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back home to Nova Scotia. Je  was
a social worker with no training in co ee. But with the support of wife, Deb, he took an incredble leap of faith and used the collateral from their home to purchase the raw beans. O  he went to the USA, to take a course in co ee roasting while the beans were enroute by ship.
Just Us! started as a small store in New Minas with a hole cut into the  oor to build the roaster.  e
focus was to work with producer co-operatives and provide
a fair livelihood to grow-
ers, as well as to educate
the public.
 e present day loca-
tion of Just Us! on 11865
Highway #1, RR 3,
Wolfville is a sprawling building that welcomes visitors with outdoor and indoor seating. It also boasts an edu- cational area with information about the co ee growers.
An interesting addition on the end of the main room are row on row of tea tins. Not just your regular Earl Grey, but rare teas including those of the Yunnan region, famous for the Tea Horse Road, an ancient trading route dating back to Marco
Polo. Yunnan is a region of century old trees and small family farms that make up the tea collectives, rather than large plantations.
I spent a quiet a ernoon at Just Us! in the presence of two tea sommeliers in training, Frank Harris and Britt Mastroianni, who shared their tea phi- losophy and expertise. Frank spoke about his ideas on the co-op model, while Britt commented on the impor- tance on being biodynamic and organic certi ed.
 e idea of “fair trade” at Just Us! goes beyond pay- ing above minimum wage and health bene ts, but
is governed by its motto: “ People and the Planet Before Pro t”. Frank and
Britt are employees and owners, as both have shares in the company.
Britt’s favourite tea is Tie Guan Yin, much like the Iron Goddess tea with “fruity, peach tone like crisp, white wine”. Her parents are originally
from the United Kingdom and as she said,“tea is big in my family”. A ernoon tea was a daily must with a “beautiful tea set with  owers and blossoms” and her mom in charge of the food. By uni- versity, it was loose leaf tea and there
  















































































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