Best Tea in Nashville- Partners Tea Compay

From the Nashville Scene's Best of Nashville, 2009
Best Tea-
Partners Tea Co. (partnerstea.com) After years of exploring the tea routes firsthand, globetrotter Sarah Scarborough turned her passion for travel into a fair-trade company that promotes women in the tea trade around the world. Drawing on sources from across Africa and Asia, Scarborough and business partner Jodi Banks create and market a line of organic tea blends with poetic titles such as Zelda, Sweet Friend and Popeye. Flavored with earthy hints of rose, cocoa, mint, vanilla and jasmine, the teas are a steaming indulgence on a cool day—or keep an eye out for one of Partners' tea-tini gatherings, where Scarborough trades the teapot for the cocktail shaker, making signature drinks with tea, vodka, gin and other liquors. Talk about adding new spirit to a tea party. Available at Frothy Monkey, Caldwell Collection, Cupcake Collection and Bread & Co., among other stores, Partners Teas cost about $10 per tin of 12 biodegradable sachets" -Carrington Fox

Photo- L to R Sarah Scarborough and Jodi Banks with tins of Partners Tea Company's teas

Tea for Peace in Burma- Project AK47

I recently met with Project AK 47's Jeremy Anderson to start bringing teas grown by the boys and girls in Burma who they rescue from being raised as child soldiers to markets in the US.

Burma has the most child soldiers in the world, according to the Human Rights Watch report (2002). In 2009 there are more than 100,000 kids from age 4 up who have been are orphaned, stolen or sold into slavery to be trained by millitary insurgents and by Burma's own national government to fight each other-- even though recruiting children under the age of 13 is illegal according to the country's law and global legislation.

Jeremy and AK47's founders, Marcus and Alyxius, provide a safe home, education and vocational skills, like growing tea, to these children. Since some of the best teas come from Burma, including the elusive "laphet" for Burmese tea leaf salad--which is apparently very difficult to find and in high demand in the US-- they are working to bring these teas to US consumers to support their work and the children's safety and healthy development in Burma.

We expect to have this tea for sale at fairtradeteas.com in early 2010 upon Marcus' return from Burma. Stay tuned for more photos and tasting notes on the teas once they arrive. Help me help Project AK 47 and the boys and girls they work for by buying their tea!

Thanks!

Photo: Project Ak47, Children growing tea in Burma

Org info for Project: AK-47 Project: AK-47 rescues young girls and boys who are enslaved as child soldiers in Southeast Asia’s armies (where there are over 100,000 child soldiers) and provides dedicated, comprehensive care, education and vocational skills and/or university prep for them. This is unheard of in these extremely dangerous, restricted-access areas, where literacy is a mere 1%. Our vision is to raise these children as the future healthy, moral, educated leaders of their societies, where they effect real change, not export them to wealthier nations.