Tea ‘n Things, Inc, is our online tea store. started in California and later moved to South Carolina and now Florida. Penny and Roger Bowman took over what once was the Amanzi Tea shop in Simpsonville South Carolina. Originally, Amanzi operated their very successful flagship shop at the Haywood Mall and another in Simpsonville. Unfortunately, the shops are no longer open.
What Happened to the Old Amanzi Tea Shop?
The original owners sold the name “Amanzi Tea” to the off-branch Amanzi shop in London. The British Amanzi shop didn’t want to continue the operations here in America.
Thus, Amanzi was unable to continue in the US, despite their popularity. “With many attempts on our part, we were unable to take over or even help the Amamzi” situation, says Roger. ‘In the end (maybe 6-months), we did somehow end up with the Simpsonville shop and a few wholesale customers we were able to maintain during the Amanzi close down.” First thing, we sought out, secured and bought the same teas (plus others) from the original Amanzi supplier. Once we had this important tea source secured (crucial), we decided to reopen the Simpsonville store. We knew how popular the teas were in the Greenville area and anywhere they are served.
Our new name is Tea ‘n Things.
The shop was very successful in its first year. However, Penny unfortunately fell and fractured her leg. Thus, her inability to bring her energy and customer relationship ability to the shop, as she was off her feet for months. We sold the shop. Through poor mangement and decision making, it eventually closed.
“We happily continue with our tea business today, however, on both a wholesale and retail (online) basis. Why? because we have access to the best tea out there. Our customers absolutely love our tea.” explains Roger. “Actually, we came out of retirement to sell this tea…first in CA and now from Florida.If our tea wasn’t such a superior product that benefited and pleased so many people, we wouldn’t have done that. In fact, we were Amanzi’s largest US customer while in CA. We know the teas and believe in them!” says Roger.
Tea ‘n Things , like Amanzi, offers a wide variety of teas. We sell 70 to 80 different, all natural, delicious loose teas in a a variety of tea types. (Green tea, Black tea, Rooibos tea, Oolong tea, White tea, Yerba Mate, Herbal teas).
What Makes Tea ‘n Things Different from Grocery Store Tea?
What makes our tea different from what you’d find at the grocery stores or the mall is it’s use of high quality leaves and it’s master blending.
The quality of tea is determined by the number of (or lack of) stems, leaves, dust, and fannings in the tea. Ideally, you want more leaves, and less dust and stems. Fannings are broken pieces of tea leaves that have a coarse texture. They are the grade of tea used in most commercial tea bags. Our online tea store features high quality teas of many different varieties.
The tea is carefully grown, handpicked, and master-blended in Europe using natural ingredients. This superior, state-of-the-art blending makes all the difference. Our blenders have both the chemistry, artistic hand and technological expertise required to blend outstanding tea. Exceptional tea blending is both science and art.
Tea ‘n Things is a boutique tea supplier. Our online tea store features teas that are truly special and are packed to order, not pre-packaged. This means fresher tea.