Eddy?s love of tea turns into Bhakti Chai

BOULDER — Brook Eddy loves the aroma that fills the air while her fresh Bhakti Chai tea is micro-brewed.

Eddy began the business in 2006 and quickly has become one of the fastest-growing private companies in the Boulder Valley. From 2007 to 2009, Bhakti Chai’s annual revenue went from to $100,000 to $574,000 — a 474 percent increase.

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Because of its growth, the Boulder-based teamaker made it to the No. 2 spot on the Boulder County Business Report’s Mercury 100 list of fastest-growing private companies reporting annual revenue of less than $2 million. Eddy expects sales in 2010 will eclipse the $1 million mark.

She began brewing fresh chai tea for her friends and family after a trip to India. Their encouragement convinced her to brew larger batches and sell the concentrate to local coffee and tea shops. Initially, the product line grew through customer demand. When enough customers asked for decaf and unsweetened chai, Eddy made them. “I grew as customers’ demands grew. I was an accidental entrepreneur,” Eddy recalled.

Fresh-pressed ginger and a lack of preservatives are what Eddy believes lend Bhakti Chai an edge. Though not yet certified organic, they use only fair-trade certified and organic black tea leaves, organic sugar and ginger, and either organic or conventional cardamom. The micro-brewing and bottling process produces a 14-week shelf life once opened and refrigerated.

Eddy continued working at a full-time job until 2008 when she left to focus on raising capital to cover the outstanding accounts receivable, which had become too large to carry. She credits two groups — Naturally Boulder and the Boulder Innovation Center — with helping her raise capital and market her natural beverage.

“When I first began the business it was all about making tea. I never thought that my biggest challenge would be how to manage growth. My postman’s name is Reno, and I had his cell phone number, and I’d call him and meet him to get my mail. Then I’d rush to the bank and make a deposit,” Eddy recalled.

Those days are behind Eddy, as Bhakti Chai’s brew team presses more than 700 pounds of organic ginger and brews three 500-gallon kettles of tea per week. They sell five retail and four wholesale products packed in glass quart, half-gallon or gallon glass containers for cafés, food-service accounts and natural-product stores.

Cup for cup, Bhakti Chai tea compares to the price of a high-end cup of coffee while containing only half the caffeine: 40 milligrams in a 16-ounce cup. Customers who buy the concentrate have told her they add it to vanilla ice cream, pancake batter and even Bailey’s Irish Crème.

Immediate plans call for increasing distribution nationally.