Meet the woman trying to make your grandmother's new favourite tea

For a place that loves to drink tea, Nicole Keats says Newfoundland and Labrador has surprisingly few local options.

There are the old stalwarts Red Rose, Tetley but few that are organic and locally made. And while she has fond memories of drinking those brand-name teas as a child, she's looking to go toe-to-toe with the giants.

"Once they taste something that's organic, and once they taste what a real tea leaf tastes like, they don't want to go back to the Tetley and the Red Roses," Keats said from her small packaging facility in Gander.

Keats is hoping to convert those who sample her Newfoundland Tea Company blends into regular customers.

"More often than not, they're coming back to buy," she said.

The Newfoundland Tea Company has 28 teas, most of which are pre-blended by a distributor and sold by Keats in stores in Gander, Trinity and soon in Bonavista.

Among the list are a decafchai, an Earl Grey and a peppermint blend but there's also a lemon ginger tea, the first that Keats is blending herself with rooibos, lemon peel, lemon grass and a "bit" of ginger.

She's eyeing a berry black tea after that. Her goal is to personally makehalf her company's blends.

"I take a lot of pride in what I do, and I think in order for it to really be something that's all mine, that's the way to go."

To make your own blend, Keats saidyou start with a taste in your mind and work backwards, measuring as you go. It's a trial-and-error process.

"For me the taste is the most important.I know what I'm looking for in the taste so once I find it by mixing different ingredients, I'll settle for that."

A rare enterprise

While Newfoundland and Labrador "is a province full of tea drinkers," Keats saidshe's one of the few who are making organic, loose-leaf teas.

That was part of the reason she got into the business, after realizing at a trade show that the market was ripe for the picking.

She said that her cherished memories of spending time with her grandparents in Newfoundland helped push her along.

"Just even when I smell tea, I think of my grandparents," she said. "And I think of out in the bay, I think of going for boat rides, going to the cabin, boil-ups on the beach, so it was a huge influence for me."

While Keats, 45, was born in Montreal, her mother calls Gambo home. Keats has lived in Newfoundland for the past 14 years, and also co-owns Bistroon Roe, a restaurant in Gander.

The Newfoundland Tea Company is pushed along with help from her mom, dad and daughter.

"[It takes] alot of time, alot of passion, abit of energy, a little bit of money if you can get it, and basically you need to set up a good support system.I think that's the main thing. I'm very lucky."