Samovar Tea Lounges Begin Hibernation

By Dan Bolton | Tea Biz

Samovar Tea Lounge founder Jesse Jacobs announced that cafe and restaurant operations at the company’s San Francisco stores “will enter a hibernation period until the current health crisis turns around.”

The company’s Yerba Buena Gardens and SF International Airport locations were closed during the first wave of the pandemic. All four locations began “hibernating” July 19. Operations continue as before at the company’s e-commerce tea shop.

“It’s with misty eyes and a heavy heart that I am announcing a major transition for Samovar,” Jacobs writes on the company’s home page, but he stressed, “This is NOT goodbye…”

Jacobs founded the company 18 years ago after a career in high-tech consulting.

“When I started Samovar Tea Lounge I realized that tea would be the perfect vehicle to satisfy just what the world needs today: to slow down, unplug, and wake up,” said Jacobs.

"I founded Samovar to foster meaningful human connection—in person—over the best tea in the world in our San Francisco cafes. But now with COVID-19, the way we used to connect is no longer possible. And yet, the need for human connection is greater today than ever," he writes. "After speaking with many customers over the last few months, the one thing I’ve learned is that people miss connecting in person and that our daily rituals and rhythms have been thrown off," he says.

“To keep the human connection alive,” Jacobs said that he will host tea-inspired, real-time virtual experiences. First in the series is “Mindful Tea Tasting Mediation", 7 am (PST), Monday, July 27. The session consists of a one-hour guided breathing meditation followed by a tea tasting. "There will be plenty of time for Q&A," he writes.

Click here to register for Samovar's Mindful Monday.