We're excited to be...

Open YEAR ROUND Again!!

Fridays, Saturdays, and NOW SUNDAYS from 12  5:00 pm

Visit us online, or stop by the tea shop on the weekends to see us for all of your tea needs!

You can purchase a 16-ounce cup of ANY of our tea offerings at our Tea Bar, which is absolutely the best way to decide on which teas to bring home!

Please help us welcome our newest Tea Partners! Visit them to enjoy a cup of Light of Day Tea:

• Alexandra Inn - Traverse City, MI
• Archie's Social House - Traverse City, MI
• Duke's Inferno - Woodstock, IL
• Fiddle Leaf Cafe - Kalamazoo, MI (also a tea tin refill station)
• Gilchrist Farm Winery - Suttons Bay, MI
• NOBO MRKT - Traverse City, MI (also a tea tin refill station)
• The DAM Shop - Elk Rapids, MI (also a tea tin refill station)

For a list of our other loyal partners, please click HERE.

CHAI LATTE RECIPES

As the weather changes, certain teas call to us with their wonderfully warming ingredients, including our legendary "Honu Chai "!

Although our Honu Chai tastes fabulous steeped in hot water alone, here are three alternatives that make for an exceptional treat and really highlight Honu Chai's full deep spice flavor profile:

1. Traditional Style:

   • Combine 1 cup of water and 1 cup of "milk" of your choice in a saucepan (our favorite is Vanilla Soy Milk).
   • Add 2 tablespoons of Honu Chai  loose leaf tea stir, cover, bring to a simmer.
   • Simmer covered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir, keep cover, and let steep for 5 more minutes.
   • Strain and sweeten to taste (Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup, or a Vanilla coffee creamer are our favorite options).
   • Enjoy!

2. Cafe Style:

   • Combine 1 part water and 1 part milk in a 12 oz. cup.
   • Pour into steamer pitcher after adding 2 tablespoons of our Honu Chai Tea into the same pitcher.
   • Bring to 195 degrees with the steamer wand of an espresso machine.
   • Allow the Honu Chai to steep for 2 to 3 minutes.
   • Strain into the 12 oz. cup and sweeten to taste (Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup are our favorite options).
   • Enjoy!

3. Angela's Special Thanksgiving Morning Tea Tradition (serves 20):

   • In a crockpot, add 8 heaping tablespoons of Honu Chai to 1.5 gallons of water.
   • Put the cover on, set heat to "low" and simmer for at least 6 hours (or overnight!).
   • Strain out the Honu Chai tea bits using a fine colander lined with cheesecloth or a clean dish towel. Ring out the cloth into the crockpot to capture all the tea juices.
   • Add 8 ounces heavy whipping cream and 8 ounces of maple syrup.
   • Stir, and ladle out into 12-ounce cups.
   • If desired, add 2 fingers of your favorite Bourbon or Scotch.
   • Enjoy!

**********We're celebrating 20 years in business!***********

Thank you to all friends, family, elders, mentors, customers, neighbors, elementals, Mother Nature, and all of Creation under Heaven for helping build this business over the past TWENTY years!

This has been some of the best, most challenging, beautiful and meaningful work of my life. I deeply appreciate the opportunity for personal and professional growth, to transform an empty field of former sheep grazing pasture into the landscape it is today, for the relationships that have sprouted through our shared love of tea, and just so grateful overall for all the doors that Light of Day has opened. This is the BEST community EVER! Thank you for all of your support! Please come in for a spot of tea and to walk the farm any Friday, Saturday, or Sunday year-round from 10 am - 5 pm.

I hope to see you and for the opportunity to personally thank each and every one of you in person. Please, come say hello! If you prefer writing, my email address is angela@lightofdayorganics.com, and I would thoroughly enjoy reading about your experience with Light of Day Organics over the years, how you found us, what your favorite tea is, what can we do better, what you would like to see us do in the future, how this business has impacted you in some way, sharing pictures of our tea at your home, work, etc.

To 20 more years! Much love!

Angela

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

December, year 2003 By the Light of Day Organics, now Light of Day Organics, LLC is established.

