The Why of Samovar
We are a small local San Francisco company wildly passionate about doing just one thing: creating positive human connection through tea. That’s it. Life today has gotten totally out of control. Sure, information is power but too much of anything is no good and we’re getting short-circuited here. Fried actually. There’s a time for everything, and at Samovar we embrace, no relish, the time it takes to make and then sip tea. To connect with another real human being, in person. So you can see eyes sparkle. Touch the warm flesh of another’s cheek. Inhale the buttery aromas of the scones and the cardamom and pepper of the chai. To really see that other person across the table from you. Let our tea connect you to this moment, to your life. It is a big deal.
We use tea as a vehicle to connect us to ourselves and to each other. We believe that when we connect this way, even for just a moment, life gets fuller, more meaningful and more passionate. And isn’t a full, passionate, meaningful life what it’s all about?
Our Values
We created our values after drinking a lot of oolong tea, chatting with customers, and amongst ourselves. From these late night chats and tea sessions was born the Samovar Way…Of Life. OF LIFE has become the acronym that tells the story of our values.
O = Openness
Open to change and embracing it. Open to being ultra-aware of our actions and our environment. People spend their lives practicing awareness and meditation in order to achieve ultimate openness. We just try to remember to do it and to use tea as the vehicle to finding presence in our day.
F = Fairness
When people feel they are being treated fairly, they feel great.They work better, connect better and feel empowered. When fairness becomes an issue, life gets worse. Sure, not everything is fair. And fairness is often in the eye of the beholder, so it’s important to embody openness when striving for fairness and to clearly communicate at all times.
L = Love
At the end of the day and the end of our lives, it really is all about love. What we leave in the wake of our time on this planet are the reverberating relationships of people we’ve touched. How do we live our lives creating more love? Tea and positive human connection are about love. Love is paramount to making the world go around and we do everything in our power to embody it.
I = Integrity
Integrity to us means having the courage to do the right thing. Sometimes that feels uncomfortable. We’re a for-profit business and need to ensure that we run efficiently, profitably and in alignment with our values and that we always look towards maintaining integrity.
F = Focus
With a strong focus we can get tea made in record time, ensure customers are thrilled when they visit us and that everything is happening as it should. Distraction is a big-time issue in the world today, between phone, text, social media and e-mail to name a few. Using rituals, awareness, tea-making and connecting with our values we strive to achieve focus to not only get more done, but to get it done better and with more joy.
E = Energy
Life is energy, and our job at Samovar is to convert our energy and time into a phenomenal experience that creates positive human connection. We strive to be energetic, efficient, fast, present and upbeat. Embodying energy is pretty natural for us because we drink a lot of tea.