Rocking Teas: Andrews & Dunham

The folks at Andrews & Dunham have one thing on their mind: damn fine tea. And they’re obsessive about producing it in limited quantities, one edition at a time. Each new series embodies a whole new character, with the latest collection finding its inspiration in music.

To find out more about this recent release and all the Damn Fine Tea adventures, The Urban Grocer reached out to Charles Andrews and Erik Dunham, the guys behind those tasty mugs.

TUG: What is the damn finest thing about your tea?

Charles: It tastes great. OK, that may seem obvious but we do try to keep it simple. We don’t get excited about tea because of where it comes from or what somebody tells us about it — we just look for the stuff that we want to drink everyday and go from there.

Erik: As corny as it sounds, the finest thing about our tea is the customers. We attract passionate tea drinkers and curious newbies. Helping to create new tea drinkers is gratifying. Pleasing long-time tea drinkers is fantastic.

TUG: How did music come to inspire series 3?

Charles: It’s more like, “how did we manage to wait until Series 3?” Music is the best. It inspires us all the time and we had over a million (1,000,000+!) ideas. Most of them would have gotten us sued and the rest would have left us destitute, if happy.

Erik: Music rocks! Plus, Charles went to conservatory, so we had to do a music-themed set. I went to art school. We’ll do a clove-smoking, French literary theory reading, beret-wearing, paint-stained set one day.

TUG: If you could only listen to one musician/ band while sipping any of your series 3 teas, who would it be?

Charles: Did Diana Ross ever collaborate with David Bowie to do Black Sabbath covers? If they did I’d want to listen to that.

Erik: The Drams, easily. Or hillbilly covers of KISS songs.

TUG: What is your favorite urban grocer or famers market?

Charles: The Cowgirl Creamery in DC gets my vote. I love the overwhelming stinky cheese hit your nose takes when you walk in the door, and I’m a sucker for high-quality, limited selection vendors I guess. 

Erik: We live in awesome Cheverly, Maryland.  We’re lucky to have a small community market in the center of town during the spring and summer. It’s full of local farmers and vendors, live music, and friends. And tea.