Welcome To Roam To Home

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Hi, I'm Alexa.

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And I'm Rory. And together we are the Rowies. We're a husband-wife duo and longtime travelers who believe travel isn't just about where you go. It's about how it shapes the way you live when you get home.

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On the Rowies podcast, we explore where to travel, how to travel, and why to travel. Through our lens of creativity, wellness, and everyday life.

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We're calling it this season home. As we travel near and far, we're sharing the ways we bring inspiration home. Daily rituals, business, and side ideas, and the renovation of our historic picture upwards.

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It's all about making travel tangible, livable, and meaningful long after this event.

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So whether you're planning your next adventure or reimagining the life you're building at home, you're in the right place.

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Now, let's get into today's episode. I've

Why New Mexico Inspired Tea

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so been anticipating this episode, y'all. Tea is for tea. T-E-A-T. And of all the places we've thus far roamed, one would not expect that we would be using New Mexico as an inspiration for tea, but we found some really fun finds that we are so excited to share with you. We have three different interviews on this episode. We have the Old Barrel Tea Company, Chai Thai Love, and Lotus Tree Herbal. And they are all supporting this episode along with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture's logo programs, Grown with Tradition and Taste of Tradition, who are supporting this episode because they support these tea brands and companies that are either utilizing New Mexico agriculture and or creating in New Mexico to keep those flavors and traditions going. Now, I've sprinkled some seeds across our episodes this past year, letting you know that I too have started my own organic loose leaf tea company. And so that's one reason I've been chomping in the bit to get to share this episode with you because I'm going to share with you about my brand as well. Now, one of the ways we bring our roam home is incorporating things we learn and our inspirations into our businesses that we run out of our home. So we hope that any of you small business owners out there might gather some inspiration or a little insight on something that will benefit your business at in or out of your home as well. So earlier this year, Rory and I got in a road surfer RV rental. You heard about this in both our J is for journey and our R is for Relax episodes. And we'll put those in the show notes if you haven't heard them yet. And we drove from Dallas to New Mexico to go exploring. And we got to stay one night in a covered wagon on the Florin Family Farms Lavender Farm. Hello, that was so cool. And that was our L is for Lavender episode, if you want to hear that one. And we made our way then to White Sands and then into Mesia, New Mexico, where we enjoyed the super cute town square and enjoyed checking out the Old Barrel Tea Company. And we checked out their tea offerings and then headed over to the vintage where we enjoyed a giant tea tasting and a delicious dinner. So as we hope to encourage you to visit New Mexico through this episode and to get your roam on, this is a really fun gathering place with fun locals, live music, great food, and tea. And we got to meet the owner, Morgan, who chatted with us while grabbing dinner and enjoying her old barrel tea that she serves at the vintage. So here is our chat with Morgan at the Vintage.

Old Barrel Tea And The Vintage

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I just do all the things I like.

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Okay, I think that's a great kickoff, Morgan. So I am with Morgan Schweitzer at the Vintage Wines La Mesilla, New Mexico. So Morgan just said she likes to do all the things she likes as an adult. And we just came from visiting your old barrel tea store. Yes. And so that was super cute and super fun. And then you also own this restaurant that we're at. Yes. It's a winery.

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It started out as a wine bar. Um, and then we, the state with the reciprocity laws, ended up getting to where we could have um beer and also spirits. And everything is coming from New Mexico. So our teas are blended in New Mexico and our production facility in Albuquerque. And every single drink is gonna be made somewhere in New Mexico.

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Wow. And it's made fresh in your restaurant, too. I'm calling it a restaurant because we're here, we're hungry, we're here to eat.

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Um you're always starving, and I hope you're not gonna eat it at the greenies. Please don't start eating the greenies. Right.

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We do have Mozzie and Ellie with us, and we are on the outdoor patio seating, so that's really fun. And uh there is a guy with a big dog over there, so we hope he uh stays away. Kingsley. He's a regular.

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He is, he is a regular. Everyone knows Kingsley, and he likes to park it right in front of the stage when all the music starts. So cute.

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And we didn't bring our instruments on this trip, and she has an open mic night tonight, and we're gonna miss out on that. But anyway, we are really glad to just be here and talk with you. We ordered what, three different of your teas because the the teas from the old barrel store you serve here as well, along with some yummy menu items. It was kind of hard to pick.

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And they make them fresh.

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And they so you were saying you almost said it like you were apologizing a little bit that we didn't have our drinks yet.

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Well, that's because everything that we do is made fresh, it's brewed fresh, steaks just the way that nature intended it to be. Just like all of our food is cooked to order, nothing is prefab, nothing is coming out of cans and jars. If if it's mayonnaise, it's a mayonnaise, it's made in house. If it's a ketchup, same type of thing. Everything truly is coming from this great state of New Mexico. So we are really big fans of the taste of the tradition. New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Yes.

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Who we are supporting this episode, yes. Along with you.

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They're wonderful people. They do an awesome event that I've been part of since its inception. I actually helped kind of with it originally, and it's homegrown. It's right before the holidays. So everybody can stock up on stuff that's made in the state. So you have wines there, some have crafts there, and we always have a tea booth there. And we're well known. We're gonna take it well known for our booth. I think if we didn't show up there, people would be upset because they would they expect us to be there. Oh sure.

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And then here's other if you guys want to. Yes, of course we do. Thank you. Thanks, Ted. Tiffany, you are awesome. She is. She's my right-handed.

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She's really fun. People always say, Morgan, how do you do all these businesses? And I say, it has nothing to do with me. It's the people that work with us. So it it it it's not me. Yeah, it's it's people like Tiffany that make it all happen. So we have some amazing uh humans in our life.

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So good. Well, and you apparently know have a gift of finding these cool people. So it's not very fortunate. They they tend to gravitate our way. Yes. And we're gonna meet one of those people in just a minute, spring, at the old T barrel tea store.

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There's our stuffed mushrooms. We are famous for those.

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Oh, this is gorgeous. Getting this Rory's videoing. He's here, he's videoing.

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So that's uh housemade beet vinaigrette. Beets are wonderful, they're really good for your heart health, digestion. Beets are just one of those super powerful antioxidants, which again, we believe in wellness lifestyle and just doing things with purpose and intention and enjoying them. I always tell people when I interview them, we have a great environment, and we just want people to know, you know, life is life is too short. It can be gone in an instant. So try to smile and live every day as if it were your last. And I know that sounds cliche, but for so many people, that is what happens. So be joyful in what you're doing, live with intention, and try to smile.

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Thank you for sharing that. And like you, you said, you said it sounds cliche, but at the same time, like we need to be reminded of that.

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I feel and I even have to remind myself of that. Yes.

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Some days we're quickly reminded of that, but a lot of times we need that nudge to remember.

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And I I think I I have to do it to myself always. Uh, one of the most favorite things I was ever told was by my best friend's father. He was a man of very few words, and he he's still with us, but he said, um, make it a great day. And it just really had a big impact up on me because it's an action. Right. It's as opposed to a passive have it, you know, have a great day. Like this is just gonna happen to you. No, you have to make your day great and fill it with good food and good people and amazing tea.

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Amazing tea, which is so good. Good. Why have you been uh been while you've been talking? I was tasting the peach and the honeysuckle. And it's honeysuckled blossom. What was that called? Uh honeysuckle blossom. Honeysuckle blossom, and then a white peach. And then we are also brewing mint julep. Correct. Okay. So the mint julep has what in it?

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So it's gonna have peppermint, spearmint. It has all the good things. No alcohol though. You have to add that. They also have a wonderful tea called Burden Brew. And um, some people think that it already comes with burden in it. Even though it's loosely, some of my mom's friends had it at a game day, and they are saying, Oh Morgan, we're so tipsy from that tea. And they really it just has like this placebo effect because of the name. And they truly thought that they were buzzed.

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And I'm like, no, y'all, it's just tea. That is so funny. Well, the the peach is the first one I had, and the flavor was just so rich.

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My feet's hot.

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You should eat.

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Hot rubs. I know, take a break for to eat.

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Well, we want to eat and chat because there's all this is going on. Yeah. You know what I mean? So we might as well be active.

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All of the uh music is about to start, so it will get louder. The cats are also currently enjoying uh a lovely ice snack. They're enjoying on the rock. Tea on the rock.

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Yeah, I've met this is so beautiful. Well, holy nose, you're telling me.

