ATTIC Manifesto

At ATTIC, we've been having a good hard think about the things that matter to us; what we love, what we believe. 

After staring blankly at a Word document for an hour trying to create an official manifesto, we decided that several cups of tea (Dragonwell, Silver Needle and Tippy Yunnan to be exact...) and a good chat were in order to work out what was really making us tick. After discovering our individual missions to chase crop-circles, learn about Mayan history and accumulate the entire Bruce Springsteen back-catalogue (we did digress occasionally...) we managed to agree on several beliefs, loves and philosophies that united us in Tea!

The result of which is our ATTIC manifesto, where tea infuses with our daily lives and passions, to create our unique little worlds.

We hope you enjoy sharing our thoughts, and maybe even find something in common!

(Ps* If anyone knows where to find some bargain Bruce Springsteen Vinyl.....) 

Tea of the Week: Ti Guan Yin / Iron Goddess of Mercy

Ti Guan Yin, meaning ‘Iron Goddess of Mercy’, is one China’s most famous and special Oolong teas.

Legend has it that a poor farmer who maintained a dilapidated old temple to the bodhisattva of compassion, Quan Yin, saw her in a dream where she directed him where to look for his reward, which he was to share with the whole community. In the directed location, there stood a solitary tea sprout, which the farmer nurtured like a gift from heaven. Since then the whole region has prospered from the production of this tea.

Traditionally, Ti Guan Yin is served gongfu style (a fine art to tea serving, where the smallest details are carefully monitored to extract the best possible taste from the tea leaves), steeping the tea in a fist sized pot and drinking it from small ‘shot’ cups, often made from fine pottery. When served in this way, it becomes one of the strongest teas available, but still retains its incredible delicacy.

Oolong teas are semi-fermented, sitting between green and black teas in terms of strength and flavour. Because of this, they are amongst the most diverse and complex-tasting teas, ranging from refreshing and delicate emerald greens, to the strong and roasted flavours of near ebony leaves.

Sitting at the greener end of Oolongs, Ti Guan Yin is a fine example of the many levels of flavour this group of tea offers. Its tightly rolled leaves unfurl to a vast volume, allowing them to be re-used several times with little dilution of flavour. 

It's one of the teas we frequently fall back on when we need a 'pick me up' during the day, with its rich, strong and refreshing taste, we hope you'll see why it’s considered a gift from the heavens!

 

Dragonwell Drawings

Winner:

~Pippy, 7~

Runners Up:

~Joe, 12~

~Lucy, 11~

~Sammy, 4~

~Alex, 4~

We were amazed at the amount of artistic talent shown in our 'Dragonwell Drawing Competition' which we held on our Birthday.

It was tough picking out the winners, as we could find something special with all the entries, but in the end Pippy's smiling, colourful fire-breathing dragon  caught our eye. Congratulations Pippy, we hope you enjoy the sweeties and Mum enjoys the bag of Dragonwell!

A special mention also goes to our runers-up. We were impressed with Joe's attention to detail, and giving us our own ATTIC Tea well, Lucy's magical tea-loving dragon  and Birthday wishes, Sammy's happy flying dragon, and the sheer character in the face of Alex's Dragon. Well done to all of you!

And as we were so impressed with all the entries, here they are for you to enjoy:

~Erin, 7~

~Emily, 13~

~Abby, 7~

~Ellie, 9~

~Danny, 4~

~Maddy, 7~

~James, 7~

~Florie, 13~

~Ethan, 7~

Finally, those who are never too old for crayons....

~Clive, 50~

~Henry, 28~

~Caroline, 20~

~Sue, undisclosed!~

~Simon,  41~

Thanks to all who entered!

Birthday!

~Balloons = Birthday!~

On Monday, ATTIC celebrated its 3rd Birthday! A big "thank you" to everyone who came and showed their support, as we really couldn't have come this far without you. 

The day was a big success, with plenty of people taking part in our 'Guess the number of teaballs', 'find All The Tea In China' and Dragon(well) drawing competitions - the lucky winners will be announced at the end of the week, and a gallery of our dragon pictures will be up on the blog in a few days time. There was some fantastic artistic talent shown, ranging from ages 3 - 50. Some people really don't lose their competitive streak!

