Tea Movement Comes to East Coast

The revolution will be sipped upon.

At least that's what Nicole Basso hopes to see come about with her up and coming business. Basso runs The Tea Plant, a Huntington-based online teashop, which features tea products originating anywhere from Japan to South Africa. She also sets up shop throughout the week at farmers markets across Long Island, including Port Washington on Saturdays.

"I think there is a tea culture growing on the east coast," Basso said. "I've always really liked to drink tea and I'm just really passionate about bringing people together."

Americans sure love tea. In 2009, they consumed more than 60 billion servings or 2.8 billion gallons of tea, according to The Tea Association of the USA, a New York-based trade group. And on any given day about one half of the American population drinks tea.

Basso has always been an avid tea enthusiast. She picked up the hobby while living in California, where the tea culture is more prominent.  The teahouses, lounges and the sense of community that they fostered attracted her and quickly drew her in.   

The tipping point came two years ago when Basso and her husband Toshi Mogi went to Kerala, a state in the southwestern region of India. There, they visited a few tea plantations and became enthralled by its tea culture. The rest became history.

"I finally said, 'Okay I think I'm gonna do this," she said. "The thought process had been going on for several years and I had [the ideas] in the back of my head."

It took Basso and Mogi six months to plan and develop their website. In the meantime Basso got advice on how to start and run her business from Jesse Jacobs, the founder of a successful San Francisco-based tea business called Samovar. She also went to various classes, attended conferences and assisted other marketers in selling their products. This helped her learn a lot about running a business and also allowed her to pick up valuable advice. The Tea Plant finally went live in October 2009.

"Going to the conferences is great because you get to taste all these different products and talk to so many interesting people," Basso said. "I've also read a lot about tea and about how the culture has been taking form in the United States."

The Tea Plant's offerings come from all over the world. There's a variety of Japanese teas from Kyoto, Japan, and black tea from Sri Lanka and parts of India. The business also brings in tea in from China and is expanding its horizons to places like South Africa.

"It's a mixture," Basso said. "Some we have direct relationships with the places they are grown and others are with a wholesaler who has a direct relationship with the farms."

Basso and Mogi taste every single tea product before they sell it so that they know their customers are getting the best there is.

"We quality-test everything before we get it," Basso said. "At this market especially people are very concerned where their food comes from, and they should be. "

Basso's tea products are not just any ordinary tea found at the grocery store. The selection process by her vendors from which she buys from is very meticulous. 

"We have experienced tea-tasters who have been in the business for 20 to 25 years," said Srinivas Gana who runs Telight, a tea supplying company based in Huntington Station, and one of Basso's vendors.

Gana explained the difference between manufactured bagged-tea and Basso's tea products.

"Nicole specializes in selling loose leaf tea," he said. "The advantage with this tea is that it is not processed. In manufactured tea, the leaves are usually ground up and many of the health benefits are lost. Usually the process leaves a lot of dust when the leaves are ground into small pieces. The tea we sell is sold at its purest form. Its all natural and not bagged."

Basso's tea products are attracting customers at the Port Washington Farmer's Market.

"She always gives out free samples," said Lauren Wasserman, a vendor at the Port market.  "People really like what she's doing, and they like the tea."

The Tea Plant may still have a ways to go before catching up with  Argo Tea, a Chicago-based tea chain that Crain's New York reported has $10 million in sales and is opening its fourth outlet in New York. But a slow, steady approach seems fine by Basso and Mogi. Their main goal is to penetrate the market and grow a culture of tea drinkers.

"The biggest challenge for me is probably keeping people excited and interested in the products," Basso said. "You want to always surprise them."

Basso's passion for tea does not stop at the last drop in the cup.  She hopes to bring people together and form communities where they can get away from the hustle and bustle of life and socialize.

"I would love to have a lounge where people could just come and share ideas," she said. "Build a community of tea drinkers who share common goals."