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What are gluten-free crackers? They're multi-seat, they're just they don't have leaves or flourish dry smelt cannons.

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We can ask um chickeny. That'd be awesome. Um, okay. This looks so beautiful. Okay, tell me a little bit of like what's the story behind the tea. Let's spill the tea.

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Let's spill the tea. It's so easy to spill tea when you have a libation. Um, so the the tea company was started by Bailey uh and Dana Huffman. Bailey is Dana's daughter. Uh Dana is a three-time breast cancer survivor. So she really wanted to focus on things be coactive with going through all of what she went through. So therefore, the entire family is very focused on wellness lifestyle, which you heard me say that a couple times now. Uh, so it's Dana and Bailey, and then Dana's two sons, uh, their wives. So it's four women, own company, and I was a first non-family or not married in member of the of the team. So I had known Bailey, Bailey's now husband, Jasper Riddles from Noisywater Winery, because of owning vintage. So I had mentioned to him that I was looking to open a tea shop and I wanted to see what Bailey's experience was like because they were still very new, but they had wonderful success in Rudoso and in Albuquerque, Old Town, and then in Cloudcroft. So I was the fourth store under the under the Moniker Old Barrel Tea Company, and obviously in Mesia, because this is where my husband's from, and we farm. You cannot pick up, you know, your farmland and move it somewhere else. So it does kind of does kind of tie you into a community. So my parents live here too. They actually retired and moved to New Mexico, which is why I ended up in New Mexico. I'm a Texas scout, born of Dallas, uh reared in Focus Christian. So uh I've lived in Redos for a while, and yeah, the music is starting now, so it's gonna get a get a touch a touch loud, but you know, you're welcome because the music is so good. Anywho, so I um I opened up my own store in 2017, not Mars, uh, from where we're sitting right now, it's just about a block and a half west of us. And we moved locations to where you you were with spring uh in 2020. So during COVID, we set out sitting in our world. We we moved to a new location. We also used to, this is kind of a fun story.

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Look at this, she she she went all out anyway. Yeah, Tiffany! All right, so we've got the tropical cinnamon sang sangria, crisp apple, crisp apple. Okay, there's more ice.

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You are amazing.

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Thank you.

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Yeah. Do you want us some eating free crackers?

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I want to try this.

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Well, I'll get tea faced. We we opened uh open the business and like I said, we during 2020 we got to a point where we were considered uh an essential like a health food store because tea is for health benefits. So kind of New Mexico is one of the last ones to open up the majority of a state. So we had different codes here where certain things could be open, some things couldn't, and we were able to be one of the ones that was open in like kind of that second egg wave of COVID in 2020. But in that between time when you weren't really supposed to be on the roads driving, and of course we're so close to El Paso, a lot of our customer base, primarily our customers, are coming from El Paso, not Las Cruces, which is strange because you know we're literally touching. But uh people from El Paso don't think twice about driving 45 minutes or an hour to an hour and a half if they're on the far east side to come to Mesilla for an afternoon to hang out here and go to the tea shop and go look at La Costa or Double Eagle and hang out. So we had a lot of customers that were desperate for their tea, but we're all, you know, not supposed to be going anywhere. And so Tiffany and I would load up her car with tea and honey, and we would meet people in the Louis parking lot. And we were doing it about like drug deals. We would we would have them describe their car. And we would do the payment over the phone, and then we would be like, Okay, here your orders now on the in the back of the car. So, you know, you can walk up and uh or my husband's truck, it's on the bed of the truck, so you know, you need no contact. But we uh kept a lot of people sane during COVID because of their tea and honey fix. Love it. The majority of our honey is actually sourced here locally in Mesia. So some friends of mine, the Garcias, do a great job. It's they're long time beekeepers, and we go through a ton of honey. So, and what goes better with tea? Honey, her sweetener. Honey can be used in a variety of different ways that people don't even think about. So, honey is wonderful. That's why bees are our friends, which ties in with my husband's farming. So kind of all interconnected there, but it's going back to the tea shop. So we've we've experienced great growth when we moved over to the new location because of the lines of sight to the pleasant. Okay. Um and the quasi and animacia is so cool. It's just feels so nice. A lot of a lot of history here and uh a very diverse crowd of people. You'll see somebody in Louis Vuitton next to a biker that's next to a mom with with a baby and her mom, the grandmother, and then next to that you'll see the weekend warrior, I call them because all the lawyers in their motorcycle gear. So it there's something for everyone here in the town.

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Yeah.

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So great.

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She's my favorite so far. I just tried the tropical satraping.

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Yeah. Yeah. So what's in that one? So that one, again, all the whole list of different goodies. Uh it has tropical, it has cinnamon. Hibiscus, so I'm sure hibiscus is great for blood pressure, regulating it. So if you have high blood pressure, I'm drinking uh anything with hibiscus is a great way to manage your healthy way without some of the prescription drugs.

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Yeah.

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And we tell people, you know, the prescription drugs came from herbs. They started as herbs at one point. So, for example, our dulce suenos tea has uh valerian root in it. Valerian root make of Valium. That's where Valium originated. So, yes, that helps you get the the good dreams. Yeah. So uh the tropical cinnamon sangria is actually one I use as a base to make true sangria that will serve during festivals and other things like that.

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And crisp apple, what are we gonna find in that? So Christmas and apples.

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That one actually used to be called Irish apple. So it was inspired by Bailey and Jasper's travels to Ireland. Um, my husband and I went there on our honeymoon. So I I love crisp apple. They do have a lot of ciders over there too. So um, and Cloudcraft is they have a lot of apple orchids there too. So definitely you're gonna have the apple pieces in there. We have pulong teas, we have black teas, we have colors, a lot of tea sains, which are not teas. All tea comes from one plant, the Camille's losses plant. So, what kind of tea do you make or blend?

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Organic sleeves, and it's inspired by my travels and also wellness.

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So I have a de-stress tea. That one is called Sandia Pete. Oh, okay. So growing up in Albuquerque, we've always looked at Sandia Mountain. And apparently that's Spanish for watermelon. So that's my watermelon high basic tea. That sounds delicious. I have an herbal blend that I put together for to help combat stress. So sometimes I add some wellness things. Sometimes it's also inspired by our creativity. So even like colors. So like today, I was telling Rory as we were driving through, I'm like, well, now I want to make a tea that is inspired by our trip today with using just blue, green, and white tea, because it's like that was the colors.

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Travel so much. Absolutely.

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Yeah. So it's also inspired by colors and also like inspired by the places we visit.

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I love that color. I like I like the color of inspiration. That's fine. Well, and because you said you're covered in white sand, you're gonna be able to put actual white sand in maybe some of your teeth. Which is not sand at all, it's gypsum.

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Thankfully, thankfully, we are uh Copac in South Carolina, so maybe my sand won't make it there. Hopefully. Hey, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of white sand in your teeth. Speaking of travels, I hear your teas are a little bit inspired by some travel inspiration as well. And I have Spring at the Old Barrel to tell me a little bit more about what you have in store. I am

Tea Memories And Custom Blends

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here with Spring, who is like the queen here at the Old Barrel Tea Company. So I really like working here and working with teas because I travel a lot. And so all of these different teas are like tied to different places for me. So then whenever I have them, like it reminds me of those places. So that's kind of how I got into tea. And then it's just been fun working here and reliving all those memories every time I come to work. I love that. I love that tea can tie to memories and it because you're involving so many senses when you drink tea. So that is really, really cool. And of course, I love that you're tying that into travel. What would you say has been one of your favorite locations andor the tea that went with it and your favorite tea here?

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My favorite location is Belize. Okay. Over there, rose tea is super popular. We don't have one that super ties to that, memory-wise.

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We have a strawberry rose, but that's uh heavier on the strawberry flavor than the rose flavor.

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But we have roebus here, which that is South African. And so for me, whenever I drink a roebus, it reminds me of when I was in South Africa. Very fun. Yeah. And I assume you have roebas blends as well. Yeah. So what are some of your blends with that?

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Um, we have a whole barrel of different ones. We have an apple empanada, we have an orchata, vanilla, island grove, bourbon brew, prickly pear.

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So those are very New Mexico sounding. Yes.

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Yep.

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So it's great like some of those and some of the I grew up in New Mexico, but some of those words I don't even know what they meant. What you just said.

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Yeah, so it's like home and travel combined. So it's great.

