Drink it in: New tea company starts up in Sandusky

SANDUSKY — Kevin Katynski didn't need to read a single tea leaf to figure out his future. His deep love for the drink paired with vast experience in various commercial sectors helped him create a new business: the Contrarian Tea Co. Co-founded by him and his girlfriend, Brooke Kelly, Katynski described how his online startup differs from other tea providers. "Yes, my tea is priced a little bit higher, but the quality is much higher," said Katynski, a 2012 Port Clinton High School graduate who operates the company from his Sandusky-area home. Katynski receives his products through premium suppliers. They obtain their shipments directly from independent farmers based in Asia. "The quality of the tea leaves there is so much greater than anywhere else," Katynski said. "Our teas are loose leaf versus bagged teas. Mainstream bagged tea is of lower quality and actually consists of tea dust and the very small scraps from the tea production facilities. Our teas are high-quality loose-leaf teas." Contrarian Tea offers 30-plus flavors, ranging from green, black, white, oolong along with tisanes/herbals, a caffeine-free variety. "When drinking our tea versus a tea that comes from a bulk supplier, where it's likely that the tea has been sitting in a warehouse for many months and maybe years on end, you can tell the difference in the taste from our fresh tea," Katynski said. None of Contrarian Tea's feature any sort of artificial sweetener — and they're not needed, Katynski said. "Tea should be (consumed) without sugar or any other additives," Katynski said. "Sweeteners and canned sugar ruin it." Once Katynski receives his teas, he packages the products and sells them on his website, contrariantea.com. Because it's a new business, he's offering various discounts and specials to first-time customers. Katynski feels confident in his abilities to succeed. He's worked in several different fields like strategic planning, production, manufacturing and marketing. Just as importantly, Katynski truly believes in his product. "There are so many wellness advantages that tea can offer," said Katynski, who's a longtime tea drinker himself. "I'm hoping people around Ohio and then the nation can try and enjoy it." What's in a name? Katynski also explained the meaning behind his company's name. For the past handful of years, I have read many books, and one in particular stuck out to me: "Letters To A Young Contrarian" by Christopher Hitchens. After reading that book, it opened up a new mindset for me that it's OK to have opposing views to popular opinion, and that it's OK to disagree with people. Before I had the tea shop plan, that term stuck with me for a while, and I decided that if I ever opened up a business, "contrarian" would be included because, mainly, my girlfriend and myself think differently about a lot of things in mainstream society and also we've never heard of another business that included the word "contrarian." So it was different.