🍓 June Recap & Membership Launch!!!
In June, we served 373 cups of free tea.
Today's recap includes:
🧧 MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM LAUNCH!!!
💡 Light + Sound Design collab
🎙️ Our first livestream
But first, some upcoming events in July:
🫖 Tea Talk
This month's Tea Talk is on the topic of peace. We'll sit in a circle, drink some tea, and share stories. Kena (he/all) will lead a guided meditation to open the conversation. Limited capacity, RSVP required.
🗓️ July 10 // 7-9pm // Bushwick
⛩️ Popup: Collab w/ Sally Chen
Sally Chen, an illustrator and poet based in Brooklyn, will be drawing live sketches of visitors from 12-3pm!
🗓️ July 14 // 11am - 4pm // Maria Hernandez Park
All upcoming events can be found on the Calendar.
🧧 OUR MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM IS LIVE!
TODAY IS THE DAY – our 🧧Membership program is officially live!!!
The idea: individuals who donate $1+/month will receive perks (discounts, zines, stickers, and more!) in exchange for their support.
The goal: financially sustain The Tea Stand, provide meaningful benefits to supporters, and keep serving FREE TEA FOR ALL!
You can sign up here! If you'd like to support The Tea Stand and are financially able, we would greatly appreciate your support ❤️ (plus all donations are tax-deductible, we are 501c3-pending!).
We've been designing the 🧧Membership program over the past six months – reaching out to local businesses, surveying community members, authoring and designing our zine – and we're so happy to finally share it with you.
Here's the breakdown:
Sippers ($3/month) will receive...
- Discounts at local + online tea shops (Unfound, The Ridge, Dae Tea)
- Ability to vote on future ⛩️ Popup locations
- "free tea for all" sticker
Steepers ($9/month) will receive...
- Seasonal tea sampler box
- 6 tea bags per box, mailed 4x per year
- Issues of bōcha, our zine
- published and mailed 2x per year
- plus access to online archives!
- Access to Q&A livestreams + archives
- Plus all perks received by Sippers!
Or, pay what you wish!
- $1-8 makes you a Sipper
- $10+ makes you a Steeper
Make no mistake! We do not take this request for donations lightly, especially given the monetary-free nature of The Tea Stand. We see the 🧧Membership program as an opportunity for those financially able to show support while protecting the transaction-free energy of what we do – creating accessible spaces for community interaction, collaborating with local artists and organizations, and building trust between strangers.
As The Tea Stand celebrates 18 months of service (nearly 3,000 free cups), we – myself and the community members who keep The Tea Stand running – have every intention to continue serving free tea as long as we're able. We hope that the 🧧Membership program, in combination with grants, will provide us the ability to do so!
I, Miles – the founder and operator of The Tea Stand, work on The Tea Stand full-time and have been living off of personal savings since quitting my previous job back in 2022. (Consider reading my Privilege Statement and our Manifesto!)
Thank you for considering joining the 🧧Membership program!
Sign up here :)
📀 Free tea and deep listening at Light + Sound Design
Oh, the stimuli! New York City in the summer is cacophonous, pungent, scintillating. In an hour, your five senses are inundated beyond recommended daily levels.
It's beautiful, it's offensive, it's everything in between.
For those easily overwhelmed (like myself), it's essential to find places of refuge – peaceful parks, quiet benches, tranquil tea houses – especially during these unyielding summer days.
Allow us to share a newly found sanctuary: Light + Sound Design.
Every Thursday, Light + Sound Design hosts a "deep listening escape" in a private Greenpoint loft, featuring a Klipschorn sound system, mattresses and soft seating, and a self-serve bar with treats and beverages. Ambient-leaning DJs guide the attendees, most of whom are horizontal, through a few hours of immersive soundscapes.
I attended one of these "deep listening" events back in May and was blown away by the design of the space, the intimacy of the experience, and just how distant I felt from the chaos of New York City. I left feeling restored!
At the end of the night, I asked the studio manager if I could serve tea at a future event, as it was missing from their otherwise diverse set of beverage options. The answer was a resounding yes!
A few weeks later on a hot June evening, I returned to Light + Sound Design with several dozen servings of tea in tow. I set up a table near the entrance, welcomed attendees, and served free cups of tea to those interested.
About an hour into the night, I transitioned the tea table into a self-serve situation, putting out signage and leaving attendees to figure out the free tea for themselves. I checked in every so often to refill the cold teas and the hot water, but generally left the table unattended as I enjoyed the event.
At one point, curious to see whether the self-serve signage was effective, I sat on a comfy couch with The Tea Stand in sight, passively observing as attendees approached the table, bent down to read the signs in the low-light, and eventually poured themselves a cup (or gave up).
I resisted the urge to step in to explain things to those seemingly perplexed by the tea table, choosing instead to surrender control – a choice I still struggle to make, despite constant encouragement from The Tea Stand (and my therapist).
On that Thursday night, peace was the priority.
Stay tuned for a future event hosted by The Tea Stand at Light + Sound Design! And if you want to talk more about finding peace in NYC, come to our upcoming Tea Talk!
🎙️ We hosted our first Q&A Livestream!
On the last Thursday of June, we hosted our first 🎙️Livestream on YouTube. We spent 50+ minutes sharing some updates, unboxing our freshly printed zines, and answering questions from viewers.
Watch the recording of our first Q&A Livestream!
It felt great to create a space to talk more openly and freely about the ongoings of The Tea Stand – it's hard to pack holistic recaps in these newsletters, and I tend to prioritize future event announcements over past event summaries on Instagram. And unboxing the zines was super fun!! They came out looking gorgeous, I'm thrilled.
We're still figuring out the frequency of these 🎙️Livestreams (probably 4+ per year), but moving forward, only members will have access to join them and view the recordings. Don't worry, this newsletter will always be free for all :)
Thank you for reading!
Wow. I can't believe this whole 🧧Membership program thing is really live. Crazy!
Thank you to everyone who helped us design it, whether you knew it or not. And a very special thank you to Friend Adin, of chai stand fame, who spent 30+ hours coding up the "Pay What You Wish" option on the sign up page. What a legend.
Thanks to all those who donated tea in June: Anny, Theresa, Kennedy, Karen, and Will. Get in touch if you have tea to donate!
July is looking like another busy month of ⛩️ Popups, collaborations, and 🧧Membership madness. Can't wait :)
Keep Steeping,
Miles 🍵
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