Year 2004:

• Commercial tea production begins! Angela's passion for growing and preserving culinary herbs, flowers, and fruits to create loose-leaf teas is put into action. 200 different tea offerings in 3 sizes were created in the next 18 months.

Year 2005:

• Introduction of full-color soy-based ink labels, first website launched with full e-commerce functionality.
• Sales begin at Oryana Food Coop, Farm to table restaurants, Farmer's Markets NMC, Music Festivals
• Formal presentations as a guest lecturer at Epicurean Classic, MSU, U of M, Lobdell's through the local Culinary Institute

Year 2006:

• "Nurse in a Cup" article is picked up by the Associated Press
• Light of Day's Heartwarming Cinnamon tea featured in USA Today
• Creamy Earl Grey awarded Traverse Magazine's "Red Hot Best" and "The Best" at World Tea Expo

Year 2007:

• Expansion with the acquisition of an additional 13.5 acres Certification as USDA Organic (Organic Grower's of Michigan) and Demeter Biodynamic.
• Construction of a 32x36-foot barn and well drilled for irrigation.
• 7 acres of cultivated herbs and fruit

Year 2008:

• Construction of a second building and second commercial kitchen
• Solar panels added to the roof of the first barn
• Light of Day is awarded "Best Small Business"

Year 2009:

• Opening of a retail store, growing more ingredients on-site, initiation of tea wellness classes at the shop.
• Light of Day is awarded "Environmentalist of the Year" for Business

Year 2010:

• Registration of Light of Day® as a trademark

Year 2011:

• Light of Day receives USDA Value-Added Producer Grant
• Store opens 7 days per week
• First Farm Interns hired
• Light of Day is proudly served at U of M
• Light of Day featured in Dr. Bob Dahlstrom's Master's-level Marketing Textbooks

Year 2012:

• Initiation of 'tea cuppings' and construction of two Yurts for these events.
• Hoop houses #1 & #2 constructed and planted with Camellia sinensis (tea)

Year 2016:

• Hoop houses #3 & #4 constructed and planted with Camellia sinensis (tea)
• Additional 46 acres purchased and Certified USDA Organic and Demeter Biodynamic

Year 2020:

• Store closed due to Pandemic March 2020-May 2023
• Another Hoop House constructed and planted with Camellia sinensis

Years 2021 & 2022:

• Seasonal Pop-up Tea Shop at Farm
• Tea Classes resumed during the growing season

Year 2023:

• Store re-opens Memorial day weekend!
• Another Hoop house constructed
• 24 x 36' commercial kitchen addition to HQ building

Years 2013-2023:

• Continuous store operation with the dedication of the team.
• Surviving a pandemic-related shutdown (March 2020-May 2023).

Present Day (2023):

• The store remains open year-round Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays 10-5, offering wellness classes and farm tours during the growing season.
• Light of Day Tea tin refill station opens at NOBO MRKT on 8th Street in Traverse City, The Dam Shop in Elk Rapids, & Fiddle Leaf Cafe
• Future plans include introducing pyramidal tea bags and passing the business to the next generation.
• In a nutshell, version:  Historically, over the past 20 years, our production has been representative of up to 60% of our total ingredients by weight.   We have 11,220 square feet of hoop houses planted with Camellia sinensis ("Tea") and annual botanical ingredients production on the exterior sidewalls. 
  Our Tencha (base of Matcha) production averages 80# per year. We partner with a  Japanese grower in Shega region of Japan and in Queensland, Australia. 
  We run entirely off renewable energy! 
  Our farms are dually certified USDA Organic (MOSA) and Certified Demeter Biodynamic (Regenerative Agriculture) since 2005. 
  Our awards include MI best small business and Environmentalist of the year for business, Traverse Magazine "RED HOT BEST!" Creamy Earl Grey and "Best Creamy Earl Grey in the World" designation at the World Tea Expo.

Thank you for 20 fabulous years! Please come visit and celebrate with us!

Be well, and be at peace.

Love, Angela

Angela Macke R.N & Founding Director Light of Day Organics, LLC 3502 E. Traverse Hwy. Traverse City, Michigan 49684 www.lightofdayorganics.com