🍵 About

Also check out our Manifesto and a note from Miles!

The Tea Stand is a community initiative and creative endeavor which serves free tea for all: from strangers in public parks to folks at food distributions.

Sharing tea with our neighbors is how we create opportunities for stillness and conversation in a world that could use a lot more of both. We cultivate spaces which are free from distraction, commodification, and judgement, and are thus accessible and welcoming to all.

At The Tea Stand, people with different social standings and identities can come together to share space, exchange stories and resources, and create lasting community connections.

**Neighbors connecting during a** **Popup** **in Herbert von King Park. Photo by** **Noah Sai**.

The evolution of The Tea Stand, since its inception and in its future, is guided by the community. All of the tea we serve is donated by our neighbors, the locations of our events are voted on by our supporters, and strangers we meet in the park often become collaborators and friends.

We love to work with local artists, mutual aid groups, and organizations which put people over profit. Frequent collaborators include Taylor Maude Love, a full-spectrum doula and abolitionist; Unfound, a trans-owned business crafting foraged herbal goods; and Riders4Rights, a Black-led mutual aid group hosting monthly resource distributions.

By supporting and partnering with radical creatives, healers, storytellers, and organizers, we seek to collectively work toward a future shaped by love and trust instead of fear.

**Serving free chai at** **Flood Sensor Aunty****, a community play about climate change and chai.**

The Tea Stand is led by Miles, who moved to Brooklyn in 2022 and left his job in biotech in search of something more creative, impactful, and community-oriented.

Note: though Miles is the only person working on The Tea Stand full-time, we use "we" pronouns to honor the volunteers, collaborators, and members who make this project possible.

Inspired by his travels in SWANA countries – where teahouses are ubiquitous venues for community conversation – he decided to set up a small table in his local park and offer free tea to strangers. That first Popup featured an abundance of meaningful conversation, authentic connection, and serendipity.

Popups remain the fundamental format of The Tea Stand – there is no guest list, no agenda, just free tea and a place to sit. We host Popups most Sundays, usually in Maria Hernandez Park (Bushwick) or Herbert von King Park (BedStuy).

**Pannier bags full of tea! Setting up The Tea Stand in Prospect Park. Photo by** **LEEWAY**.

Beyond Popups in the parks, we regularly serve free at local food distributions (Distros), co-host an event series featuring free tea and live DJ sets (Steeped in Sound), and organize small-group, guided conversations over tea (Tea Talks). All of our events share the same values: stillness, trust, and sustainability.

All together, we're biking around Brooklyn serving tea an average of 8 days every month, year-round. Check out our calendar to see our upcoming events.

Note: we transport The Tea Stand via bicycle in the name of sustainability, people-power, and alternative transit awareness.

**Our friend** **Rianne** **volunteering to serve tea at a food and clothing distribution in BedStuy hosted by** **Riders4Rights**.

In July 2024, after serving a few thousand cups of free tea and feeling increasingly inspired, we launched our membership program with the goal of financially sustaining The Tea Stand.

Through our membership program, we offer a variety of perks to supporters – issues of our biannual zine bōcha, seasonal boxes of curated tea and local art, discounts at NY-based small businesses, and more. We designed the membership program with a focus on reciprocity and autonomy.

We hope to continue this work for as long as we're able – physically, financially, spiritually – with the broader mission of cultivating community and solidarity around Brooklyn.

**Your** **Steeped in Sound** **hosts: local musician** **LEEWAY** **and Miles from The Tea Stand. Photo by** **Shawn**.

The Tea Stand functions as an introduction to tea culture and wellness, a third place for community members, a venue to practice stillness, a gateway for mutual aid work, an exchange place for stories and resources, and a re-imagination of the future: one where local communities are valued and powerful, individuals are connected to each other and to nature, and the well-being of every person flourishes through the collective.

FREE TEA FOR ALL!

🍵

Learn more about The Tea Stand.