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Love it. That's like roam to home. How convenient. You also had me taste this wild lemon mint garden. And it's really fun what you did because you mixed one of your tin flavors with a different. Well, you mixed two of your flavors together and had me sample that. Now, does that does that count as a flavor of the month? Or is that just a blend that you create and customers can enjoy and taste here in the store? Uh just that you can enjoy here in the store. Every day we'll sample two or three different teas. On the weekend, we do three teas. But during the week we do two teas. We always do one that's a blend and one that's not a blend. Oh, fun. And so you're taking your own teas and blending two of your teas. Is it usually just two? Yeah. Okay. And the two teas that you blended together were each blends. So she I she just gave a lemon blend with a mint blend, and it was just superb. Love it. So we would either buy the tins as their own entity, or you said that we could, if we wanted a blend, we could get that in a jar. Yeah. So do you mix that like in person while I'm here in the store? Or are they what? Yes. Now, can you do that with anything? Like if I say I want that over there and that one over there. For the jar side, yes. Okay. That is really fun. And do we tell you what percentage we want of each, or do you know, like do we lean on your expertise of how much of each one would work well?

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Uh most people just go with a half and half blend.

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Uh there are certain ones. Like if you requested it to be different, I could do it differently, but most of them go for the half and half. That's great. And is that what this blend is that I just had? Was half and half? Very fun. And we do try to keep it like as local as possible.

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So of course we can't grow the tea ingredients here in New Mexico, but um, like we keep our warehouse in Albuquerque. Okay.

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And that's where we do all of our blends, and then they ship it to us, and then we do all of our tinning here in-house.

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So all the tinning was done by either me or one of my coworkers. So that's kind of a cool thing that people don't realize right off.

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Yeah. Okay, great. Um, tell us a little bit about you have a tea of the month. How does that work? Yeah. So every month we pick out one of our teas and we do different ones. This month we have the cherry blossom green tea, and then whatever our tea of the month is for the month, it's 10% off. Off price. Tell me about this tea cakes thing. What's up with that? So they're pressed tea. We have five five different kinds.

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People will either do like a whole kettle for a tea cake, or you can do it with a guywan, and then people will steep them like a whole bunch of times, like if they're doing it by the cup, but they'll just steep it like maybe 20 seconds, and then each steep you see the different nuances of each steep.

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Okay. So it's the tea leaves just kind of packed together to make kind of a like a puck. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

Okay. Yeah. So we have um the two puer ones are really strong. Okay. So I always tell the tea newbies to start with. Uh we have the silver needle, we have a tangerine and a sticky rice. Sticky rice.

SPEAKER_04 25:29

Wow. Okay, that's awesome. I've never had a sticky rice tea. I do drink though, Gen Mai chocolate with the toasted rice? Yes. Yeah, that one's really good. I've had that and I love that. Yeah, we used to carry it, but we don't anymore. But I like that. So sticky rice. Would that be along the lines of that? Like, could I expect a little bit of that rice flavor to come out?

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Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:51

I do feel like it's stronger with the other, but yeah. But it it's also a pooer tea. They're all poo or teas. Uh, this one is. Oh, the silver needle is just a white tea. Okay. How fun. Any other innovative things you have here that I need to know about? Well, we have the flowering tea balls too.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

They're made out of green tea.

SPEAKER_04 26:10

You just drop a bloom in and it'll bloom in your cup. Yeah. And then we also have like a couple of Yurba Mate ones.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

So that's fun. Bit different than the traditional loose leaves. Yes. So fun.

SPEAKER_04 26:24

Thank you, Spring. No problem. So that

Why Lotus Tree Herbal Stands Out

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was Morgan and Spring with the Old Barrel Tea Company in Mesia, New Mexico. And we went from one town to the next, and one spring to the next, we met with a different woman named Spring, Spring Hill of Lotus Tree Herbal. Now, of all three tea companies you'll be hearing from, I felt that Spring was such a kindred spirit with her approach to creating tea, her blends and her mission. I mean, all of us have a mission to improve people's health and whole being and well-being. And tea does just that. And so we're all passionate about helping people feel nourished and to live a full life. And you can sense and hear that with each of these, but Spring's approach to crafting the tea, I just felt like we were so like-minded. And so I'm excited now to share with you my interview with Spring of Lotus Tree Herbal.

Building Clean Herbal Blends In Albuquerque

SPEAKER_04 27:18

I am here at the Albuquerque Collective. Well, it's the ABQ collective. And it's this very, very cool store. And it's not even a store, it's a collective of shops of local Albuquerque artisans. It's really, really fun. And I am here with Spring Hill Edwards, who has Lotus Tree Herbal. And we are so excited to hear about her and her story and introduce you to her and her teas. So thank you so much for being here and uh chatting with us today. Thank you for asking me. Yeah. So give us a little story behind why did you start tea in the first place? Okay, I'll try to make it a short story. I've always loved to cook and I believe that food is medicine. Yes. And I used to create chai for my son, but a chai without caffeine and not all the junk. So I started with that. And then later on, I created my lavender piece tea for stress for my son for stress. And then later, when my best friend was sick with cancer, I made my golden milk. I didn't come up with golden milk, but I wanted to make one for her to help her with pain because she couldn't take anything else. And so I started giving it as gifts, people started buying it from me. So I knew it was on to something. And then a bunch of things happened in our life, a lot of loss. And then I decided to just kind of quit stressful work and start making and selling tea to help people feel better. That's the basics of it. Yeah, I love it. Do you have any kind of herbalist background or medical background, or is it just something that is like a fun interest that you've always loved? I do not have a medical background, but it is an interest I've always loved. Again, always cooking and food and herbs, but I also definitely love to think about medical and talk about it and research stuff. So I definitely, the passion for knowing the supportive benefits of tea and herbs, I love that. Not an herbalist. People will ask me for certain blends and I direct them to other people because I don't, until I feel comfortable with an herb or an ingredient, I won't put it in a tea unless I really know that it's safe and I fully understand everything about it. So I kind of do a mix, I call it sort of a mix of supportive and culinary. So I really work on the flavor to be good. And then I like to add a beneficial ingredient with almost all of them. I love that approach. And that's very on board with like my passion for tea and my approach in blends as well. So I can really connect with that. That that makes a lot of sense. So how many flavors do you have? Like we we came here to the ABQ collective because your tea is in lots of different places. You're based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Yes. And you've been able to get your tea into different stores and different places, but this is a place that sells all your products. So we're really excited to see all that. What are we gonna find when we go look at your product? Yes, you're gonna see probably 17 out of my 19 or 20 products because I'll bring out sort of the seasonal items. I'll pull those back a bit. You're gonna see all of them. So I have black tea blends, I've got a lot of herbal teas, and then I have my golden milks, and I also do spiced sugars, and I also have a flower topping. Um, so that's an example of what you're gonna get. What you're gonna see is all of them, pretty much. Now, what do you mean by a flower topping? What is that? Well, I created a flower topping to sprinkle on, let's say, your avocado toast or your ice cream or the top of your latte. It's just four beautiful flowers and it just brings joy. I call it flower joy topping because it's just makes you happy. It's not necessarily medicinal, but it makes you happy, which makes you feel better. Absolutely. And it's beautiful. Does it smell good? It does. It does. It has our local has local lavender in it. So all my I all the lavender I use is 100% from Albuquerque. It's all all of my ingredients are organic. I don't use any flavorings at all. I know a lot of tea brands will, and they're delicious teas, but I prefer to use pure, straight ingredients. Yeah. And so, yes, my teas smell good and they taste delicious as well. Yeah, I love that you don't have any flavorings in your tea. Some of my blends have flavorings, but it's not by preference. I end up using some blends that I love and incorporating them into what I'm doing. And they have a flavoring, and I know that's it's sourced well and it's organic and all of that. So it helps me feel better about using it. But yeah, I feel like God gave us plenty of herbs and flowers and exactly nuts or whatever that can provide that flavor.

SPEAKER_06 32:12

Or oak wood in the case of Yes.

SPEAKER_04 32:14

Yes, with Morgan's too.

SPEAKER_06 32:16

Yeah, to get a smoky flavor, she used to put oak wood in hers.

