The Very Nectar of the Gods

Southerners love their sweet tea. Plain and simple.

It’s our lifeblood. The sugary joy that holds together society and makes enemies embrace one another as family. It’s the very nectar of the gods—what I like to think Zeus and all his buddies called “ambrosia” back on Mount Olympus.

But it’s also a drug, and last week I needed a fix. I’d been in Indianapolis almost three weeks, and not a drop of that sweetness had touched my lips since I arrived. Graciously, there’s at least one man in town who understands the pain of tea withdrawal, and now I can spend the next few weeks drowning myself in liquid gold.

Wayne Ashford, the owner and founder of Tea’s Me, has managed to take his first and best passion and turn it into a successful business venture. It’s a full service tea bar and cafe, and though it serves primarily as my sweet, sweet salvation, it offers plenty in addition to my personal favorite.

Going on it’s tenth year at 140 E. 22nd Street, this tea bar is now a well established part of Fall Creek Place.

As Wayne will gladly explain, he grew up drinking tea and the store is an extension of his life at home. His mother would brew enormous pitchers of sun tea by steeping bags on the front porch, and his love for the drink grew and expanded until he decided to open his own business.

Tea’s Me offers an enormous and ever changing assortment of loose teas imported from around the world. Just step up to the counter and either Wayne or a member of his capable staff will be happy to guide you to the best option. They’ll take their time and do it right, because they take it that seriously. At Tea’s Me, tea is more than just a drink.

It’s an invitation and an opportunity to “experience what the world was like before coffee,” and there’s more to that than a refreshing beverage. It’s a chance to slow down from the rapid industry of the outside world and simply breathe.

“When you tell someone that you’re going to go drink a cup of coffee, that brings on an entirely different feeling than if you were to do the same with a cup of tea,” Wayne said,  “It does something different to you psychologically and biologically.”

Tea’s Me has been built in part to celebrate the natural benefits that come with drinking the quality tea they sell. It works with the natural rhythm and chemical balances of your body rather than throwing it into hyperactive overdrive like coffee will.

They guarantee those health benefits by buying and selling only full-bodied loose leaf tea. Unlike Lipton, Nestea, and most other large tea-providers who stuff their tea bags with the leftover chaff or “fannings” of the useless parts of the tea plants, Tea’s Me only uses the leaf.

“All the aroma, taste, and health benefits are in the actual leaf.” Wayne explains. “With those other guys, you’re basically just tainting the water.”

Tea’s Me is open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 3, but you can also buy tea and accessories online at http://teasmecafe.com/ if you want to try brewing it at home. Personally, I prefer to let the professionals handle it and pick out the perfect sandwich to pair with whatever tea they suggested for the day.

I’ll keep coming back this summer because it all tastes delicious (especially with such an extensive selection), it’s a quality product, and most importantly, it’s healthy too.

Well, maybe not if you’re dumping pounds of sugar into it like any good southerner will.