Several small business owners from New Mexico are in Washington D.C. today along with over one hundred more from around the country. They’ve made the trip to show their support for health care overhaul legislation now under consideration in Congress.

David Edwards started the New Mexico Tea Company and the New Mexico Tea Bar in Albuquerque after realizing he wanted to own his own business. Edwards says he would prefer a single payer health care system, but that supporting a public insurance option is what is needed now.

KUNM’s Elaine Baumgartel asked him what health insurance decisions he’s had to make as a small business owner.

David Edwards is one of over one hundred small business owners from across the country who are in Washington D.C. today to speak to lawmakers about health care legislation. The trip was organized after a U.S. Public Interest Group survey found that over 75 percent of small business owners feel their voices are not being heard in the health care debate.

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This post was taken from KUNM’s website. Read the original post here.

We got in all of the following teas. Its a good thing, because I was out of a lot of stuff!

CHAMOMILE FLOWERS

MINT & LEMON GUNPOWDER

CRANBERRY FLAVORED ORGANIC BLACK TEA

KASHMIRI GREEN TEA CHAI

ORGANIC IRISH BREAKFAST

ORGANIC ENGLISH BREAKFAST

WHITE TIP OOLONG

MANGO MATE ENERGIZER

MATE CARNIVAL

JAPANESE SENCHA FANCY

CHERRY FRUIT TISANE

RUSSIAN CARAVAN

ORGANIC LAPSANG SOUCHONG

HUCKLEBERRY TEA

VANILLA MASALA CHAI

SANDIA SPICE

SILVER NEEDLE JASMINE

EARL GREY JASMINE

AFRICAN SUMMER

ORGANIC HONEY BUSH

JASMINE PEARLS

JASMINE MOLI

JADE OOLONG GREEN

HIGH MOUNTAIN GREEN

ORANGE BLOSSOM OOLONG

POMEGRANATE PAI MU TAN

YERBA MATE

ORGANIC EARL GREY

ROSIE EARL GREY

MOROCCAN MINT

ASSAM FULL LEAF STGFOP

GENMAICHA MATCHA

SCOTTISH BLEND

BLOOD ORANGE

YUNNAN CHINA

GENMAICHA

FINUM PAPER FILTERS

Over the past few weeks the website has been undergoing some changes. The product pages specifically have gotten a lot of attention in their redesign. Brewing instructions are now easily seen under the much larger pictures of each tea. Take a look at the Blood Orange product page for an example. You will also notice that two people have been kind enough to write reviews about the tea. If you have an opinion about a specific tea, good or bad, please take a moment to write your thoughts down. You can write a review by clicking the check box in the upper right hand corner of the new product pages. Or directly by following the review links for each featured tea in the news letter.

Perfect Image now serves our tea in their salon downtown. It’s on Lomas at Forrester. They specialize in Personal Image Consulting (Hair, Makeup, Waxing, and Hair Extensions)

Angel, the owner, cuts my hair, and when I’m ready for hair extensions, you can bet I’ll be going there to get them! Make an appointment by calling (505) 290-7895.

Tea History:
The nomadic people of Tibet drink a lot of tea, and much of it is butter tea. The tea is first boiled for a few hours until it has a rich dark color. The liquid is then poured into a container with fresh yak butter and salt and shaken. The end result looks like thick oil. Sometimes it is further mixed with hardened cheese, butter, white sugar and flower. Wikipedia says that some people drink up to 40 cups of this a day… see I’m not so crazy in my attempt!

This month I would like to highlight some new things at the Tea Bar. First is our teashots:

This is a whole pot of tea, condensed into a shot glass. They cost $2.50 each. Also, we have just started putting bite-sized Italian chocolate tea cakes onto the Tea Bar Plate:

The “Tea for Two” costs $10 and comes with a Tea Bar Plate and a large pot of any of our 150 teas.

The New Mexico Tea Bar is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am till 6pm.

Tea Tip of the Month:
You don’t need a steamer to get a nice layer of milk froth to float on the service of your tea. Put some heavy cream into a bottle, then add a bit of boiling water and sugar. Shake it for about 10 seconds and pour over tea. If you do not add the hot water, you will get whip cream. If you want to try frothing soy-milk, just skip the hot water.

Sincerely,
David Edwards
Owner - NM Tea Co.

