In early March, a quiet conquest of green and pink drinks, assortments of aesthetically pleasing toppings and a well-decorated coffee shop dominated my social media feed. I was thus obliged to visit Equitea, a quaint café nestled among rowhouses on the south side of campus. Inside, I noticed a man — who I later discovered was Quentin Vennie — churning out drinks one by one, handcrafting each beverage to perfection.
Quentin Vennie is a wellness entrepreneur, speaker and author whose journey into the beverage industry emerged from a deeply personal mission. After years of overcoming addiction, anxiety and trauma, Vennie dedicated his life to helping others access wellness in an authentic and inclusive way. His foray into the ready-to-drink (RTD) tea industry began on Father’s Day — coinciding with Juneteenth — in 2022, when he and his wife, Erin Vennie, launched their first line of canned teas. By December of that year, Vennie found himself on stage at a BevNET event in Los Angeles alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, a major milestone in the beverage world. A few months later, their teas were in over 400 stores across the country. The Equitea pop-up launched in Remington in February 2025, marking their return to Baltimore and the beginning of a new chapter for the brand.
In our conversation, Vennie and I discussed Equitea’s role not just within the Hopkins community but also within the evolving ecosystem of Baltimore.
The News-Letter: What inspired your pop-up in Baltimore, specifically in Remington?
Quentin Vennie: When you come to my house, I don't offer you a glass of water. I don't offer you a glass of wine. I don't offer you a cold beer. I offer you a cup of tea. For me, offering a cup of tea is an extension of my own hospitality. Making you a cup of tea is an extension of my love for humanity, my gratitude and appreciation that we can share in this experience.
When we were in LA, we saw matcha shops all throughout California. I traveled to New York — matcha shops all through New York City. When we left California and came back to Baltimore, I realized that over the period we were gone, nobody had opened up a matcha spot or did anything with matcha as a primary focus. We knew there was an opportunity for us to open up the brick and mortar, create that extended hospitality and human experience.
I'm from Baltimore, and growing up, Remington wasn't a space or place or neighborhood that people traveled to. It wasn’t popular. With the recent introduction of R. House, Miller’s Court and the Service Center — with teachers, nonprofits and students near Hopkins — there became a unique opportunity. [Our position makes us] accessible to individuals who are already knowledgeable and educated on why matcha.
Remington fit the bill, but we wanted to launch as a pop-up because we had no idea if Baltimore City was ready for something like this. When you think about the culture of Baltimore, you have a bunch of breweries and a bunch of coffee shops. I didn't know if it would be successful. Remington has shown up and shown out — and we're here for the long haul.
N-L: I also think Remington is an interesting neighborhood. What I've noticed is that Hopkins students really enjoy Hampden and Charles Village. But living in Remington next semester, I’m excited to see more attention in this area because Hopkins students don’t really explore as much as I think they should.
QV: That’s the interesting thing about Baltimore. It's very neighborhood-centric. If you live in Charles Village, you tend not to explore beyond Charles Village. If you're in Hampden, you tend not to explore beyond Hampden. When we look at a lot of the innovation in what has been created over the last 10 or 15 years in Remington, we're drawing people from all neighborhoods — Old Goucher, Reservoir Hill, Bolton Hill, Patterson Park. So many people are starting to commune here. Hopefully, Remington is going to help lay the foundation for stepping out of that neighborhood comfort zone and exploring more, like you're talking about.
N-L: I also noticed that you haven't had any previous restaurants or cafés. What was the experience like starting the Equitea pop-up from scratch?
QV: Terrifying. I never worked in hospitality and that wasn't the field that I thought I was going to be in, but I was always drawn to culinary arts and interior design. Growing up in West Baltimore, I didn't necessarily see myself represented in those industries — they were quiet, silent interests of mine.
But I also wanted to fill a need — something that I saw as a growing trend. I say "trend" loosely, because I don’t think it’s a trend. [Matcha] is just the beginning of something spectacular. To me, it's a great way for people to start making better decisions without sacrificing or compromising. People often say, “I come here once a week because this is my sweet treat.” But what an incredible treat! It's not like I’m going to get a chicken box. It's like I’m going to treat myself with something that's still good for me.
N-L: Especially as a college student, I feel like there aren’t many cheap and healthy options around campus. So being able to take care of yourself even when you’re indulging feels like a privilege, but it’s one everyone should have access to.
QV: Yeah, it's an unfortunate reality. So for us, being able to provide accessible wellness is a gift we don't take for granted. Wellness has been gatekept for a long time, especially in America. But we also believe that we don't have to sacrifice quality to make it accessible — and that's the middle ground. I've had people come in and ask, "Why isn't your matcha expensive like other brands?" If we charge more, we become part of the problem and not the solution — and we want to be part of the solution.
