{"id":18382,"date":"2016-04-15T00:50:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T07:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=18382"},"modified":"2016-04-13T13:58:59","modified_gmt":"2016-04-13T20:58:59","slug":"restoring-ritual-of-tea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/04\/15\/restoring-ritual-of-tea\/","title":{"rendered":"Restoring ritual of tea"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe mini cube is our modern interpretation of the traditional ceremonies of ancient cultures,\u201d say C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea\u2019s Elli and Efrat Schorr. (photo from C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

From the professions of law and psychology, Elli and Efrat Schorr turned to tea. And, from the Israeli market, they are expanding worldwide. C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea can be bought in several locations in the Lower Mainland, for instance, but the Schorrs\u2019 connections to Vancouver are deeper.<\/p>\n

\u201cEfrat\u2019s enduring memory of Vancouver is of the hospitality and openness that she and her family experienced in their time in B.C.,\u201d Elli told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cFor me, C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea is an opportunity to return the warmth to the<\/p>\n

Vancouver community, sending the best flavors that Israel has to offer back home, along with our friendship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elli was born in Washington, D.C., and Efrat was born in New York. She lived out east for her earliest years, but then the family moved to the West Coast, living in Vancouver for two years and then in Richmond for another two years. Her father, Rabbi William Altshul, was the principal of Vancouver Talmud Torah from 1979-83 and Efrat worked at VTT, with kindergarteners through Grade 3s. Her father helped found Richmond\u2019s Eitz Chaim Congregation.<\/p>\n

From Vancouver, Efrat\u2019s family moved to D.C., which is where she met Elli. They were high school sweethearts, marrying in 1995. Raised in strong Zionist homes and inspired by their experiences in post-high school yeshivah programs in Israel, they made aliyah in 2005 after they completed their graduate studies.<\/p>\n

Elli was a lawyer, graduating from Georgetown University, and Efrat has a PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. After working in their respective fields for several years, they decided to go into business in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter sharing 20 years of marriage and five children,\u201d reads C\u00e9r\u00e9monie\u2019s website, \u201cthese childhood sweethearts decided to look for their next adventure together.\u201d They bought C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea from the founders in February 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for a business opportunity and explored coffee, even visiting Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee,\u201d Elli told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cAlong the way, we encountered C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea, with its striking design and delicious products and fell in love. We worked in partnership with the founders for about a year and then purchased the company from them, undertaking management of the company since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company is based in Migdal Haemek in the northern part of Israel. The Schorrs live in Gush Etzion, in the town of Alon Shevut, which is about a two-hour commute. \u201cWe are enjoying the learning experience of working in a different environment, far away from our English-speaking bubble!\u201d said Elli.<\/p>\n

Established in 2003, the Schorrs have expanded the company\u2019s reach internationally since taking over, beginning in Italy in 2014 and the Netherlands in 2015. The ingredients \u2013 whole tea leaves, along with spices, herbs and flowers \u2013 come from around the world, and the tea bag material is imported from Japan. \u201cPresently,\u201d said Elli, \u201cwe are not using compostable materials, but are exploring such options for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea offers a range of products, including mini cubes, pyramid tea bags and loose tea blends.<\/p>\n

Bringing \u201ctheir American style of customer service and entrepreneurial spirit to the traditional world of tea,\u201d the Schorrs are trying to return people to the \u201critual of serving tea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mini cube is our modern interpretation of the traditional ceremonies of ancient cultures,\u201d explains their website, \u201cinnovative in our style of serving but classic and timeless in our taste.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea can be found in Richmond at Save-On-Foods at Ironwood Plaza, Loblaws City Market and Superstore, as well as at Superstore in Vancouver on Marine Drive and Save-On-Foods South Point in Surrey. There is always the option of buying online, of course, at ceremonietea.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe mini cube is our modern interpretation of the traditional ceremonies of ancient cultures,\u201d say C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea\u2019s Elli and Efrat Schorr. (photo from C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea) From the professions of law and psychology, Elli and Efrat Schorr turned to tea. And, from the Israeli market, they are expanding worldwide. C\u00e9r\u00e9monie Tea can be bought in several […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[5687,4330,5686,5685],"class_list":["post-18382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-ceremonie","tag-israel","tag-schorr","tag-tea"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}