Janam Tea is evolving!

Janam Tea is my brainchild. My baby. In fact, janam in Hindi means birth.

What I didn’t know on that fateful day in December of 2002, when visiting Assam Agricultural University in India, learning about the “janam” (the technical term specific to Indian tea, which refers to the leaf that produces the new shoots of tea) was that I was destined to be the foremost influencer for Indian tea in North America.

I just loved how everyone in the tea industry treated me; I showed up out of nowhere and started asking questions. There, on a 6-month journey alone to investigate Indian tea, I found a lot of laughs. Kind people. Delicious tea and motivated tea producers looking for my help to translate the beauty of what I was seeing to my friends and colleagues back home.

Janam Tea started as an online store in 2004 and grew to a brick-and-mortar ‘tea shop’ in the New York City metropolitan area in 2005. In that time, I enjoyed teaching tea, experimenting with flavor and of course, dealing in all manner of packaged cookies, honey, jam, mixes, new and vintage teaware, and other retail delights. Janam teas were served in 30 restaurants in New York and Jersey City.

In 2008, when the market crashed, I kept my online business going and serving my existing customers, trying to figure out how to reopen after moving to Portland, Oregon. I employed interns to study the state of affairs and realized that, despite the cold weather and the propensity of the local population to crave all things vegan and vegetarian, having a truly thriving business was going to be tough in the socio-economic climate plaguing our nation. I went back to India for the third time to study options for repositioning my offerings back in the New York City area in 2015 and decided to reopen Janam Tea Room as an Afternoon Tea destination in partnership with a Speakeasy cocktail bar in New York’s Lower East Side.

Creating Afternoon Teas were amazing! I created hundreds of events before Covid: bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties, book signings, fashion shows, corporate events, tea tastings, a tea and chess salon for kids, both on-site and off. I love to make the connection between fine Indian tea and quality human relationships.. There might be no other perfect substance! It’s pure, vegan, sugar-free, dairy-free, nut-free, alcohol free, it’s affordable and available hot or cold. It’s why I wouldn’t wish to leave my chosen industry of Indian tea. So much flavor! So many colors! Such fascinating styles! I digress.

Covid closed everything, including our New York City Tearoom in March of 2020, but that has given us a new opportunity to evolve to the point of bringing together all these teas, people, ideas and experiences together to make a bigger impact in people’s lives. To use tea as a conduit to deepen personal and professional relationships, as the highest symbol of gratitude a lucky recipient could be given.

Our teas have always been single-estate. Never blended, flavored or in any other way altered, and curated by me directly from the farms. You may see the garden name with other tea brands, but gardens produce a range of quality and sizes-suffice it to say our teas are always from the top of the season and the top of the bunch from that selection.

Evolving, as a solopreneur, isn’t easy, however I couldn’t be more excited to serve a wider audience and elevate the value of our Indian teas to their rightful place as the best in the world. In a recent partnership with One Manhattan Square, I provided tea for 50 realtors coming to see the building for the first time. Truly a world-class building needs the best teas! If you’d like to hear more about that project, email me! amy@janamtea.com.

Holding a co-branded gold tower of Janam Tea with corporate partner, One Manhattan Square, in one of the model units of the newest luxury condo buildings in New York City. May 2021.