Recent News. GOD THAT'S EXCITING.

Dear Bloggens.

           Salutations!

                I hope this finds you in good health.

     Here at QBHQ a whole host of activities have been on the go.

               Let us first tell you of our new chef chap. He is a fabulous bloke of a similar mindset that is working with us to create a menu. This menu promises to be dead exciting and like nothing you probably would have experienced elsewhere. But not so scary that you wouldn't want to eat anything. Beautiful presentation meets filling, rustic choices, probably with a slight twist. Not a jus in sight. Or if there is, we will not call it a jus. We have been meeting now for a few months, having many chats and cook offs. And we are getting to the point of positive decision making. If you have any particular requests, now is the time to speak up.

        Not only are our menu choices going to be delish, we are also striving to run a kitchen with minimal waste. We will only be using suppliers that give the bare minimum of packaging. We will be using suppliers that are as local as possible, to cut down on fuel usage. We will be recycling everything we possibly can. We will be pushing seasonal crops in our tri annual menu and our specials choices. And also using the best in foraged goods.

      On top of this, we have put thought into other sides of our supplies. We have begun a herb/veg and salad farm that will be operating in Wylam, at an old farm. This will hopefully begin by supplementing our veg/salads/herbs, but will gently start becoming the supply for a lot of our needs.

      We have begun bee keeping. Having attended meetings with the beekeepers associations of Northumberland and Newcastle, we took the plunge and purchased 2 hives. After much deciphering of instructions, we managed to erect them, with only minor defects. Defects that we hope the bees wont mind about. A spot on the aforementioned farm in Wylam was found, and we will be getting bees in a month or so. So that's honey enough for all the teahousey needs. Here one is freshly oiled and ready to go -

        Also, we have had chats with local farms with the view to keeping 3 special pigs on their land. These pigs are a rare extra delicious breed and will provide you with amazing meaty what nots in just over a year, and you can be safe in the knowledge that it was a happy pig.

     This all enables us to close more loops with our refuse. Most of our vegetable waste can go to the pigs (if we show H & S that we are not contaminating it with meat), and other green waste (and all our tea/coffee remnants) can go to our big compost unit on the Wylam Farm that will then compost our herbs/veg/flowers which will then provide pollen for our bees. How glorious. There are other routes to take, for example including the pig manure in our compost. But that is a more complicated procedure, and will require some ironing out. Bear with us.

       So this is all nice. I hope the good nature of it all doesn't offend you. We will not ram it down the customers throat. Just if asked, we will tell.

     We have also been working on the tea house fit out. This requires special engineering skills, and as none of us have a clue, it is slow progress. Albeit interesting. There will be moving parts. That's all imagunnasay. Oh, and brass. That is DEFINITELY all imagunnasay.

      We are on for a September opening time. When invites are sent out, you will be the first to know.

   Recently we started working with a Sri Lankan tea company. Our first batch of their ace teas will be arriving in a month or so, so we look forward to that. Expect many annoying tweets/status updates about it all.

    We also are restocking our glorious Darjeeling first flush teas, and are expecting their arrival in the next coupla weeks.


         To keep our tea knowledge expanding, one Brother has managed to squeeze in a trip!-

     
Here is the rough route that will be taken-

   
View Larger Map

There are numerous goals for the trip.

1. Meet with crockery makers and get 1500 custom tea cups and saucers made, and 300 tea pots. 

2. Meet with tea companies in Hunnan and Fujian provinces and taste their offerings. 

3. Get to know the Chinese tea drinking culture first hand.

4. Spend some time on tea estates, discovering the differences in production from others we have seen.

5. Buy some fake Nikes.

6. Eat a weird something.

7. See some beautiful things (of which there are many).

8. Travel on many trains.

We are dead excited about the crockery. When does anyone get an opportunity to design a tea cup???!?!?!!?!!!1 We hope you like them when they are unveiled at the opening.

   We don't take these opportunities for granted, and cannot wait to share everything we learn with anyone who cares to listen. Expect a heavy influx of incredible chinese teas in mid June. 

          So, we think that is most of the news. There is more, but it's quite, quite dull.

   Wishing you all well, 

       Sincerely.

THE QUILLIAM BROTHERS.

        

Christmas Is The Greatest Time Of Year

But to enjoy it most, we need to get out of bed.

HI!

Here's a thing from 2 years ago -



And here's a new thing.

An anagram of 'Merry Christmas To You' - 'Curios? Hmm, Try Rosy Tea.'

Your support this season has been oh so gratefully received. We've met some truly delightful people, and caught up with some delightful people that we already knew. DELIGHTFUL. THANKYOU.

LOTS OF LOVE AND FESTIVE INFUSIONS

THE QUILLIAM BROTHERS

FESTIVE MESSAGE

HI CHAPS!


