Rasa Teas: Meet the Leeds woman behind the tea business that's won a Great Taste Award

Declared by one of her customers as a “warm hug in a cup”, Rasa Teas infuses cacao husks with some of Ella’s favourite flavours - including chocolate orange and chocolate chai.

Ella, who runs a range of wellness services, started the business during lockdown. After testing out the flavours on her lucky housemates, Rasa Teas was founded in April 2021 - and the tiny business has recently won a Great Taste Award.

The 28-year-old told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “When I first started playing around with it, I never envisaged it would become what it is now. My partner is the CEO of his own start-up tech company and has the attitude of just going for things and taking risks.

“I find that really inspiring. It is nerve-wracking and it is a big risk when you put so much into it, but it felt like ‘me’ in a brand. It’s grown really organically and I fit it in with the rest of my wellness offering.”

Ella started selling her teas on Etsy before launching a website, custom teaware and Rasa wellness retreats - but her goal is for customers to enjoy those moments of calm in their own homes.

Ella said: “Everything these days is faster, bigger, better - it’s go go go. This is in opposition to that, it’s about slowing down. Ritual and ceremony are about finding the sacred in the mundane. Having a cup of tea can become mundane, but I wanted this to be about finding a sacred moment in connecting with the organic herbs, spices and flowers.

“It’s also important to tell people where my ingredients come from, thinking about whose hands have touched it, which country it’s come from, that the soil is healthy and organic. You’re taking all of that in when you’re drinking the cup of tea.

“When I share it in ceremony at festivals or in retreats, I make it a sensory journey - even the sound of tea being poured from the cup is so soothing. You can overlook those things so easily, so it’s nice to tune into the sounds, the colour, seeing the steam rise and then having your hands wrapped around the cup on a cold day.

“It offers lots of different ways to slow down, take a breath, step back and really enjoy the moment and be present.”

Just 18 months after launching the business, her chocolate vanilla infusion got a stamp of approval at the Great Taste Awards 2022.

And despite the growth of the business, Ella still blends every bag by hand in her Leeds home and writes a handwritten note with each order, as well as sending out newsletters to build a sense of community among her customers.

She added: “That personal connection is so important. Every single time I get an order, it brings me joy - it’s an amazing feeling. People who I don’t know have connected with the brand, for some reason or another, and that feels fantastic.”