Bird & Blend Tea Co. is an independent, award-winning tea company on a mission to spread happiness & reimagine tea! Mike and Kristi are the co-founders of the company, which they started eight years ago. From the very beginning, they knew they wanted to make business decisions based on more than just profit; their intention was to be environmentally sustainable, to send as little waste to landfill as possible, and to provide amazing experiences to people on both sides of the counter.
Bird & Blend have kindly donated complimentary tea bags (in some incredible flavours!) for all of our Big Draw Organisers in 2021. We couldn't wait to have a little chat with Mike and Kristi to find out more about the company - so pop the kettle on and discover more about their journey, and what they're all about...
Interview: Matilda Barratt in conversation with Bird & Blend.
We’d love to know all about Bird & Blend. When did you start out and what are you all about?
Mike & Krisi started Bird & Blend in 2013, who met whilst studying Politics (of all things!) at university. Starting off packing tea in their bedroom and attending markets, building Bird & Blend from scratch while staying true to our ethos and values has been Krisi and Mike’s passion.
Could you tell us a bit about yourselves? Why did you set up Bird & Blend, and what is your organisation’s ethos?
Retail stores are the heart of Bird & Blend brand as this is where we deliver an extra special in person experience in-store with live matcha demos, a tea matching service, mixology masterclasses, events and so much more.
You have some extraordinary and exciting tea flavours - from Bonfire Toffee to Hot Cross Bun! How do you come up with these various blends, and how many do you have?
We have over 80 different blends and we create exciting flavours by blending ingredients including herbs, flowers, fruits, caramel, chocolate... & even cake sprinkles! Sometimes it starts with an idea for a flavour that we want to create or other times we create an amazing flavour by happy accident when we are experimenting with flavours!!
Our 2021 Festival theme, Make the Change, is all about looking towards a more balanced and sustainable way of living. How does this resonate with your organisation?
Sustainability has been at the heart of our business from day one. From leaf to cup, every part of your tea’s journey is carefully designed to minimise the impact on our planet.
I understand you feature a different indie artist every month in your monthly tea tasting club - tell us more!
Yes, we love supporting indie artists and so each month we work with a different artist to create the collectable artwork that is included with each box! Not only are the designs amazing but it helps us to shout out these amazing artists!
And could you tell a little more about your monthly tea tasting club? Why should all tea-lovers be getting involved?
Discover three exciting new flavours every month with 30 cups worth of tea delivered direct to your door! All are vegan friendly & eco friendly too! Each box will feature a variety of tea types & high quality ingredients, all hand blended in the UK. Each box is curated by our Chief Mixologist & is available in regular, caffeine free or allergy boxes!
What’s next for Bird & Blend? Do you have anything exciting in the pipeline?
We are excited to have our stores open up again after lockdown and we are thrilled to have our next Oxford store open on 12th April 2021 - keep your eyes peeled for more stores near you soon!
If you were inspired by this interview with Bird & Blend Tea Co. and would like to find out more about them and their work, head to their website here. You can also follow them on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook: @birdandblendtea
Registrations are open for The Big Draw Festival 2021: Make the Change! Find out more about the benefits of becoming an organiser here and other ways to support The Big Draw's mission here.
