It’s Joy’s Teaspoon’s 5th Anniversary!

by Naomi Rosen

I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since we launched joysteaspoon.com. My family and I had just moved to Las Vegas, my oldest son was 2, my youngest hadn’t even been born yet, and I had no idea what I was doing. To say that is has been an interesting 5 years would be an understatement. My Top 5 memories, in no particular order:

• Telling the teas story. It’s quite possibly my favorite part of what I do. I love finding great new teas and being able to share where it came from, tidbits about the region/culture/people that make that tea, and providing access to that leaf.
• Visiting my very first tea farm, The Great Mississippi Tea Company, when we visited the region in June 2014. 
• Being a part of the Las Vegas Tea Fest in 2012 and gearing up for the 2015 Las Vegas Tea and Coffee Fest.
• Interesting customer conversations. I have customers I am friends with on Facebook now. I have customers that have thanked me for helping them relax while dealing with family issues, cancer treatments, and PTSD. I have customers that email me funny stories about tea prep disasters, or ask me to help them with a friends baby shower or wedding favors. I have some of the most gracious customers and I am so very grateful!
• Being present at the very first meeting of the US League of Tea Growers. That very first meeting was pretty special. It’s not everyday that you get to watch the birth of a tea growing region and that meeting was a real eye opener for me.

To celebrate our 5 glorious years in business, I would like to do 5 things to say THANK YOU for all of the support and love that we’ve received! 

1. First, we are going to have not 1, but 5, Teas of the Month for April: Tie Guan Yin, Japanese Cherry, Wellness, Emperor’s 7 Treasures, and Earl Grey. All of these teas will be 20% off the entire month of April!
2. We are offering 5% off the entire website for the month of April. This checkout code will be good on everything including teas being cleared out to make room for the new teas being added to the line-up this summer. Checkout Code: JTIS5
3. 5% of all profits for the month of April will be donated to Charity: Water in the name of my customers. Their mission is to provide clean drinking water to developing countries and if you haven’t heard of them, they are most definitely worth checking out.
4. For the first 5 customers to place an order in the month of April, I have something special set aside for you! I will adopt a US grown tea plant in your name from The Great Mississippi Tea Company! You will receive a certificate, be added to their monthly newsletter keeping you up-to-date on the farm, and you will receive a lifetime pass to visit the farm (located in Brookhaven, MS).
5. Last, but not least, all shipping will be a flat $5 for the month of April (Regularly $5.95). You don’t have to do anything…it happens like magic!

Words cannot express how wonderful these past 5 years have been. It’s not always rainbows and sunshine when you own a small business. That said, I wouldn’t trade a minute of the time I’ve spent trying to make Joy’s Teaspoon a economically, socially, and environmentally supplier of teas that I’m proud to share. Thank you for making it easy for me to make the decision to continue on this journey!