The owners of a new shop on Greene Street are hoping to cater to tea drinkers looking for more selection.

The Key West Tea & Spice Co. opened a few weeks ago, featuring a wide assortment of spices, loose teas and tea accessories.

The business itself has been more than five years in the making. Inspiration struck owner Brian Creager several years ago after visiting a similar store in St. Augustine. Since then he's been busy researching and learning about tea, developing a business plan and finding a business partner, Tim Dahms.

"It's been a long, strange trip," said Creager, a former Navy helicopter pilot, turned oceanographer, turned golf course superintendent, turned karaoke host, now turned tea aficionado. "I've been thinking about it, stewing about it, waiting for the stars and planets to align and for God to give me the OK."

Creager admits that until he visited the St. Augustine store, he knew very little about tea, and rarely drank it.

"I didn't like tea until I discovered good tea," he said.

Now he rattles off information about tea like a sports fanatic rattling off statistics.

Creager readily volunteers information and suggestions to people who wander into his store. Some are as enthusiastic as he is about tea, including JoAnn Langley, who lives in Key West part-time.

"I've tried just about every tea you can think of, but I've never seen a coconut tea," Langley said, gesturing to a nearby shelf. "My husband saw (the store) and told me about it. He said you have to check this out. He knows how much I love tea."

Creager said he's had a steady stream of locals come through the doors, interested in finding their favorite blends and trying something new.

"It's always busy when I come in here, said Barret Ayres, who works down the street at Two Friends Patio Restaurant. "If you're going to be addicted to something in life, tea's a good thing to be addicted to."

Ayres' favorite kind is assam, a bold, black tea from India. But on this day, Creager talks him into trying the sencha Kyoto cherry rose green tea.

Creager said the key to good tea is knowing how to prepare it. Most people oversteep tea, giving it a bitter flavor, he said.

"Teas can be a lot more delicate, especially green and white teas," he said. "You have to watch the water temperature. That's why sometimes people try tea and they don't like it."

For example, a green or white tea should steep for only two minutes at 175 degrees, but more robust varieties, such as black tea or oolong, should steep for four to five minutes at a minimum of 200 degrees, he said.

"You never steep it longer if you want it stronger; you add more tea," he said. "It takes a lot less tea to make a cup than it does coffee"

In general, one teaspoon of loose tea is enough for one cup of tea.

The best way to impart the flavor of the tea is to use loose leaves added directly to the water in a small teapot, he said. Then the water can be poured through a fine strainer into the cup to remove the leaves.

Tea sacs and tea balls also can be used, but Creager recommends buying ones large enough to allow the leaves to properly unfold inside.

"The size of the bag really allows the tea to expand," he said, holding up a brand of fillable tea bags sold in his store.

And never put the tea in the microwave while the water is warming, he warned.

"If you put the bag in the microwave, you're cooking the tea," he said. That will only make the tea bitter.

Not all of the teas at the Key West Tea & Spice Co. are best served warm. Many varieties, such as the mango, Key lime, southernmost strawberry kiwi and pina colada, make for a cool treat on a warm Key West day, Creager said. These varieties are not technically "teas," but "tisanes" -- infusions made from fruit and dried herbs, prepared and drank just like tea.

Despite the many varieties of tea, all tea actually comes from the same plant: Camellia sinensis. The different flavors are a result of the preparation process and whether the leaves are allowed to wilt and/or oxidize.

Tea draws many parallels to wine: Tea has its own tasting terminology and includes descriptions such as "full-bodied," "coppery" and "tarry," among others. Different types of tea can be blended to create new varieties, and as mentioned before, the serving temperature is very important.

As with grapes, tea bushes derive different flavors depending on where in the world they are grown, the character of the soil and the weather. Mountainous, tropical locales produce the best tea. Popular growing regions include Sri Lanka, areas of Japan and China, north India, Indonesia, and more recently, Africa.

Africa also produces a popular tealike beverage called rooibos, a naturally decaffeinated and full-bodied "tea" made from a shrub in South Africa. When the needles are processed they turn red, and in Afrikaans, rooibos means red bush.

As traditional teas, rooibos is an excellent source of antioxidants and is rich in calcium, zinc and other nutrients, according to Creager and many online tea merchants.

Creager carries several varieties of rooibos in his shop in addition to the more traditional teas such as Earl Grey, chamomile, peppermint and green tea.

He said he'll have an ever-evolving selection. "There's always a flavor of the week it seems," he said.

All of the teas at the Key West Tea & Spice Co. come from a wholesale company that engages in Fair Trade practices, inspects against child labor and promotes good environmental practices among growers.

Creager also hopes to expand the spice selection.

"Our spice department is in its infancy," he said. "I'd like to involve some local chefs and have some signature spice blends."

amswary@keysnews.com