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We’ve elevated that experience by blending it with our mint, another great digestive, for Sweet Fennel + Mint, a caffeine-free blend that can be had at the end of a meal, or simply throughout the day.
Since the fennel seeds can take a bit longer to impart their flavor, brew this one a bit longer, either in a teapot or over the stove. We also recommend bringing the water to a boil first, and then adding in the blend with the flame reduced.
If you steep this overnight in room temperature water, you’ll be left with a delicate tea that can be sipped on throughout the day. Fennel is considered a cooling spice and helps our bodies cool down as well. So enjoy it in the summer months, with a few cubes of ice.
Try it for yourself: Purchase Darjeeling Second Flush Black Tea here!
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Growing up in South Asian households, chai was a daily ritual for us and our families. But it wasn't like the chai latte served at many cafes today. Instead, its a simple combination of robust Assam CTC (crush-tear-curl) black tea, crushed cardamom, ginger, milk and just a bit of sugar.
For a morning or afternoon pick-me-up, try our chai recipe with Assam Black Tea + Ginger below.
Add three cardamom pods, crushed. Add optional cloves, crushed and/or cinnamon stick.
Step 3: Add Assam Black + Ginger
Add 2 heaped teaspoons of Assam Black Tea + Ginger to pot, and stir. Let tea steep for 3-4 minutes.
Step 4: Add milk
Add one cup milk (whole milk or oat milk works well), and an optional 1-2 teaspoons sugar, depending on your preference of sweetener.
Step 5: Simmer, strain and enjoy
Let chai simmer and froth for another two minutes, then strain out the tea leaves and spices and pour into a cup. Enjoy with a salty or sweet snack (our favorites include cardamom cookies or pakoras)
Step 6: Brew another cup
Want another cup? Our tea leaves are strong enough to brew a second cup. Simply add water, milk and sugar to the existing brewed tea leaves and spices, and repeat from step five.
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Zabie Yamasaki is a Los Angeles-based yoga teacher with a unique focus: working with those who have faced sexual trauma. While yoga is a wonderful exercise to tone the body, it can also be a helpful tool in healing emotionally, mentally, and physically. We had an opportunity to speak with her about her work, her pursuit of balance in a frenzied world, and her favorite ways to unwind.
]]>"I’m on a journey to finding more rest in my life, more space, more ease, more breath, more gentleness."
Alaya Tea: Why were you passionate about putting these ideas into words?
Zabie: As a survivor of sexual assault, I struggled for years with the physiological impact of trauma on my body. I knew I wasn't alone and I wanted to create a program that spoke to the language of the body, was soulful, intersectional, and culturally affirming at its core. Writing this book allowed me an unlimited number of pages to speak to the nuance and beauty of this modality.
I wanted to be intentional about supporting survivors in what can oftentimes be a lifelong process of healing. I also felt passionate about providing a compassionate framework for healing professionals who want to integrate trauma-informed yoga into the scope of their work.
A: What has the last ten years of working in this space taught you about healing from sexual trauma?
Z: The capacity of the human spirit to heal amidst the unfathomable is something that continues to take my breath away. I have been blessed to work with incredibly resilient survivors over the course of my career. They have been my greatest teachers in holding space in compassionate and tender ways. There is so much power in truly seeing people and empowering them to make choices that best serve them. The yoga as healing program has been an intersection of both of my worlds as I have been propelled on this journey to learning how powerful yoga can be as a tool for healing trauma.
Because of the impact that trauma has on the body's physiology, I feel that we do a huge disservice to survivors by leaving the body out of the equation. Following this path has also allowed me to trust the power of my voice. As a survivor and a woman of color, it has taken me years to believe in myself. I never imagined in a million years that my trauma-informed yoga curriculum would be implemented at over 30 college campuses and trauma agencies and that I would be writing a book on this topic! Never let anyone tell you you are not capable of everything you have ever dreamed for yourself in this life. You are worthy of it all.
A: Can you explain how your style of yoga differs from, say, simply practicing yoga?
