Need Help

[romannumber]

Hi,

I've been reading this forum and a lot of useful information.

I need help I am planning on opening up a coffee shop in the next couple of months but had a few questions:

--does anyone know where i can buy wholesale tea from (i remember reading something like this in the forum but cant find it back)

--where do you guys get your powder mixes for your drinks?

thanks
aleks

 

[ontrees]

Tea and Powder

Hi there,

Congrats on the shop! I've been having fun with one that opened on July 1st, so far so good.

I've been getting teas for the past four years from Choice Organic Teas (Granum) out of Seattle. They have a website where you can order, but it is nice to talk to them on the phone also. They have a good selection of bagged teas and a huge selection of loose leaf teas. I like having a mix - some bags and a big selection of loose leaf. You can have tea balls (or similar) for in house drinkers and use to go tea bags for people that are taking it with them. People can also steep their tea in a tea ball and then take the drink.

The only powder I use is for hot chocolate/mocha. I don't have much experience with the Chai powders or other flavored powders.

I've used both Ghirardelli and Guittard, the flavor of both seems about the same to me.

Try and find a local supplier if you can, you should be able to call either company (phone numbers on the web) and they can give you a local supplier.

I'm currently using an online company, Espresso Supply, out of Seattle for the Guittard. The drawback of ordering online is probably having to pay shipping.

Have fun, feel free to email me or post with more questions.

 

[Comfy Place]

Powder Mixes

I can't speak to the tea aspects, as we have a very limited selection of prepackaged teas, however I can give you input on the powder mixes.

We use Big Train mixes for our Blended Iced Coffees. We have had great success with them, and there are a large number of flavors to choose from (12+ at my last count). We also use BT for our hot and cold Chai drinks, and again we have had a good response from our customers.

My best advice to you is to try to get some samples from different potential mix suppliers, and taste-test them all. Look for quality ingrediants, good taste, and ease of use. In the end, you'll be happier with the decision you made this way rather than just take mine or someone else's word for it. Sample, sample, sample, and then, sample some more! We still sample other suppliers products, because you never know, you might discover something new that would make a very profitable difference for your shop! Cheers!

 

[ElPugDiablo]

www.harney.com
www.svtea.com
www.rishi-tea.com
www.specialteas.com
www.mightyleaf.com

If you need more, you can go to tea expo run by www.takeme2tea.com

 

[topher]

Mighty leaf kicks ass!!!! :wink:

 

[eleonore]

there are some great teas from London. this one is probably the most interesting up and coming tea business: http://www.leafshop.co.uk [url]

 

[eleonore]

was meant to be http://www.leafshop.co.uk