Urban Nirvana offers ‘tea experience’ in downtown Spokane

When many Americans think of tea, they picture porcelain cups filled with Earl Grey, poured from a delicate china pot, and tiered trays stacked with bite-sized goodies.

Savannah Breeden, 30, and Thomas Kilborn, 32, would like to change that. The couple opened Urban Nirvana, a downtown tea shop, on Jan. 30.

“I grew up with the stuffy English tradition of tea,” said Breeden, a University High School grad. “I drank tea with my grandmother and she poured from an ornate silver tea set.”

But there’s no silver service at Urban Nirvana. Instead tea is brewed in glass pots and poured into solid white mugs. Trays are made from wooden planks from a more than 100-year-old barn. The bar is made from that same wood.

“We did most of this ourselves,” said Kilborn, running a hand along the wood. “Every piece has a different story.”

Located in the 1901 Legion building, the shop’s exposed brick wall and use of barn wood adds a casual, rustic vibe to the space that previously housed a hair salon. Think jeans and ball caps instead of lace skirts and floppy hats.

“Tea is for everybody,” Breeden said.

And what Urban Nirvana offers is a “tea experience.” Each day Breeden brews up several sample pots and places the loose-leaf tea in cups next to the prepared tea.

Much like wine tasting, Breeden said it’s important for people to smell before sipping.

“Once they smell it (the loose tea), they want to taste it and then it’s more than likely they will buy it,” she said. “That’s what we want to bring to tea – the experience. We want consumers to experience what tea really is.”

She’s offering a series of free classes at the store to help familiarize people with their products.

On a recent rainy afternoon Breeden made an eye-catching pot of blooming tea. Blooming or flowering teas start out as a bundle of dried tea leaves wrapped around one or more dried flowers. The tea literally blooms while it steeps and customers can watch the flowers unfold within the transparent pot.

The shop stocks more than 40 award-winning fair trade loose-leaf teas.

“In my 20s I did a lot of traveling – China, Indonesia, Taiwan,” she said. “I visited tea plantations. That’s where I got my love and appreciation of tea.”

It’s also why consumers will be exposed to a variety of teas, not commonly found in the area. For example, white tea, picked by monkeys.

“It’s from the oldest growing region in China and is only picked three days of the year,” Breeden said.

She said legend has it that long ago, the tea was picked by virgins wearing white and only served to emperors.

“Most of these tea bushes are in areas so high, it’s difficult to reach, so the monks who live in the area trained monkeys to pick it for them.”

Another variety is matcha, a finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea. Grown in the shade, this earthy-smelling brew has more caffeine than coffee and is high in antioxidants.

If the exotic doesn’t appeal, Breeden said her biggest sellers are Passion Fruit Jasmine and Caramelized Pear.

“People really love the fruity floral blends,” she said.

For those who prefer traditional black teas, Breeden stocks Earl Grey made with real bergamot essence.

“It’s different than what you get from a pack of Lipton,” Kilborn said, smiling.

Coffee lovers aren’t left out – the pair serves and sells coffee from Equador, an organic fair trade coffee company based in California. A variety of scones and treats from Sweetwater Bakery are available, and they plan to start serving paninis.

With two part-time employees, and a children’s area in the works, the couple hope their shop will become Spokane’s tea destination.

“Our goal is to break down the barrier – the perceptions people have about tea,” Breeden said. “I want to bring the uniqueness of tea to Spokane in a way everyone can relate to.”