SPEAKER_04 32:20

So nice. Yeah. So what would you say are some of the stronger flavored herbs or enhancements that you feel you've found in your teas that that help boost the flavors? Well, hibiscus for sure. Yes, yes. And it's also beautiful and so good for you. Right. So I love hibiscus. I do use a lot of cinnamon as well. Okay. Um, jasmine green tea. So just the jasmine in there. And then I combined that with it's my jasmine green tea with hibiscus and rose. And the rose is just that kind of underlying hint. I use a lot of lavender just because I believe in it. It's local and soothing. So I use a lot of that. So great. So great. We were actually just at a lavender farm at Florin Family Farms. Nice. And so you guys listening can go back to episode L is for lavender and hear our interview there. So I'll put that episode link in the show notes so you guys can reference that. He's also under the New Mexico Department of Agriculture logo program. So that's really fun. So we learned how to grow lavender and we, you know, we got some tips about lavender. So this is a really good climate for that. So I I love that you're taking your local what does well here and that you're infusing that into what you do. Yeah. So as far as making the teas, do you have a commercial kitchen at your home? Can you do stuff with your cottage laws? Here's in New Mexico, or do you have a co-packer? How does all that work? With cottage laws, you cannot here in New Mexico, you cannot sell wholesale or out of state. So very quickly, I went straight to a commercial kitchen. So I've been in a commercial kitchen from the very beginning. Wow. And I'm in a commercial kitchen now. It's actually just one city block away. It's a gluten-free-free bakery. Nice. So I'm got my own space in a completely gluten-free facility, which is awesome. So I need to share that with people. And that's called the Bake House off the Wheaton Path. And their products are amazing. Yeah. So gluten-free. And um, they also have a lot of vegan options. So I have a partnership with Heidi there. She's wonderful. And I have my own space. So I can come and go as I want. And I'm in a lot of commercial kitchens. You can't. You have to rent your space, like rent a table time. And so I absolutely love it. I just I produce everything there. Of course, I create my recipes at home, one cup at a time. Right. Takes forever. So you can only drink so much tea.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

You've got, okay, so tomorrow I'm going to add a little more cinnamon.

SPEAKER_04 34:48

Right. Because that's kind of how you develop those. Um, and I live in the East Mountains outside of Albuquerque, so I love that. Oh, nice. And then the kitchen's actually just like a block from here. So it's perfect. This is my main store, and then my kitchen's there. And then I just drive around town and the mountains to deliver to my customers. Oh, that is so neat. Yeah. That is so neat. I love it. And I love that different stores are picking you up. And if y'all are listening, we will put her website link on our show notes so you guys can go there and see all the places that she sells. And then since you do have your commercial kitchen, so can someone order your teas online? Yes. So Okay, so they don't have to be in New Mexico to get your tea.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

Oh no, no. Okay. Sell everything on my website. Okay. Um, that's fully up and running with all of my flavors.

SPEAKER_04 35:37

So I love that. And I'm very proud of my website. I put a lot of work into it. It was a labor of love. I'm also now on Fair wholesale. Okay. So that's pretty fun. Um, and then I just meet people in town, and that's how I get into new locations here, but I do plan to grow. That's that's what I'm working on, is the wholesale.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:55

The wholesale and then, of course, the retail online. Absolutely. So great. So great. I love it. Okay. So this is our series Roam to Home. So me as a budding tea brand myself, what advice can you share with me that you've learned so far? Uh, don't create too many recipes at first. Which okay, right? My husband is like, she while I'm saying this, because I've done that. Right? Because the creative part is the fun part. That's the fun part. And what if somebody needs this tea but they want to have vanilla? It's not so fun for those people who be careful with that because I have bought some ingredients with the fantastic intentions of certain products. Right. And then I haven't done anything with them because it's amazing how much time it all takes. Especially when you're the only person in the business. So you're doing the bookkeeping and the advertising and the creating and the packaging, all of it. Yes. If you overdo it, then it's really hard to keep up with all of those things. And then the other thing I learned, I really liked to make my booth, so I'd do markets. I'd like to, I liked to make it beautiful and decorative. But I found out later from other people, and actually my phone, that I was making it too busy. And I was like, what do you mean? I think it's beautiful. Oh, you got the flower here. And it took me a long time to see it from the other side. Because I was just creating this beautiful space. And so not busying your table like you think you're making it beautiful. You can overdo it. So less is more. Less is more. And that's the lesson in both pieces of advice you just gave. Less flavors. Yes. And or at least not making a million right out of the gate. Right out of the gate. Right. Exactly. And less is more right out of the gate. And then less is more in your displays and maybe even packaging. I don't know. Yes. Um, and then the other thing is as I get to know more people, and especially at Markets, people will ask for certain things. Okay. And I'll think, oh, well, then I should make that. Of course, right? There's a demand. I want to be that person to fill that demand and help everybody. Yeah, exactly. But you cannot one off like a small little sample that not enough people are gonna buy. Because you do have to make it sustainable.

unknown 38:22

Right.

SPEAKER_04 38:22

So it is about helping people, but I have to be able to still make it profitable and sustainable for myself to be able to keep helping people. Right. Otherwise, I'll be out of business. Yeah. And I'm celebrating three years. That's awesome. So that's awesome. And I'm moving to a bigger space here in the collective. So I'm gonna have a little kind of grand reopening. Yay! Oh, that's so fun. Excited. And do you feel like it took you three, like how long till you were like in the is it the black that you call it? I wouldn't know these things yet. Right. In the black, the break even. Yes. Um, it it took me a good two and a half years. Okay. We're doing good then. Yeah. And people tell me too, like, hey, if you're breaking even at three, you're good. But I'll be honest, my first year was a very slow start.

SPEAKER_03 39:12

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 39:12

Yeah. I started my business four months after my mom passed. Oh cancer. Ooh, sorry. It was thank you. Uh it was my choice because I decided to not do stressful work anymore. Right. And it was my way of coping because I'm not, I can't just sit there. Right. And it was you have to stay busy and you have to keep going. Yeah. So I grew my business slowly that first year. Yeah. And that was very therapeutic for me. My friends thought I was crazy. This is this is, I have to keep moving. Yeah. So it was a slow first year. Very rewarding. And then the last year, this last year is just nonstop. I love it. It's non-stop. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Well, hopefully I can look forward to that. I've definitely have been taking it slow and just doing like, okay, this is what I can manage right now. So good. I will do this. Good. I know. And so I but I'm ambitious with everything. So I love it. So it's just like, yeah, keeping on the brace. Yes. Yes. I mean, it's hard because we do have these ideas for a great profile, flavor profile. Yeah. I get it out there because people need it. And it'll be so delicious. So delicious. But it's a lot of work. Label all of it. Yeah. I love it. I'm so glad. Well, I'm looking forward to diving into your store, and we'll be showing your store on socials and um sharing that with people. And where can people find you online? If you want to share that now for just those listening on audio wise. Yep. It's at lotustreeerbal.com is my website. Um, I am on Instagram and I'm on Facebook. Well, I should say my company is. I'm not right. I'll put it on there. Right. Um, because you can find things there, but but purchasing on my website at any time. Okay. Yeah. And then on so on your socials, you're at Lotus Tree Herbal. Herbal is an herbal is singular. Correct. So Lotus Tree Herbal is where you can find her. And again, we will put that in the show notes. Spring, thank you so much. We really, really had fun talking with you. Thank you for the info and the inspiration and the advice. Oh, yeah. And we look forward to seeing you on our socials and at your store. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Thank you. Also, based in Albuquerque, we have Chai Chai Love, which also brings out full flavor and giant wellness and health benefits with curated crafted blends that give you a truly authentic chai experience with the benefit of functional mushrooms. So sit back and enjoy my conversation with guru mastic.

Real Masala Chai Meets Mushrooms

SPEAKER_04 41:49

Um chai chai love. And I'm so excited because this is such a different aspect to tea that is kind of newer to me because I don't do a lot of chai. And we are going to talk chai with chai chai love. And with us, we have guru mastic Khalsa. His brand is Chai Chai Love. And so, G, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate having you. And I am just excited. I'm a bit familiar with your story, but I'd love for you to share what got you into this whole chai business and what is unique about your chai.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

100%. Thanks, Alexa. Yeah, for me, I would say chai got into me. I grew up in India. I I went to boarding school as a very young kid.

SPEAKER_04 42:39

You're American yourself. Like your parents are American.