AN ANNOYING FESTIVE MESSAGE!


"TEA MAKES AMAZING GIFTS FOR THOSE THAT YOU LOVE AND FOR THOSE THAT YOU HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE WHAT TO BUY."

- TEAna tURNa
(thats 2 tea puns in one name)


May we recommend our gift packs (Which come in three flavaz), for that perfect £10 present (i mean, who wants to spend more than £10? And if you spend less than £10, you're a cheap skate, frankly). They are available online, and if you live in Newcastle we will knock off the delivery fee when it comes to processing your payment. Also, the packs are available at Olive and Bean on Clayton street. Or Teasy Does it on Heaton Park Road.

We had an amazing day at Newcastle Christmas Market. So many lovely people came by to say hello. A day that reminded us how much we love Newcastle and its people.

Ed bookless came on down and took some photos -



WHAT A NICE MAN.


As always, our massive selection of tea is still perusable/purchasable online at www.quilliambrothers.com.


MORE NEWS TO FOLLOW


LOVEYOUBYE

RELEASE OF GIFTY PACKS 2011!

Hi There Chappies.

Just a Quick'un as it's late, and we've just eaten loads of apple and blackberry crumble, and it's made us sleepy.

I hereby announce the release of The Black Tea Gift Pack and the Orthodox Tea Gift Pack! -






And, once again, our Christmas Gift Pack is alive n kicking -





It was a furious weekend of packing, and we thank all the helpers that helped, and all the others who were just there being entertaining.


We are very happy with our selections, and are proud to be able to offer them to you.

We hope you enjoy them, and can feel the love that we have put into each and every bloody sticky label (we did over 1500 of them).


GOOD NIGHT WORLD (unless you are in Australia and are just waking up).

OCTOBER 2011 IT IS. EH?

This weekend we will be packing our NEW GIFT SETS!

We will be having 3 gift boxes this winter season. An Orthodox gift set containing a gorgeous Yunnan green tea, a fabulous Fujian white tea and an incredible Ceylon black tea. Also we will have our Black Tea set with the intoxicating kick of Quilliam Brothers Breakfast Blend, the citrusy delights of our Organic Darjeeling Earl Grey and the aromatic smooth maltiness of our Assam Dikom black tea. And, as it is, unfortunately, the season again, the Christmas Gift Pack will be back with a vengeance, containing three festive favourites.

As usual you will get a FREE infuser with the pack and a nice sample to try of sumfink else.

Check 'em all out from Monday the 17th at The Quilliam Brothers Webshop.

Things are moving nicely with the building for the Tea House. We actually have a bit of paper with official words on to sign n that. Which is almost a champagne moment. Almost, but not quite. Tum te tum.



BLOG BLOG BLOG BLOG BLOG

Today i am talking about companies, corporations and chains.

SOUNDS A BIT SERIOUS?!! Bear with me; it isn't.

This topic will be addressed anecdotally. Though there will be not much in the way of comprehensible flow, there is one word that unites it all - 'EXPRESS'.

I start with the tale of a musical trip to the Burh of Eidyn, some 5 months ago...

'Twas nearing summer darkness, the moon light began to glow.
Through the gentle drizzle, our hungry Pimptones did go.
In search of grub, though nothing too dear,
as with the current economic crisis you kind of have to watch the pennies you see. " 'Ere,
look yonder, look over there.
A 'Pizza EXPRESS' sign doth shine, doth glare."
"But look!" I retorted "Just next door, it's a
Private run gaff, called 'Paradise Pizza'"

Grumbling, mumbling, humbly they agreed,
to support the underdog in our quest for a feed.
So in to Paradise we five did trot,
selected our table, chose our spots.
Menu perused, drinks decided,
we ordered our food with smiles and politeness.

So i sat.

In silence.

Feverish with excite.

Primed and ready to sate my appetite.



-Unfortunately, turns out Paradise is shite.


And it really was awful. We should've baulked at the sight of the peeling wallpaper, naff naff interior design, tacky laminated menus. But with the blindness brought on by my hatred of chains, i brushed all these little issues off as 'quirks'. Unfortunately, the food can't be forgiven for being quirky. It can only be nice or not nice. And it was not nice. And it cost the same as, if not more than, going to Pizza EXPRESS.

The owner, who had the obligatory 'Italian restaurant owner' image complete with FUNNY FOREIGN ACCENT, must've only been there to make the experience just that little bit more authentic, as he certainly wasn't there to maintain the high standards of his restaurant. And the waitresses were well aware of the crap establishment in which they worked, as they couldn't give a gnats doodle about anything. The pizzas were the worst i have ever eaten. Worse than Morrisons value ham and pineapple pizza, which is saying something. Grease and Salt were the 2 overpowering flavours.