Z: I take into account all of the ways trauma impacts a student’s mind, body, and spirit and offer intentionality and sensitivity into the way that I teach. I honor each student's pace, remind them that their choices are celebrated, offer many variations of each posture, integrate invitational language, trauma-sensitive breath practices, and co-create with them. We are not having uniform experiences and I remind students often that their lived experience is their greatest teacher. As yoga teachers I believe we have an obligation to be mindful of the way trauma shows up for our students, the same way we are around physical injuries.
I specialize in working with survivors of sexual assault and I feel that so much of my work entails helping to ground survivors in their own worthiness and remind them that they are enough just as they are and that they deserve to rest. I think a lot about various fitness spaces and so often students are affirmed in class when they are only in the most advanced version of the posture. This adds to the daily messages that we should be pushing harder or doing more. We already receive these messages constantly in the context of our hurried world. Our language is a powerful tool that we can offer when teaching yoga to affirm that rest is one of the most productive choices we can make for ourselves.
If you’d like to read more, here are some examples of what makes a trauma-informed yoga practice, trauma-informed.
"As a survivor and a woman of color, it has taken me years to believe in myself."
A: What are some of your personal daily rituals that you abide by on a regular basis?
Z: I used to think of self-care as something I would do at the end of my day when I already reached the point of exhaustion and overwhelm. As a survivor working in the trauma field and also a mother to the most precious 3-year old, I have had to reframe the way I care for myself and I see my daily rituals as something that are integral to my survival, health, and well-being. We deserve to fill our cups constantly and intentionally. A few of my rituals include:
- Walking in the grass barefoot
- Energy protection meditations and mantras
- Walking meetings
- Not checking headlines or email upon waking. Replacing with movement or resourcing tools.
- Taking time at the beginning of zoom meetings and throughout the day to practice a tool called resourcing. If you are a manager, you might begin staff meeting by inviting folks to notice their feet on the ground, to feel the support beneath them, to gaze around their space to find something that brings them joy or a sense of ease or well-being, to take a drink of water, and find an anchor in rest. Many folks are in back to back meetings and jumping right in to the next thing, without honoring the space they need to pause and process the continued painful climate.
- Mid day naps
- Boundaries and honoring my no
- Keeping my zoom camera off
- Mental health days
- Larger margins in the day and space between things
I’m on a journey to finding more rest in my life, more space, more ease, more breath, more gentleness.
To anyone who needs the reminder: you deserve to honor the fullness of your truth, your journey, your value, your care, and your needs. Your well-being matters.
A: What changes/improvements would you like to see in your line of work?
Z: I would really like to see trauma-informed frameworks more widely adapted into yoga teacher trainings. For yoga teachers, this would mean offering the same care and attention to experiences of trauma that we do to physical injuries. We have such a powerful opportunity to create more inclusive and compassionate spaces.
A: What’s your ideal way to enjoy a cup of tea?
Z: I am in love with my clay tea pot which I have had for over ten years! After we put our son to bed, my husband and I enjoy winding down with Alaya Tulsi tea lattes with frothed oat milk! My hubby calls it our mindful tea moment and we look forward to it every night!
Learn more about Zabie's work (and her new book!) by visiting her website, or follow her on Instagram.
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Or, you can enjoy our organic Chamomile Flowers in their original form, as a relaxing, luxurious herbal tea. Learn more about them here.
Nestled nearly 7,000 feet high in the foothills of the Himalayas, the district of Darjeeling is India's most iconic tea-growing region. Its delicate and floral tea is a result of the region's terroir: a unique mix of rich soil, lush landscape, microclimate, and high altitude.
Two leaves and a bud: Darjeeling tea is famously delicate and floral. Two leaves and a bud constitute a tea leaf, which is then allowed to dry and develop its unique flavors. First Flush Darjeeling tea is plucked in the spring, typically from late February to mid-April; these leaves are tender, resulting in a lighter tea. Second Flush Darjeeling tea is harvested from May to early July; these leaves are more robust, producing fuller-bodied tea leaves. The finest of Darjeeling teas are brewed without milk to savor their nuanced flavors. In Darjeeling, all tea leaves are plucked by hand still -- no machinery whatsoever. It's a distinction that helps keep alive the tea growing traditions of a bygone era. Less than a 100 tea estates in this corner of India produce the world's supply of Darjeeling tea.
