Did you know March is National Reading Month? While curling up with a thought-provoking book and warm, cozy beverage is a great idea during any month, we thought we’d take National Reading Month as an opportunity to showcase some amazing stories and teas to drink while reading them. These tea and book blends are sure to provide you an enhanced reading experience and brighten your soul.
The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up
Tea to Pair: JusTea’s Peppermint Detox Tea
The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up is a Japanese graphic novel (manga) by Marie Kondo that’s perfect for those looking for a fresh start or new lease on life. This manga follows Chiaki, a young woman in Tokyo who struggles with a cluttered apartment, messy love life, and general lack of direction. With help from Marie Kondo using the KonMari Method of tidying up, Chiaki is able to change her life for the better and rediscover joy.
As you cleanse your home, life, and spirit, the perfect tea pairing would be JusTea’s Peppermint Detox Loose Leaf Tea. Packed with antioxidants, whole leaf peppermint, and lemongrass to create a delicious and revitalizing blend, this cool and refreshing tea is bound to keep your body feeling energized and clean. This would be the perfect way to complement the emotional transformation you’re likely to be experiencing at this time. Not to mention, you’d be supporting the livelihoods of small-scale tea farmers in the Nandi Hills of Kenya.
We have two copies of this manga available. Stop in at our Bloomington or Nora Plaza location to buy a copy. We have several of the teas available at all our locations.
Not local? Purchase the manga or Peppermint Detox tea online!
The Girl with the Louding Voice
Tea to Pair: JusTea’s Purple Rain
The Girl with the Louding Voice is a bold and inspirational story about a rural Nigerian teenager named Adunni who struggles with many things growing up, including her limited education, poverty, and her ability to speak up for herself. The story follows Adunni as she faces many obstacles in her journey towards acquiring education, independence, and a sense of self, gaining her “louding voice.”
Just as noteworthy as this story is JusTea’s Purple Rain Loose Leaf Tea. This purple tea, originating in Kenya, has twice the antioxidants of green tea, and features bright and bold flavors such as juicy passion fruit, sweet lemongrass, and crisp apple. By purchasing a tin, you’d be supporting the livelihoods of small-scale tea farmers in the Nandi Hills of Kenya.
You can get a copy of the book at your local library or bookstore.
We have 12 tins of the Purple Rain tea available. Stop in at any of our locations to buy a tin.
Not local? Purchase the Purple Rain tea online!
The Secrets Between Us
Tea to Pair: Equal Exchange’s Organic Chai
The Secrets Between Us is a powerful and perceptive novel that brilliantly evokes the complexities of life in modern India and the harsh realities faced by women born without privilege as they struggle to survive. It tells the story of Bhima, a poor housemaid, and Parvati, a bitter woman of little words. Together, these two form an unlikely friendship as they work through their past traumas and learn to stand on their own.
Running in perfect parrallel with the story of these two women is Equal Exchange’s Organic Chai. With an inviting flavor of ginger, cardamom, and cloves, you can drink this chai in the traditional manner sweetened and with milk, or on its own. As you immerse yourself in the story of these South Asian women, drinking a very traditional South Asian beverage, feel good about the South Asian (Sri Lankan) tea farmers whose livelihoods you’re supporting.
You can get a copy of the book at your local library or bookstore.
We have 20 boxes of the Organic Chai available. Stop in at our Nora Plaza, Mass Ave, Bloomington, or Short North location to buy one.
Not local? Purchase the Organic Chai online!
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Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
Tea to Pair: Equal Exchange’s Assam Black Tea
If social justice is your calling and gives you a true sense of purpose, then you can definitely feel good about this book and tea pairing.
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is a New York Times #1 Bestseller, which examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. It also looks at how America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.
As this books sparks ideas within in you to drive positive societal change and help decolonize our world, take a sip of Equal Exchange’s malty, mellow Organic Assam Black tea, and know that you actually are helping to do just that. By purchasing this tea, you help support the emerging Karbi-Anglong Small Farmers tea project in Assam, India, a project aimed at decolonizing the traditional tea plantation system and building an alternative tea model and a farmer-led future for the tea industry.
We have three copies of the book available. Stop in at our Nora Plaza, Bloomington, or Short North location to buy a copy.
There are currently eight boxes of the Assam Black tea available. Stop in at our Nora Plaza or Short North location to buy one.
Not local? Purchase the book or Assam Black tea online!