Blend & Brew - Community-Driven Tea Brand
An experimental venture creating a flavoured tea brand inspired by new-age coffee culture, focused on supporting small indigenous tea growers.
Before Altpack taught me the harsh realities of physical products, there was Blend & Brew - an ambitious experimental venture inspired by the rise of new-age coffee brands. I envisioned creating a premium tea brand with a deeper purpose: building a community around supporting small indigenous tea growers in north-east India.
The Vision
Observing how brands like Blue Tokai and Third Wave Coffee had revolutionized the coffee scene in India, I saw an opportunity to do the same for tea. Blend & Brew was designed to bridge urban consumers seeking premium experiences with rural tea growers who deserved fair compensation and recognition for their craft.
The signature glass jar design emphasizing premium quality and transparency
Brand Development & Design Philosophy
The brand development focused on authenticity and premium positioning, communicating quality, heritage, and social impact. The design philosophy centered around three core principles: crafted authenticity through handcrafted typography and organic visuals, transparent impact by prominently featuring grower stories, and premium accessibility that remained educational and approachable.
Initial product photography concepts exploring natural lighting and organic compositions
Showcasing the premium tea blends with natural ingredients and handcrafted presentation
Lifestyle photography emphasizing the ritual and experience of premium tea
Clean, minimalist compositions highlighting the purity and quality of ingredients
Atmospheric photography creating mood and emphasizing the sensory experience
Final photography direction balancing premium aesthetics with approachable warmth
Product Strategy & Community Building
The product strategy centered around a subscription-based model featuring different tea regions from north-east India each month, along with grower stories and educational content. The flavoured tea range was designed to introduce modern consumers to traditional Indian tea culture while incorporating contemporary flavor profiles that enhanced rather than masked the original taste.
Packaging & Brand Identity
The packaging design was crucial to communicating the brand’s values and premium positioning. I created a system that balanced modern aesthetics with traditional Indian design elements, ensuring the product would stand out on shelves while honoring its cultural roots.
Sustainable shipping packaging with brand storytelling elements
Complete packaging system showcasing consistency across all touchpoints
Designed unboxing experience that builds anticipation and educates consumers
The unboxing experience was designed to be a ritual in itself. Each package included not just the tea, but also educational materials about the source region, brewing instructions, and postcards from the tea gardens. This approach was inspired by the coffee subscription services that had successfully built communities around their products.
Educational inserts featuring grower stories, brewing guides, and cultural context
The Feasibility Challenge
Despite the compelling vision and strong brand development, Blend & Brew faced significant feasibility challenges that ultimately led to its abandonment. Several critical issues emerged as I dove deeper into the operational requirements:
Key Challenges
Supply Chain Complexity - Building direct relationships with small tea growers across north-east India required infrastructure and expertise beyond my resources.
Regulatory Hurdles - Meeting FSSAI requirements and obtaining necessary licenses presented bureaucratic challenges requiring significant investment.
Market Education - Unlike coffee’s premiumization journey, tea consumers remained largely price-sensitive, requiring substantial marketing investment.
Financial Requirements - Physical products demanded upfront investment for inventory, packaging, and operations that digital services don’t require.
Lessons Learned
While Blend & Brew never launched, it provided invaluable lessons for future ventures:
- Market Validation - The importance of testing consumer demand before heavy investment in brand development
- Industry Dynamics - Each industry has unique challenges; coffee strategies don’t automatically translate to tea
- Physical vs Digital - Physical products require different expertise in supply chains and regulatory compliance
- Strategic Partnerships - Building meaningful relationships requires existing connections and local expertise
Legacy
Though it never launched, Blend & Brew shaped my approach to future ventures, teaching pragmatic feasibility assessment while maintaining ambitious vision. The brand development skills proved valuable in client work, and understanding physical product challenges informed better decisions with Altpack.
“Sometimes the most valuable ventures are the ones that never launch. The lessons learned in failure often prove more valuable than successes that come too easily.”
This experimental venture remains a reminder that meaningful innovation requires not just vision and design skills, but deep understanding of market realities and operational complexities.
