Denman Island Tea : Brendan Waye & Wendy Massey

I am proud to be among the first to hold both prestigious North American tea designations, Certified Tea Sommelier (Canada) and Certified Tea Specialist (USA).

Brendan also started Canada’s first chain of tea houses in 1999 - Steeps, The Urban Teahouse, with five shops spread between Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. He has been creating proprietary tea blends since 2010.

I have a deep connection to tea, developed from growing up as a Newfie in the high arctic amongst the Inuit, where hot black tea was a constant.

It was on a climbing expedition to the Himalayas where Brendan was introduced to Chai, and fell in love with it. The seed was now planted for a tea business venture back in Canada.

I am constantly procuring new teas and blending combinations from organic growers around the globe. I spend a good part of my day looking for rarities and different ways to mesh teas, fruits, herbs and spices.

It delights me that people fall in love with our blends and will go to the nth degree to find them.  We end up with customers for life.