Things are brewing at new downtown Wooster store
The New World Spice and Tea Traders in downtown Wooster sells and serves a variety of loose leaf teas. In addition, the store offers herbs and spices, olive oils, vinegars, and local artisan creations.
Earlier this year, downtown Wooster’s main thoroughfare turned over a new leaf with the addition of New World Spice and Tea Traders at 142 E. Liberty St. The storefront and tea bar sells and serves a variety of loose leaf teas. In addition, the store offers herbs and spices, olive oils, vinegars, and local artisan creations.
The third Wednesday of every month is game night at the store, and the day of Winter Wonderland (Nov. 22) will feature an ornament painting class. Other plans are in the works as well.
Opened in April of this year, the shop was born out of wanting a lifestyle change after the pandemic.
“I have always been into cooking and food, so the spice blends were a natural thing for me,” owner Doyle Mullins said. “We also love loose leaf tea. There is such a variety of flavors available in loose leaf.”
Wooster was a natural choice for location. “We knew we wanted to be in a downtown environment,” Mullins said. “We love having our regular customers come in and see us. Being a part of the community is what we always wanted.”
Once the product mix was decided, it took a year’s worth of research and sampling to locate suppliers.
“We work as close to the source as possible,” Mullins said. “With the spices we create almost all of those in-house here in Wooster.
“Our teas, we blend about 30-40%, depending on the variety and time of year. Our oils and vinegars, we work with the farmer who grows the olives. This is how he markets his crop. He grows the olive varieties, harvests, presses and infuses the oils. To make the vinegars, he works with the wine industry in California to purchase the skins and leftovers from the wine-making process. He then purchases the vinegar mothers from Italy and makes all of our balsamics.”
Mullins blends a lot of the herbal teas. He said there are six different processes to create tea. First is growing and harvesting. Harvest must be done by hand because small, immature leaves will grow next to leaves ready for harvest. The next part of the process is when freshly picked leaves are dried. The third step is oxidation.
“Different types of teas are allowed to sit and oxidize for various lengths of time to produce different flavor profiles,” Mullins said.
The next step is baking.
“Some teas are baked to give a roasted flavor,” Mullins said. “These are usually green teas.”
Then comes shaping the leaves.
“Some leaves may be left natural. Some are rolled into small balls called pearls. Others are twisted,” he said.
The shape gives teas different steeping characteristics and protects them during shipping. The last step is to flavor or scent the tea.
The artisan goods on display for sale in the shop are handmade in Wooster, and Mullins is looking for new food items to offer for sale.
“We would love to find someone who makes pasta or sauces, maybe scones or biscotti, but we are open to see what people have to offer,” he said.
The tea bar in the back of the store is open the same hours as the shop: Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The third Wednesday of every month, the shop partners with Operation Fandom to host a free community game night after a customer came up with the idea.
“We are always looking for new ways for people to use the space,” Mullins said. “We are open to talk to anyone who wants to host an event or a meeting here at the tea bar. We love having a meeting place for people to get together.”
Find New World Spice and Tea Traders online at www.newworldspiceandtea.com and on Facebook. Sign up for the mailing list at the register in the store.
“All of our products are small batch or independent creators. We offer items that you cannot find easily anywhere else,” Mullins said. “We have several dozen creators here in Ohio. Many of our hot sauces and all of our baked items are local. If you love food or want to experience the world that loose leaf tea opens up to you, please swing in and let us show you all of the wonderful flavors we have.
“Wooster and the people have been amazing. We are so happy to finally find a home for us and our little slice of the world.”