Just when coffee lovers have become comfortable tossing around terms like double-shot and tall-and-skinny with extra foam, a little shop in downtown Spokane has put a modern twist on another ancient caffeinated beveragetea.


In addition to music and home dcor items, the bookstore, called Namaska, sells a variety of both traditional and trendy tea drinks, including tea lattes, jet tea, and yerba tea. Barb Rathbun, the owner of Namaska, and Amanda Nolan, the stores manager, are trying to do more with their tea bar than pour new life into the tea-drinking world. Theyre hoping it will brew a sales-growth potion for a more than 60-year-old Spokane business thats struggling to compete with online and big-box book and music vendors.


Retail sales have been declining, because people have more options now than they used to, Nolan says. We want to keep the heart and soul of the business, but switch to offering more of a complete atmosphere for promoting a healthy mind and body.


The bookshop portion of Namaskas business started here in 1937 under the name The Little Metaphysical Bookstore, Rathbun says. In 1985, new owners bought the store and named it The Open Door. When Rathbun bought it in 1988, she kept the name and operated the store on Monroe Street just north of the Monroe Street Bridge, which closed for reconstruction in 2002. Worried that the bridge closure would hurt business, Rathbun then moved the store east to 22 W. Main and renamed it Namaska. Last week, the store, which has three employees, moved to its current 1,300-square-foot space at 421 W. First. Rathbun declines to disclose its annual revenues.


The name Namaska comes from the word Namaskar, which in Sanskrit means the divine in me honors the divine in you. Sanskrit is a classical language of India and a liturgical language of Buddhism and Hinduism. When the store moved to its location on West Main, Rathbun and Nolan wanted to notify customers about the new name and location with flyers. The person who printed the flyers, though, accidentally left off the r in the name. Rather than redoing the flyers, they decided to stick with the name Namaska.


When visitors walk into the store, theyre greeted with calming ambient music, a hint of sweet and spicy aromas from the stores aromatherapy products, and Nolans and Rathbuns friendly smiles. Books about meditation and relaxation methods line the shelves, and an eclectic inventory of compact discs featuring artists from around the world fill racks hanging from the walls. Customers also can buy Japanese hand-rolled incense, soy candles that burn without smoke, specialty Chinese tea pots, herbal soaps, and yoga accessories. Other items include jewelry, greeting cards, and lamps made from salt crystal rock.


Most people dont know how to relax or just cant relax, says Nolan, a former massage therapist. Customers feel very stress free when they come in here.


The tea bar, which she claims is the only one of its kind in Spokane, contributes to Namaskas tranquil environment. Customers can sip the soothing liquid while browsing books about natural therapies and religious contemplation, Rathbun says. Tea also offers a coffee alternative to customers who want an energy jolt in addition to the health benefits from antioxidants contained in tea, she says.


The tea bar right now is where espresso coffee was 10 years ago, Rathbun says.


Namaska offers traditional green and black teas, but also serves fruit tea smoothies, called jet teas, and yerba teas, which are herbal teas that have long been served in South America and recently have gained popularity in the U.S., Nolan says. Yerba tea is known for its energizing effects, as well as for the unique way in which it traditionally is served. The herb is placed in a small gourd specifically hollowed out as a drinking vessel and then hot water is poured over the herb. The drinker sips the earthy-tasting liquid through a metal straw with a strainer built into one end, called a bombilla, thats inserted into the herb tea, Nolan says. The brew has a strong flavor and smells like hay, so those who want the health benefits without the taste often drizzle honey into the drink, she says.


At the tea bar, rows of glass containers are filled with different herb blends that Rathbun buys wholesale from suppliers around the country. Nolan says she takes customers on a sensory journey, in which they can take whiffs from the jars before choosing from the more than 60 tea beverages available. Customers also can order tea lattes, in which a variety of flavored extracts are mixed with foamed milk. The most popular tea latte, called Barbs Blend, is designed for those who have a sweet tooth and contains several different kinds of chocolate.


Nolan, who came up with the idea to start a tea bar and describes that aspect of the store as her baby, says she is considering offering educational classes about the health benefits of tea and the different ways it is prepared in other countries.


The goal is to make people aware of all the ways people drink their tea, Nolan says. Were not about high tea, but about how to respect traditional aspects of tea.


Shes also considering adding bubble tea to the menu. That beverage, which originated in Southeast Asia and recently has become popular in the U.S., contains a mixture of tea, milk, sugar, and small black tapioca balls that have a gummy consistency. The term bubble refers to the foam created by shaking the tea with ice.


Although tea is still the featured item at Namaska, the store recently started serving coffee drinks as well. Rathbun orders the fair trade and organic beans from Doma Coffee Roasting Co., of Coeur dAlene.


Changing focus


Due to increased competition with Internet vendors and large retailers, the store is scaling back its inventory of books and is focusing more on the coffee and tea areas of Namaskas business, Nolan says. A number of the stores longtime customers continue to buy books there, and the store still primarily relies on word-of-mouth advertising, but times are changing and so must the store, she says.


Nolan plans to become a business partner with Rathbun, with the intent of eventually buying the entire store, she says. Shes worked at Namaska for six years, and in 2002 quit a job as a massage therapist when she realized she wanted to be involved in steering the direction of the store.


I just couldnt get enough of this place, she says.


Nolan talks animatedly about Namaskas future as she strolls around the shop and points out gift items that she says also will become more of a focal point there.


One of those items, Chinese yixing teapots, are made of purple clay and known as the best vessels for brewing tea because they absorb the tea flavor, she says. Nolan also plans to expand the stores CD inventory and create a sound bar, where customers can listen to samples of music.


When she reaches the books, however, she runs her fingers over the bindings and mentions various authors and titles that the store wont sell anymore. As she pulls paperbacks off the shelves and rifles through the pages, she says shes been familiar with them since childhood, because her mother was a hypnotherapist. Although Nolan is excited to expand the tea bar and music aspects of Namaskas business, she says its difficult to reduce the inventory of books.


Its tragic, really, she says. But, thats just the way it is.


For Rathbun, its taking a little more time to adjust to all of the changes. A native of Spokane, she says she has spent the past two decades at Namaska sharing her love for books with customers.


Ive always been interested in metaphysics, and books are my passion, she says. You have to sell a lot of books, though, to make a living.


Despite the difficulty in letting go of some of the literature, Rathbun says shes optimistic about Namaskas future and enjoys brainstorming new ideas for the store with Nolan.


Its been a roller coaster, thats for sure, Nolan says. But, it still feels right for us.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.