Tuesday, June 08, 2010

The Office Tea Situation


I'd grade it an A-.  It's pretty darned good, given the fact that it's in an office setting.  I wouldn't expect loose teas or cups and saucers.

Benefits:
  • Wide selection of FREE bagged Stash teas (the company HQ is nearby).
  • A hot water spigot that displays the temperature.
  • Packets of honey and lemon.
I can work with this!  Once my teas arrive (this week, thank goodness as my move stash is depleted), I will take my own tea in to work.  The water (since I can see the temp) is plenty hot for both black and green teas (if I cool it a bit for the green).  That's a nice surprise!  

I will look forward to sharing my teas with my colleagues! 

How do you wrangle up tea in your work area?

*Image from Microsoft Images

12 comments:

Angela McRae said...

Sounds like a great situation you've got there! We had a huge breakroom renovation at my office several years ago and they installed a hot water spigot that produced the *perfect* temperature of water for tea, but it stopped working and hasn't been repaired yet. (Don't tell anyone but I've been microwaving my water! Sheesh. What's become of me ...)

Steph said...

Angela, sometimes we get desperate!

Marlena said...

These days my work area is the kitchen so I don't have to do anything special, but I used to work in a library with a programmable kettle! Woo hoo, luxury! never before or since - microwave was the only other choice.Glad you're getting settle in. I've been looking like crazy for my water boiler/keeper cord and finally found it - inside, where I put it so it wouldn't get lost! Too bad I didn't use my brain, too.

Marilyn Miller said...

When I worked, we had a hot water spigot that was the right temp. I kept a small canister of loose tea, a mug, a spoon,and a box of t-sacs. It worked great.

I think if I hadn't had the spigot, I would have taken a thermos of hot water, then drank oolongs.

Linda Jennings said...

It is great you have the perfect temperature water spigot at the office for making your favorite teas. And, it's good they have Stash on hand for days like today when you are out of your favorites.

massagematters said...

so glad you have tea accessible in your new office! especially since I know it helps you make it through your hectic days! :)

Alex Zorach said...

I'm convinced that Stash is the best of the mainstream tea companies available for a low cost in most supermarkets.

The better stuff is either harder to find or significantly more expensive.

And Stash does offer a lot of variety.

Did you know there was a scientific study of antioxidant content of teas, and Stash's teas all ranked unusually high, among other store brands of tea? This suggests they might be a little bit better on the quality control and freshness too, and it could also be that they are more generous with the leaf.

Link to the study if anyone is interested.

parTea lady said...

I think that is a pretty nice tea situation at your office. Stash has some good tea and I like their website. Right now they have a free night at a B&B promotion going on.

Steph said...

Hey, Alex - I did not know that, but it's very good info. thx!

mep said...

It's not safe for me to drink tea in my "office" these days . . . too many little hands eager to sip and spill whatever mommy is drinking. I don't anyone to get burned.

We have been drinking some Arnold Palmers around here though (half iced-tea and half lemonade).

Hope you are settling in to your new office and region. It was great to see you at the wedding. Sorry that I was too busy chasing my children to catch up!

Denise said...

I'm lucky in that we have a full kitchen area just off our office. There is a lot of counter space so I claimed a corner where I have a large white tray that is stocked with canisters of Earl Grey and PG tips; mugs; sugar; spoons - and my mini Ibis electric kettle. (Milk is kept in the nearby fridge.) I am also lucky in that my husband works in the same building (we both work for county government), so every day at 11:00 he slips down to my office for a quick cuppa with me on our break. It's very nice!

Steve said...

At my old work, we also had a hot water spigot that produced water at the perfect temperature. In fact we had 2. One gave 165F and another at 175F. I verified this with our thermocouples (engineering group :).

Also, just go talk to your admin to see what options you have. They probably order from a local office supplier, and they may have some other options. Some coworkers and I upgraded our teas just by asking for the list (Bigelow to Tazo).

You can also talk to that supplier, and ask them to buy wholesale from your favorite company. Many tea companies have very low minimums.