Second career brings spice and tea shop to Port

CEDARBURG RESIDENTS Roby and Karen Onan held a jar of tea in front of a display in their shop, The Spice and Tea Exchange, in the former Smith Bros. Coffee House space next to Duluth Trading Co. in downtown Port Washington. In addition to teas and spices, customers can also purchase cups of hot and cold teas made by the staff. The shop opens Friday, Oct. 13. (Lower) A WALL OF SPICE blends, made on site by the staff at The Tea and Spice Exchange in Port Washington, greets customers entering the shop. Spice blends are something the shop is known for, owner Karen Onan said. Photos by Sam Arendt
Karen Onan is an accountant by trade, but after 40 years in the business she realized “I was just tired of it,” she said.
She wasn’t ready to retire, so Onan began looking for a new line of work, and she found it in The Spice and Tea Exchange, a shop she and her husband Roby will open next to Duluth Trading Co. at the corner of Grand Avenue and Franklin Street in downtown Port Washington on Friday, Oct. 13.
“I wanted to work somewhere that’s fun. This is the funnest job ever,” Onan said last week as she and her staff were stocking the shelves and organizing the shop.
The shop is being created in the space formerly occupied by Smith Bros. Coffee House, which closed in September 2021 after more than 15 years in business.
The Spice and Tea Exchange is a franchise — this is the company’s only Wisconsin store — and Onan said the minute she stepped into one of its shops she knew this was the perfect opportunity for her.
“I’m not a big tea drinker, but I’m learning. I cook and I’m really a baker,” she said.
“I said, ‘That could be kind of fun.’I’ve never thought about doing something like this before. But this is something that appeals to everyone.”
Spices are used by anyone who cooks, and tea, Onan noted, is the second-most consumed beverage in the world, behind water.
Onan and her husband Roby visited a number of other Spice and Tea Exchange stores when debating whether to open their own shop, and they got more excited as they stopped at each one.
“Every time we stopped and asked our questions, we ended up saying, ‘This fits,’” Onan said.
“Then we found this space and said, ‘This is perfect. Port Washington is perfect.’”
The Spice and Tea Exchange stores have a turn-of-the-century trading post ambiance with a touch of maritime flair, which Onan said perfectly fits Port.
For the last two weeks, crews have been converting the former coffee shop into a combination spice and tea store with a teahouse and training the staff.
The door has been open, and a number of passers-by have stopped in to see what’s happening, Onan said.
“People have been walking in here all the time,” she said. “And everyone has been so excited when we tell them about this.”
When walking in the door, the warm aroma of the various spices and teas is instantly noticeable.
“Walking into this store is supposed to be a sensory experience,” Onan said.
Jars on the shelves are filled with the spices and teas, and customers are encouraged to open them and take a whiff of the blends inside.
Customers can buy jars and packets of the various teas and spices or, if they only need a little, the staff will package that specific amount.
As the name indicates, the shop carries a wide variety of teas and all the accessories needed to brew them, from teapots to infusers, and spices.
Customers will also be able to purchase hot and cold teas made fresh by the store staff, she said.
“We have dozens and dozens of teas,” Onan said. “Green, white, oolong, pu-erh — most people aren’t familiar with that — and a lot of herbal teas.”
If someone wants to try a tea, the staff will blend a cup to sample, she said, adding that each package of tea includes the ideal water temperature and steeping time for that particular blend.
There’s a process to properly sample a tea, Onan noted, which she and the staff learned while putting the shop together last week.
First you look at the appearance, then smell the aroma. Then sip the tea and pay attention to the flavor notes that appear, the feeling in your mouth, and notice any after taste.
“We’ve been tasting a lot of teas this week,” Onan said, adding that the staff will be able to help guide customers to blends they may enjoy.
True tea, she added, can be used more than once, with a minute additional steeping time added. That’s not true for herbal teas.
In addition to a large assortment of teas, the shop has a wide variety of spices and spice blends.
“This is what we’re known for, our custom blends,” she said, adding that the spices are blended on site in an area where customers can watch.
In addition to the spices, the shop features a wall of salt blends that Onan said are ideal for frosting the rim of cocktail glasses, topping baked goods and sprinkling on popcorn.
There is also a wall of peppers and another of sugar blends, as well as golden monk fruit sweetener, that can be sprinkled in top of cookies, used to rim drinks or sweeten coffees or teas.
In addition, the shops features olive oils, both plain and flavored, as well as honeys and soy candles that are based on spice blends sold in the stop.
Recipe cards available in the store will give people ideas on how to use the spices, teas and blends.
The Spice and Tea Exchange will be open seven days a week through the holidays, after which Onan said she will determine the hours for the rest of the winter.
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