Photo courtesy Urbal Tea Cafe
Urbal Tea Cafe
Herbalist Nick Nowaczyk started Urbal Tea with a mission to bridge the gap between urban society and herbal health. After selling his flavorful, antioxidant-rich herbal tea blends (also known as tisanes) at farmers markets, local retailers and online, he now has a brick-and-mortar store at 3060 S. 13th St.
The neighborhood around 13th and Oklahoma Avenue is known as the Crisol Corridor, Crisol being the Spanish word for “melting pot.” “It will be an outlet for the community, specifically for this neighborhood,” he says. He’s heard much enthusiasm from city and community leaders. “People can come in, enjoy tea and just relax and hang out.”
Nowaczyk partnered with developer Ryan Pattee of the Pattee Group, known for redeveloping and breathing new life into city-owned buildings. Urbal Tea’s new space is in a building that formerly housed the Lex Lounge nightclub, which closed about five years ago and has been empty since.
Open since July, Urbal Tea’s 3,000-plus square foot space includes a tea shop and a front-house tea bar offering hot and iced herbal teas, along with coffee, espresso and other local products. A manufacturing space in the back will allow Nowaczyk and his employees to produce their herbal tea blends under all one roof. Customers can find a large amount of traditional teas, as well as custom in-house herbal blends. Nowaczyk invested in a tea bag machine that will allow him to add eco-friendly, plant-based tea bags options, in addition to his loose-leaf herbal varieties. The workspace has a window where tearoom customers can see the operation firsthand.
Bakery is available, and there will soon be food prepared on-site that will pair with tea and coffee. Nowaczyk recently purchased a ventless convection oven. Look for sandwiches, seasonal soups and salads, breakfast burritos and quesadillas. “We’ll cater to our community, which is a melting pot of all different groups. We have as strong Hispanic community here, and we’ll continue to outreach and work with local Hispanic organizations,” he says.
New space allows for creativity, tea education
Nowaczyk promotes Urbal Tea as a foundation for healthy living. “Herbal is about bringing herbal health to urban society,” he says. “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, but to establish heathy living.” Urbal Tea blends are not made with tea leaves, but instead with native dried herbs such as dandelion root, peppermint or lavender.
Nowaczyk hopes to educate people that while tea is a popular beverage throughout world, the tea plant is not native to the U.S.; however, the herbs in his teas are sourced locally when possible, such as lavender from Door County, or cranberry and ginseng from the Wausau, Wis. area. Herbal tea made carries bigger, bolder flavor profiles. “The blends we create have good flavors; it doesn’t just taste like grass or green tea or dirt. That’s been a mission of mine from beginning, to get more people drinking something that not only tastes good but is good for you.”
In addition to his flagship teas blends such as After Dinner, with ginger, mint and licorice root; Brain Booster, made with blueberry, mint and sage; or Stress Out, with vanilla, turmeric and cinnamon, Nowaczyk will continue to craft his 20-plus tea blends and experiment with other varieties. He’s crafting more seasonal blends and holiday seasonal teas. Tea advent calendars will be available closer to the holidays.
“We’ve always got something new in the works,” Nowaczyk enthuses. “This space will open up more time for me to do what I love, which is to create and develop tea.”
For more information, visit urbalhealth.com.
