Sheila Hubbard has been cultivating her passion for unique tea blends for years. Previously a flight attendant, she loved trying different tea shops as she traveled and posting about them online. Hubbard found a new niche in her passion when she began to explore cigar pairings and incorporated that into her tea blogging in 2023.
Her interest in tea and cigar pairings led to some unique opportunities, including a new connection with the Sisters of the Leaf Global Movement — a group on a mission to introduce women to the world of cigars — as well as a session at Chicago Cigar Week, during which Hubbard shared her knowledge of cigar and tea pairings. She also hosted a pop-up cigar-and-tea event for a friend’s nonprofit, paving the way for a future concept.
From these experiences, Hubbard hatched a dream to concoct her own tea blends, and Aromas Premium Teas was born.
On New Year’s Day, a meeting at Koncept House led Hubbard to her ideal brick-and-mortar location. Now, she is preparing to open her own tea bar in the space at 141 Mangum St. SW formerly home to The Sober Social.
The 30-seat space will feature a six-seat bar as well as tables and chairs where people can sit and enjoy a unique lineup of tea-infused beverages. Hubbard plans to set Aromas apart not only with tea blends crafted solely for the tea bar, but also by featuring one blend each month. That special blend will be infused in the beverage offerings on the menu — about five or six cold mocktails alongside five or six hot mocktails. The following month, a new blend will rotate in as the featured tea.
The sustainably-sourced, organic tea blends will also offer unique insight into Hubbard’s own history. There will be three to five blends in each series of teas, and the first series will be known as the Black Series. The first featured blend — a smoky black tea — will be called The Extortionist, a reference to her great-grandfather, Ike Rogers.
“He was a Cherokee Freedman, a U.S. Deputy Marshal and a Civil War veteran,” Hubbard told What Now Atlanta. “We took about five different accounts from his life that are recorded history, and we matched the blends with the story attached to that history. The Extortionist blend, which is the first blend we’re going to be featuring, tells the story about how he was charged with extortion by the U.S. government over $30.”
While there will be no food menu, Hubbard is looking into partnerships with other local brands for small bites or snacks.
Hubbard is also looking to do ticketed cigar and tea pairing events, potentially with some amuse bouche pairing as well. While Aromas will not sell its own cigars, they plan to collaborate with a cigar vendor.
Hubbard hopes that Aromas will become a spot where people can be exposed to a wide variety of tea ingredients, as they are sourcing items from 14 countries. She also hopes to introduce more people to the experience of pairing cigar with teas and exploring how flavors interact.
“We’re hoping we bring more people that either smoke cigars or are interested in smoking cigars and want to experience the flavors of the teas that we offer without sugar, without sweetener, and just to pay attention to their palate,” Hubbard said. “We want to help people start drinking their tea without adding anything to it. It’s very important to me and my family that how we brew the tea tastes the same every time.”
Hubbard is aiming to open Aromas in late March. She and her four children are working together to bring the space to life so that it can provide unique experiences and tea offerings to customers when it opens.
“We are hoping that once we open, we really start becoming a place where people just want to go, even if it’s to grab a cup of tea that they can’t get in the store and can’t find anywhere but us,” Hubbard said.
