As published in the August 7th edition of the Etobicoke Guardian

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An Etobicoke tea company’s list of clientele may grow to include the likes of country music superstars Reba McEntire, Martina McBride and Terri Clark next month – and they’ve got Twitter to thank for it.

Launched in June 2007 by Dan Johanis and his wife Elizabeth as an internet side business, Herbal Infusions recently caught the eye of Uptown Giftbox Company – a Vancouver-based company that supplies gift baskets – via the social networking site.

One thing led to another and now the Johanis’ are preparing a large bundle of their product to ship off to the Sept. 13 Canadian Country Music Awards in Vancouver.

“I guess I was Twittering enough to get some attention,” Johanis said, noting that he posts updates a couple of times a day with different promotions, coupons and product updates. “One of the folks at Giftbox contacted us through Twitter – said they were looking for the opportunity to feature Canadian suppliers in the backstage lounge at the awards. It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase our products.”

Herbal Infusions was born shortly after a friend introduced the Johanis’ to loose leaf tea. Then, as now, the couple both worked full-time jobs in downtown offices where the tea selection was less than appetizing.

“So, we started to blend our own tea and soon they became a hit at our dinner parties,” Johanis said, adding that they work out of their Lake Shore Boulevard and Royal York Road area home.

“We do a lot of herbal teas – or tisanes – but we also carry traditional green, white and black teas. Elizabeth blends and develops her own varieties and then tests them on family, friends and any other willing participants she can find. All our friends love sampling our goodies and teas.”

And thanks to social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, word on Herbal Infusions is starting to spread far and wide.

“All of our business is done online; I guess it just goes to show the power of the web,” Johanis said, noting that whenever an online order comes in, it’s routed directly to his Blackberry.

“I’ll update the Twitter account a couple times a day with special promotions and coupons. I’m finding it very useful for word of mouth promotions in the grassroots movement. We’re getting a lot of reviews from it.”

As for the awards, the Johanis’ are working on putting together a package of two of their most popular blends – Peppermint Dream, an herbal tea blended with a hint of lavender, and Rooibos tea, a South African blend. The teas will be packaged together with special biodegradeable tea bags and caramel and strawberry honey sticks in a Cedar slider box made from recycled utility poles. And to top off the eco-friendly gift box: a thank you card on seed paper – recycled paper embedded with wildflower seeds you can plant rather than throwing away.

But the biggest gift for Herbal Infusions, Johanis said, is the exposure the opportunity will afford their teas.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” he said. “We’re excited to see where we can go from here.”