Emily Cox • February 01, 2024
Tea Light: Metric Coffee
Tea Light
Our next Tea Light brings it all back home with one of our neighbors and longest time wholesale partners, Metric Coffee. Read on for our interview with founder Xavier Alexander.
Spirit: Do you find ways in which Spirit aligns with the heart of Metric?
Xavier Alexander: We collaborate with Spirit Tea because our values are aligned. Both Metric and Spirit share a commitment to sustainability and ethical business practices. For us, this means embracing radical transparency and ensuring fair compensation for coffee producers. Similarly, Spirit demonstrates a commitment to respecting the rituals and traditions surrounding tea, ensuring it's appreciated and enjoyed appropriately. Plus, we love supporting our neighbor!
Spirit: How does your community enjoy tea in your space?
Xavier: Alongside our coffee, we offer a selection of our favorite Spirit teas. We showcase these teas as a way to provide an exceptional experience for every person that is walking through the door. Spirit enables us to create a more vibrant cafe space - it demonstrates our intention to accommodate multiple preferences and foster a sense of belonging for everyone that comes into the shop.
Steffani Lopez, the creator of Rituals of Gold.
Spirit: What is the inspiration / process behind Metric’s tea-infused specialty drinks?
Xavier: While we’re known at Metric for our coffee, we also want to provide a premium, unique tea experience. All of our baristas have an exceptional palate and approach creating specialty beverages from their own creative angle. Steffani, for example, drew inspiration from a golden latte for her signature winter beverage Rituals of Gold. The drink includes Spirit malabar, oat milk, agave, ginger syrup, cinnamon, cayenne, and turmeric. When a barista proposes a new speciality beverage, we’ll R&D it in our lab and work together to make sure each beverage shines.
The Rituals of Gold.
Spirit: How does the cafe interact with the tea individually and as a component of a beverage, recipe, etc?
Xavier: We have some regular customers who visit our shop nearly every day, often at the same time, to order a specific tea. Thanks to Spirit's tea selection, we're able to offer a consistent experience. Whether it's a classic black tea, an herbal blend, or a specialty tea latte, our goal is to ensure that every cup is consistently enjoyable, every day. The reliability of Spirit's tea selection has been instrumental in achieving this level of consistency.