- This is it.
Today, at the end of this video,
after months of work and stress,
Zadiko Tea Co. is going on sale.
Everything I've been doing, months of work,
several videos, a blown budget,
bizarre commercials, has all been leading to this moment.
In this many minutes, my tea at zadiko.com
is going on sale.
What are the decisions that brought me here?
Here we go.
(upbeat rock music)
For the past few months,
I've been working to create a tea company from my home,
and today I get to visit the production facilities
in person for the first time,
to taste the final flavors that I've been crafting,
and see how production is gonna work.
Then I need to make the website,
get the final designs,
and by the end of this video,
I am going to be ready to launch my tea.
All right, we're here at Art of Tea.
You see this?
My turtles!
Turtle statue!
This is a sign, from a god I don't believe in.
Let's get some tea.
(punchy hip hop music)
- You know what's amazing?
If you think about it, we've been working on this project
very remotely, right?
- Yeah. I haven't seen you since we started this.
- With your concept of like,
how can I create a company,
and do it even remotely in my living room,
and we've been doing that.
It's pretty awesome- - We've done it!
- Yeah.
- What is the process of creating a new tea blend?
- It's been totally unique depending on
who we're working with.
You know, when people are drinking that tea,
hopefully it brings out their inner Zach.
- There's a little tiny me inside all of you.
You don't know it yet, but I will escape.
- [Steve] We're about to enter our production area.
We see it sort of as a sacred space.
So there's two things that need to happen.
One is we gear up, so we wear hair nets,
if we're blending we put our gloves on.
Apron.
Protective gear.
Also, you know, tea is grown in this beautiful
pristine environment.
Sun, mist, rain, earth.
So if we can add some sort of sacredness
back to that experience,
through the music that we play,
through the way that we're blending,
the mindfulness that we're putting into our products.
Hopefully it can impact someone's life in some positive way.
- Oh my god, it smells so good in here!
Wow!
Every bin, I'm getting hit like, boom, boom, boom!
By a different smell.
I wanna live in here.
Are you kidding me?
So this is the first time that we're together
not on Zoom, so people can realize
how much shorter I am than Steve.
(laughs)
We're gonna be tasting the individual ingredients
one by one.
- Before we start tasting, I wanna give you your first
tea tasting spoon.
Tea tasters around the world-
- Oh my god!
- They become very enamored and close with their spoon, so,
just hand bend it, so ...
Here is your spoon.
- Wow. Oh my god, thank you!
(angelic choir singing)
Wow, oh my god!
I can see my reflection in it!
I made this tea both because I love tea,
but also, I needed it.
A few years ago I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease
called ankylosing spondylitis.
It leaves me stiff, it leaves me in pain,
it really hampers my ability to sleep.
So I wanted a breakfast tea that gave me energy,
but also that had anti-inflammatory properties,
that was soothing, comforting.
So we have Zach's breakfast, which is a wake up tea.
For Mission Chill, I deal with anxiety,
I have stomach problems.
I needed something delicious,
that would just get my body feeling good.
- We're gonna scoop the tea in here.
And then you're gonna put some inside your spoon and-
(dolphin sound effects)
Slurp.
- I found out that there's some people in the audience
who cannot stand the sound of slurping,
so we will replace all slurping sounds
with other nature sounds.
(sheep bleating)
Oh yeah, wow.
That black tea tastes nothing like what it does
in the final blend.
- That's the beauty of making a blend,
is that you can create
all the different nuances and flavor profiles
that we're gonna pick up
from the different base ingredients.
(monkey screams)
- Oh, whoa! (laughs)
Whoa!
- [Steve] I think of like a cherry skin.
- Cherry skin?
- [Steve] Yeah.
- Yeah, my palette's not that advanced yet,
I'm gonna say, "Wow, that's good!"
(laughing)
How have you guys managed to stay safe
and stay producing tea here, under COVID-19?
- Great communication.
Constant and great communication.
We have our different stations so
every person is at a minimum of six feet apart,
maintaining safe social distancing.
We've upped our sanitation requirements,
as well as all of our PPE, our protective gear.
- So what, the tea comes from up there?
- [Steve] Yeah, we climb up the ladder,
we dump it in the hopper.
It shakes, you're absolutely right.
It goes through these two layers
that shakes the tea.
And then you get a perfect measured amount of an ounce.
- A couple months back, I tweeted out asking
what your favorite flavors were,
and overwhelmingly, you guys wanted mint,
you wanted chamomile.
So I decided to give you both.
Whoa, these got so big!
- [Steve] Yeah, look at how much it opened up, right?
There's so much more volume
when it comes to these botanicals.
- [Zach] Mission Chill is peppermint, spearmint,
lemongrass, chamomile.
- Chamomile and mint both have properties
where they help neutralize the acidity in the stomach.