The process: our Darjeeling teas are hand-picked, withered, rolled, oxidized, dried, sorted and then shipped to us. By cutting out brokers and middlemen, more profits go in the hands of farmers and workers --- and you get the freshest tea.
Biodynamic and organic: we source our teas from estates that are pesticide-free and invested in the health of the leaf, the people who pluck it, and the land that produces it. These estates also work actively to mitigate the effects of climate change by planting trees to protect from landslides and runoff, using mulch and covering soil to control erosion, and preserving areas for forestry and wildlife to flourish.
The final product: Darjeeling produces an array of teas -- white, green, and black -- all stemming from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis, which was first reportedly planted in the region in 1841. Darjeeling Green tea (pictured above) has not been oxidized like its black counterpart. Thus, it retains its green color, has less caffeine, and is rolled and dried shortly after being harvested.
The surroundings: Set at the base of the Himalayas, framed by Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain peak in the world, Darjeeling is a stunning landscape with switchback roads that hug mountain sides, lush local flora, and tea gardens as far as the eye can see. It's the Champagne of India, one could say -- a place synonymous for what it grows, artisanal production, and growers who are passionate about the future of tea.
Curious about Darjeeling teas? Shop Alaya's Darjeeling teas here.
Photography credits: Esha Chhabra and Boudhayan Bardhan
Add to your DIY skills with the Alaya at-home Kombucha Kit. One Kit will yield endless gallons of kombucha for you to enjoy all summer long.
It saves money, and reduces waste (no need to buy endless bottles from the store)
It allows you to experiment with flavors -- go crazy, try all kinds of combos of herbs and spices with your loose leaf tea -- and send us a picture to be featured on our Instagram: @alayatea!
Fermented products help with gut health -- so you can enjoy your kombucha guilt-free, all summer long.
Alaya's biodynamic Assam Black tea leaves are perfect for brewing a big batch. The organic SCOBY starter forms a new SCOBY each time you make a batch. You can use your original SCOBY to brew continuous batches, or share it with a friend.
A few essentials to keep in mind before you start brewing your kombucha:
Do not use a metal or plastic container. Glass is the best. We’re fans of large one-gallon mason jars.
Clean, clean, clean. Make sure your glass jars have been cleaned in a hot dishwasher or you can submerge them in hot water to disinfect.
Bear in mind where you live. If you’re in a colder part of the country, your brew might take longer to ferment. If you’re in a hotter climate, it’ll be faster.
What is a SCOBY? SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. It is regarded as the mother of the kombucha, and gets the fermentation process rolling. Sometimes the SCOBY floats to the top; other times, it may sink to the batch of your jar. Don’t worry either way!
• 14 cups filtered, room temperature water
• Large one-gallon glass container or mason jar (don't use metal or plastic)
• 1 cup organic cane sugar (included)
• 2 Tbsp Alaya Assam Black loose leaf tea (included)
• 12 oz unflavored kombucha (included with your SCOBY)
• 1 organic SCOBY starter (included)
• A large glass container that can hold 1 gallon (not included)
• organic cotton Muslin fabric square (included)
• Hemp twine to fasten the muslin (included)
• pH strips (included)
1. Boil 2 cups of water in a clean pot. Remove from heat and dissolve one cup sugar into it.
2. Add 2 Tbsp of Assam Black loose leaf tea to pot. Steep for 5-7 minutes, then strain out tea leaves with the loose leaf tea strainer. Let the tea mixture cool to room temperature.
3. Once cooled to room temperature (or ~75 degrees F), transfer the loose leaf tea to your glass jar. Then add in the remaining 12 cups of room temperature water to your jar.
4. Wash your hands clean. Carefully remove your SCOBY, and put it into your brew jar (it's okay if it sinks!). Then, pour in the starter liquid included in your SCOBY.
5. Cover the jar with the organic cotton fabric, and use twine (or a rubberband) to loosely secure it. This will help your kombucha breathe as it ferments.