Anyway, i was saddened by the whole fiasco. Because necks were stuck out and promptly guillotined and because places like that are ruining the small chance that small businesses have against chainy giants in city centres.

One of our party said - "They are successful chains for a reason." And it broke my heart. Because it's true. 10 points on offer if you know what the reason is.


ANECDOTE 2

Coffee.

We were waiting for a bus. Me and a person. In view of the bus station was an established coffee vendor. Starbucks was his name-o. I nominated myself to go on a coffee run. And run i did. I ran to find somewhere that wasn't Starbucks. Coffee XPRESS was his name-o. lesson learnt, I thought 'This looks nice. Not too scruffy. A touch of the tokyo modern about it. People inside, drinking. Which can only be a good thing'. And in i popped.

I was greeted by a lovely lady, who sounded possibly New Zealandy. She said "I'm sorry, i can only do take away". That was fine, i only wanted take away. The man after me didn't want only takeaway, so off he trotted, f-ing and blinding. I ordered a latte for me and an americano for the person. And paid the same i would've paid in the 'Bucks.

Heroically i returned to the person. And gave the coffee to her (yes, it was a her!). And i put my 24 sugars in mine, and started drinking. It was ok, though VERY weak. Her's, however, was vile. And she couldn't finish it. The woman in the coffee shop had made it by running water through the group head and the coffee until it was a full cup, then heated it by putting the steamer through it for a few seconds. That is WRONG. So either she couldn't be arsed to do it properly, or didn't know how to do it properly. Either way, it is unforgivable for a cafe with 'Coffee' in the title to not know how to serve coffee.

Here, again, my faith in private enterprises has made me look SILLY.

ANECDOTE 3

Buses.

Once upon a time, i was on a bus to London from Newcastle, on my way to catch a flight. 5 hours into the 7 hour slog, i realised i didn't have my passport. A useful item. So, i thought n thought, and realised the only way i could get it to London in time would be to put it on a bus or a train. So i called National EXPRESS and asked if they could bring it down. They said NO. I told my brother that they had said YES, and he wonderfully convinced the bus driver that National EXPRESS had said YES also. I met the bus driver in London with an 8 pack of nice beers, and everyone was happy. Though the bus driver was a bit jobs worthy and did try and milk it somewhat, by saying that it was his neck on the line, and that it would've been his job had he been caught, et ladeda, at least he did it.
Alas, I missed my flight anyway and had to get there via other means, but that's neither here nor there.

SAME BUS COMPANY, but forward 2 years. I was queuing, having failed to print off my e ticket. The bus driver was looking at everyones printed e ticket, not scanning or writing anything. So i showed him my e ticket on my laptop screen. And he said i wasn't allowed on. Anger flowed through my veins, and out of my mouth. WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU NOT MARKING A BIT OF PAPER, AND NOT MARKING A COMPUTER SCREEN? Well, it's company policy. And it needs to be paper to show that it's authentic, and so we can mark it so it can't be used again. IDIOT. (you can print 10 copies of your ticket if you want.)

Anyway, eventually i was allowed on, but i am sure he drove more angrily to try and make me hit my head on the window.


SAME BUS COMPANY, but forward 2 more years, to me and the person sitting in the bus stop considering coffee purchases. I needed to charge my phone, for emergency reasons. There were no sockets in the waiting room. The lovely person i was with went to ask the lady behind the desk if she could charge my phone. She said that she could.
Whilst sitting with our disgusting coffees some minutes later, 2 girls asked if the woman had let us charge our phone behind the counter. We said yes, but it's for an emergency. They then proceeded to slag off National EXPRESS, as NE had refused to charge the girls' phones. (they were playing games on their phones)

UNFORTUNATELY...
those two obnoxious girls are mistaking the person for the company. But who can blame them? The vast majority of the people that work for large companies do everything they can to hide behind the company, use it as a safety net whenever they have to make commonsensical decisions. There's no room for personality in large companies. The brand is the personality. And no employee should show otherwise. Because of this, whenever someone DOES do something against company policy, they then run the risk of being criticised, and they no longer have anything to hide behind. What the wonderful phone charger woman and the excellent passport bus driver did is the daring human thing, and fucked the company policy in favour of common sense. And for that I LOVE THEM. I got the phone charger woman a chocolate bar and told National Express that she was excellent.


A PLEA..

If you find anyone who is truly excellent in a company, someone who is a person not a drone, someone who WANTS to help you, not just helps you because they are told to, someone who has gone beyond the call of duty because they enjoy seeing a problem resolved, or enjoys receiving a thank you, OR if you eat at a fabulous restaurant, go to a wonderful little shop, find a cosy cafe that serves amazing stuff then SHOUT ABOUT IT. TELL EVERYONE. TELL THE PERSON IN QUESTION THAT THEY'RE MINT AND SHOULD KEEP AT IT. TWEETLE ABOUT IT. FACEBOOKEN IT. DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO MAKE THEM KNOWN AND APPRECIATED.

