by April Corbin

The desert sun might make summer snow in Arizona impossible, but that didn’t stop the creation of a White August in Phoenix.

The ironically named tearoom is the first in Phoenix’s metropolitan area to offer loose leaf tea service in a drive-through setting. According to owner Tamara Graham, the concept has gained admirers since its Feb. 1 opening, despite some initial hesitation.

“We weren’t sure about this concept,” she admitted, “but in this generation, the Starbucks generation, it’s all about fast and easy.”

The majority of new customers, however, are walk-ins who wish to browse through the more than 70 teas White August offers. Graham explained that once they establish their favorites, they begin frequenting the drive-through.

Graham isn’t content with customers simply settling for their status quos. One of the goals of White August is to expose drinkers to various types of tea, ideally moving them from blends to pure teas.

“We hear people say a lot they hate green tea,” Graham said. “We teach them how to make it properly and introduce them to something with jasmine or papaya or pineapple in it. Then, we move them onto pure teas.”

White August customer Justin Walters can attest to the store’s attention to customer education. He described the ambiance of the tearoom as comfortable and inviting, a place where sampling new teas with friends makes sense.

“If you haven’t done your homework, don’t worry,” Walters said. “There is always someone who will help you find the seeming obscure tea that you have been craving.”

Graham calls this interaction phase one. Phase two includes introducing more pure, unflavored teas like first flush oolongs, first flush green teas and white teas to the menu. “We’re learning that, at this rate, (customers are) ready to try the pure teas now,” she said.

At the same time, customer suggestions are used to add more blends – like peach pineapple.

This interaction with the customers is something Graham believes White August can take pride in.

“We call ourselves a really interactive tea story” she said. “We have sample tins of our teas. We have all of the teas in packages so people can look at the teas, see the funky names, look at ingredients and smell the teas. People get really excited about that.”

White August also holds cupping classes once a week where customers can learn to hone their palettes.

“It looks really neat,” Graham said. “It’s very interesting, very scientific. People love it. As soon as they see a cupping, they want to do it and be very involved.”

She admitted that many people have difficulties attending the classes because of busy work and personal schedules. However, the interest is there. Graham estimates that 98 percent of customers sign up for e-mails about class schedules.

Plus, the result after customers attend makes it all worth it.

“You see the light bulb go off,” Graham said. “They’re hooked. They want more and more info on tea.”

White August also makes interaction possible for customers who cannot take a class or even physically visit the store. The company’s Web site includes a feature called the Tea Genie, which pairs visitors with a specific tea based off three easy-to-answer questions. Are you looking for a tea that’s imaginative, sleepy and flowery? Tea Genie recommends Mystic Court, Gossamer Wings or WA-Ceylon Peko.

The idea for the interactive feature came during brainstorming sessions on how to bring tea away from the “stigma of being old-lady” to being fun.

“We wanted to be retro,” Graham said.

Combining retro with relaxation and education may be a difficult blend, but Graham feels she’s achieved it with her tearoom.