Favors to Savor

{Image from www.amainyc.com}

Last Christmas I discovered Amai cookies and was reminded of them when I finished my last scrumptious green tea cookie a few months ago. I was very sad and decided to go online and find more. Instead of just finding more cookies, I found my favors.

What initially drew me to Amai was the detailed packaging made to look like classic tea canisters. I am a packaging fiend and they looked so similar to this favor packaging idea that I had fallen in love with eons ago.

{Sorry, I can't remember where I got this photo from.}

{Image from www.amainyc.com}

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised because what was inside the canister tasted as good as it looked on the outside! The cookies are tea flavored (earl grey & currant; chai almond; green tea - my favorite!; lemongrass & ginger; white tea & strawberry; red vanilla; hojicha sesame). Each cookie is perfectly crumbly and packed with aroma and flavor. All their ingredients are all natural without preservatives (which means the cookies have a shorter shelf life than others, about 4-5 weeks).

I thought the canisters would make great favors but they were a little steep for my expanding guest list (the canisters are $10/each online and about $7 at Wegman's, where I first bought them). If not favors, they'd be great out-of-town gifts or attendant gifts. I'm making little totes full of goodies for my girls and these are definitely going to be the snack in the bag.

While checking out the site some more, I noticed that it mentioned special orders. I was still on the search for the perfect tea and cookie combination and decided to give Kelli Bernard, owner and head baker a call. We met at the bakeshop (which deserves a post in it's own right!) and had a blast just talking about various ideas.

At our first meeting, I explained to Kelli that we wanted to incorporate both our cultures along with our love our good food into the favor and she completely understood since that's what Amai is all about-- using lots of different ingredients from matcha (green tea), earl grey tea to currants and lychees to create wonderful taste experiences. I got sample all of Amai's yummy treats including the amazing botanical brownies. We decided that brownies and cupcakes would be too fragile to package and would not have a long enough shelf life and instead focused on cookie and tea packages.

Once we decided on the products, our second meeting was all about packaging. Mr. Canary accompanied me to this one and Kelli brought out three variations of a the tea and cookies package. We were blown away by the thought and creativity put into each one, but there was a clear favorite.

Small organza bag with a card (Kelli used our save-the-date as a placeholder) and tea + cookies.

Small box with raffia, card, small tea canister, and cookies (I don't know what we did with the samples that were inside!)

Kelli had found great Japanese paper boxes and made them tactile by inserting a ribbon and tag. I absolutely loved the shape and design of the packaging.

At our final meeting, Kelli had refined our favorite and found the perfect tea bags to complement the cookies. Here is the final selection (ours will have a different ribbon color similar to the bridesmaid dresses).

A peak into the interior.

Our package will have two tea cookies and a tea bag. We'll have two versions, one with matcha cookies + jasmine tea bag, the other with red vanilla cookies + assam tea bag. Don't mind the picture, the cookie in the photo is a little smushed from being in my purse!

The tea bags.

My favorite detail-- the personalized tag with our names and wedding date... and the subtle nod to my Chinese heritage with the double happiness imprint.



Mr. Canary, who has never been a fan of shopping for wedding-related items like paper or favors, was pretty ecstatic about them! We were most excited that Kelli and her fabulous team at Amai would assemble all the pieces and deliver them to our wedding venue. One more thing off our list!

Kelli also came up with great ideas for the day of the wedding including snack packs for the bridal party as well as parents' gifts. Who could turn down her delicious goodies?

If you're not in the market for favors, but love tea and sweets, Amai's bake shop is located downtown near Gramercy Park. I love the atmosphere of the tea shop and would imagine that it would be a great place for a small bridal shower. And while you're there, say hi to Kelli and congratulate her on just getting engaged!

The shop.
The library file behind the counter holds all the various teas that Amai carries.

And if you're not in New York and just love sweets, check out Kelli's recipe-filled dessert blog for inspiration.

I am going to have to make a trip down there soon to refill on my green tea goodies, but in the meantime, I can cling to my beautiful empty canister. :)

If you'd like to visit:
Amai Tea & Bake House
171 3rd Avenue (Btwn 16th and 17th Streets)
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212)863-9630
Fax: (806)214-1696

Bake House Hours
Monday-Saturday, 8am to 10pm
Sunday, 10am to 5pm

What do you think of our fusion favors? Are you planning on incorporating your theme or culture into your favors?