SPEAKER_00 42:42

Yes. I so yes, I am a white guy. Um I get people all the time. I when I see some Indian people coming to the thing, I can see that in my mind they're like, what is this white guy with chai? And I speak to them in Hindi. I'll speak to them in Hindi and invite them to try some chai and uh tell them. So um, yeah. I'm not just some guy that made a tea brand that doesn't is just making, you know, just a trendy thing. This is literally what I grew up with.

SPEAKER_03 43:14

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 43:15

So growing up in India, chai was chai just means tea, but in America we call call it chai tea, which just means tea tea, but masala chai, which is a spiced chai, which is the way that Indians, you know, originally chai came from England. They came, the British, they took the tea leaves from China and they started plantains in India. They didn't like the uh English chai, so they made it their own with milk and and spices and sugar. So growing up in India with chai, that was something that I particularly really loved the spices, because I grew up in a wellness focused community and A lot of around diet. And so in India, all these traditional spices, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, fennel, all of these are so good for your body. And the chai I grew up with was not wasn't even black tea in it. It was just the spices. So that's really what chai chai love, where it originated from. And yeah, so during the pandemic, I went through a big life transformation. I ran a nonprofit for over 25 years. That's what I started after I came back from India and went through a whole dark night of the soul. And I came back to the chai that I grew up with after when I was looking for where am I gonna, what am I gonna do next? During that time, a lot more awareness was coming around functional mushrooms. There was a number of documentaries. Paul Stametz was in a lot of these ones, and a lot of people were becoming more aware. Functional mushrooms have been around for thousands of years. Chinese medicine has used it, but in America, as all these things often come in trends and waves of things of awareness. So that's what I started adding the mushrooms to my chai, and uh people loved my chai anyways. And when the mushrooms are like, oh, this is so good for you, and you have all these extra benefits.

SPEAKER_03 45:17

Yeah, so good.

SPEAKER_00 45:18

So it was scary, you know, going from a technology online media company to creating a product. I wasn't really sure. Like, is this a thing? Am I gonna do this? Do people want this? Are people gonna take the time to make a real chai? Because Americans are so used to fast, instant, really processed things. And you know, you you hear that all the time. You go to Starbucks, they get the like a sugar milk with chai chi latte that tastes nothing like a real chai. And you go to most any cafe, they're all concentrates and syrups that are sugary, that have little to no spice. And so I'm like, I want to bring a real masala chai that has real spices that are not only good for your body, but tastes amazing and have the functional mushrooms in it for a lot of wellness benefits. And I can share some more about that if you like.

SPEAKER_04 46:17

Yeah, yeah, definitely. And before we do, I'd love to just kind of dive in quickly with. So, like right now, this morning, I made your pumpkin mushroom chai. And so that's cool because it's limited edition, because you and I right now are recording this in the fall. We might have folks listening in the spring, and so they might not be able to grab it in the spring. So it just depends on when you're listening. But pumpkin is one of my favorite fun things. Like I know Trader Joe's grocery store, we don't have one in our town, but like when they come out with all of their pumpkin ice cream and waffles and cookies or yogurts or you know, whatever they are. Like, I just love seeing what all they're making with pumpkin. Like it's it's really fun for me. So, yes, when we got the pumpkin mushroom chai, I was so excited. That's what I'm drinking as we chat right now. And yes, I was reading the ingredients. We were making some when we were visiting my parents last week with the masala chai that you have. And I was like, wow, like this isn't fast. Like

How To Brew Chai As Ritual

SPEAKER_04 47:20

we have to do it like legit, and we have to put it in a pot and you step a tea in there. But at the same time, it might take longer, but it's simple and it's easy to do. You boil some water, it's already mixed, right? You you have the mix ready to go. So you put the mix in the water and you let it steep and you're done. It's not hard. You you have prepared it in such a way that all you have to do is put it in the water and let it do its thing and steep for a while, right? I mean, that's basically I did I didn't do it wrong, did I?

SPEAKER_00 47:59

Well, you know, I mean, I think the thing is that chai, masala chai is different. Most and you'll see with other tea brands, most tea brands are more of a steep tea, which are their tea leaves, mostly some kind of tea leaves. And there is a difference because traditionally, when you make a masala chai in India, you would you would take a mortar and pestle and grind up some of the spices, and you would simmer them in some water first, because if you're adding black tea for an extended period of time, it will get bitter. Right.

SPEAKER_03 48:33

Right.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

So normally you would they would boil it. So for this chai, I just made it very simple. Because it's my original chai doesn't have very much black tea, and my caffeine-free version doesn't have any black tea. Most of the flavor doesn't come from tea leaves.

SPEAKER_03 48:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Technically, there's no tea in the caffeine-free version if you're calling tea like tea leaves.

SPEAKER_03 48:55

Right.

SPEAKER_00 48:57

But the flavor and air quotes, yes. Yeah. I mean, yeah. So you just you you just boil it in some water, let it simmer. I just get ready for the morning, and then and that longer extraction in the simmering water brings out more of the flavors. And I purposefully don't use powders primarily. I grind some of the spices fresh, and some of them are whole pieces, and that's on purpose because I want the potency of the ingredients to be there, not like some powders of spices have been in warehouses for years. And we're, and I'm looking at this tea more as a wellness, you know, supporting your body. And so all the ingredients do matter and the freshness, it's not just a flavoring. And so when you add the milk and sugar at the end, I recommend just turn up the heat a little bit and bring it almost to a boil, it'll get really creamy and everything blends together. So it's a little bit different experience than making coffee and just steeping tea, you know, tea leaves. But so I think for people that are new to chai, I look at this as a morning, another ritual that can be about slowing down. And when you make something that's really good for you and you enjoy, it it just allows you to see the things that you don't always see when you take a few minutes and you get in that routine rather than just grabbing something and rushing out the door and just being in the momentum of all the everyday life, and we miss a lot of the good things in the little moments when we slow down to see what's right in front of us.

SPEAKER_04 50:38

Absolutely, absolutely. And I will chime in and say, just as far as the flavor and taking the time and and all of that, that just kind of building on my experience making your tea, that is one of the main benefits of a cup of tea, whether it's traditional tea or chai, there's still a process of slow down and taking the moments and enjoying and that process itself is one of the benefits of tea. Before you can drink it, right?

SPEAKER_00 51:09

Uh yeah, I was more I'm part of it, I was thinking about like just more contrary to the Americanized processed instant drinks. And and when we're looking at tea as wellness, like I have lots of teas that I enjoy fresh. Like I mix my own little tea leaves with different things for different things by myself. I uh like their medicine, they're they're traditionally they've been used for so many different benefits. So I feel like there's so many different teas that can be supportive to you, uh, your body, but also just your mental state of being is so important. Because if your mind is going crazy and or your body is going crazy and you can't be, it's hard to be joyful and enjoy life if any of those things are off.

SPEAKER_04 51:54

Right, right. So why don't we segue into some of the benefits of the mushrooms themselves? But again, like you said, even the spices themselves, ginger has so many amazing health benefits. You've got fennel in there, you've got the cinnamon, like those things alone are hugely beneficial to so many aspects of your mind and your body.

SPEAKER_00 52:19

Yeah. So just first adding on, I mean, we use Ceylon cinnamon, which is a lot of cinnamon in America, is cassia, which is not if you're drinking every day, it has high amounts of coramine, which are not good for you, but it's cheap. So that's mostly what you see. I get these ingredients from um all over the world, direct from organic farmers. All the spices are really good for digestion. We also use turmeric and other ingredients that are great for inflammation, antioxidants. So there's a lot of that. But

Functional Mushrooms For Focus And Calm

SPEAKER_00 52:49

as you get into the functional mushrooms, I chose to include four different mushrooms and I use a mushroom extract. So, what that means is because if you go to a farmer's market and you just get dried mushrooms or a mushroom powder, our body does not digest the cell wall and get some of the active compounds very easily. Traditionally, mushrooms would be made into a tea because the hot water is what breaks down the cell wall of the mushrooms to activate and make some of the active compounds available to our body. And this being a tea, I can't have a liquid part in it. And one of the forms is basically they hot water extract the mushrooms, and that unlocks the active compounds, makes it more absorbable to our body. So that's a big difference. And we also use lion's mane, which some of the studies have shown really help with memory and focus and supporting just your overall brain function. A lot of the studies are still emerging and things are still not big mainstream, but a lot of uh great studies have uh have shown a lot of promising results. Uh Rishi is also really great for helping your body de-stress and calm. And it's it's kind of an interesting thing. Somebody asked one of the other mushrooms we use is cordyceps, uh, which is often talked about for vitality and energy. But they were like, how can you have a chai that's both calming and for energy?