Keep trying out the private operations, even if you cant say goodbye to the big chains altogether. Chains are soul-less, devious, manipulative and are turning our lovely city centres into clone towns. You get assured quality of goods and quality of service, that is true. And sometimes that is nice. It's safe. But i pity anyone who is happy with safe.

THE QUILLIAM BROTHERS TEA HOUSE (EXPRESS) WILL NOT BE SAFE. But in a good way. Not in a hard hat wearing/lawsuity way.

LONG, BUT THE WORDS KEPT COMING.

xxxx

It's September, and we are alive.

This blog has been getting no loving of late.

This diagram illustrates why -




As you can see, this shows that if any of the 8 essential criteria are not running on High, then blogging is impossible. It also shows that i cannot create curving text on photoshop without it looking a little intoxicated.



So today, creativity is at an all time high, we are feeling inspired, we've got nowt on (schedule or clothing), the stereo is blasting the best of british prog rock, we're wired on tea, we have lots of news to report, energy levels are soaring and Craig David is working on something magical in the studio -




Thus, all conditions are perfect for Blogging.

It's a bit like the Planeteers, as all of them need to be present to create Captain Planet -



- If any one of them wasn't there, or wasn't firing on all cylinders, then the summoning would be impossible.


We've been on this project now for nearly 2 years.

Let's do a Q'n'A!

You - What's been achieved so far?

Us - Not much on the surface, admittedly. Our tea is selling well, we have learnt so much, and the web shop is running. We are doing stuff we didn't think we would be doing. Like stocking other cafes and doing tea lectures and serving tea at events and that. Which is all mint. But, yes, yes, it's not a tea house. And this frustrates and embarrasses us. Making us less likely to blog and more likely to hide. But the elongated tea house getting procedure has given us time to perfect the concept, improve our game plan and source all of our doohickies and whatnots.

You - Where is the tea house then, slackers?

Us - The tea house location has been secured. It is impossible for us to explain why this has taken so long as the circumstances are unique. When we unveil the location of the building, and the plans we have for it, you will see why, and hopefully you will forgive us. There is over 3 months of work to be done on the dilapidated building, and that will be beginning in November. So expect opening times around Easter 2012.

You - What shall we do in the mean time?

Us - Well, we will be updating the blog more often. Now things have finally started to move, we can begin making all the fun purchases and decisions for the tea house, and you will be the first to know. Apart from our mum and dad.

Tea wise, it is possible to obtain some from Olive and Bean in Town and Deli Fina in Gosforth. Or check our webshop for the full selection at www.quilliambrothers.com. Or, give us a shout through email, twitter(@quilliambros), or phone, and we can arrange a tasting session or something.

We will also be doing some markets and other such things in the near future, and will inform you, oh yes we will.

You could also fill your time reading this excellent blog - http://www.gobblemonkey.com/

You - What weighs more, a ton of feathers or a ton of rocks?

Us - A ton of rocks, obviously.

You - Any other news?

Well we have a newish nephew that we didn't used to have. Our tea stocks keeps on swelling as we discover new delicious brews. We had a massive trip recently with all the Quilliams, which was lovely, and included a trip to the somewhat snobby, but otherwise deservedly legendary, Bettys Tea Rooms. We are beginning work on our christmas products. A china trip is still on the cards, but god knows when that will be happening. Our window display (whilst we renovate the place) will be EPIC. As will the new Vinyl Jacket video.

and finally, THERE'S 20% OFF SNICKET ATM



We will be in touch shortly - Thanks for your continued interest, you little darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!! etc

May May May May

Hello Blogoids.

How's 'it' hanging?

Here at QBHQ 'it''s hanging with some juddery hesitance, but with definite direction and the occasional major positive upswing.

We are still selling online, and FYI it is worth checking out our Makaibari 1st Flush tea, as it is that time of the year again. A serious serious cup of tea. Also, if you are in desperate need of tea, and are Newcastle based, Olive and Bean in town and Deli Fina in Gosforth are selling a refined selection of our mammoth stock. Plus it's a pleasure to visit them, even if you buy nowt.

Tea house wise, horses are being held still. We can't tell you how frustrating the experience is being, but believe us, if all the working and waiting pays off, and everything that has been arranged comes to light, life will be that little bit more special. For us, and hopefully for you.

In other News-

If any of you like the natty combination of ART and TEA, then head down to Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead for their Mad Hatters Tea Party as part of the Late Shows. We will be there. So will lots of kettles and a small wooden garden house load of tea. This is happening on the 14th of May, in the evening.

For now, here's a tutorial on how to 'get down'.


xxx