6. Put jar in a dark place at room temperature (70-75 degrees F), like the back of a cupboard. Let it hang out for 6-10 days.
7. After 10 days, taste a small sample. If it’s too sweet, let it ferment longer. You can also use pH strips to see if your brew is done (aim for a pH of 2.5 to 3.7.)
8. If your kombucha tastes good, put in the fridge and chill before drinking. Save 2 cups of the finished batch (with the SCOBY) for your next batch. Transfer the ready kombucha to a flip-top bottle to bubble more carbonation, and to keep that carbonation in.
9. Optional second fermentation: once your brew is done, you can also flavor it with slices of ginger, orange, or dried lavender. Let it steep for two days in the fridge.
10. Strain, cheers, and enjoy!
Reminder: Your SCOBY starter forms a new SCOBY each time you make a batch. You can use your original SCOBY to brew continuous batches, or share with a friend!
Working from home and need a little afternoon or evening break? Take 5 minutes to brew the perfect cup of loose leaf tea with Alaya Tea's At Home Brew Guide.
STEP 1: USE TOP-NOTCH WATER
Hard water can make tea taste overly bitter. If you can, use purified or filtered water to brew your cup of tea, which will reduce any added flavoring and allow you to purely taste the leaves.
STEP 2: SET THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE
Different teas require different temperatures. Black teas (e.g. Assam Black or Darjeeling Second Flush) should be brewed with boiling water, but lighter teas (e.g. Darjeeling First Flush or Darjeeling Green Tea) will taste better in slightly lower temperatures. No worries if you don't have a temperature control kettle -- for green or herbal loose leaf teas, simply let the water cool down for about a minute after boiling before you steep.
STEP 3: MEASURE & STEEP
Add a heaped teaspoon of tea leaves to your tea infuser, and pour in your hot water. Don't have an infuser? Try our mesh, single cup infuser, Food52's tea buoy, or this glass tea pot with a built-in infuser from World Market. Once the water has been poured over the tea, set a timer for 3-5 minutes. A shorter infusion is best for a stronger tea (e.g. Assam Orthodox Black and a longer infusion is better for an herbal tea (e.g. Lemongrass and Ginger or Chamomile Flowers).
STEP 4: REMOVE AND SIP SLOWLY
After the timer goes off, remove the infuser from your cup. Add a drop of milk and honey if you wish, and enjoy. Want more? The loose leaf tea leaves are strong enough to use for a second steep. Repeat the process, and enjoy.
In our last post, we shared how Alaya work with tea estates and farms that are committed to better agricultural practices, which include biodynamic and organic farming.
When we first visited the tea growing regions at the base of the Himalayas, we learned about the multitude of challenges facing tea growers in the 21st century: landslides, soil erosion (the wearing away of the most nutrient-rich topsoil) and shifting weather patterns, to name a few. Behind the beautiful scenery, there is a threat of degradation.
Much like elsewhere in the world, these estates are also seeing changes in climate. That is impacting their bottom line, and their crop. Tea in these regions grows on slopes, also making it more sensitive to soil erosion.
Soil health is not a glamorous topic. But it’s important. Really important. Without healthy soil, the loose leaf tea we love cannot grow into a flavorful cup. Many of the tea estates in Darjeeling sit on slopes, at high altitudes of 6,000 feet and higher. They struggle with soil retention. Every year monsoons, which are coming at more and more erratic times, wipe out hillsides. Each time this happens, the soil is depleted, plants are ruined, roads are obstructed, and lives are affected.
But how bad is the problem?
After the Green Revolution in the 1960s, India had better access to pesticides and insecticides. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says this use of pesticides and insecticides has been the culprit for the past five decades. “Their overuse has been degrading the environment. In most cultivated lands, there is depletion of organic matter which affects the water holding capacity of the soil.” That translates to over 5,000 million tons of soil being lost every year.
Healthy soil not only absorbs water better, but also holds down carbon. You may have heard folks bounce around the term, carbon sequestration. Rich, fertile soils can do just that: take the carbon that’s been problematic, and keep it in the ground. If more carbon is stored in soil as organic carbon, then less is stored in the atmosphere, helping to reduce global warming.