Chamomile has those natural adaptogen-like qualities
that help to calm and balance the senses.
Some ingredients, like our mint, for example,
we have to buy two years out.
- [Zach] Just 'cause it's that good?
- [Steve] It's that phenomenal,
there is a higher amount of oil content
that naturally exists within the mint.
(monkey screams)
- Whoo!
Oh, my god!
That has a punch!
Now this is the chamomile.
It smells like dandelion.
- To me, I get oatmeal.
- Oatmeal?
- Yeah.
(dolphin sounds)
- Wow.
I've been saying for years, I don't like chamomile.
I like that.
- But you're absolutely right,
you don't like shitty chamomile.
- I don't like shitty chamomile.
- When you have fresh harvested,
dynamically sourced chamomile,
it's a world of difference.
- First business decision, I decided to make
loose leaf teas.
- So in order to have more polyphenols,
flavonoids, natural oil content,
health proponents and overall flavor, delicious experience,
you get that with loose leaf tea.
- Gotta go right to the source.
- [Steve] Yeah.
- Now presenting, how to brew the perfect cup
of loose leaf tea.
If you're new to the loose leaf tea world,
you might be thinking, this seems really hard.
Can't I just brew a little bag of tea?
Grow up, ya baby!
No, I'm just kidding.
Loose leaf tea is actually very easy and super rewarding.
Step one, select your leaves.
Did you know that most tea bags have micro-plastics in 'em,
which releases into your body,
releases into the environment, and,
(deep voice) is nasty.
(normal voice) You know, have fun with this.
Open it up, sniff it.
Oh yeah.
Let this be part of your morning meditation.
Step two, prepare the strainer.
You take a teaspoon measure, or just a spoon.
I have this steeper, we got this one,
or you can just drop it in the cup.
You good to go.
Step three, steep the tea.
For our teas, we recommend 206 degrees,
but honestly, whatever you decide, you're gonna be fine.
You're not gonna f-(bleep) this up, I promise.
And in three to five minutes, you will have
a delicious cup of tea.
Maybe use that time to relax, to reflect.
Stare out the window and
think about how good life could be,
if only we learned to take scientists seriously.
(dramatic music)
(screaming)
Step four, enjoy.
- So you being a music fan, right?
So imagine, you have guitar, you have mic,
you have strings, and you have drums.
- [Zach] That's a cool-sounding band.
- Right?
So all of them together, at the right ratio, right?
'Cause if you have too much violin,
you can't hear the vocals,
or if you have too much vocals then
the guitar doesn't come through.
It's not gonna make a good song.
- Okay, I'm gonna now try this all blended together.
(sheep bleating)
Oh yeah.
Ugh, it is so good, and it's so crazy now,
understanding how the different flavors,
I can hear the notes-
- Yeah.
- In the instruments. - That's awesome.
- Because the roundness from the Assam black tea
is very much there.
You get a little bit of the bite but not the flavor
from the ginger.
The sarsaparilla gives it, it's almost like a,
a root beer tea.
Turmeric though has a lot of really wonderful properties.
- It's anti-inflammatory, it's earthy,
it could be a bit of crispness to it as well.
To me it's a beautiful wake up tea.
The perfect balance of tea without needing to add milk,
or sugar, or any sort of sweetness to it.
- Oh shit!
Oh shit oh shit oh shit!
Oh shit!
My tea samples are here!
My final product has arrived, finally!
Oh my god.
Boom!
(trumpet sounds)
Here it is.
Wow, look at it, it's real!
I got a real product!
This is so exciting.
Look, Bowie's excited, he wants it!
What do you, what's your plan?
What do you think is gonna happen here?
Starting with Zach's Breakfast,
we went with this nice sand color.
And then we have Mission Chill,
a beautiful mint green.
You'll notice between the two,
this one's a fluffier tea,
so it looks bigger in the bag.
I did this!
Wow!
Aah, I'm so excited, yeah!
Let's find a home for it.
(upbeat music)
(German accent) Darling I love it.
I love it.
Oh you're beautiful, yes.
(normal accent) Now can you put your head like, here?
Yes, perfect.
Wonderful.
Ha ha ha!
Zadiko!
Yeah!
(kissing sound) (bell rings)
Also, I have hundreds of these bags and stickers
and I am gonna be spending the next several days
watching TV and just applying stickers.
If you're lucky, you might get one that I did!
I did get bored while I was doing it,
so I decided to start signing a couple of 'em.
Hope you guys don't mind.
Now that the product is in,
I need to figure out beauty shots,
and I need to make my website.
Get up!
I'm taking a photo!
This whole thing began as a $500 challenge,
and while I've already spent beyond that,
I wanna keep the spirit of it alive,
and show you that you can take really cool product shots
for free, on your own.
