Exploring Life & Business with Anthony Garcia of Raleigh Tea Company

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Garcia.

Hi Anthony, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I am an artist, playwright, and photographer and I grew up in Miami where color, cuisine, and culture are as much of our lives as the sunshine. I’ve risen from the ashes many times and when I lost my job after 12 years at a non-profit, I thought it was time to rise again.

I wanted to open a business that would meld my creativity and style and my mother and I talked and she reminded me of growing up in Cuba, and how we used herbal remedies instead of medicine to cure one’s ills. I started reading about herbal teas (tisanes) and started my first line called Tea for the Soul, healing tisanes such as Dragon Sleeps Tonight with Egyptian chamomile and Cinnamon apples. I then created a Time Travel series of different romantic teas from other times, like Paris 1920, my version of Earl Grey and Havana 1950, a Mojito tea.

Then for the younger clients, I created an Anime Series with teas named Dragon Ball G, with gunpowder green tea and Dragon Metal Alchemist, a biting blend of dark tea and spices. After that, I created Royal Collection with teas named Queen Victorious and The Tsar’s Tea. I opened a kiosk at a food hall and realized that was no place for a tea shop and then settled inside a shared space and had my own shop. I now have an online store and occasionally do outdoor markets.

I deliver tea to clients around town and get to meet the people who love what I do and how good it tastes.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Money is, and always will be the struggle for a small business. Sometimes I’ve had to juggle accounts to make things work. Social media is also a feat, especially for someone who is NOT from this era so my partner Christian Dixon is our social media and branding director.

He manages everything when I get too artistic! So, challenges are money and staying alive via social media, and establishing connections that are willing to sell your products.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Raleigh Tea Company?
We sell luxurious, organic loose tea and tisanes. We also have hand-filled tea bags and gift sets. Like a chef, whenever an order comes in I make it right there and then. I don’t have things pre-made, sitting around. I love customizing blends, if someone needs something for the stomach or a spirit lifter I make it for them.

People come to me because they know that I am not a tea snob, I don’t castigate people for not using the said temperature to make tea, I don’t follow rules as an artist so you must do what you like and what makes you comfortable and what tastes good to you. I was also the first tea shop in North Carolina to offer Bourbon tea and amaretto and Grand Mariner tea.

How do you think about luck?
Being at the right place and having SOME charm is all the luck one needs to establish your product, after that, if it’s a great product then you’re in. But you must be a people person.

Pricing:

• Our teas are reasonably priced from $8-10 an ounce
• Our gift sets range from $35.00-$55.00
• Our hand-filled tea bags come 5 stuffed bags for $15.00

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: raleighteacompany.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/raleighteaco
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/raleighteaco

Image Credits
Anthony Garcia-Copian