J-TEA pivoted so hard that it is hard to come back to our previous way of doing things. When people ask me when J-TEA will reopen for tasting, I say Spring Equinox of 2025. In fact, that date, while it might seem far off to everyone who hears it, it always sounds a little soon to me. It isn’t that I don’t want to serve tea. It isn’t that I don’t want to be open to the public. It isn’t that I don’t value the space that we created for the community at large. If it isn’t any of that then what is it? It really has more to do with my needs in the place I am in my life than it has to do with anything else. The thing that people don’t realize about running a retail operation is that it is a little bit like a prison. I did my time. We were open to the public almost everyday that we committed to from August of 2007 to March of 2020. That’s a good twelve years. When you operate a shop like J-TEA, it’s not really just as simple as hiring someone to run the shop. J-TEA is more than just a tea store. We are a translation service.

We are still here. We have gift cards. We are doing well and we want nothing but the best for you.