Reconnaissance - Tea Xotics

So over the course of the year, I have tried to visit some of the local coffee and tea shops in the area and if they were willing, chat with the owners about their experiences starting and running their businesses.  This has been a lot of fun and there have been a couple I have visited multiple times.  I'll list them here with my impressions and thoughts and I'll start by saying I haven't had a bad experience anywhere, but I have had great experiences along the way.

I found Tea Xotics at the St. John's Craft fair last December.  Renee owns the company and she is very nice and personable.  I asked her about wholesaling and she was interested and I decided I would go up to her place in Shingle Springs.  Lisa has been my partner in crime at many of these excursions and the first time we went up, both she and Mike came.  We ordered our tea and sat in the cozy conversation nook.  The place is primarily a coffee place, but Renee has been doing the tea line for over a year.  Her place is big, but she serves a light lunch as well as the coffee and tea, so that makes sense.  It is open with a counter in the middle and both tall and regular tables.  A lot of the art portrays different stages of the coffee roasting process, and makes for a comfortable warm atmosphere.

I contacted Renee later since she wasn't there to talk to at the time and over email, she invited me to come up and see how she ran things and talk about her tea.  What an amazing invitation!  I went up one day and she took me behind the counter, into the kitchen, gave me advice on dishwashers, etc., and then sat down with me to discuss the biz.  Apparently, when she decided to buy, she closed the sale on a Friday, did a few things over the weekend, then re-opened Monday morning.  She didn't want to lose the customer base she already had and has added to it successfully since.  She now roasts her own coffee and in addition to the tea, I hope to carry her coffee as well.  Her advice was to not overthink it which will be difficult for me to follow.  LOL

Lisa is now a regular stopper on her way to her parents' place and has decided that I need to make my own version of one of the drinks there.

To New Friends Through Tea

So when I went to the World Tea Expo (blog post pending) in June, I met all kinds of wonderful people who were in various stages of starting their own tea ventures (and a couple who were already in business) and from all areas of the map.  I have kept in touch with several of them and this weekend got to connect with two of them.  I spoke to Jennifer on the phone for about an hour and got to hear about her adventures in Tucson.  She has located a space and is now working on logistics of the build-out and it was great to share our plan to make our dreams a reality.

This morning, I got to meet with Lan and her family.  Turns out she has family here in town and an aunt that lives maybe 5 minutes from me, so she is in town occasionally.  I met her at a company here in town that sells organic (and non-) spices and teas where she had an order to pick up then we had a nice breakfast.  We talked a lot about how we were moving ahead and a little about our respective lives.  It was really nice.

Today just reinforced what I have been discovering through my journey this year.  The tea world is pretty small yet and most of the people I have met have been more than willing to talk and give advice.  I have visited or talked to many of the local shops and have discovered a really nice community of people.  I am very glad for Lan and Jennifer and all the shop owners and Bob (my broker) and even the county workers who have been so helpful. It all should come together very soon!