Soulcentricitea Brewing Tea and Natural Goodness on Troost

By Kevin Collison

Nika Renee is bringing her blend of tea, pastries and serenity to the Wonder Shops + Flats development at 30th and Troost, opening her Soulcentrictea shop in the former Blip coffee space.

“I love tea and I’ve always been a tea fanatic,” she said. “Our theme is earth-based, crafted, soul-centered natural products.”

The new tea and gift shop scheduled to open July 15 will feature more than 50 loose teas for drinking on premise or purchasing ranging from passion peach to lemongrass. She also plans to host tea ceremonies and poetry readings.

The Kansas City native is a poet and creative writer herself under the heading “Village Scribe.”

Her idea for Soulcentrictea began brewing five years ago and was launched in March 2018 as part of a collective for women artisans at 41st and Troost. Renee began her search for her own space last August.

“The (Wonder) management team called me and said Blip was consolidating and asked if I wanted to start Soulcentricitea here,” she said.

Wonder Shops + Flats is a redevelopment project that transformed the former Wonder Bread bakery building into the lynchpin of a Troost revival that’s added hundreds of apartments and new businesses between roughly 24th Street and Linwood.

She said Ian Davis, the founder of Blip, has been her business mentor for her new venture. He had decided to consolidate Blip, which was founded in an old warehouse in the West Bottoms.

Renee plans to continue serving all the Blip coffee drinks as well as her tea.

Her menu will include tea smoothies, tea latte, bubble tea and a tea mock-tail. A special herbal sorbet will be on the menu along with a variety of pastries.

Hours will be Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The shop also can be leased after hours for events. The address is 1106 E. 30th St.

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