SPEAKER_03 54:20

Why not?

SPEAKER_00 54:22

I know, but you would think that's but part of that is most Americans think of energy caffeine, which is a stimulant. It's stimulating your adrenals and it's putting you in a different state where it's it's not your natural state. So cordyceps is more helps your body use the energy more effectively. So it's it's not, it's like a more steady energy, but it's it's like think of like if you are well rested, you know, you're just not tired. Why do you need caffeine? Your body has the capability to have energy and the sense of using an external substance to try to give us an edge, I think oftentimes can be abused in American society where we're pushing and pushing, and we rather than resting and taking care of ourselves, our glass, our metaphoric glass of our body is running on empty. And so if we don't have our caffeine, we're like totally, we can't function. So, and then chaga is another one of the mushrooms. It's it actually grows on the side of a birch tree. It's it's not like a typical, it's like a conch that may not, you know, harvest wild. And this is really great for very high in antioxidants and is one of the other things that's has a lot of immune-boosting properties. Same with Rishi. So I talk to customers all the time, and they're like, what do you notice in your when you from having this chai? I'm like, Well, I haven't gotten sick in two years where normally, you know, you get like the common colds and the the sore throat or the random things, and just overall having uh more steady energy. I I turned 50. Uh when I started having this, I was like, my energy wasn't the same. And when I started having the mushrooms, I felt I felt better. And so none of these things are gonna fix your fix anything. They're another tool, your lifestyle, your diet, your mental state. All these things are just a factor. And so the functional mushrooms and these traditional spices are just another tool that can be something that is supportive to your body to help you feel better naturally.

SPEAKER_04 56:28

That was the exact word I was thinking. It's a support to a healthy lifestyle and pursuing those healthy habits and realizing that you're healthy, you're a whole person. So you like you said, your lifestyle, are you are you managing stress? Are you getting your sleep? Are you eating well, taking care of your body? So, you know, we have one body in this life, and if we want to be on the go and always doing our things, we need to support that. And yeah, I have found that when I am supporting my body, then it has the energy that it needs to do all of the things, all of the 600 things that I'm doing. I want to chime in here real quick and just share my personal taste. I have not been traditionally a fan of teas that kind of require uh milk. So I have not been a big matcha drinker and I have not been a big chai person. When we did our podcast episode around Addison, Texas, we'll put that in the show notes. We had this amazing iced lavender matcha. And Rory ordered it with oat milk. And the oat milk made it so good and so yummy. And so I was like, okay, maybe I can now start leaning into this matcha thing a little more. So I feel like I would be the same way with chai is like I'd be willing to try it a little more the traditional way if it's kind of more of like an oat milk approach. But your tea is so good that it doesn't need it doesn't need the milk and the sugar. Like, I hope that doesn't make you cringe that I didn't make it like the right quote unquote right way. But your chai is so good, it doesn't need that stuff to be tasty and to be enjoyable. And I actually really enjoy your chai without those added things. So it doesn't need it, it just gives you the full experience when you do it. So yes, I realize I'm missing out on the full chai experience, but I know that I'm still getting all of the health benefits and I'm still enjoying a cup. And one of the reasons I want to drink tea is because it flavors my water and it's gonna give me health benefits, but there's no added like calories. And that's one of the goals with my personal brand is that you that you would not have to add anything, that it's just good all on its own. And yours is good all on its own. Now, the other thing about my personal taste is I do not like mushrooms. I'm vegetarian. I don't like eggs, I don't like mushrooms. So I don't like coconut. I know, like I'm the worst.

SPEAKER_00 59:06

You're worried. You're like, am I gonna be tasting a bunch of mushrooms?

SPEAKER_04 59:10

You you don't taste them at all. And so that's another thing that I love about what you offer is because when I'm drinking this, I know that I'm getting the benefits of mushrooms because I want what mushrooms have to offer. But it but just to go out and eat a mushroom, which is a very good thing to do, eat it from the source. But I just since I don't like that with your tea, I get the benefits of the mushrooms without having to taste them. And while I'm getting those benefits, I'm enjoying all of the spices. And because you have made it like the real traditional way, it's not like just a chai syrup, like you're saying, like you mentioned before. So I just want to give kind of a perspective to listeners. If you're a little bit more like me and you lean on, I've never really been a fan of chai, or I'm not, I don't think I would like mushrooms. Like this is a really good brand that you are gonna find something that you like. And gee, you've got this pumpkin mushroom chai. Uh the pumpkin is the limited edition. You mentioned this before, but you have the caffeine-free option, but it's still gonna have that energetic mushroom in it, right? So you're still gonna get that benefit without the caffeine. And then, of course, you have your masala chai. And I have to say, I love your packaging. Your products are gorgeous. And it was just so fun to have these and bring them in my home. This is how we roam, you know, we did a trip to New Mexico, and as we're talking this season of roam to home, bringing home this tea and having it in my home is just so beautiful. And when you shift something, I notice you have little encouraging sayings and just like there's some personality. You bring who you are into this brand, and I really love that. And so I would just love to get some advice from you for my own brand. I'm just hearing some wonderful things about you. People are really loving this, and we're gonna put links in the show notes so you guys can know exactly where to order this yourselves. It ships everywhere, so you can you can get it yourself and have have it in your own home. So, me, as like I'm maybe two-ish years, two and a half years into my own tea business. I do make small batch organic tea. I physically brought home your tea, but how could I bring home some business ideas from you?

Small Business Advice From Markets

SPEAKER_00 1:01:34

Yeah, I think um one of the things when I started this, I had met with a score mentor. SCORE is an organization that does free mentorship for people, all type of, you know, small entrepreneurs. And I had one meeting and he said, validate your product. Basically, do people like it? What do they think about it? Like before you invest a lot of time and money, you know, get go out in the market. So when I started this, my goal was to be direct to consumer online. That I had a background in technology and online, and I was seeing a lot of mushroom coffees and other brands. I'm like tasting some of those, they tasted not good at all. A lot of the ones that I tried didn't taste like coffee, didn't taste like chai. And so I'm like, I don't want to do that. That is not real, and it it feels more hyped and like this media kind of thing where they're salesy in a way that didn't feel real. So starting in the farmer's market allowed me to talk to hundreds and hundreds, probably thousands of people by now. Um and giving people samples and seeing the different express ways that I'm talking to people about the product and what they liked, what they didn't like. When I started my chai, I was scared. Like every time I remember that first day when I went to the farmer's market, I was so worried they weren't gonna like the tea. It wasn't per, you know, because in my mind, how I make it, like I know what really good chai. And if it didn't, wasn't quite this, I'm like, oh, it's not right, you know, or the way that we self-criticize and we doubt our doubt ourselves. So for me, getting in the market helped build my confidence in the product. It also helped me refine my product and do tweaks over time. Like when when you're starting out, obviously you're not starting out, you've been doing it for two years, but there's that period of like, like if you want to start a new product line, like what do people like and not like and and how much energy? So that allows, like I wanted to just do one product, do it really well, and sell it before I'm doing a bunch of other things.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:49

And now, do you mean one flavor or one product, that product being chai?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:54

Yeah, for for my case, it was one product, like literally one product. I had different sizes. Um, the mushrooms and the chai was a unique thing in itself, was it's different than if you know some of those different loose leaf teas that are if they're not like necessarily wellness focused, people want different flavors. So I don't know. I feel like having the opportunity to talk with customers helped a lot. If I were just selling online, you don't really know what people like people that don't buy again or why they didn't buy again or what didn't work. Because I get people all the time that come back and they're like, hmm, mine didn't taste like yours. How can I do that? And I like, well, how did you make it? And they're like, oh, I put it in a coffee filter, or I uh I steeped it in a cup infuser. And and so I'll just give a few tips. I'm like, here's what I recommend. If you want the most authentic taste, do it like this. Try it or try this alternative milk if you don't want dairy. This is a good one because chai is traditionally. If you've ever seen videos of chai walas in India, they're like with their little thing frothing it, and you know, it's it's a very creamy experience and it's different. Traditionally, the milk and the sugar uh accentuate a lot of the flavors. Like you have, I sometimes drink it black. I'm showing here, I have a bottle that's a thermos bottle, like a water bottle that has a long tea infuser inside. And during the holiday time coming up, I just put some of the chai mix in the little infuser and pour boiling water, and I drink that all day black straight. And I love it, but it's not when I want to sit and enjoy a uh like a for real chai. Yeah. Then I I make it in the pot, I put with milk and sugar. You know, that's a long answer. I figured there's a there's so many different angles for business, but I feel like connecting with customers and hearing that what they think helps understand what they value and what's important to them.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:01

That's great advice. Thank you very much for sharing that.

