Tea Café and Tea Store Highlight Diversity of Blossoming Colorado Industry

By Steve Graham

Colorado has long been a mecca for craft beer lovers. But it is also a growing destination for drinkers of an entirely different kind of brew — tea.

This year, Celestial Seasonings in Boulder celebrates 50 years as one of the top herbal tea manufacturers in the world. Meanwhile, Bhakti Chai, Teakoe and other local companies are making their mark in the tea world.

Many small businesses are also creating community, education and flavor around tea, including Denver’s TeaLee’s TeaHouse and Bookstore, and Happy Lucky’s Teahouse in Fort Collins.

The stories of these two businesses highlight the diversity of Colorado’s burgeoning tea movement, and some creative ways of giving back to the community.

TeaLee’s TeaHouse

After a long struggle with a rare form of leukemia, Risë Jones was ready for a fresh start and a new direction.

“When you have something life-threatening, it changes your life’s trajectory,” she said.

She went through a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy, forcing her into a two-year break from work. She fully recovered, then sought a new career and a new way to give back in central Denver, where she grew up.

“I wanted to come back and work in the community and hire people in the community,” she said.

She chose to make her first business a tea shop, but her 22nd Street store, at the edge of both Downtown Denver and the Five Points neighborhood, is much more than just a kettle offering a warm pick-me-up.

TeaLee’s also has a bookstore, focused on African-American history, as well as sandwiches, soups and baked goods, many of which are infused with tea. The shop also hosts community events and high tea gatherings.

“Every day I get to see people in my community I relate to,” said Jones, noting that the shop brings in customers from all walks of life. “The diversity of the people who come in here is amazing. “

However, she doesn’t see the typical coffee shop patron mainlining caffeine and hunkered over a computer.

“It’s not a public Wi-Fi place, that’s not our attraction,” Jones said, adding that her husband and business partner, Louis Jones, regularly nudges folks away from their devices.
“I think it’s the experience of going at the rhythm of tea. I think when you come in, you don’t feel like a stranger. I think it embraces you and settles you down,” she said. “You’re here, put away that computer and put away that cell phone and make connections.”

Happy Lucky’s Teahouse

George Grossman also likes to talk about slowing down and connecting over tea. He is the founder and “chief leafster” at Happy Lucky’s Teahouse, which has two locations in Fort Collins.

After moving to northern Colorado, Grossman and his wife were looking for a way to make money while bringing attention to their non-profit, Sustainable Schools International, which supports education in Cambodia.

He realized “the world doesn’t need another coffee shop,” and he had been a tea lover since his college days, so he opened a tea café that also sells loose-leaf tea under an Asian-inspired name.

“We ultimately decided on Happy Lucky because who doesn’t want to be happy and who doesn’t want to be lucky,” Grossman said.

They opened Happy Lucky’s in the middle of the recession.

“We started in 2009 and we thought if we could survive that, we could survive anything,” Grossman said.

The shop survived and thrived, celebrating a 10-year anniversary this fall with a tea festival.

“Tea is about slowing down and connecting,” he said. “We wanted to build a place where people could gather.”

Grossman said many Colorado consumers are looking to cut out sugary drinks and avoid the intense caffeine buzz of an espresso. He said studies show that millennial consumers would rather sip a drink all day than follow the traditional routine of a coffee in the morning, during the afternoon slump and after dinner.

“You can’t drink coffee all day, you certainly can’t drink beer all day, but you can drink tea all day,” Grossman said.

While TeaLee is just starting work on selling loose-leaf teas, Happy Lucky’s is primarily a retail business with a tea café on the side.

“If I was to survive solely on the brew tea business, I would have been out of business in 2010,” Grossman admits.

However, with more than 200 loose-leaf tea options, he has the largest selection in the state of Colorado. He also supplies tea for area restaurants and breweries. Happy Lucky’s carries a blend for any mood, need or time of day.

“We really try to create a highly interactive, immersive tea experience when you come in,” he said. “It’s really an energy exchange. If they walk out feeling a little happier or luckier, we have done our job.”