If you’re a fine tea connoisseur, we’ve got a fantastic website for you today. Rebecca Domorev has launched a fantastic online store selling a range of fancy teas that are both delicious and Fairtrade certified, such as rose moscato green tea and midnight blossom. In fact, Tielka is the first Fairtrade organic loose leaf tea collection in Australia. Now all you have to do is pick one to sip and enjoy!
Who?
Rebecca Domorev
What is the name of your online store?
Tielka
What do you sell in your store?
Certified Fairtrade Organic loose leaf tea (fancy style!) and glass teaware.
How did the idea for your store come about?
I fell in love with fancy tea a few years back when visiting a friend’s café in Kielce, Poland. Everything about her café was stunning, so carefully and lovingly put together – she was an artist with impeccable style and she captured the vintage feel with finesse. Amongst all the gorgeous trinkets, old pictures and good coffee was an extensive tea list, which was a menu in itself of well thought out descriptions of flavours and origins. It really was love at first sight (and taste!) and I’m sure I got through a good portion of her tea supply while I was there.
Some time later, I was inspired to start my own business with the hope of funding a holiday. A couple of well-timed conversations with my sister-in-law brought to light the existence of Fairtrade and their fight to give growers and producers a fair deal on trade, protecting children from slave trade (adults too!) and providing decent working conditions. She mentioned that there was plenty of good Fairtrade coffee available, but the best she could get in the Fairtrade tea department was some slightly stale tea bags imported from the UK (no loose leaf!). As it turns out, as I asked around the place, people seemed frustrated even with the level of quality of loose leaf tea across the board (not just the Fairtrade teas!).
After several months of searching, I finally discovered two certified Fairtrade tea gardens in China. And it wasn’t just any tea – this was the real deal. These communities had tea crafting skills that went back thousands of years and the tea was simply divine – fresh, beautiful with complexities and depth of flavour that were incredibly intriguing. There was no turning back – Tielka would soon be proud founder of the first Fairtrade organic loose leaf tea collection in Australia.
What is your career background?
In music! I completed a Bachelor of Music and travelled the globe to St Petersburg, Russia to study singing too. I’ve always loved getting on stage and performing, and I founded Kingston Academy of Creative Arts in 2005, however this has since become more of a hobby than a career. There seems to be an entrepreneurial streak and a longing for an impossible task that has driven me to other ventures (i.e. Tielka!).
Who is your key customer?
Lovers of fine foods, all things artistic, beauty and those touched by social justice while being conscious about preserving the planet. As a rule, mostly women in the 25-40 bracket seem to be our customers, but younger men (20-30) are also having an increasing interest in our teas – the red wine, imported beer loving guys that love intellectual conversation and a touch of tradition!
How do you make it easy for your online customers to buy from you?
So many people feel overwhelmed by the traditionally enormous range offered by tea boutiques and leave feeling disappointed with nothing or yet another bag of English Breakfast. The task is just too difficult!
At Tielka, we love that the range is small enough to be simple to choose, but extensive enough to be intriguing and delightful.
Do you sell in person or in a physical store as well?
We have a growing number of stockists and cafes that sell Tielka (see our website for details).
List your current most popular products.
Rose Moscato Green Tea
What’s next for your online store?
Hopefully nothing for a while! We’ve had a wonderful and exhausting six months developing and launching our new website and I think we’d like to enjoy it for a bit.
Styling You’s top 3 picks
1. Rose moscato green tea, from $8 | 2. Earl royale black tea from $8 | 3. Pepa teapot, from $42
Tielka would like to offer Styling You a special offer for free shipping. To redeem this offer, enter this code when you go to the shopping cart: ilovestylingyou12
Have you found a great online store recently? Did it offer great products or service? Leave a comment below and let us all know about it.
*We were gifted an item from Tielka in accordance with our Disclosure Policy
