I created Tap for Tea because of my love for both Magic and tea. My dreams of opening a gaming café were put on hold due to the pandemic, but I still wanted to share the fun and enjoyment of the game as well as quality teas from some great growers and estates that people could enjoy in the comfort of their own homes. I began playing Magic around 1993 at the tail end of Unlimited and start of Revised. I loved the art and the thought that went into crafting fun or competitive decks. It also lead to a great group of friends and some amazing times at tournaments. I stepped away from the tournament scene around the time of the Urza's Block but still loved the game and continued to play sealed deck drafts and fun decks when I could. Then life stepped in and I would occasionally pick up a pack or two when a new set came around that interested me but rarely played tabletop Magic due to a lack of time and playgroup. I had kept a copy of the old Microprose PC game running through emulation and still play it often, which gave me a way to continue playing the game I loved. I still play it to this day! I mostly play on Arena now, but have returned to playing tabletop and really dug back in with Strixhaven and my, so far unlucky, pursuit of pulling a Japanese Demonic Tutor. It brought back that thrill and fun of cracking packs in hopes of sliding that next card to the side to reveal the holy grail I was after. Seeing D&D come to Magic was also a dream come true and I've enjoyed a lot of the cards and mechanics that it brought to the game. I'm looking forward to what comes next! I also hope that others get to experience that joy of uncovering their own holy grail or card they need to create or finish a deck, it never gets old. My journey into tea began around that same time. I visited a small Korean store during a hot summer day and saw that they had iced jasmine green tea. I was expecting it to be pre-made and poured out and I would be on my way. Instead, the owner began brewing fresh tea and then taking an unbelievable amount of care to create a simple syrup from yellow rock sugar and then craft one of the finest glasses of iced tea I had ever had. It instantly brought back memories from years earlier while watching Karate Kid II where they perform a tea ceremony. It had always intrigued me, but I never fully understood it. I began researching the tea ceremony and learning everything I could about tea. I started to try all of the various teas from China, India, Japan, and elsewhere and learn about all of the different methods of brewing tea. It was the early days of the Internet but I joined a number of Usenet groups about tea and started learning and sharing information with others and became even more knowledgeable and made friends with a number of tea growers and estate owners as well as other enthusiasts. They began to contact me to help them create websites or write reviews for their teas and I created a number of relationships that I still cherish to this day. Tea can seem very simple, but it is an entire world and so many people put so much effort into the growing, processing, and shipping of the tea that we often take for granted that I wanted to help spread awareness and my love for tea. I began importing teas directly from the growers and estates and supplying small coffee shops and cafes with various teas that were higher quality than what they had been used to while also being able to go beyond "fair trade" and providing a better income to the unsung heroes that pick and process the tea. I plan to highlight these estates and their teas as well as share just what goes into the production of the teas that we all enjoy. That's my story, how about you?
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Hey here for the party. I'm Ryan, From California, now i live on the east coast. I started with magic somewhat late 99/ early 00. I was into Pokémon and my Dad saw some magic cards at a thrift store and bought them for me. After looking through them I fell in love with the art. Took me a few more years to learn how to play, my brother bought me the 7th edition starter that came with the pc game
My love of tea developed a hand full of years later, I like anything but green teas are typically my favorite earthy and strong. Got super into tea when I buddy I gamed with let me try some teas he got in Boulder. He used to steep tea overnight in a thermos and in the morning he'd insist we all drink the bitter concoction.
Well that's enough with my rant, glad to be here peace out yall.
Hey! My name is Colin I’m from Queens NYC!!! I love your story! well I started playing Magic when I was deployed in Iraq my battle got me into it I have been playing since 2010.
I have always wanted to open up a gaming cafe as well since where I am there isn’t one close to me however money these days are tight and you never know when the next pandemic is going to happen….. however I’d definitely like to start a underground commander league or somethiing…
I also work for a big boating company that’s all over the us Canada and Europe. I’d love to do something fun with magic and other TCG On the boat. oh I am a IT manager for two of the ports in the us NYC and Philly.