~Earl Grey Shortbread~

~Earl Grey Biscotti~

We also had some special tea-based treats, including home-made Earl Grey Shortbread, Earl Grey, cherry and walnut biscotti and a specially made Keemun and cardamon iced tea which were all well received. Equally enjoyed was the free jelly and ice cream, by little and big kids alike!

~Freshly baked cake!~

And finally, an extra special "thanks" to all the lovely folks who brought us cake, jam-tarts and general sweet-based goodness!  It was a fantastic day that will be fondly remembered.

So, as we enter our fourth year, we hope to make lots of exciting progress with making the ATTIC experience more enjoyable for you. We've been working on developing community projects, new products and a better establishment of our philosophy on life and tea. 

Here's to another great year!

~To a tea-tastic future!~

Tea of the Week: Rosie Lee (summer tea) blend

Named after its creator, our very own sunny Aussie girl, Rosie, this blend has proved popular during the warmer months for its crisp, clean and refreshing taste.

A white tea base of Silver Needle provides a gentle foundation for the sharper flavours of juniper berries and lemon balm to come alive, this is a tea with a sophisticated balance of flavours.

Both juniper berries and lemon balm are praised for their relaxing properties, and have often been used as medicinal herbs in a variety of cultures to treat digestive issues and fight infection.

White tea is the purest, least processed type of tea, Silver Needle specifically being picked within the first 48 hours the buds open, giving them their silvery down, making it the purest of all the teas. They are then gently steamed and dried in the sun, giving it a fresh, delicate flavour.

White teas have been hailed as “the pinnacle of refinement”, and with the grown-up flavours of Juniper, you really can enjoy the long, summer evenings in style!

Tea of the Week: Tranquility Blend

One of the things we love about tea is its calmness. The process of preparing and drinking should be taken time over, allowing it as a way to quiet and the mind and focus on the present. It is important to embrace these pockets of calm whenever we can, shielding away the distractions that the busy world outside relentlessly fires at us.

Whether Bristol has an extremely high number of people embracing Zen philosophies, journeying along the path to inner calm - or just some very stressed ones, the popularity of our ‘Tranquillity’ green tea blend clearly offers a rather appealing promise!

Using a combination of herbs; spearmint, lemon balm and lemongrass, known for their calming effects on the body, with our Organic Mao Jian green tea we think we’ve created a little cup of calmness…

Spearmint helps cool the body and is often used to calm the stomach, whilst both lemongrass and lemon balm have traditionally been used in herbal medicine for its antibacterial properties and as a sedative for the muscles and mind.

Mao Jian is a lovely, light green tea, making it a good base for blends. As with all green teas, it is high in antioxidants, helping your body fight off natural and chemical toxins and combined with these herbs, it is a wonderfully restorative tea.

And if all this goodness wasn’t enough to make you feel more at ease, it also tastes deliciously refreshing, and tastes just as good a little cooler, so you don’t need to worry about taking your time!

So come in at 2.30pm any day this week to see what a difference indulging in a little moment ‘tranquillity’ can make to your day!

 

Tea & Me

~ Does our tea make you smile? Let us know! ~

One of the few things we love more than Tea at ATTIC, is when you love it  too!

We will be running an ongoing feature on our Blog called ‘Tea & Me’, where we will be asking you to contribute your thoughts on tea, and why it’s special to you. Whether it’s a praising paragraph to Phoenix Pearls, a story about Dungeons and Dragonwell, a sonnet to Sencha, or even a mural for Mao Jian, we’d love to hear from you and we’ll share your thoughts and contributions on here. 

If you want to participate, please e-mail us at attictea@gmail.com, with “Tea & Me” in the subject line, attaching your contribution. 

Alternatively, post your entries to us at:  ATTIC Tea, 115 Coldharbour Rd, Redland, Bristol, BS6 7SD

...or drop them by in the shop!

We look forward to hearing from you!