Nice’s Tea House owner Antonice Strickland, left, shows off her curated tea collection.
Antonice Strickland has worked in the public relations field for more than 10 years. Now, the PR professional is turning a childhood passion into a new business venture. Teaching Detroit to keep the good vibes rolling one cup at a time, the launch of Nice’s Tea House intends to pour more than just curated tea, but hopes to serve as a place of solace for all metro Detroiters.
As a child, tea was an intricate part of her life and a practice for the entire family to enjoy. Special moments with her mother helped to lay the foundation for what would become her passion. With age, drinking and experimenting with different teas became the norm.
“I’ve literally been drinking tea my whole life. I remember drinking tea with my mom as a child. My dad drinks tea as well, but honestly one of those childhood memories is drinking tea with my mom,” said Strickland. “As an adult, it became a place of solace for myself.”
A graduate of Michigan State University and earning a master’s degree from Georgetown University, Strickland is no stranger to hard work and dedication. Though already successful in the world of PR, she decided to take the leap to expand her scope of entrepreneurship.
“I’ve really been seeking and positioning myself to do things that are aligned with me from a passion and purpose perspective.”
Officially launched in January 2022, Nice’s Tea House is more than a tea company – it also encompasses health and wellness. A certified yoga instructor and plant lover, Strickland hoped to create teas that would help with immunity and to help protect against COVID. It was not until the onset of the pandemic that Strickland found the additional time to pour into the business concept. Letting the idea steep and experimenting with different flavors, the formation of Nice’s Tea House was born.
“COVID hit everyone in a crazy way and in different ways and for me I started making teas in my apartment using tea bags. I was doing that to create some of my at-home recipes of staying healthy and keeping my immune system up,” said Strickland. “I even started growing ginger in my home.”
Each tea is created to honor different aspects of the owner’s life, her ties to Detroit and her friendships. Nice’s Tea House offers six staple flavors: Audacious Detroit Chai, the immune-boosters Glow Up and Sage & Reset; Elevate for coffee lovers, and Dope, the brand’s green tea blend. The sixth tea, Jan’s Sweet Red, is named for Janice, the owner’s late mother. This tea serves as an homage to her life and legacy and recreates the childhood tea the two shared.
“That was created for my mom…. The teas I remember drinking as a kid were really cranberry apple tea. Obviously, it is herbal so kids can drink it. It has a beautiful deep red color. My mother’s favorite color was red,” said Strickland.
Though the teas are currently offered exclusively online, the owner plans to open a brick-and-mortar location in the near future.
“The goal is to have a physical location that is in Detroit and to pretty much set the same vibes as the tea sets. I’d love for it to be a space where, of course you drink tea, but you have food, good music to chill and relax to and just kind of converse with other people,” said Strickland. “I want it to be a place of dope conversation, connections and people really being aligned with each other and it be something that people love to go to here in the city.”
With philanthropy at its core, Nice’s Tea House plans to immerse itself into the community while giving back. A product of youth programming, the owner intends to positively impact children across the city and surrounding areas.
“A portion of the proceeds, we’re going to be donating a percentage to a smaller youth-serving organization at the end of every year,” said Strickland. “I want to be very specific — I really want to focus on those niche youth-serving organizations. The ones who we may not hear about all the time, but they’re providing such an impact that we don’t fully know about because they’re not a huge organization.”
Nice’s Tea House plans to create additional teas that will become a part of the brand’s catalog of flavors. With the newest flavor to be released in February, the brand hopes to continue to expand its menu to reach tea lovers near and far.
“I want to share tea with everybody,” said Strickland.
Nice’s Tea House is available online.