Drew Henry's family used to distill whiskey in Northern Ireland, and he and his wife, Cerina, were thinking of bringing that tradition back to Spokane to follow in their family's footsteps. As they discussed the idea and examined the Spokane area competition, they knew that whiskey had already been done well in the region. At the same time, despite drinking about six cups of tea a day Drew did not consider himself a "tea person," possibly because the term conjures up images of stuffiness or even fanciness in the US. But, when they thought more about it, they wondered how many other closet tea drinkers were out there...it was just then that they had their "light-bulb" moment, and they decided, why not take the whole craft whiskey/craft beer movement and make it come to life for tea? They dived into developing tea blends. After eight months, they had their first blend, Fresh Crafted Spiced Chai, with others to follow, and in 2018, the Henrys launched Revival Tea as an online company. According to Henry, they landed on the name Revival because it has a dual meaning, one of them going back to World War I propaganda. “England actually used to run propaganda that said ‘tea revives you,’ which to the soldier meant ‘Yeah, we know it's tough, but we gave you tea. You're good. Get back out there’.”

Early on, Revival Tea made the decision that they weren't going to buy the cheapest tea. Henry says, “All of our tea, whether it’s white, green, black, or oolong, all comes from what’s called the flowery orange pekoe. It’s the smallest leaf at the top, whereas most teas you’ll find in a grocery store take the leaves and even take the stem and grind it.” Using high-quality teas gives Revival their smooth signature finish, and you'll also notice that their teas, tisanes and herbal blends are always a little bolder than you might expect.

By 2020, with their online business doing well, they were soon thinking of opening a brick-and-mortar location. They wanted a central space modeled after craft breweries with taster flights, limited edition mug releases, barrel-aged chai, and new teas “on tap” to gauge their popularity before being packaged. As luck would have it, a space on W. Main in downtown Spokane with a historic tradition of being a "tasting room" of sorts became available. In Spokane's early days, it was a speakeasy, and big liquor tycoon Jimmy Durkin used it as his gambling den. The Henrys jumped at the chance to fix it up and take it back to its glory days with a bit of a twist for tea tasting. There are always risks in opening a retail location, and it was scary navigating the coronavirus pandemic in the first month of opening, but Henry credits the company's success to community support and the ability to adapt. According to Drew, “COVID-19 is one of those things that forced us to reimagine our business model,” he said. “We pivoted and said, ‘If we can’t do dine-in, what can we do?’ … The response from people purchasing—we could have never imagined that. It will be a story we will tell 50 years from now in terms of our survival and how we grew.”

Following the growth and the momentum of the pandemic, in September 2021, Revival opened a new 4000 sf production facility a few blocks away from their tasting room and continues to innovate blends—now offering over 60 varieties. Those 60 teas require some 200 different ingredients, which are sourced from more than 30 countries. The new space was a welcome addition to give them more room to house the ingredients and create their well-balanced, bold craft blends.

"It's not just a drink—it's an experience, a ritual. You're not just a tea drinker—you're a Revivalist." -- Drew Henry