Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Centola.
Dana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We started out by wanting to build something we could add to the Oak Cliff community. I’ve been a tea drinker my whole life (it’s honestly the most Texan thing about me), and walking into an independent tea shop in New York, I realized it was something that we could do. We tested out the concept at a street market in Bishop Arts and it was an immediate hit. We kept going from there.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think starting anything from scratch is ever smooth. We hit rough patches when we’re expanding and trying to do something new. Right now, we’re trying to figure out the best way to grow beyond the street markets. We both work our regular jobs at the same time, so thinking through how to transfer knowledge has been a challenge for us.
Please tell us about OC Tea.
We sell high-end organic and fair trade loose leaf teas from across the globe, some of which we have direct import agreements with individual farmers. We work primarily with teas that work well both as hot and iced teas. We include steeping instructions with all of our teas to help ensure each cup of tea tastes its best. We’re also working with our larger customers to help guide them to ingredients that will fit best with what they’re trying to achieve with their tea program.
Pricing:
- 2oz of loose leaf tea: $12-15
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theoakcliffteacompany.com
- Email: the.oc.tea@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/oc.tea
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.oc.tea
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