Best Milk And Sugar Alternatives

SPEAKER_04 1:06:04

And I had thought of this question earlier and you provided a segue for me because I wanted to ask you for someone who wants to do either like if they're vegan and they want like a quote unquote fake milk, and or they don't want to do um refined sugar.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:22

What have you found gives it the most authentic feeling? Do you want to do oat milk or do you want to do soy or do you want to do almond milk? Like which milk is good? And then if you don't want refined sugar sweetener, what has been what you found as a good alternative?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:39

Yeah, I the whole milk thing has always been one of the challenges for me because growing up in India, I've had, I've grown up with real masala chai when you have, and it's used traditionally with whole milk. Back in India, they would have it would come fresh from the farm. There would be these big giant metal canisters. The guy would come in with the a bike or something, and they would boil it and you'd have it fresh. Like literally fresh. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:03

Totally different than the whole milk you buy in our grocery store in the States. Totally different bottles.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:08

I I mean, to me, the only time I have whole whole milk or milk is probably I get like an organic, regenerative A2 milk. And like that's my time to have a little bit of dairy and have the real authentic experience. But what I serve in the farmers markets, because most people don't want dairy, probably I was surprised about probably 95% of people when I'm giving samples didn't want dairy milk. And uh I understand a lot of the reasons why, and it's really was amazing to see that many more people are are learning about dairy and some of the negative sides of that. And so what I recommend is oat milk. Specifically, the one that I use is Planet Oatilovers. It's the more creamy version of that. I'd say any alternative milks, there's gonna be a little bit of compromise. If you're just grinding up oats or almonds, it's not gonna be milky like a regular milk. So some of them have like sunflower oil or other things that they do to make it more creamy or more milk-like. So just know that if you're using alternative milks, you know, it's like any of these things.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:13

So want to read the ingredients, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:15

Yeah, it's a give and take. So uh Planet Oat Barista Lovers is the oat milk I recommend. I don't recommend almond milk. Soy milk has a really strong flavor. A lot of the alternate milks have a strong flavor. The the creamers are ultra sugared. I don't I don't recommend those creamers if you're trying to avoid sweeter. I like to control the sweetness myself. I recommend organic coconut sugar. It's an unrefined sugar that has um a lot of minerals and other things, and it the flavors go really nice with the chai, gives it a little caramell-y kind of flavor. Other than that, I've used honey, maple syrup. With my iced chai, use agave. That's also a very low glycemic one. If you're diabetic and you want to not have um, you know, a lot of glucose, that's really low. So those are the options that I would recommend as a good alternative option for for drinking a masalachy.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:12

All right, awesome. Well, I appreciate it so much. Do you have any final thoughts or advice or input or anything?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:20

Yeah, I I think for me, a lot of what one of the reasons when I started this company, I didn't want to just be a product. A lot of my because I was a nonprofit before, and a lot of my mission and I don't know, mission is kind of charged, but a lot of my reason for being it was really to just feel purposeful and and feel like there was something meaningful that I was doing in my life and helping people in some way. And so uh for me, I feel like tea is a really great way to just take care and slow down and all the little quotes that I put in and the personal messages in a lot of the brand is I really how see how important it is for us to just really take time for ourselves, slow down, and believe that we can live the life that we want to have, and a lot of the self-doubts that come up in everyday life and a lot of the challenges. So a lot of it's just cheerleading each other on and knowing that hopefully being able to share a little love and joy with people around you, and just knowing that everybody's going through hard stuff all the time. And and I feel like a little more kindness, a little more love can make a big difference in the community and the world at a time when it can feel like there's so many heavy things going on and hard things in the world, uh, when we can just do our little thing of just giving a smile or a little extra something, it just is really meaningful. And um I that's what I think is really important.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:47

Yeah, absolutely. Encouraging one another. And one of the ways that New Mexico itself is encouraging you guys is by providing the New Mexico Department of Agriculture logo program. And

How New Mexico Supports Food Brands

SPEAKER_04 1:11:01

I think that's a really neat way that they are encouraging you as business owners. And those of you who are using New Mexico products or growers or vendors, uh, can you talk about any benefits that that you've experienced in the New Mexico department?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:18

Yeah, I I would I would say as a for me as a small business person, I am one person. My daughter helps with orders. It's been a family thing. We started making chai in our living room in big giant bowls in our kitchen when we started as a home grew food act, which is just a local uh before you go commercial. And the New Mexico Taste the Tradition program, the Department of Agriculture was when I just started selling and I met them at the chocolate and coffee festival, and they're like, we support New Mexico products and grow, and that's been such a huge benefit for me to be able to have. Um I'm showing right now our eco-friendly paper tubes. One of my goals, because I I really want things that are healthy for your body, but also healthy for the planet. And these are eco-friendly, curbside recyclable. There's no plastic. And I thought that was that was really important to me. But when you're starting out as a small business to buy 5,000 of these, these cost me about like $2 each. It was expensive and hard, so I had to start with plastic pouches. And so they they basically they help reimburse me for a huge chunk of the costs. And other events, like right now, I'm doing some advertising to try to get my product more known outside of New Mexico, and there's they're helping support for an ad ad campaign. So they do a lot of do they have a lot of different programs that really allows small businesses here in New Mexico that are food-based products who are part of this program to be able to grow and and become more widely known.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:56

So great. And I'm glad they were able to invest in your packaging because it is beautiful and I love it. Thank you so much. Good Mastick.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:05

We really soul in India, it's a sign of respect. It's the letter of my initial G, letter G, but in in India, when you call something like Alexa G, Alexa G, it would mean like a sign of respect. It's a way when you speak to somebody, but it also is like a reflection of like your own soul, like when you're saying, so I love the double dual meaning. So I just go by most people say, Hey G.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:34

I love it. Well, G, thank you so much for your time and your input and your advice and your beautiful, beautiful product. And especially that you made a pumpkin one for me for the fall. That makes me so happy. And we look forward to keeping in touch with you. And again, we will have his info on the show notes so you can connect with him and be able to get your own chai chai love inside your own home and slow down and experience chai chai love.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:06

Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:07

Thank you.

Tea Versus Infusions And Taste Myths

SPEAKER_04 1:14:09

It was so fun to meet with other folks who want to inspire and provide delicious ways to boost health, wellness, joy, and vitality. And you could see and feel and experience it from each of these. And remember, we'll have all of their info in the show notes so you can check them out. And also, I'll include links to my own brand. If you didn't catch it earlier, tea in and of itself technically comes from one plant, the Camellia sinensis plant. And from that one plant, you get black tea, brown tea, like oolong, uh, yellow, white, and green teas. They're harvested, processed, and dried all differently, which is why you can get so many different flavors and colors from the exact same plant. So technically, if it's those leaves, that's tea. And infusion, as our friend Magali in France taught me, is that which isn't actual tea. So maybe some different leaves or botanicals, plants, flowers, spices that are infused into water and create a wonderful flavor, those are more called infusions. And so I hear often from people, I'm not a tea person or I'm not a fan of tea, or I'm not a tea drinker. And my suspicion is that they've had limited tastes and experiences and have either only done proper tea or only done like an herbal tea and not kind of experiencing really all of the vast majority of teas and infusions and countless blends that come from combinations of all of them. Or, you know, maybe they had burnt or bitter leaves from oversteeping or the temperature being too hot in the steep. Now, I also have different preferences around tea myself. As I mentioned with guru mastic, I'm not a fan of milky or sweetened teas and adding those things or not adding them would hugely affect your perception of whether you like tea or not. So I feel like if you haven't yet found your tea or infusion that you like, there's something out there for every taste, and it just requires slowing down and trying and tasting. And that's what tea invites you to do, to slow down, to wait for a nice steep and soak it

