Great Tea Road Co. opens in downtown Prior Lake

Prior Lake American

Sunlight streams in through the window at Great Tea Road Co. in downtown Prior Lake, filtered through a folding screen. Small jars of whole tea leaves line shelves on two walls, while tea equipment takes up another.

The grand opening for the brick and mortar store at the back of 16228 Main Ave. SE, was Feb. 10. However, Great Tea Road Co. has been around since 2011.

Tea was always a part of life for owner Titima To, who is part Chinese and part Thai. In 2012, To’s children were young and she was caught up in her job.

“Every day, I was just thinking to myself, ‘Why do I have to go through this? I don’t even get a proper breakfast,’” To said. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people who go through life kind of like me, just have a busy life and don’t have a moment to think of something else.”

One day, To reached for tea and it fell down on her head and with it, an idea.

“I said, ‘OK, maybe I should just sell tea,’” To said.

To started selling at the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market and eventually moved to farmer’s markets in Linden Hills, Golden Valley, Prior Lake, Hopkins and beyond.

After the success from the farmer’s markets, To began to look for a location for a store in Hopkins. However, she couldn’t find anything and began to look in Prior Lake.

“I was so determined that it has to be Hopkins,” To said. “Everything in life, you’re determined it’s going to be Route A, but it turns out to be Route F.”

The company began with eight kinds of teas to ensure the quality — many of the teas at Great Tea Road Co. are directly sourced and certified as organic from the United States Department of Agriculture. Now, the company stocks a variety of teas from Japan, China, Taiwan and other countries, including from her father’s herbal tea farm in Thailand.

To — who speaks Japanese, Chinese and Thai — has personally visited many of the tea farms and stocks non-certified teas if she has gone and seen that the tea is grown organically.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to ask people not to farm for five years, just to certify,” To said.

When considering a new tea, To said she listens to her customers about teas they would like to purchase or health problems they’d like to address.

“Tea, to me, has a lot of meanings because it’s evolved through 5,000 years of history — tea as medicine, tea involved in arts, tea in war, tea involved in tax and tea today,” To said. “There’s a lot of wisdom in it.”

Most tea shops don’t display the products like Great Tea Road Co. does, To said.

“They might have a book and then you say you want this tea and they’ll bring it out for you,” To said. “People want to know tea and sometimes they don’t want to ask too many questions. That’s why we display in those jars so people can see and smell them.”

If a customer doesn’t know what they’re doing or how to get started with tea, To said she would help them. To is a certified Japanese Tea Ceremony practitioner, and has participated in tea ceremonies at the Como Zoo and Conservatory in St. Paul and done tea shows at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

“The Japanese tea ceremony is very complex,” To said. “Guests would come in and they would go to a basin to wash their hands and wait outside to be called to come in. The door is very small, you have to crawl in so you leave your ego outside and come in as who you are.”

Tea has more benefits than just for health, To said.

“Like me, before I start selling any tea, when I drink tea I felt like I would travel somewhere like, ‘Oh, where did this come from,’” To said. “In a way, you can be adventurous even if you sit in your own chair.”