Privacy Policy

Who we are

Garden Brew Tea Cafe is a small, owner-run business. Radia Rogers grows the sorrel, mint, ginger and turmeric, blends the teas, bakes the pastries and sells them at farmers markets. There's no storefront and no big company behind this website — when this page says “we”, it means Radia.

This website does three things: it shows what we make, tells you where the booth will be next, and gives you two forms for writing to us. That's it.

What we collect, and when

Most of the time: nothing. You can browse every page without giving us anything at all.

The only time we receive information is when you choose to send it through the preorder form or the contact form. Between them, those forms ask for:

• your name
• your email address
• your phone number
• what you'd like to order
• the market and date you'd prefer to pick up
• anything you type into the notes or message box

This website doesn't take payments, so it never sees card or bank details. You pay in person at the booth.

Allergies and health details

If you tell us about an allergy or a health concern in a note — for example, so we can recommend a blend or keep your order nut-free — we use it only for that, and we treat it with extra care.

Browsing the site

The market calendar, menu and other pages load their information from our own website. They don't ask for, or store, anything about you, and nothing is saved on your device.

What we use it for

To reply to you, and to get your order ready for the market you chose. That's the whole list — Radia reads every message herself.

The only other parties that handle your message are the ones described under Where your message goes: your email provider and ours (Google, for our Gmail), our website host (Netlify, Inc., in the United States) for preorder requests, and a form-handling service if one is switched on.

We don't keep a mailing list or send newsletters, and we never sell, rent or trade your information to anyone.

Who we share it with

No one, except where it's needed to run the business or the law requires it:

• the email and hosting services that carry your message (see Where your message goes)
• if we're legally required to — for example, by a valid court order

We don't sell or rent personal information, we don't share it for advertising, and we don't use it to build profiles.

Where your message goes

Option one — your own email app (the default)

When you press send, the form doesn't upload anything to this website. It opens your email app with the message written out for you, and you send it yourself. From there it travels like any other email: from your email provider to ours.

Option two — a form-handling service

So that people can write to us without an email app, we may connect the forms to a form-handling service such as Formspree, Web3Forms or Netlify Forms. If we do, that service receives what you typed, forwards it to our email, and may keep its own copy for a time under its own privacy policy.

Option three — our own preorder inbox

When you send a preorder, it's saved on our website's server (hosted by Netlify, Inc., in the United States) so Radia can review it on a private, password-protected page, and she gets an email alert about it. When she accepts or declines your request, we email you her answer if you gave an email address (otherwise she'll call or text). Those emails go through our Gmail account (Google). Preorder requests are deleted automatically one year after they arrive.

Right now, preorder requests are saved on our own website (option three below), and the contact form opens your own email app (option one).

Cookies and tracking

None. We don't set analytics cookies or advertising cookies, and we don't load third-party trackers, pixels or embedded widgets. The fonts are stored on our own site instead of being fetched from a font provider, so nobody else is watching who visits.

That's also why there's no cookie banner — there's nothing to consent to. Because we don't track you, “Do Not Track” and Global Privacy Control signals don't change anything here: you're already not tracked.

Server logs

Like nearly every website, this one lives on another company's servers: Netlify, Inc., in the United States. To keep the site secure and running, the host may keep standard server logs — your IP address, the kind of browser and device you use, the pages you opened and when.

We don't use those logs to work out who you are. They're kept under the host's own privacy policy and retention rules, not ours.

Keeping it safe

The site is served over an encrypted connection (HTTPS) with strict security settings. Contact messages go to our password-protected email account. Preorder requests are stored with our website host and can only be viewed by Radia on a password-protected page. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep what we hold to a minimum and look after it carefully.

Our email and hosting providers store information in the United States.

Links to other sites

We link out to Instagram (@teacafebakery) and Google Maps (for directions to a market). Each is run by another company, with its own privacy policy and its own cookies. Once you click through, their rules apply — not this page.

Children

This website is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has sent us something through a form, email us and we'll delete it.

How long we keep it

We keep form messages only as long as we need them to reply to you and complete your order. Preorder requests saved on our website are deleted automatically one year after they arrive, and emails are kept for ordinary business records, generally no longer than two years. If you'd like yours gone sooner, just say so and we'll delete it.

Your choices

It's your information. Email gardenbrewteacafe@gmail.com at any time and ask us to:

• show you what we have from you
• correct something
• delete it

We'll do it, free of charge, and reply within 48 hours to let you know it's done. You can also call or text (917) 349-2202.

Changes to this policy

If the way this website works changes — for example, if we switch on a form-handling service — we'll update this page and the effective date at the top. The version on this page is always the one that applies.

Buying from us is also covered by our Terms & Conditions.