❓ FAQ

That's part of it! This entire project started with me setting up a small table in Maria Hernandez Park (my local park) and serving free tea to passersby.

The impact of such simple gesture was immediately clear -- people had a reason to pause and be still for a moment; neighbors were meeting one another; strangers were becoming friends.

Over time, neighbors began inviting me to serve free tea in different places, like food distributions and local events. In this way, The Tea Stand naturally evolved into a fully-fledged community project.

Today, we still serve free tea in public parks 2-3 times per month in addition to a wider-range of programming.

Visit the About page for more info about what we do.

We host several recurring event series, all of which include free tea!

Here's a brief summary of our programming types:

🥬 Distros: once or twice a month, we serve free tea at food & resource distributions in partnership with local mutual aid groups like Riders4Rights and Club A.

🫖 Tea Talks: once a month, we host a guided, topical conversation over tea at my apartment. Previous topics include childhood, peace, and travel.

🪷 Silent Sanctuary: once a month, we host an evening of free tea and shared silence at our friend Adin's apartment.

📀 Steeped in Sound: once every other month, we co-host a Sunday afternoon event series featuring free tea, live DJ performances, a guided meditation, and local vendors. Co-hosted with local musician LEEWAY.

⛩️ Popups: 2-3 times a month, we serve free tea for all in public parks. We're in Maria Hernandez Park (Bushwick) every second Sunday of the month and in Herbert von King Park (BedStuy) once a month.

Visit the Calendar page to see all of our upcoming events in one place – almost all of them are free and open to the public.

We're almost always in Brooklyn, usually Bushwick and BedStuy. By staying hyperlocal, we seek to become a familiar presence and develop meaningful, long-term relationships with our neighbors.

However, we love to explore this city and meet its many inhabitants. We've served free tea in all five boroughs!

To stay in the loop for future events, you can also sign up for our free monthly newsletter or follow us on Instagram.

Generally, there are two paths for collaboration:

1. Join us at an event we're already hosting. This could mean setting up a small table next to us in the park, vending / offering something at one of our Steeped in Sound events, etc. You can email or DM us with any ideas.
   
2. Invite us to serve free tea at an event you're organizing. Send us an email with some event info and we'll see if we can participate! We love serving free tea in collaboration with local artists and radical orgs. Please note that we ask for a small payment for these types of collaborations.

There are many other ways to collaborate outside of events (like illustrating a postcard for one of our Tea Boxes), so don't be shy if you're not sure what a collaboration could look like! We'd love to chat :)

Because exchanging trust, instead of money, makes for more meaningful interactions! Because not everything should be commodified! Because we as Americans need to learn to receive help and love without shame! Because it serves as a simple gesture of care in a world full of fear and loneliness!

Because we want to serve tea FOR ALL!

You can read more about the why of The Tea Stand in our Manifesto.

All of the tea we serve is donated by supporters of The Tea Stand, most of whom are our neighbors. As a result, we have a diverse inventory of teas and herbs, everything from aged pu'er to bagged chamomile.

Generally, we like to offer at least one "true" tea and one herbal tea at events. Most of tea we we serve is loose leaf; we bag the tea in advance using unbleached tea bags.

We serve hot tea in the cold and cold tea in the heat!

I, Miles, spent a few weeks backpacking around Southwest Asia and North Africa back in 2019. Never before had I experienced such warmth, trust, and hospitality from complete strangers.

I was particularly drawn to the ubiquitous teahouses, each of which served as a hub for conversation, stillness, and community. I loved being able to share space with people without needing to consume alcohol or spend a lot of money.

Upon returning to the US, I was saddened by the lack of casual, social spaces like these teahouses. And so, in an effort to fill this void and create more opportunities for strangers to connect over tea, I started serving free tea in my local park.

I haven't stopped since :)

Thank you for supporting the mission of FREE TEA FOR ALL!

Here are some ways you can support The Tea Stand:

1. Donate money! Join the membership program for as little as $1/month and receive a variety of perks, like seasonal Tea Boxes and issues of our zine, bōcha. We also accept one time donations via Venmo.
   
2. Donate tea! All tea is welcome, so long as you know the ingredients. You can drop-off any tea you'd like to donate at one of our events.
   
3. Donate time! Help us serve tea at a future event – we share volunteer opportunities via our Instagram and newsletter. Or reach out to plan a collab!

I, Miles, am the founder and steward of The Tea Stand – I host the events, write the newsletter, etc. This is my full-time work!

However, friends and strangers alike volunteer their time and ideas to collectively create, operate, and support The Tea Stand. This is why we use "we" pronouns. (And you, the reader, are included in this "we"!)

A special shoutout to our friend Adin who helps with the website, opens up his apartment for us to host events, and offers an abundance of wisdom and high-level input. I couldn't run The Tea Stand without him.

See below!

First, to cover expenses of The Tea Stand. All of the tea that we serve is donated and we get around by bicycle, so our operating costs are quite low: mostly just cups, lids, and small improvements / maintenance to our setup.

Second, to cover my cost of living, and thus make The Tea Stand sustainable long-term. As of writing this, I'm covering about half of my living expenses using personal savings from my previous job in biotech. More on my background and privilege here!

Also, your donations are tax-deductible! We are 501c3-certified.