Featured Products: Chocolate Mint (write a review)

A perfect dessert tea with fresh lovely mint combined with full flavored chocolate and black tea. If you want a something without sugar, try this, a chocoholic favorite. $2.00/oz

Local Tea Pots (write a review)

Karen’s works combine both molded and hand built forms often taking as many as four separate kiln firings before they are completed. Click on the picture to see the rest of her work. $125 each.

Temple Gunpowder (write a review)

Legend has it that the name Gunpowder was given by a young English clerk who thought the tiny rolled green balls looked like gunpowder. The tea leaves are selected for size and style, then rolled into very small tight nuggets. $2.00/oz

Location and Hours: Address:
1131 Mountain Road NW STE2
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Phone Number:
505-962-2137

Web Address:
www.nmteaco.com
www.nmteabar.com

Blog:
blog.nmteaco.com

Store Hours:
10am-6pm Tues through Sunday
Closed Mondays

Tea Bar Hours:
10am-6pm Friday through Sunday

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Today’s special is a Tropical Sunrise. Its Blood Orange Rooibos with coconut and passion fruit black tea. Shaken with blueberry, lime, lemon, and sugar. As always, free to anyone who comes in and asks for one.

at the NM Tea Bar. A whole pot of tea in one shot glass.

in ABQ the Mag’s Best of the City… They don’t have a “Best Tea Store”. But these Categories might work…

“Best Dessert”,
“Best Place To Dine On The Patio”,
“Best Local Business Owner” (Me of course, David Edwards),
“Best Category We Left Out ” (Tea),
“Best Customer Service” (I Hope),
And maybe others

Also, of course, take the opportunity to vote for other business’ that you like!

Thanks,

David

This month there are two articles about the Tea Bar, and the tea store. First Albuquerque the Magazine published an interview in there “Lunch With” section. And yesterday the Daily Lobo ran a great article as well.

The Cube Restaurant is the newest addition to the New Mexico Tea family. They serve Memphis BBQ, Hot-dogs & American Food. Everything made with love and from scratch everyday. Beer & Wine. Free Wi-fi. They are in the UNM area at 1520 Cental Ave. SE. Be sure to get a glass of their sweet tea, and tell them we sent you.

We have a winner for the Tea-Shirt contest. Congratulations to William C. Reichard with his design “Steeped in Tradition”.

Take a look at a larger image on our website. You can also see the runner ups. They were all wonderful entries. Contests Page. Over the next month or so we will have these shirts available for sale in the store and on the website.

Tea History:
Malawi is a small country in East Africa named after Marawi people who migrated into that region in the 13th century. Tea is their second largest export, and it was in Malawi that tea was first grown in Africa. It was pioneered by a Scottish planter, Mr. Henry Brown, who had lost all his coffee in Sri Lanka due to a coffee disease.

Tea Tip:
Often times people are looking to cut the caffeine in their tea. But occasionally someone wants to know how to get the most caffeine from their tea. Mate has the most caffeine, followed by black tea, then oolong, then green, and finally white with the least amount. The more leaves you use, the more caffeine you’re going to get. Caffeine is water soluble; after about 30 seconds most of the caffeine is gone. This means that you don’t need to over steep your tea. So, if you would like to have the caffeine boost of coffee, but the health benefits of tea, use more tea leaves per cup.

The Tea Bar offers fresh baked goods made from scratch (every day) and seasonal fruit. With your choice of any of our 150 teas hot or cold.

Featured Products:

Digital Kettle Pro: It has a digital readout that lets you set a desired temperature to the degree. Then the kettle maintains it there for as long as needed. The kettle is classy looking and easy to use. We use it for the tea bar.

Organic Irish Breakfast: This orange pekoe Irish breakfast is made from a blend of Indian and Chinese teas. Unlike many lesser Irish breakfasts our blend has whole leaves and includes golden tips. Sweet aroma with a brisk aftertaste, this tea really shines with milk and sugar.

Silver Needle: Silver Needle refe rs to the bud of the tea plant. Because white tea is the least processed type of tea, you can still see the fibers on the individual buds. White tea leaves are plucked from a special varietal tea bush called Narcissus or chaicha bushes. Secondly the leaves or buds are not steamed or pan-fired (the process used in green teas) or oxidized and fired (the process used in black tea). The leaves are naturally withered and dried in the sun.

Sincerely,
David Edwards
Owner - NM Tea Co.

Review Us: Let other people know what you think of the store on these sites.
Google Maps
Yelp
Teamap
Local.Yahoo
Insider Pages
Local.Live