After founding a specialty coffee company focused on innovation, sustainable practices, and pushing coffee forward, I am so excited to spend dedicated energy in the wonderful world of tea.

I’ve been a tea drinker longer than I’ve been a coffee drinker. At 7 years old, my acts of rebellion were sneaking out of class to drink double-bagged Lipton Black Tea in the Teacher’s Lounge, reading magazines and taking moments of solitude. My journey in tea has evolved over the years and has always been a major factor in my life and work.

In the very first cafe management job I had, I replaced a bagged tea program with an ambitious loose leaf program with ceremonial grade matcha, long before the matcha boom in the US these last 10 years. In starting Bar Nine, our opening tea menu was an all Oolong menu prepared in Gaiwan. At my 2nd cafe, Ten, we explored a sound-brewed tea menu that pushed the limits of extraction while preserving volatile aromatics in a memorable way.

For Frequency, my goal is to celebrate both the beautiful tradition of tea and its near 5000 year history of enjoyment, while also pushing boundaries in tea preparation and possibilities. As ever, I aim to do so with a deep commitment to hospitality, sustainability, and experience. In many ways I believe this is what my career has been leading to, I can’t wait to see where it goes and hope we can enjoy this ride together.

-Zayde