Not late at all! With new subscribers all the time it is a constantly growing community and we love to hear from everyone. It also helps us to tailor our upcoming boxes to what everyone is into. Kaldheim was a great jumping on point and there have been a lot of great sets since then. We try to include a bit of everything in the boxes and singles, but we have tried to include solid commander cards since it is such a prominent and popular format. Commander Legends packs will make another appearance soon. One great thing about commander is that fun decks can be played that have creative combos and cards that wouldn't otherwise be viable in other formats. It can be a lot of fun to build decks around lesser-used combos and cards that hit unexpectedly. Pauper, singleton, and sealed drafts are other excellent formats that aren't dependent on only owning and buying high-powered cards. It is pretty cool that your transition was from D&D because Magic was first created as a quick game to be played during and between D&D sessions! We have a Moroccan Mint green tea in store which is a great green tea with peppermint too. Glad to have you and thank you for sharing!
Looks like I'm a little late to the welcome party, but nonetheless I shall make an appearance. I probably got into Magic about 3 years ago, been enjoying it as a fun pastime with some of my friends who enjoy it. My friend group started as a D&D group and is still close, though lacking in the time to play. Magic ended up being the alternative because of the lack of D&D players, and those of us who came were already into Magic. Still a novice by some standards, but I got into physical Magic when Kaldheim came out, before that was all online. Didn't have the money to sling out looking for good cards before, but it is what it is. As for tea, I am a great enjoyer of tea and have been for a long amount of time, I still trying to find a better answer to "What's your favorite tea?" but I simply enjoy Peppermint tea. Commander has been the favorite format to play Magic for my friend group, I've managed to create a few decks of my own, and have too many decks that are unfinished due to not wanting to spend tons of money on heavy hitting cards. All in all, think subscribing to Tap for Tea will be better for me, well versus buying tons of packs in hope of getting the sick chase cards of certain sets (Yes I know buying singles is the way to go for that, but god I just want the expensive/awesome cards that I could never buy). I'm an Azorius player by heart, but have been branching out more as of late, and attempting to stop consistently choosing Blue over other colors. That's my brief synopsis, I wish any who read this a good day, noon, afternoon and evening. Stay frosty.
My story? I have always been a fan of card games. My first was Pokémon. Like many I grew up with red and blue version and the show and cards caught me quick. I think I was 8 or 9 at the time. when I was participating in the local card shop's pokemon league program. Still have all the badges! After the TCG league closed down, I moved to Yu-Gi-Oh! That kept going through 2011, I loved driving to a nearby city with my best friend to play in them! In college it was through Yu-Gi-Oh! that I met my now wife. That is a story for another day. Before college I picked up Magic the Gathering, I came in when Worldwake was popular. Zendikar is still my favorite plane. My first booster pack I ever opened was from Worldwake, and low and behold I pulled a Jace the Mind Sculptor (Had no idea how powerful that card was at the time). I was enraptured by the lore of the multiverse and its history, which I apply to my ongoing MTG D&D Campaign. I always was and will be a Vorthos (Lore Based) player, that's for sure. In college we had a playgroup for magic the gathering, a fairly casual one and we would make some crazy fun decks, eventually it formed into a full school sponsored club. About that time I made my first EDH using Kangee, Keeper of the Aerie. Never really stopped playing EDH after that. I loved the ability to meet new people and strategize and just talk with people at the table. I have been and always will be a casual player. I really do not get angry when losing. In fact I enjoyed seeing the powerful combos and just enjoyed being around happy people. Now the wife and I, and perhaps even our son, when he gets old enough (Fingers crossed) play regularly. That's a little about myself and my life. Oh, and if you see something posted from Omeep, that's me. It's an old character name I used growing up when I played video games, and it kinda stuck. The wife goes by Asala. Look forward to hearing other's tales as well!