Not coming from a hospitality background, I came into this with zero expectations. I just knew I wanted to make the best quality product that I knew how to make, at a rate that was affordable and accessible, that people would appreciate. That was my only hope and expectation. Everything we’ve done up to this point has exceeded that.
N-L: Given the matcha shortage in Japan and tariffs impacting international trade, have you faced issues with matcha supply for Equitea?
QV: Yeah, fortunately, we haven't been impacted by the tariffs on the matcha side. I'm not sure how the tariffs are impacting Japan. I know we source some of our tea ingredients from Mexico, Canada and China. The majority of what we serve is matcha, and we haven't experienced an issue with that so far.
N-L: Did you move to LA to explore living there, or was it a business decision?
QV: It was a combination of things. My oldest son was 17 when he passed away from accidental consumption of fentanyl, on April 12, 2023.
N-L: I'm so sorry about that.
QV: Thank you, I appreciate that. A lot of the opportunities that were coming our way for the canned tea business were happening in California. Ninety percent of our investors were in California. Most of the stores we were in were in California. Most of the stores that were expressing interest in carrying us were in California. There was nothing else really holding me back here, and my grieving process was really throwing myself into work. So the cards just aligned. But had things gone the way we anticipated in LA, I probably wouldn't have moved back.
When we were there, we had the ability to grow the business. California has everything — they have the manufacturing, infrastructure, capital. But do I stay in LA, build my business that benefits that state and city, or do I come home? Where my roots are, where my community is, where my people are — and contribute to the city? I chose Baltimore.
I believe we're starting to see growth in this neighborhood from a food and beverage perspective. You have Clavel. You have Blacksauce [Kitchen]. You have all these businesses at R. House. You have all these incredible culinary food and beverage experiences being built and created here. I wanted to come back home and contribute my small part in helping to continue to build that.
N-L: It’s kind of like a homecoming — like you go to LA, and you figure out that where you should be is back home.
QV: That's exactly what it was. This pop-up was my homecoming — my way of saying, "Baltimore, I’m back!" This is my contribution to the city.
N-L: What role does your wife, Erin Vennie, play in your business?
QV: I often say my wife is the backbone of the company, honestly. I'm the face, the voice, the creative — but she keeps the lights on. She makes sure that products are ordered, that we have inventory, that the operations are functioning and moving. She is very much foundational to our ability to do what we do on a day-to-day basis. There's no way I'd be able to run this business in any capacity without her. She’s quiet, and she's usually in the back, but she's the executioner.
N-L: You two seem to have perfectly complementary skills — a very natural partnership.
QV: We met in the work environment, so we naturally had a respect for each other's strengths. She doesn't step into my arena, and I try not to step into hers. I'm a firm believer in letting people do what they're good at.
N-L: With your wife as your business partner, how do you balance the business and work sides of your life?
QV: That's a good question because I think we're still trying to figure that piece out. A lot of times when we leave work and go home, we still have work. We are very intentional about when we shut those conversations off and when we get back to family life. But I think being in the early stages of building a brand and growing a business, we may be open from eight to three, but we work 20 hours a day. And so, I think that in a lot of ways, there's this fallacy of work life balance, because if that were the case there would be no such thing as sacrifice. There'd be no such thing as compromise. Everything would be 50/50. That balance changes constantly.
One of the things I learned in yoga, when you're doing balancing poses like, tree pose for instance, they always say “A tree that doesn't sway in the wind breaks”. You must find balance in movement.
N-L: I love that philosophy. I think Hopkins students are pretty accustomed to working hard. We always have this fantasy of achieving work-life balance, but like a lot of people in Baltimore, a lot of them are all really ambitious. If you want work life balance, it’s going to end up leaning towards work, to fill those ambitions, and that's also like balance.
N-L: The much anticipated question: what's it like working with Gwyneth Paltrow? She seems cool, but she can be controversial at times.
QV: She is one of the most creative and innovative, humble, down-to-earth individuals I've ever had the pleasure of being in the company of. I often say she's a real one. This woman sent me videos of her singing happy birthday to me on my birthday, even opening her home to me and my family. I have so much love and respect and admiration for her. Not the celebrity side of her, but the human side of her. I think the celebrity that everybody attaches to her gets blown out of proportion. They forget that she's a real person making real sacrifices for real people, creating a lot of opportunities for a lot of people to feed their families. Working with her has been a true gift. I hope to bring it to Baltimore sometime.
N-L: To end things off, what is your favorite menu item?
QV: The Earl Grey Matcha, hands down, is my favorite. I love earl grey; I love London fogs. I remember one day, I woke up in the morning. I was like, I really want a matcha and I really want a London fog and I was like, why compromise? I'm going to put it together. It was good, but it could have been better, so I kept working and working and working.
N-L: I’m behind your number one pick. I think what you guys are doing here is great, and I really respect it. I will be coming back a ton!
QV: Thank you, I really appreciate it.