Introducing Vegabond Teas And Why

SPEAKER_04 1:16:15

in. And my tea company is called Vegabond Teas. It's like vegan meets vagabond. I wanted a name that captured the wellness side and approach to my tea along with the travel side. So I married those two words together. And then I chose the word teas plural as part of my brand name because, as a general population, even if we're sipping steeped chamomile flowers at night, for example, we might all say I'm drinking chamomile tea, which by definition would not technically be a tea. If it had actual tea in it, you'd be getting caffeine or technically caeine from the tea leaves, not caffeine, which comes from coffee beans. So they're basically the same compound, but it would keep you up at night. And so that's the opposite of what you want if you're wanting a calming nighttime quote unquote tea. And so I named my company teas, vegabond teas, to sort of wrangle in all of those things under the one umbrella we all seem to refer to as tea. So that was way too long of an explanation, but I just want to give you a background on the name. And if you're one of those people who says you're not a tea person, I do really encourage you to keep exploring. There's such a vast world of flavors, colors, and blends out there. So why have I started a tea brand? Well, as a professional singer and now podcaster as well, my voice is hugely valuable to me. And I have to go to really great lengths to protect and care for my voice. I have to care for my whole body to make my voice work. And it all starts with how I care for my body in general. So I'm always seeking ways to improve my health, to improve my sleep and my stress habits, to eat well while still enjoying my food, but I want food that is clean and nourishing. And tea, in the teas sense, like we've been talking about, has been a huge part of my health pursuits to keep my voice and my body strong. And though my singing and performing career and pursuits take center stage in my heart, I also have been passionate about fitness and wellness over the years. So ever since college, I've earned and maintained my certifications as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor with lots of other specialties within those spaces. And now I've also been able to add that I'm also a certified holistic nutritionist. And I just love learning about like which nutrients and herbs and flowers help which kinds of illness and why tea is such a wellness tool and aid. And because I love to eat and I'm only a short five feet tall, I'm constantly having to pay attention to what I'm putting in my mouth and keeping tabs on calories. And I want to actually be eating and drinking all the time because I do love food and I do love tea. And so having a flavored, calorie-free, nourishing water, whether hot or iced, like an infusion tea that I can enjoy instead of food is a great tool to help with weight loss. And fat burning, especially if you're also drinking a tea like my Aswan tea, which has herbs that benefit weight loss and fat burning efforts.

The Aswan Blend Inspired By Egypt

SPEAKER_04 1:19:10

And Aswan is actually one of my favorite teas that I offer. And I'll tell you the story behind that so that you can get a feel for how I approach my tea blends. A while back, Rory and I were hired to go to Egypt to film a travel video and music video. And while we were in Egypt, there were certain points where our guides started telling us about Carcaday tea and how helpful and great it was for blood pressure and for the heart and all of that. Well, when we got to the area of Aswan in Egypt, we saw all of these big barrels out in the market just full of all of this Carcaday tea, which is hibiscus, it's red hibiscus flower petals. And it was just fascinating to see. And that in Aswan is where I first learned about hibiscus tea. And so as we continued exploring the area, we would see the nearby Nubian villages, which is the indigenous people to that area. And in the the Nubian houses had these doors that were painted blue. And so those are some of my vivid memories of Aswan. So my Aswan tea has hibiscus that I explored there. And then as a salute to the blue doors from the Nubian village, I have blue flowers that I have added into the tea. So this is kind of a blue hibiscus tea. On top of that, I have then added an herbal blend that supports fat burning and appetites and energy to support a healthy weight and fat-burning efforts. And so all of that together is mixed in to create my flavor that is called Aswan. So that's inspired by my trip to Aswan. It's got the red and the blue. It infuses into this gorgeous deep purple color. And it's really cool because the tea tastes different across the time that you steep it. So it'll be kind of a lighter blue color at the beginning of the steep, and it has, and some of the different flavors come out there. And then the longer you steep it, the flavor changes and the color also deepens into, again, like I said, this deep purple color. And so all of that, even enjoying the steep, watching the color change, but also taste and sip as it steeps to the flavor that you like best, like that's a really, really fun tea. So that's probably my one of my favorite offerings.

Naming Teas By Color And Place

SPEAKER_04 1:21:45

Now, I have not yet been to Glass, France, Grass, G-R-A-S-S-E, Grass, France. But grass is where they hold the world's largest jasmine flower festival. So if I have a jasmine or a jasmine-based green tea in a blend, I will use the word grass. Well, my parents live in Kentucky, which is the blue grass state. So for my Kentucky flavor, I mixed blue plus grass or jasmine, green jasmine, to get my Kentucky tea. And that steeps to this beautiful blue-green color and it tastes so yummy. Color is also an inspiration for my flavors because as a creative artist, we start with a palette. So, like as a songwriter, where words and notes are my palette that I pull from to color a song. There are so many colors of tea that I like to think of teas as a color palette that I can use to create beautiful things. And so an example of that, my flavor Christmas Island, is not only the name of a city, but it's also red plus green plus gold. The colors of Christmas, red, green, and gold. Baylor is my local university here in Waco. I did attend there, and their colors are green and gold. So my green and yellow tea is called Baylor. In Albuquerque, when you go to a restaurant to order, they ask red or green. Well, they're obviously asking about red or green chili. I don't have red or green chili in my tea, but my tea that is red plus green, it's called Albuquerque. And then if you tell a waiter you want Christmas at a restaurant, and you then that means that you want both red and green chili. We we've mentioned this in some previous episodes when we've talked about green and red chili. So my tea flavor called Albuquerque Christmas, again, no red and green chili, but just kind of a hat tip to the red and green colors. Albuquerque Christmas not only has the Albuquerque base of red plus green, but I also added herbs that are red plus green. They're cinnamon plus mint. So you have the cinnamon on top of the red and green. So that's Albuquerque Christmas. So I feel like describing a few of those flavors give you a little background on my approach and why my teas are named the way they're named, via location, via locale. They all have a different area, region, or local name. And then when you go to my website, there is a quick description of each flavor. And then you can see the story, the health benefits, the steeping instructions, and the ingredients for each blend. And that way you can get a really nice feel if it's going to be a fit for you and your flavor palette and or your health goals. And if you purchase any of my teas, you can also scan the QR code on the label and that takes you directly to that flavors page. And so you have all of those stories, the steeping instructions, the ingredients right there at your fingertips from that QR code. Just like other tea crafters we encountered today, we all want to inspire and equip you on your health journey. And along those lines, all of my teas are small batch so that I can keep them fresh and they're also organic. I use only certified organic ingredients in every blend. So they're naturally then non-GMO and nice

Where To Buy And Final Thanks

SPEAKER_04 1:24:59

and clean. It's been so fun to get to share my tea journey to New Mexico of all places with you and share with you some of those travel stories and inspiration. And let the vintage and old barrel tea company and the ABQ collective be destinations you can check out when you journey to New Mexico. And until you can venture to New Mexico in person, of course, you can hop online and get any of the teas we've discussed today and bring that travel and inspiration home. So I'll post my website name up there as well. And as of the release of this podcast episode, I'm currently hosting a crazy giant sale where proceeds will go towards a fundraiser for chick chat, which is my nonprofit for teen girls. Not only did I get to bring home some amazing tea to enjoy at home, but I also brought home some tips for my business that I need to remember and implement to build my brand. And again, if you have your own small business, we hope these tips inspired you. Get great people on your team, don't get too big too fast, less is more. Validate your product by getting it out there and testing it with lots of consumers, turn their feedback into things you need to hone in on and make your product great and accessible. Thank you again to Guru Must with Chite I Love, Morgan with the Vintage and the Old Barrel Tea Company and Messias, and Spring with Lotus Tree Herbal. And also to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and their Taster Tradition logo program and their Groma Tradition logo programs for supporting this episode. Now, y'all go order and drink some tea, and we'll see you on the next one. Bye.

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SPEAKER_04 1:26:38

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SPEAKER_06 1:26:40

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SPEAKER_04 1:26:41

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SPEAKER_06 1:26:44

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SPEAKER_04 1:26:46

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SPEAKER_06 1:26:49

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SPEAKER_04 1:27:00

At www.theromies.com.

SPEAKER_06 1:27:03

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SPEAKER_04 1:27:05

R O A M. We'll be there until next time.

SPEAKER_06 1:27:10

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SPEAKER_04 1:27:11

Bye.