In 2010, my friend Melissa opened The Clipper Ship Tea Company, a tea shop in our hometown of Northport, New York. The Clipper Ship Tea Company specializes in all things tea, selling over 200 premium loose leaf teas, assorted teaware, raw honey, and tea infused gourmet chocolate.
Before she opening the shop, she spent 10 years in the Merchant Marine, sailing ships around the globe. That decade took her to many a far flung port and she particularly cherished her visits to the tea gardens and tea estates in China, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Japan. Visiting the hillsides where tea is grown, and the plants in which it is processed, gave her a visceral understanding of the world's most ancient and treasured beverage.
Before she opening the shop, she spent 10 years in the Merchant Marine, sailing ships around the globe. That decade took her to many a far flung port and she particularly cherished her visits to the tea gardens and tea estates in China, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Japan. Visiting the hillsides where tea is grown, and the plants in which it is processed, gave her a visceral understanding of the world's most ancient and treasured beverage.
Soon thereafter, we serendipitously started a collaboration of artwork and tea that began with SNOW MONKEY, a unique Japanese green tea blend that she created with inspiration by my illustration below
Melissa took cues from the colors I used and the overall vibe and crafted an aromatic tea blend that's like a spa in a cup. This green tea was blended with my illustration in mind and in honor of Japan, the famous Japanese Hot Springs in Nagano, and the whimsical world of snow monkeys.
SNOW MONKEY TEA is a delicate Japanese sencha green tea blended with soothing lavender, warm vanilla and sweet blueberries. It tastes just like the image looks, if that makes sense, delicious! She then also infused the tea flavor into chocolate, in this instance, white chocolate. YUM, so good!
And so, SNOW MONKEY TEA was a big success! It became one of the top selling teas in her shop and the whole experience was just plain ol' FUN. I created prints that were displayed around the shop and made cute little greeting cards for sale. We decided we should do a whole series of artwork and teas based on this creation process.
We came up with a plan to create 7 more images based on tea countries of origin. We hatched the plan that each image I create will feature one animal famously indigenous to that tea growing country and Melissa will blend a tea to pair with my image. So whereas, Japan and Snow Monkeys were a great fit, future collaborations would follow the same relationship. The tea growing countries that we'll be highlighting are: Japan, India, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Kenya Africa, South Africa, China and Taiwan.
The process is like this: I go off and create the artwork, and upon near completion, I'd send it to Melissa, who would then give her thoughts, specifically about the proper specific teaware for each country Then using the artwork as a guide, influenced by certain colors, overall vibe, and ingredients popularly known to that region, she blends the tea.
And so, the collaboration now continues with 2 more teas!
We start in India with...
TIGER'S CHAI
Tiger's Chai is a majestic Indian Darjeeling Black Tea blended with bold Indian spices, delicate aromatic flowers and rich notes of vanilla. An elegant and aristocratic tea that celebrates India and it's majestic Bengal tigers.
Now off to Sri Lanka we go, to taste...
ELEPHANT'S TEACUP
A brisk Ceylon Black Tea blended with Sri Lankan cinnamon and tropical island fruits. A finely balanced tea that is a perfect harmony of sweet and spiced. This noble tea blend pays homage to the peaceful and tranquil beauty of Sri Lanka.
3 of the 8 teas are now complete!
TIGER'S CHAI & ELEPHANT'S TEACUP will available in store at The Clipper Ship in roughly two weeks.
5 more tea collaborations to come. Next up is: China, Taiwan, South Africa, Kenya Africa, and South Korea. They are all in various states of completion, about halfway done or so. We hope to have the entire collection finished by next fall.
And then comes the really fun part. We are creating custom packaging so they can be sold in tins individually and in a gift box with all 8 tins packaged together. Melissa has some great insight and ideas for this, and I'm looking forward to designing my artwork into custom packaging. For the front, I want to use the classic center circle template like Quaker Oats or Starbucks and go from there, with custom fonts and silhouetted design flourishes, perhaps a fuller shot of the art on the back, with ingredients listings and info about the series. I want each tin to be unique to the country, tea and animal but also work as a whole.
The art will eventually be fused onto the tins, making them like those old fashioned tins that'll hopefully be so pretty that even when the tea runs out, you'll hang onto them to put your loose change or fish hooks in.
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In the meantime, all three illustrations are available as 13x19" giclées.
Printed on 300 gsm MOAB Entrada fine art rag, 100% cotton, acid free. Archival pigments.
All prints are hang signed and dated.
The Teatime with Animals series is also available as greeting cards!
Folded (Vertical 4 1/4" x 5 1/2")
Clay coated 12 pt. premium card stock
Blank interior.
Clay coated 12 pt. premium card stock
Blank interior.
All three cards are available individually, or in packs of 3, 5 or 10.
Waterproof stickers and fridge magnets also available.
Stop by the Clipper Ship to get a cup of tea of Snow Monkey Tea, Tiger's Chai or Elephant's Teacup! The Teatime with Animals series of prints and cards are also available in store.
Stop by for a visit at 80 Main Street in Northport, NY, right next to Gunther's Tap Room, tell Melissa I said hi!
Or check out their Facebook page on the web here
Melissa is in the process of launching the online portion of her tea business later this year, which will ship globally, directly to your door. Tea fans rejoice!
Giclée prints, greeting cards, stickers and fridge magnets are now available thru my shop at
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