Putting the 'tea' in community: Brooklyn Tea welcomes all into its warm, cozy Bed-Stuy shop
BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Brooklyn Tea is a small mom-and-pop shop in Bed-Stuy, but to shop founders Jamilla and Alfonso "Ali" Wright and the community their shop serves, it is so much more.
"We have a three-word mantra; it's 'healing, ritual, community,'" Ali Wright said. "The healing, of course is the health benefits from the tea, but also the space itself. We have people who just come here just to leave the chaos of New York for a couple seconds, and just be in a serene environment."
This environment is not limited in scope or demographic, and the married couple is proud to represent their West Indian and Jamaican cultures and identities in an industry where they say that kind of representation can be rare.
"You have the folks who are picking the leaves who are typically folks of color, right?" Jamila Wright said. "But the people who are really bringing home the dollar, and generating the most wealth from the tea industry, don't look like us. So we're here to disrupt that."
Jamila Wright grew up in a culture where "tea is the only answer." Tea is the answer for "everything," she explained.
As for Ali Wright, he was in charge of serving tea to his mother throughout his childhood.
"We actually have the pot here where I used to serve our mom tea," Ali Wright said.
The tradition and roots of the couple's connection with the tea they serve seems to help foster a community so welcoming that it even caught the eye of stars like Shonda Rhimes and Beyonce.
With these celebrity endorsements, and the continued hard work Jamila and Ali Wright put in for the shop, that community can only grow from here.
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