Introducing Andrews & Dunham

Charles Andrews and Erik Dunham have recently launched Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea. Some of you might have known Charles from his blogger days at Charles' Tea House (where he claimed his occupation to be "Pirate.") I think it will likely take you no more than 4 1/2 seconds on the Andrews & Dunham website to tell you that things work a little differently over there.

Let me make clear that I have not yet tried their teas. I thought, though, that their business model made it worth telling you more about them early on. Rather than developing a large catalog of tea options, they are focusing on offering limited edition collections of their favorite teas of the moment. The first series is out and includes Ceylon, Dragonwell, and Nepal.

Now, on to our interview...

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INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES ANDREWS AND ERIK DUNHAM
Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Teas

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TEA: What were the two of you doing for work before you founded Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea?

Charles: I was a race car driver. I also had a part-time gig solving crimes.

Erik: Polycosmic Narrative Manipulating Cosmonaut.



TEA: What did you think that Andrews & Dunham could do that would be different from other tea companies? What is special about what you could offer to customers?

Charles: We hope our curatorial approach will appeal to people who are curious about tea but not too familiar with it. Also, we want to help regular tea drinkers get out of their ruts by offering them some different teas, some types they might not pick otherwise. I get in ruts and I'm sure there are others like me.

Erik: Fun. Tea is fun. It's rich like life. We look at the experience of tea from tin to tongue, so selection and presentation are paramount. And fun.



TEA: How did you choose the teas for your first series? Did you start with the tea type and seek out the best in that category or did you choose the teas and then create the series?

Charles: We tried a lot of teas, lots and lots, found some we really liked, and then built the series from them.

Erik: It was a very organic process. The first series just kind of came together. Everything: the tea, the packaging, the site, the ulcer. It all just clicked.



TEA: How frequently do you plan to issue new series? Will you eventually build a collection of teas that are always in stock or do you intend to have all your offerings be limited edition?

Charles: We're aiming to produce a new series every two months, but that could change.

Erik: We like the limited edition selections because it's fun, it's easy to manage inventory, and it's never boring. There are so many great tea companies that stock fantastic inventories. We don't hesitate to recommend other vendors to our customers. We want you to be happy even if that means sending you elsewhere for tea.


TEA: What is your "best case scenario" for what the company will look like in five years?

Charles: Me padding around my beach house while someone else does all the work. I think I see Erik pulling up in his convertible. He's been to the store and he's bringing me the little drink umbrellas I asked for.

Erik: The company will look fantastic from the leather couches on our corporate jet.



TEA: What has been your most special/unique tea experience or your best tea-related memory?

Charles: I'm pretty sure the first cup of tea I ever had was when I was just a lad, a choirboy hanging out in the Verger's office at the National Cathedral in DC. It was probably just Lipton's tea but along with a cookie and the onset of twilight it was the best thing ever. It's burned into my memory. Carved, if you will, like an inscription on the stone wall of a Gothic edifice.

Erik: I have many special tea memories. When I was a kid, I spilled a raging hot cup of Irish Breakfast tea on my leg. Talk about burned into my memory. But I faced that terror down and started a tea company.



TEA: What tea are you drinking today?

Charles: A pretty good Yunnan from an undisclosed source.

Erik: A dizzyingly fragrant Tie Guan Yin oolong.


*** Thanks to Charles Andrews and Erik Dunham for doing this interview with Tea Pages. ***

Taken from http://teapages.blogspot.com/