Joe Uhl knows there is more to tea than what comes in a variety box from Lipton. The challenge for him is that finding that sort of high-end tea is difficult in North America, so he is starting his own company to meet that demand, Joseph Wesley Black Tea.
Uhl discovered the world of high-end, hand-harvested teas while studying in Malaysia in the early 1990s. Uhl was instantly hooked.
"I could see that tea can be something other than what I was exposed to in North America," says Joe Uhl, founder of
Joseph Wesley Black Tea.
Enjoying these sorts of teas became a passion as his finished college and became an attorney. He went on to practice employment law for Miller Canfield. That career continued until early this year when he launched Joseph Wesley Black Tea from the city's East Side.
The slow-tea company specializes in selling high-end, hand-harvested teas. It has seven different styles and plans to introduce two more later this year. The one-man operation is now Uhl's full-time job as he focuses on growing Internet sales and the number of retail outlets carrying his teas. His teas can be found in the Stella International Cafe, Pure Detroit, Nest and Village Market, among other a handful of other stores.
"We're going to find out if America is ready to be introduced to really great, high-end teas," Uhl says.
Source: Joe Uhl, founder of Joseph Wesley Black Tea
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.