I've been looking online for inspiration
and I found that some people just use curtains and sheets,
just things that you have in your house.
Just anything that creates a cute-looking background.
And I'm playing into my strengths here.
I know Photoshop, I'm good at Photoshop.
(laughing)
- F-(bleep)-ing. - Wow.
- Hate that, Zach, I hate it!
- So for you at home, you know,
work with what you know how to do.
I didn't light this professionally,
I just used sunlight.
I'm just affecting the way that the different layers look.
Whoa! That was an accident and what a happy one it was!
So I had this photo of me holding it over a plant.
I wanted it to be more vibrant, more funky.
I cut the hand out.
Okay, maybe I'll add a gradient to the background?
No, not enough, and so I turned that into this.
Boom!
I think it's really cool-looking!
This took me 20 minutes, just playing around.
So now I get to take all of this,
and put it onto my website.
(upbeat music)
This series is designed to share
everything I'm learning,
and I've been learning from incredible entrepreneurs
over at Shopify Compass.
So if you're thinking about starting a business,
or growing your business,
go check out their step by step guidance.
You'll thank me later.
(energetic music)
Over at Shopify, I'm going to make my website.
Previously I made zadiko.com
just so I had something for launch.
Well, I did this in about five minutes.
But, for selling stuff,
I want this to look sleek, sexy, professional.
So in the spirit of my original $500 challenge,
I'm gonna go for something free.
You can browse by industry,
so here are some for food and drink.
Down here, have a great for small inventories.
I only have two products to launch,
so I'm gonna start there.
Can look at it on mobile or on desktop.
Going back to my analytics page,
I can see that over 60, almost 70% of my page visits
are coming from mobile.
So as I design, I'm gonna prioritize that.
(upbeat music)
This is what I'm working with so far.
It's still a work in progress,
and I want this website to be super easy to navigate,
super easy to use.
You land, photo, product.
Immediately.
Got my socials down here.
People can stay up to date.
I will update this video.
It's great.
I think I'm ready to launch? (dog barks loudly)
Jesus, Bowie.
(joyful classical music)
Okay everybody, thank you for coming
to the Zadiko Tea Co. launch press conference!
Do we have any questions?
Zach, Zach, over here! Over here!
Right there.
How much does the tea cost?
Great question.
The tea costs $20 plus shipping and handling,
I fought really hard to get the best possible tea
for the best possible price.
Ooh, yes, back there!
My good dude, Inquiring Minds would like to know,
is the tea loose leaf?
Yes, it is loose leaf, better quality,
better bang for your buck, more delicious.
Huh, sweet.
You're in control. It's great.
Uh, back there.
Ooh! Uh, does the tea ship internationally?
You bet it does!
Oh, wonderful!
Shipping was incredibly important to me,
getting something that is environmentally friendly,
and affordable.
You ready for this?
Shipping is 3.72 domestic, 4.50 international!
What? That can't be right!
So cheap!
It is right, we're just that awesome.
Yeah!
And even better, many of the proceeds go to charity.
Boom!
Can I feel good about buying this?
Where does the tea come from?
I know that this is really interesting to a lot of you,
so I'm gonna get closer.
Our teas are organically grown
in small farms and co-ops across the world,
with the aim of providing families
in developing countries a fair price for their work.
Okay, that is enough questions for now,
thank you so much for your time,
I got a website to publish, all right, take care.
- So if your customers know that this is hand-blended
when they order it,
there's a delicate process that's made
specifically for them,
it's not just sitting on a shelf,
it's not waiting in a supermarket for them to pull.
It is the freshest blend possible
that they're able to get anywhere.
I guarantee it's gonna be worth the wait.
- I want to make as much as possible
and get as many to as many people as possible quickly,
but we also wanna make sure that we are keeping
the highest quality,
that is worthy of the Zadiko name.
No matter what happens next, I just wanna thank you guys
for following me on this journey the last couple months,
for your support, for your encouragement.
Zadiko.com is going live,
in three ... whoa!
In three, two, one!
Oh god, again!
In three, two, one!
Click.
(sighs)
Zadiko.com is live right now, go get some tea!
I put a lotta love and passion into this project,
I'm so proud of it, and really hope
that you love it as much as I do.
I've prioritized quality first over everything, so,
if we do sell out today, drop your email,
we're gonna be restocking really soon,
you'll be the first to know, I promise,
I appreciate your patience.
Got one more episode to recap my whole journey,
got a few surprises, but until then,
enjoy the tea, I'll see you Monday!
Bye!
(upbeat rock music)
Do you wanna make a wager?
If I can sell more than you, during my launch,
I will join you for an entire Eat the Menu episode.
- Wow!
That's, I don't think your stomach can handle that.
Mine barely can.