36 FLOURISH • SPRING 2014
F
ear not, tea newbies. Two
North Bay tea shops, Drag-
onfly Tea Company in
Healdsburg and Desta Epi-
cures Guild in San Anselmo,
provide an enlightened introduction to this
global beverage. The shops' respective pro-
prietors will answer questions--and even
brew a sample--while you browse their
wide selections of loose leaf teas.
Dragonfly Tea Company
Holly Hunt understands what it's like
to be a tea novice. When she opened
Dragonfly Tea Company five years ago in
Phoenix, she had almost no experience
in the tea industry. Now, after moving
herself and her store to Sonoma County,
Hunt is an expert -- hosting classes, of-
fering consultations and introducing her
customers to all things tea.
Dragonfly Tea specializes in blends
and offers 185 combinations that incor-
porate traditional ingredients with the
unexpected: black tea with chocolate
chips, green tea with pomegranate and
herbal tisanes with coconut. Purists
cringe at the idea of diluting a fine tea's
innate flavor, but Hunt sees value in
connecting modern consumers with a
beverage that originated in 5,000 BC.
"Many of my customers start out with
flavored blends and then graduate to
more traditional Oolong or Green tea
once their palates become more sophis-
ticated," says Hunt. "People want the
benefits of pure tea, but sometimes do
not like the taste or don't know how to
Two Takes On Tea
From novice to connoisseur
by nancy sands johnson
photos by stuart lirette
Tea samplings from Dragonfly (left) and Desta (right).
Holly Hunt of Dragonfly Tea Company
