I am so thrilled and honoured to present my wildest dreams: a tea house of my own!

MeccaTea is here with a “brick-and-mortar” location for tea service and sales. I used quotation marks because it is made of another material entirely: all wood. The gazebo is a perfect west coast dream with a lot of charm.

What does it mean for me to have an in store location?

For me, tea is about much more than just the consumption of a healthy caffeinated product. It’s about sharing experiences. What I wanted beyond being a vendor at markets is a place for people to come and appreciate tea culture to its fullest. Having a permanent location allows me to share more than just samples and selling loose leaf tea in a bag. I want to take a canister off the shelf and allow you to smell the aromas preserved within. I want to display the tender leaves and show how skillfully the tea master prepared them back in whichever country it had grown in. I want to show how different various styles of tea are and prove that this exploration alone is medicine, never mind the many health benefits within the beverage itself!

Tea is a way to connect people to themselves and each other. When we find a beverage we like that stands out against all of the other options, then we know it’s a treasure. One person might like the mushroomy musk of a Shou Puerh whereas the next person will prefer the lighter floral fragrance of white tea buds. As a preference, one of these will pull you into a gentle meditation where there is nothing in the world besides you and your cup. 

What I hope to see at the tea house is a blend of cultures and people who feel welcome to the space. I want people from various cultures enjoying themselves at the tea house, for people who are LGBTQ+ identifying to feel that this is a safe space to be themselves. I want anybody who faces mental health concerns to feel understood and accepted. It can be hard to be yourself in such a wild and busy world. We all struggle with it in one way or another. All we can do is be open to new things, share stories and promote acceptance. 

I want this to be a space equally for mediation, music making and art creation. Studying and silliness. Bring out your inner child while enjoying the simple things. Keep your eyes open with wonder and you will let go of all preconceived ideas of what things should be, and experience them as they are. The journey for me to create this space included learning how to let go and allow things to happen in their natural course. 

I welcome you to take some time out of your day and see what the dream has become.