New York-based The Whistling Kettle is an independent, loose leaf-tea centric restaurant and retailer that’s been serving fine teas in New York's Capital Region since 2004.
Proprietors Kevin and Meahgan Borowsky debuted The Whistling Kettle luxe loose-leaf tea brand after saying farewell to high profile N.Y.C. careers – and they’ve seen a lot of success over the last 20 years.
“We both found a strong love for tea as young adults, not only for its taste but for its effects on health,” said Meahgan Borowsky, president of The Whistling Kettle. “We took advantage of combining that love of tea and created a business we thought was a more modern and accessible interpretation of a tea room. We wanted to be as inclusive as possible, so we ditched the lace, offered a diverse menu and plenty of tea, but had other options like coffee and wine infused cocktails. It took time and patience to change people’s perceptions, but after a few years we became a destination – which prompted us to expand and open additional tea rooms, all of which have been successful.”
The Borowsky’s entrepreneurial growth story reverses the convention of the bricks and mortar leading to an online store, as the duo popularized their distinct tea brand with such success that it supported their first tea-focused restaurant in New York’s destination village of Ballston Spa (just south of Saratoga Springs).
Their other tea-centric cafes in Troy and Schenectady offer a modern interpretation of the traditional afternoon tea with a retail selection, including a “Great Wall of tea” with more than 100 varieties.
This past year saw the opening of a new tea bar and retail shop for The Whistling Kettle – located at the company’s home-base in Albany, N.Y., and the company continues to thrive.
Of course, in addition to the physical locations of The Whistling Kettle, the company’s teas are sold nationally online.
To make it all happen, the company’s in-house team actively sources tea from small farms all over the world. They also blend their own unique and continually evolving array of flavorful teas, supporting their mission of creating luxury teas at a fair price – all with a focus on sustainability.
Summer Iced Tea Cocktails and an eCommerce Boom with Iced Tea
Recently, The Whistling Kettle experienced a summer ecommerce sales boom with its iced teas. The company said this is likely due to record-breaking heat, recent revelations about manufactured sweeteners in prepackaged teas, and the steady rise in online shopping.
The brand’s new summer fruit and classic southern-style iced teas, easy-to-use iced tea brewer, and new BPA-free insulated travel tumbler have all been popular of late.
Inspired by the brand’s summer success, The Whistling Kettle shared recipes for iced summer cocktails – made from some of the brand’s favorite teas – to spice up or cool down summer.
Kettle Tea Sangria
Ingredients:
Blood Orange Hibiscus Fruit Tea
Lemonade
Sparkling White Wine
Directions:
Steep 1/2 cup of blood orange tea, chilled
Pour in 1/2 cup of sparkling wine
Add 1/2 cup lemonade
Pour over ice and garnish with citrus
Sparkling Sweet Tea
Ingredients:
Kettle Iced Tea Blend Tea
Sparkling Wine
Simple Syrup
Directions:
Brew 3/4 cup of Kettle Blend tea
Add 1/2 cup sparkling wine to chilled tea
Supplement with 1 oz simple syrup
Pour over ice and garnish with a slice of lemon on the edge of the glass
Blackberry Sage Noir
Ingredients:
Blackberry Sage tea or other dark berry flavored tea
Pinot Noir
Lemonade
Simple Syrup
Frozen blackberries (optional)
Directions:
Brew 1/4 cup of berry-flavored tea, chill
Add in 1/3 cup lemonade to chilled tea
Add 1/2 cup Pinot Noir
Supplement with 1 oz simple syrup
Pour over ice and garnish with berries
Cucumber Melon Sake
Ingredients:
Cucumber Melon green tea
Sake
Lemon
Simple Syrup
Cucumber Slice (optional)
Directions:
Brew ½ cup Cucumber Melon tea, chilled
Pour in ¼ cup Sake
Add 1 oz simple syrup
Squeeze juice from a slice of lemon
Pour over ice and garnish with cucumber slice
The Whistling Kettle’s iced teas, hot teas, specialty tea cocktails and mocktails are served at its restaurants in Ballston Spa, Troy, Schenectady and Albany, New York.
To learn more about The Whistling Kettle, visit TheWhistlingKettle.com. For tea and barbeque pairings for the summer, check out the The Whistling Kettle blog.
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