and Parents: Pumpkin Pie Blend
Summer has its peaches, corn and tomatoes. But no plant stands in for fall with the force of pumpkin—it represents the very essence of “iconic.” We embrace the vivid orange fruit (technically, squash is a fruit) heartily. Sure, PSL stormed into autumn 10 or 15 years ago with the force of a hurricane. However pumpkin pie stands as the OG autumnal sweet treat. Forsake the pumpkin godfather? Never! This blend does justice to one of our favorite pies. With almond, apple, rooibos, cinnamon, beetroot, cardamom, real pumpkin, coriander and clove, our Pumpkin Pie Blend registers as pure pie—distilled in a drink and tantalizing taste buds and autumn imaginations with every sip!
Tea for Teachers and Parents: Vanilla Rooibos
Who the heck doesn’t love a little vanilla in their busy days? There’s a reason the treasure, native to Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean, finds its way into so many culinary luxuries—the taste is transporting. We think it’s kind of magic. And how stirring that it comes from a tropical climbing orchid! This tea prioritizes the vanilla—no baking spices here to mask the tea’s centerpiece. Our Vanilla Rooibos of course includes rooibos, which pairs beautifully with vanilla’s dreamy notes. It also contains calendula, which adds color and whispers of spice and bite. And almond slivers—almond and vanilla dance together in sensational ways. This one’s for you, teachers and parents!
Tea for Teachers and Parents: Chrysanthemum Green (Organic)
When temperatures (finally) begin dipping and the leaves start changing color—events that coincide with back to school—lovely chrysanthemums also begin appearing. Garden centers sell them by the truck load, and smart gardeners plant them to provide color after frosts knock down the rest of summer’s flowers. They’re awfully special. Healthy, too! In China, people brew tea with chrysanthemum to support lung health, vision and to reduce internal inflammation. How’s that for a teacher/parent gift! But this tea bestows sippers much more than bolstered wellness—it also delivers the flavor goods. With Japanese sencha tea, peppermint, chrysanthemum and rose petal, the tea bewitches all who brew and sip.
