How do you create moments of presence and connection in your life? As tea drinkers, the simple act of putting the kettle on and sitting with a cup of tea can be one of those moments. Carmen Marshall and her partner Peter started Sacred Lotus Love to design gifts that remind us to slow down, feel inside, and get connection in our day. This includes tea tumblers, journals, incense, and more recently, loose leaf tea. In fact, one of my favourite glass tea tumblers was even designed by Carmen. At the tea table Carmen shared her journey with tea that led to her company, how she creates their products, her tea sessions with her mom in Canada and much more.
The kettle is on and I can hear it about to sing. What tea are you going to steep for us today?
Ohh…that’s a tough one! I’m always torn between two blends it seems. But, let’s go with Coconut Oolong for today.
How did your relationship with tea begin eventually evolve into Sacred Lotus Love?
I started living and traveling around the world at a young age. One of things I loved was not only the unique foods in each country, but also the different teas and the ritual around making of tea. From England’s black tea, to India’s chai, to Thailand’s spicy and sweet ginger tea, to the green tea and matcha in Japan.
Then, in my early twenty’s my mom became an herbologist. Every time I came home to visit from overseas I tried all the new fresh and dried herbs she had grown. I loved the new flavors, but also the unique medicinal benefits.
Tea has always seemed like a treat to me — something to look forward to, something to new to try and something to take the time to make and then sit down and enjoy.
Presence and connection are two important words for you and Peter. How do you feel those words relate back to tea?
We started our company Sacred Lotus Love with the intent to help ourselves, and others, to slow down and connect. Slowing down, connecting, being present — were all feelings that felt sourcing and nourishing to us — and we started to experience them more as a way of life when we were living in Bali.
We wanted to make sure they continued to be part of our lives — and what better way to do that then to develop products for ourselves — and others at the same time?
We came up with our first products, the tea tumblers, when Peter was making me tea, and chopping up fresh ingredients. He had this moment where he was rushing around, but the act of making tea — chopping up ginger and mint, helped him slow down and be centred.
That’s how Sacred Lotus Love was born, conceived out of the love for the ritual of tea making.
You offer quite a lovely collection of gifts, tea related and more. Can you tell me a bit about how you select products for your brand and which one is your favourite?
We create and design our products based on what items we personally love and use, and that help us slow down and connect — and that we think would help others do the same.
So for example, I’ve always making and drinking tea — so I wanted to design beautiful tea tumblers and curate tea blends.
Peter is a writer, so he has always loved journals. We also love incense and essential oil diffusers — all things that help create a sense of ritual, sacredness and magic.
We then create products around the 3 motifs that we love — Sacred Geometry, the Lotus Flower and the Love Anahata symbol (Sacred, Lotus, Love).
And then finally — a lot of thought goes into making our products giftable. I’ve always loved giving gifts, but struggled to find unique, thoughtful gifts — so I also wanted Sacred Lotus Love to be a place that felt easy to find a unique and meaningful gift for your family and friends.
Peter and I both design the products together, but he tends to do a bit more design around Sacred Geometry and I tend to lean more towards the Lotus Flower. So, the Lotus Tea Tumbler, the Lotus Journal are probably my two favorite products — since I designed them.
For the teas, I chose/curated all 4 blends, so I love them all. But, if I had to decide — the Cacao Mint and Coconut Oolong are probably my 2 favourites. But then agan, I also adore the chai and rose wedding is so unusual…
You’re about to sit down for a personal tea session. Describe how that would look for you.
One of my favorite “personal tea sessions” is with my mom — whenever I visit my parents back in Canada. She always has jars full of dried chocolate peppermint tea. She grows different varieties in the backyard. I sit down with her and try all the different types she’s grown since I was last home. This is the tea that inspired our Cacao Mint tea.
It’s a precious time to catch up as mother and daughter. We always infuse the teas in our Sacred Lotus Love Tea Tumblers – of course!
Speed Round:
Black, Green, Yellow, White, Oolong or Puerh?
Green
Hot, Iced or Cold?
Hot
Teapot, Infuser or Gaiwan?
Tea leaves swirling in a Tea Tumbler so you can see them, with a strainer at the top.
Straight, Sweetened or Latte?
Straight
Cheese or Chocolate pairing?
Neither. But chocolate on its own for sure!
You’re stranded on a desert island and you could only bring 3 tea related items. What are they?
Tea Tumbler, Loose Leaf Tea and something to heat water up since I won’t have a Tea Kettle 🙂
Find Sacred Lotus Love:
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ABOUT THIS SERIES: Tea tells stories and when connected with humans, more are created. That’s where the idea for this blog series, At the Tea Table, originated. With this series, The Cup of Life asks tea lovers around the world to take us inside their tea lives to share their favourite steeps, spaces, routines and more. Meet some of your fellow tea drinkers here.
I really like the tea Tumblr also. It is so soothing to watch tea leaves floating. And the packaging on the looseleaf tea is appealing Thanks for this article, LuAnn