Tea Gifts From the Woman Who Packs Them

Most gift guides are written by somebody who has never met the person you're shopping for. I read the notes people send with these boxes, so I have a fair idea of what lands and what quietly ends up at the back of a cupboard. The hard ones live in here too: what to send instead of flowers, and what to send a woman who isn't sick and isn't celebrating but is clearly having a year. If you'd rather skip the reading, the gift collection is sorted by who you're sending it to, and the monthly subscription is for someone you want to check on all year.

Simple Pleasures tea party in a box with a teacup and saucer, ready to gift
Tea Gifts

A Tea Party in a Box: What's Inside and Who It's For

Someone asks me at almost every event what is actually inside a tea party in a box. Here is exactly what arrives, which size fits one person or a table of eight, and why my flagship box is priced the way it is.

Tea Gifts

A Tea Party in a Box: What's Inside and Who It's For

Someone asks me at almost every event what is actually inside a tea party in a box. Here is exactly what arrives, which size fits one person or a table of eight, and why my flagship box is priced the way it is.

A single cup of tea on a quiet kitchen table, a sympathy gift instead of flowers
Tea Gifts

Sympathy Gifts Instead of Flowers: What Actually Helped

Flowers arrive all at once and are gone by the weekend. Here is what people who have actually grieved say helped, what quietly became a burden, and why late is still welcome.

Tea Gifts

Sympathy Gifts Instead of Flowers: What Actually Helped

Flowers arrive all at once and are gone by the weekend. Here is what people who have actually grieved say helped, what quietly became a burden, and why late is still welcome.

Gifts for tea lovers being wrapped at a kitchen table with a teacup, ribbon and a kraft gift box
Tea Gifts

Gifts for Tea Lovers: What to Send Someone Who Loves Tea (From a Tea Party Host)

Tea guides keep telling you not to give a tea lover tea. After years of hosting tea parties, here is what I send instead, sorted by what you want to spend.

Tea Gifts

Gifts for Tea Lovers: What to Send Someone Who Loves Tea (From a Tea Party Host)

Tea guides keep telling you not to give a tea lover tea. After years of hosting tea parties, here is what I send instead, sorted by what you want to spend.

Tea gift questions

What do you give someone who loves tea?

Give her the part of tea she will not buy for herself. That is usually the ritual, not more tea. A proper cup and saucer. A sampler of blends she has never tried. A box with something to do in it while the water heats. If she already has a favorite blend, send her more of it and something pretty to drink it out of.

What do you send instead of flowers?

Something that is still there in week 3. Flowers all arrive at once and they are gone by the weekend, right about when the house goes quiet and everybody else has gone home. Send tea, a cup she can hold, and a note that does not ask her for anything back. And late is still welcome. There is no deadline on this.

What is a good gift for someone going through a hard time?

Something that asks nothing of her. No reply, no hosting, no decisions. A box she can open by herself at her kitchen table works because it hands her 20 minutes that belong to her. I started packing these during my own hard season, so this one is personal.

Is tea a good corporate gift?

It is one of the few things nearly everybody can receive. It works for the client who does not drink, for a team with 6 different diets, and for an office where a shared box gives people a reason to stop at the same table for a minute.

How much should I spend on a tea gift?

Less than you think. 1 sampler with a handwritten note lands harder than a big hamper with a printed card. Spend your effort on the note and on picking a blend that suits her, then match the size of the gift to how close you are.

Send Someone a Tea Party

I started packing these boxes so I could send my kitchen table to people I could not get to in person. Every one holds loose leaf tea and something to do while it steeps, because the part that matters is the hour you sit down for. Pick the one that sounds like the person you are sending it to.

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