Q&A: MePlusTea owner Precious Jones
Lesley Randall
Feb 14, 2023 Updated Feb 17, 2023
Precious Jones, owner of MePlusTea, holds a picture frame with decorations about the planet and sustainability at the Athens Farmers Market (Courtesy/Precious Jones).
MePlusTea is a local tea company that began in 2017 with just a few blends, and the ultimate goal to prioritize health. A variety of its’ hand-blended loose leaf teas are now sold in many stores throughout Athens, as well as sold by the cup. There is also an online store to purchase the blends.
Blends are created to suit different moods, illnesses and time of day. All of the teas are hand-blended, and many of the plants used are locally sourced. Precious Jones called herself the “founder, owner, marketer, packager, everything” of MePlusTea
Lesley Randall: What is your favorite part about MePlusTea?
Precious Jones: My favorite part is I actually get to do what I love. Like it’s not a job. It’s waking up doing what I love and knowing that not only am I helping myself, I’m helping the community, I’m helping my family as well as others and just sharing the love through tea.
LR: What initially sparked your interest in tea?
PJ: Medical herbs has always been a way of life for my family. In 2017, I quit my full time job and decided to take a leap of faith. After much research on the various loose leaf tea types, I believed the timing was perfect to blend my knowledge of locally grown medicinal herbs with loose leaf teas.
LR: Where is MeplusTea served?
PJ: We are in Bear Hug Honey, Community in downtown, The Olive Basket and then by the cup Seabear, Revival Yarn and [Choco Pronoto.] We are also at the Athens Farmers Market every Saturday.
LR: How has your company changed from the beginning when you first started?
PJ: Well, mostly it is growth. We started with five blends and then working with herbalists and spiritualists and everything we developed a whole other line. The tea.potthecary lines are the herbs that we got ourselves or you know, we’re getting from local growers. And those are formulas that’s been in our family for generations. Then we have the loose leaf tea line, which is mostly on the tea bases, but we blend those herbs with it. So we’ve grown from just having five blends to have been 40.
LR: Where do you envision MePlusTea growing in the next five years?
PJ: I envision growing our own acreage so that we can grow more of our own and focusing on the health and well being as well as the team.
LR: Do you have a permanent source for your products or do they vary?
PJ: I do have a permanent supplier that I work with that works with small family farms in China, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Japan.
LR: How do you create different blends and know what works best together?
PJ: Start with a tea base or an herbal base. And then from there we build in the loose leaf herbs that we mostly grow ourselves or either that we get from local growers that grow oranges. Then we blend those with the teas that we get from the supplier and that’s how we create our blends.
LR: What is your favorite blend to drink?
PJ: It would definitely be the ‘Peace and Love’…It’s one that helps me relax.
MePlusTea is a local tea company that began in 2017 with just a few blends, and the ultimate goal to prioritize health. A variety of its’ hand-blended loose leaf teas are now sold in many stores throughout Athens, as well as sold by the cup. There is also an online store to purchase the blends.
Blends are created to suit different moods, illnesses and time of day. All of the teas are hand-blended, and many of the plants used are locally sourced. Precious Jones called herself the “founder, owner, marketer, packager, everything” of MePlusTea
LR: What is your favorite part about MePlusTea?
PJ: My favorite part is I actually get to do what I love. Like it’s not a job. It’s waking up doing what I love and knowing that not only am I helping myself, I’m helping the community, I’m helping my family as well as others and just sharing the love through tea.
LR: What initially sparked your interest in tea?
PJ: Medical herbs has always been a way of life for my family. In 2017, I quit my full time job and decided to take a leap of faith. After much research on the various loose leaf tea types, I believed the timing was perfect to blend my knowledge of locally grown medicinal herbs with loose leaf teas.
LR: Where is MeplusTea served?
PJ: We are in Bear Hug Honey, Community in downtown, The Olive Basket and then by the cup Seabear, Revival Yarn and [Choco Pronoto.] We are also at the Athens Farmers Market every Saturday.
LR: How has your company changed from the beginning when you first started?
PJ: Well, mostly it is growth. We started with five blends and then working with herbalists and spiritualists and everything we developed a whole other line. The tea.potthecary lines are the herbs that we got ourselves or you know, we’re getting from local growers. And those are formulas that’s been in our family for generations. Then we have the loose leaf tea line, which is mostly on the tea bases, but we blend those herbs with it. So we’ve grown from just having five blends to have been 40.
LR: Where do you envision MePlusTea growing in the next five years?
PJ: I envision growing our own acreage so that we can grow more of our own and focusing on the health and well being as well as the team.
LR: Do you have a permanent source for your products or do they vary?
PJ: I do have a permanent supplier that I work with that works with small family farms in China, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Japan.
LR: How do you create different blends and know what works best together?
PJ: Start with a tea base or an herbal base. And then from there we build in the loose leaf herbs that we mostly grow ourselves or either that we get from local growers that grow oranges. Then we blend those with the teas that we get from the supplier and that’s how we create our blends.
LR: What is your favorite blend to drink?
PJ: It would definitely be the ‘Peace and Love’…It’s one that helps me relax.
