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A^]`ZWUV`( 4]fTWdS BSOe continued from page 55 ? uinn and Katherine Losselyong entered the tea scene in 2003 with Foxfire Teas, a 35-seat teahouse in Portland's Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood, known for its 100-year-old bungalows and eclectic shops. The café attracted a merry mash-up of high school and college students, professionals and parents, all looking to sip a cup, grab a sandwich, write on a chalkboard table or get lost in a book between more harried hours of their days. All parties probably felt a bit lucky to have found each other. And none of it would have happened if Katherine hadn't missed a flight from Chicago to Portland in the summer of 2002. On her new flight, she ended up in the seat next to Quinn. "We talked, watched 'Spider-Man'—got a lot of things out of the way on that flight," Katherine laughs. They also discovered that they lived a mile apart in Southeast Portland. Four days later they went on their first date, and a year after that they were married. With the knot tied, they moved on to starting a tea business. Quinn had gone to business school; Katherine was a massage therapist and also practiced flower-essence therapy (which connected perfectly to tea and all its serene connotations). "I grew up drinking Red Rose tea from cups with the little porcelain animal in them," says Katherine, "My interest grew from there." Independently, they both wanted to own a small business, and Quinn was an avid tea fan too. "There's a place called Butterfly Herbs in Missoula, Montana, that started to put that romantic ideal in my mind," he says. "It has those classic brick walls, tea and spices—half retail and half coffee/tea shop. We wanted to fulfill a similar dream." Like all fans of tea, Quinn and Katherine have a favorite way to brew it: loose leaf, in a sturdy mug with a wire-mesh steeper or paper infuser, making their process a dis- tinctly American interpretation. "We love going to Tao of Tea and the Chinese Gardens [in Portland] and drinking tea in all kinds of ways, like gaiwan and gongfu. I love that style of tea," says Quinn. "By serving tea in a mug, we wanted to make it as accessible as possible to people who are new to it while still respecting tradi- tions of loose-leaf brewing." A hortly after the Losselyongs opened their café, it was burglarized. "The guy who came in to sell us an alarm system afterward also owned a restaurant, and he wanted to carry our teas," says Quinn. "We sort of said, 'Um, sure,' and started doing it on the side. Then as we got more into the Portland food scene together, we got excited about maybe #$ TEA ALMANAC 2012 having our teas in our favorite restaurants." Such was the start of Foxfire's wholesale tea business, another fortuitous misadventure, like the missed flight in Chicago. Selectively, they started sending tea samples to restaurants and coffeehouses to build their clientele. "It has to seem like a good fit, and we're not interested in actively taking accounts from other tea companies," says Quinn. And then came another change. In 2007 they decided to close the café, take a few months off and then focus their business on loose tea sales, both retail and wholesale. They settled into a big-windowed space on the ground floor of the Ford Building, a recently renovated, brick three-story spot in Southeast Portland's industrial area. When trains roll by a stone's throw away, it's easy to imagine the Model Ts that were once assembled there after their parts were hauled over from the rail yard. Along with the Foxfire headquarters, the current incarnation of the Ford Building is home to artists and creative firms, bakers and tailors, and a yoga studio. With boutique hours—the shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.—the new Foxfire uses a unique business model, selling teas by the ounce as well as brewers, steepers and other accessories. Customers get free cups of tea to go with purchases of $10 or more. "We loved the café and seeing customers daily, whereas now it's people coming in for their tea once a month or every week," says Katherine. "But it's allowed us to stop making sandwiches and doing dishes, and get back into tea," adds Quinn. Mostly, they sell what they like to drink: loose-leaf teas and herbal infu- sions, including traditional offerings like Earl Grey and artisanals such as pu-erh. Flavored teas are few, but they offer more now than they did at the café. "Some customers do want them; often people who are new to tea like to start with flavored ones, then move into others," says Katherine. "Coffee drinkers espe- cially—they're used to a very strong flavor so they tend to go with strong herbals or strong flavored black teas." But the biggest luxury built into the no-teahouse format is that Quinn and Katherine can shut down from time to time. During tea's slow summer season, they tend to seek sun and surf in Mexico. "We're not going to be business owners who don't take vacation," says Quinn. They take some post-holiday R&R;, too, but currently they're ramping up for the big season. One of their busiest days is Christmas Eve. "It's a lot of dads and kids hurrying to grab last-minute gifts," says Quinn. "We stay open a little late, make mulled cider. It's festive and fun." Foxfire Teas aren't available in grocery stores. "We've been