In order to do this, farmers have to commit to regenerative farming practices: no tilling, cover crops, using natural and safe inputs, and relying on the rhythms of nature to farm. Much of these practices are embedded in the biodynamic philosophy, which stems from the idea that a farm is an ecosystem, not a monolith. In biodynamic farms, all the elements of the farm, including livestock and wildlife, have a role to play.
That’s why at Alaya, we decided to work with farms that are as nerdy as us when it comes to farming. They’re growing tea in ways that help retain the soil: planting trees to protect from landslides and runoff; eliminating the use of chemicals; using mulch and covering the soil; and lastly, just leaving areas for forestry. Tea estates cannot control the weather. But they can adapt with smarter farming methods that are gentler and more considerate of the slopes they rely on.
It’s not all doom and gloom out there, despite what you might see.
Tea is still more popular than coffee. Tea is actually more widely drunk around the world. If businesses start investing in this kind of regenerative farming and the people who protect that land, we can rebuild nutrients in our topsoil and develop a new model of business that’s kind to all.
The solutions exist. We just have to get on board.
Darjeeling, the region that is most iconic for tea in India, centers around a small town perched on the side of a mountain at nearly 7,000 feet in altitude, and produces teas that capture the terroir of the region and are prized as the ‘Champagne of tea.’
Darjeeling, the region that is most iconic for tea in India, centers around a small town perched on the side of a mountain at nearly 7,000 feet in altitude. This is where the British cemented the culture of tea in the country. In the late 1700s, the Royal Society of Arts from England had been discussing the possibility of taking saplings of the tea bush, camellia sinensis, from China to India. In the early 1800s, these tea saplings were seen in the state of Assam and later, Darjeeling.
India’s tea industry flourished thanks to a heist. Scottish horticulturalist Robert Fortune went to China in the 1840s and successfully took about 13,000 plant samples and 10,000 seeds (in glass bottles) from Hong Kong to Calcutta. It was these plants that gave way to the lush tea estates seen in eastern India today. By the 1850s, tea estates had been established in Darjeeling.
That British hangover is evident in Darjeeling. Tea estates are filled with old machinery, manufactured by the English, and hoisted up the hillsides by an army of workers. Darjeeling became the darling of the tea industry, producing teas at altitude that captured the terroir of the region, and were prized all over as the ‘Champagne of tea.’ Because of where they were grown, they developed a unique delicate flavor compared to the strong, robust flavors of Assam tea (which also stem from the same plant, but a variety that produces broader tea leaves).
Today, as you wind through the narrow roads of the Darjeeling region, there are countless estates with images that harken back to those colonial days. The charm, romanticism, and rugged beauty of the region is hard to resist.
Yet, while Darjeeling tea is often the most sought after, many of these estates are struggling to make them profitable ventures. Now run by owners who spend more time in Delhi and less time in the hills, they’re more transactional.
The tea prices are set in the auction houses. Much of the tea is sold through traders and middlemen. This creates unnecessary layers, which add to the overall price of tea. Until 2016, the tea auctions operated in their respective regions; meaning if a trader wanted to buy Darjeeling tea, he had to present at that auction when the tea went for sale.
In 2016, India digitized that system, opening it up to people beyond the region. Yet still, tea estates didn’t have relationships with brands directly; they were selling through traders.
We wanted to go to the source for this very reason: to cut down on the middlemen, and buy directly from the estate. That way the money goes directly to the estate, which then invests in the farming of tea and the thousands of workers there.
In Darjeeling, where things move at a sluggish pace, the old colonial ways still linger, and the desire for change is a bit slow, we wanted to work with estates that were thinking about the future of tea, not only its past.
That’s why we decided to source from estates that are biodynamic, thinking about their workforce, and looking to improve the way tea is produced, while still preserving its roots.
Set in the Himalayas, at the base of Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world, we had found our inspiration. Thus we named our company, Alaya Tea, stemming from the Himalayas -- literally.