Our Story

The Zora & Josephine Tea Room

Delivering class, comfort and culture to your tastebuds

The Zora & Josephine Tea Room began as a full-service, luxury tea room delivery experience.

The Company was created when a human resources executive with a background in hospitality and education

whipped up pastries for loved ones during a difficult time.

Named in honor of two of the most colorful and flavorful women in history, The Zora & Josephine Tea Room

began with the commitment to make the world a better place one tea sandwich at a time. Once the noise of the COVID pandemic came to a lull, however, the owner pivoted, focusing on building a global retail company that provided luxurious teas and herbal blends from nearly every corner of the world.

In keeping with the tradition of the namesakes, all teas have been carefully curated and named through the art and lens of "local color."

A Word about the Women Who Inspire

Zora Neale Hurston

Storyteller, author, filmmaker, and pioneering anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston (1891 to 1960) was committed to creating, exploring and recording everyday people. Zora was scrappy and raw, and loved to cook when she wasn’t writing about the ways of her "skinfolk." Daughter of the Harlem Renaissance,

Zora covered topics on race, religion, sex, politics, and class. In more than 11 books and 50 articles,

this legend chronicled the best and the worst of the human condition.

Josephine Baker

Born in 1906, Josephine Baker was just as controversial and daring as she was alluring and talented.
A natural entertainer, Josephine challenged racism and sexism on the world’s stage as singer, actress, dancer, activist, wartime hero, and mother to the children she called her “Rainbow Tribe.”
When she wasn’t shattering social mores and stereotypes, she smuggled secret messages
for the French Resistance and made fabulous food.

Michelle “MJ” Jones, a longtime lover of the afternoon tea experience, created The Zora & Josephine Tea Room to serve and acknowledge the incredibly diverse customer base long-brewing in tea room establishments for decades. The Zora & Josephine Tea Room sits at the intersection of Comfort, Tradition and Culture. Z&J sandwiches and pastries transport customers from a time-honored British tea experience, to a down home southern kitchen, and on to the shops of the East with menu items like Serendipity Sweet Potato Pie and sandwiches such as Spicy Creole Chicken Salad and Cheese and Chutney. Z&J loose leaf teas are processed with a commitment to high ethical standards, respecting the environment and the people who grow and cultivate crops within the United States and abroad. The Company is also passionate about sustainability while ensuring exceptional taste and superior quality. The Zora & Josephine Tea Room is proud to be the first 100% online delivery and shipping tea room. It is also the originator of the Doughbundt, the featured pastry of The Zora & Josephine Tea Room. The Doughbundt is currently sold in 3 flavors:
Lavender Lemon, Chocolate City Chocolate and Bourbon & Brown Sugar. MJ is a 20-plus year veteran leader in human resources, hospitality, and higher education. A life-long learner dedicated to History and the Arts, she worked as a college professor for over a decade.
Michelle is a graduate of Fisk University and holds a Masters in English.