When I met
, I wasn’t familiar with his labor of love, Raazi Tea, but I was immediately drawn to a few pieces of his story:🫖 The word “raazi” in Hindi roughly translates to “satisfied,” or a feeling of contentment, and what better captures the feeling of a good cup of tea?
🫖 He’s local, providing tea to small Brooklyn shops like Big Night and setting up his own table at the Fort Greene Farmers Market on most weekends.
🫖 He’s growing thoughtfully, hand-packing orders and delivering them by bike where possible.
After trying Raazi, I’m happy to report that the quality of the tea lives up to its beautiful packaging. As a new dad, I had to go with a caffeinated option and settled on Indian Breakfast, a beautiful black tea from the foothills of the Himalayas.
To learn a little more about the man behind the brand, I sent over a few questions that have nothing to do with tea.
What’s in your recycling bin right now?
A few cans of Best Day Brewing Kolsch—it's my favorite non alc beer. I actually got a monthly subscription since they're hard to find in NYC.
What’s an extravagance that you view as essential?
Airpods. I love music (I worked at Spotify before starting Raazi) and since a lot of my job these days is running around New York—either to my warehouse to pick up tea, stores to drop off samples, or various coffee shops for meetings—it's nice to have something for the commutes.
What’s your most treasured possession?
I'll cop out and give two answers. If my apartment were on fire I'd probably grab a watch my dad gave me that he got the year I was born. On a day-to-day basis I can't live without my small Moleskine notebook that lives in my front pocket.
This post is powered by Raazi, a Brooklyn-based producer of small batch, whole leaf teas. Visit raazi.co to unlock 15% off your first order.
Interested in partnering with The Neary Review? Reach out to jackbneary@gmail.com.