Sip To Live Herbal Tea Company

The Sip to Live story began my senior year in high school. A young, enthusiastic teacher of comparative religion exposed me to the idea that the line of work a person chooses has spiritual significance. If you work in an organization that does work harmful to the environment, exploits people economically, or depends on war as a primary line of business, it impedes your spiritual progress. This idea made a significant impact on me. I wondered, “how many jobs can I have where I am not doing harm to anyone?" At any rate, the concept stuck with me. As a college student, I had the good fortune to study abroad in Seville, Spain. I rolled with the perspective of the traveler, as opposed to that of the tourist. The traveler absorbs the sights and ways of the place that he visits, while the tourist eats at McDonald’s and snaps pictures of things that other tourists seem to like. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The traveler counts his rewards in experiences, while the tourists’ rewards are counted in photos. One of my greatest rewards was a small tea shop buried in a small street behind the Betis river in Triana, the neighborhood that gave birth to flamenco. This tea shop served herbal teas that were nothing like the commercial teas I was used to drinking when I was sick. They actually had flavor. They were sweet. The vibe was very relaxing. It was like nothing I had ever experienced, and I found myself wondering why such experiences were so scarce in my own country.

It was a trip to Morocco that sealed my fate as a purveyor of fine and exotic teas. People of the East have always had a reputation for hospitality. In Morocco, that hospitality comes in the form of mint tea, which is a centerpiece for many afternoon conversations. It has been served to guests there for hundreds of years, and the people of the desert say that if you drink Moroccan peppermint tea during the day you will not get thirsty. My host's family taught me how to make their tea, and my Marvelous Mint tea, which was my first blend, is the ultimate result of my studies. It is still my favorite blend. Above and beyond mint tea, the legendary market at Marrakech boasts a variety of intensely flavorful teas that ranged from spicy to sweet, with many interesting flavors in between. I savored their incredible blends, because I knew that it would be a long time before I came across teas like that again.

At the beginning of the millenium I returned to the United States, finished college, and went about finding a job so that I could pay my bills in the real world. I missed the tea that I had enjoyed overseas, and every time I bought a bag of mass-market, pre-bagged tea I would get mad, because to me it is a crime to make bad tea when so many good herbs are out there. The problem was, I didn’t know the first thing about herbs, and so my ability to change the situation was limited. However, I have always believed that in the end things work out like they are supposed to. So far, so good.

As a graduate student in Baltimore in 2004, I worked with a visionary group of Baltimore City schoolteachers and public debate coaches to create Y.O.U.R.S (Youth Organizing Urban Revitalization Systems), a 501(c)3 that is creating a network of community owned and oriented organizations. YOURS directly does community gardening, after-school education, and, most recently, a store that is staffed by dedicated students from Baltimore City schools. The store carries locally produced products including my tea, student-designed t-shirts and jewelry, and artwork on a consignment basis. Students are exposed to herbs from seedling to storefront.

For four years I worked at NASA as a Resources Analyst for the Hubble Space Telescope. My work there enhanced my understanding of how the Government works, and it also exposed me to many innovative thinkers and ideas. NASA also does a great deal of Earth science work, and is at the forefront of providing information on the global impacts of climate change. The pictures that NASA is taking of the polar ice caps melting year by year reinforced what my comparative religion teacher was talking about all those years back.  The way that we live really does make an impact on the Earth, and the culture of business needs to take this into account. The number one way that business can do this is to stop creating new needs and fill the ones we have had all along. Sip to Live grew from a thirst for a better way of living, in the broadest sense possible. While working at NASA, I began the study of yoga, which led me to the study of herbalism. Through a combination of the study of ayurvedic books, yoga, and formal and informal training from experienced herbalists I learned how to perceive herbs, and from that perception create teas for various tastes and needs. My blends are flavorful yet subtle and help address common health problems like digestion, congestion, menstrual cramps, and stress. By creating blends that are so good that even non-tea drinkers can enjoy them, I hope to inspire people to make more space for healthy food in their lifestyles.

In August 2008, I left NASA to pursue Sip to Live full-time.  With the goal of eventually setting up shop in Portland, Oregon, I hit the road with my sister Jihan, my good buddy Irvin and a trunk full of tea.  Along the way we met many interesting people, and shared tea with most of them.  We stopped in Overland Park, KS and Denver, CO along the way, and we are eternally grateful for the hospitality of the Hines family in Kansas and the Newton family in Denver for the love that they showed three weary travelers.  In Denver, Dena and Donneice at the Gypsy House cafe liked our tea so much that they decided to carry it- if you're in Denver, you should stop by and sip on some of The Tonic!

I got to my hometown in California with an empty trunk in early September, and promptly hit the road again- this time to Karepa, Estonia to work on an organic farm that specializes in cultivating and wildcrafting high-quality herbs.  Wildcrafting is the practice of harvesting herbs from the their natural environment.  I became very familiar with many herbs that are traditionally used in Estonian herbalism, and grew a healthy respect for the Estonian relationship to nature.  They are very connected to their forests.  Harvesting herbs and mushrooms are common pastimes there, and it is not uncommon to see cars parked along the road by the woods because that's just how they do.  When I got there, they tasted my Marvelous Mint and said, "you are already pretty smart...you know, about the herbs."  I couldn't argue.  

Upon returning to the States, I finally made my move to Portland, where Sip to Live is growing day by day.  The saga continues....