On June 18, Sample Saturdays return to The Work of Our Hands. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., we plan to serve free samples of Little Berry Hibiscus iced tea imported by Justea directly from farmers in Kenya. 

We chose iced tea for our June Sample Saturday because June is National Iced Tea Month. According to one legend, tea was discovered thousands of years BC by a Chinese emperor when a tea leaf fell into a cup of warm water and he liked the flavor it added.  In the 1760s, tea was the most popular beverage in the American colonies. In 2018, 3.8 billion gallons of tea were consumed in the United States.

Iced tea became popular after the 1904 St. Louis World Fair when the director of the East India pavilion realized serving hot tea on a simmering Missouri day was not a good idea. He cooled the tea by running it through pipes submerged in ice, and it was a hit. Eighty percent of the tea currently consumed in the United States is iced. 

Originally most iced tea recipes used green tea, but now iced tea can be made in many flavors—including Little Berry Hibiscus. Made from hand-picked hibiscus petals, sweet berries, and lemongrass, it provides a colorful burst of caffeine-free flavor.

Come celebrate Iced Tea Month with us on June 18. The samples will be waiting for you!

Justea buys its tea from small-scale farmers in the Nandi Hills of Kenya.  Grayson and Paul Bain founded Justea when they visited these farms and learned that small-scale farming in Kenya was not sustainable. Farmers received less than $2 per day. Since 2013, Justea has created more than 200 jobs for farmers who earn 20 percent more than the industry average.

Although it is best known for its Purple Tea, Justea produces a range of teas, all grown in Kenya. Among those teas is Little Berry Hibiscus, featured at The Work of Our Hands on June 18th's Sample Saturday. The Work of Our Hands has a large variety of Justea teas in our store. We have them for sale on our online shop as well.