Billy Corgan, frontman from the 90's band Smashing Pumpkins, is planning on opening a tea house in his neighbourhood in Chicago. According to NBC Chicago, via Tea News Direct, Billy says the drive for this project is that there is a "lack of culture for someone in their 30's or 40's". His tea house is scheduled to open in March or April and it is to be the anti-Starbucks. Billy is dead set against what he calls the cookie-cutter approach. "I don't want to hang out with those people," says Corgan, who will not be running the day to day operations.
I was given this book for Christmas by someone who knows I like U2 a little bit. Well, a lot!
It's one of those books that you can pick up and set down as time allows. About 1/2 way through the book, there is a short chapter subtitled Ten Totally Random U2 facts. U2 bassist, Adam Clayton, is a tea drinker.
Fact 10: "Adam Clayton won't go on tour without his favourite brand of Irish tea bags. Barry's decaffeinated tea bags," Adam announced during the band's 2009 tour. I know it sounds crazy, but if you don't travel with your own tea, it never tastes the same."
Although I prefer Steeped Fine Loose tea to tea bags, I do agree with the sentiment! Do you take Steeped loose tea with you when you have to hit the road?
Here in Ontario, it is feeling more like a fall day than a summer one, on this Labour Day. Labour Day - an unofficial end to summer. Tomorrow is a return to routine for many families.
So, on this fallish feeling day, what are you drinking? Still sipping iced tea? Or are you putting the kettle on today?
On another note, if he were still alive, today would be Freddy Mercury's 65th birthday, and the Google doodle is a fun tribute to the flamboyant and versatile lead singer of the legendary (well if you were alive in the 70's and 80's) band Queen. So out of curiosity, I thought I'd try to see if Freddy was a tea drinker. Certainly, it was easy to find out he enjoyed vodka. A little more searching seems to indicate that tea was an ordinary part of his life. Several accounts talk of his visits at his mom's and her preparing tea. The descriptions lead me to believe they are describing the beverage as opposed to the evening meal.
In his last weeks, tea was still part of his routine, as described by his companion Jim Hutton:
Back at Garden Lodge, Freddie set out on the last three weeks of his life. He remained in good spirits, though he took to his bed for long parts of the day. He didn't once talk about work. Some days he'd get up in the morning and come down in his dressing gown for a cup of tea before returning to his room for the rest of the day. And I'd take him a cup of tea, along with his beloved cats for company.
In fact, in a song called The Miracle, one of the miracles Queen sings about is Sunday mornings with a cup of tea; this miracle is listed along with other miracles, both man made and created by God and nature, with the song culminating in a chorus describing the great miracle we all want - peace. You can read all the lyrics here. Here's the song, recorded late in Freddy's life, but still sounding good, and featuring some pretty good child look-alikes for much of the song.
Whatever you are doing today, whether it's slipping on a fall sweater and heading out to one of the many fall fairs, staying in and curling up with a book, cranking some tunes, we hope you have a wonderful holiday and that tea is part of your day!
More and more celebrities are declaring their affection for tea and it's fun to do a little tea-spotting every now and then.
It would appear that Selena Gomez's love for tea started at a young age, as evidenced in this photo of her having a tea party on the TV show Barney and Friends.
Selena is best known for her role as Alex Russo in the show 'Wizards Of Waverly Place' and as Mary in 'Another Cinderella Story'.
She seems to be successfully transitioning from TV to film with last summer's movie Ramona & Beezus, and an appearance this summer in Monte Carlo.
She enjoys iced tea - quite a lot it would seem, as this photo she posted on Twitter would indicate.
Currently, she and her band, The Scene, are enjoying success with a recent CD release.
A cup of hot tea is how she unwinds after a performance with her band. She says, "Before I go onstage, I drink olive oil. It's disgusting, but it's good for your throat. Then I grab grab my band and we do vocal warm ups and dance. After that, we put our hands together and say a little prayer. I don't ask for anything too fancy, just some tea. I usually have lemons and pickles, I really love salty and sour things."
She has also started her own fashion line and production company. This teen really keeps busy! Perhaps tea provides the energy she needs.
According to Hollywood Dame website, when Kate Winslet broke up with her husband, she didn't hit the bottle, trash a hotel room or anything overly dramatic like that. Rather, she turned to tea.
The author of the article, Cara Harrington, reports:
This is why I like Kate Winslet. She has been separated from her husband for months (unbeknownst to the prying media) and the day it is publicly announced (click HERE for that story)…she is on a boat drinking tea in a bikini. How very European. The smoking is icky-poo, but it is canceled out by the fancy tea cups.
Winslet is off in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on vacation while everyone else is trying to figure out the cause of her marriage break up. Good for her. This is how classy dames roll.
According to the Swanky Celebs and other websites, Johnny Depp, famous for such roles as The Madhatter in Alice in Wonderland, Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribean, and many other eclectric roles, is using green tea as a way to reduce his weight for an upcoming role in the movie Dark Shadows. The 47-year-old actor is reportedly drinking gallons of green tea in a bid to lose weight for his role in the upcoming movie ‘Dark Shadows.’ “Johnny is aiming to get down to 140lbs, so he looks as gaunt as possible,”according to sources associated with the film. The diet also consists of low fructose fruit such as pineapples and strawberries.
The film, set for release in 2012, is a remake of an old 1960's TV show of the same name, and is being described as a Gothic horror about a vampire named Barnabus Collins.
Perhaps tea isn't only for dieting purposes for Johnny Depp, as it appears he might be drinking some here, with Kate Moss.
We at Steeped Tea have seen lots of articles and studies that point to tea, both green and oolong, as effective in weight, but may we recommend you do it sensibly, incorporating your tea into a healthy, well-balanced diet, and exercise?
One of our consultants, Patricia Thomas of Manitoba, brought this one to my attention.
Alex O'Loughlin, an Australian-born actor, plays the role of McGarrett in the new Hawaii Five-0 remake.
I've been unable to determine if he drinks tea in real life, or just on the show, and if it's a one-time or regular thing for this character, but you'll see him sipping by clicking here.
Do you watch The Mentalist? It's a whodunnit crime show in which the lead character, Patrick Kane, is a former fake psychic who is a consultant to a team of detectives. He's wry, witty, quirky, irreverent and he always enjoys a cup of tea during each episode.
So does Simon Baker, who plays the character, also drink tea, or is he just acting?
According to Robin Tunney, his co-star, "he's cute, adorable, talented, funny, generous, he can drink tea properly, not an obvious thing for an Australian!"
An unofficial Simon Baker website states his turnons are: "Hearing my kids laugh, a good cuppa tea, dancing with my wife."
It appears that he is drinking that tea for real each week on The Mentalist. Another celebrity who, just like us, enjoys tea!
