What do you want?

[Riene]

Books would definitely be nice. I collect tea books and have quite a few. I'd get a mix of Western and Eastern books, everything from history to coffee-table picture books (the English tea set in a castle type) to recipe books to tea magazines.

I like to look at cups, teapots, and accessories. I cannot resist small teapots like the little Beehouse pots. They are small and inexpensive enough I can tuck one into my suitcase as a souvenir.

I'm a western-style brewing black tea fan, but I recently purchased a yixing teapot simply because it was a) blue b) on sale for $16.00 and c) small and looked lonely on the sale table. I would have purchased a gaiwan if I would have seen an individual one.

A tasting area would be wonderful! I'd like to try various teas brewed properly by a professional. I would like to try a different Pu, a gong-fu brewed green, and a green oolong. (The one time I brewed a green oolong was horrible, and they simply cannot taste that bad!)

I'd love to find a place to sit with a comfortable table and chair, WiFi for my laptop, tea and a snack, houseplants, and semi-quiet. I'd hang out there when I had the chance. Panera Bread is about the only place which comes close.

[andy825]

I'd love to find a place to sit with a comfortable table and chair, WiFi for my laptop, tea and a snack, houseplants, and semi-quiet. I'd hang out there when I had the chance. Panera Bread is about the only place which comes close.

Its too bad you don't live here then. We have all that stuff. Plus massage chairs.

Thanks so much for the suggestions so far. I have some good ideas what to look for now.

[treazure]

Is it possible for you to do a tea demonstration? Some teas (all, IMO, but then I am addicted to tea) have a glorious aroma which will pull people in, just saying "Drink me, drink me." Scheduling a tea sampling demonstration would be a good way to introduce people to new teas.

There is no way that I'd buy the 100 plus dollar things. Ha, ha and ha again. I would buy decorated tins for my teas, tea strainers, figural tea pots (I collect them), gorgeous fancy teacups and saucers for an English High or Low tea sort of thing, flavored black teas (which I have used to get most of the grandkids and daughters in love addicted to tea), honey straws, custom made tea baskets with a small cheap (English Tea Store has some good, cheap pots, even in pink), honey straws, assorted teas, tea ball or strainer, shortbread, a small box (4 pieces or so) of really good chocolates and several teas in a one pot serving size. Tuck in a printed sheet on the basics of tea brewing, history of tea, and describing the different types of teas. I would suggest the small, 4 cupish sort of teapots rather than those tea for one things. You could put them together for about 25 dollars and sell for 35-50 dollars.

From my buying habits, I have never gone over $45 for a teapot and no way would I spend 100's of bucks on one. I also wouldn't give a 100 buckeroo teapot to anyone on my list, not even the ones I know enjoy tea. I'd rather put the money into high quality teas for myself and maybe give them a fancy cup and saucer with some honey straws and homemade chocolates.

So....just curious, do you happen to have any figural teapots on the reduced table? Preferably cats.

[Cinnabar Red]

For a newbie? Things that would give them confidence in taking on the task of preparing tea for the first time:

a digital thermometer
a timer
an electric kettle, the kind that lifts off the base
some sort of strainer
those little tea filter bags to let them know that they have an easy option if needed
a selection of teapots and gaiwans
glass tea cups that allow them to se the color of the tea

[Vulture]

For a newbie? Things that would give them confidence in taking on the task of preparing tea for the first time:

a digital thermometer
a timer
an electric kettle, the kind that lifts off the base
some sort of strainer
those little tea filter bags to let them know that they have an easy option if needed
a selection of teapots and gaiwans
glass tea cups that allow them to se the color of the tea

See these are the Things needed to take the first step. What I think is that the people need to know How or See How it is done. During one of the busier hours at the place (not too busy though), do a demonstration of brewing with gaiwans and use this time to have people sample new teas. Have the products above available either individually or as a 'starter set' or 'gift set' for the holidays.

[chad]

My local emporium has a nice selection of small pots made from glass, ceramic, and the newer metals. No gaiwan or gong-fu pots but they just recently opened. Talking with them, they realize there is a growing tea market and are hoping to get setup to do tastings, etc. They already do demos and tastings for their coffees so they are definately aware of the marketing potential of tastings.

Personally, I'm looking for gaiwan. I brew almost exclusively for just myself. My wife drinks flavored black teas during the cooler weather and so I may be brewing for two occassionally. So, gaiwan is first on my list.

I spent 7 years in the Far East and never bought tea pots, cups, sets, etc. except as an occassional gift to send back to "the world".

[andy825]

Thanks, tea chatters!
We've got some nice tea books, about 10 titles. We're looking into gaiwan and yixing pots and cups.
We have all the filters and strainers required, but not tea timers or thermometers. I will suggest those.
We're also looking onto some bodum glass cups to go with the Bodum pots we already stock.
We already stock a small tea tray, so doing a demo for the gaiwan or yixing pot would be easy enough, and we certainly will do that if we do wind up stocking them.
Thanks again for all of your ideas, I truly appreciate your input.

[trallis]

Whenever I walk into a teashop I usually gasp at the lack of useful teapots and other tea items. A water kettle with a temperature gauge would be nice.. to encourage newbies to watch their temperatures. How about some nice gift sets containing a yixing and a serving pitcher.. or a gaiwan and a serving pitcher.. or either one with some small serving cups.

I agree with others who think some nice gaiwans would be a great idea. Even not knowing what they are they are eye catching.. and very simple to use.