FLINT, Mich. — After surviving breast cancer in 2007, LaDonna Wyatt turned her journey to wellness into Brook’s Tea, a health-focused stand at the Flint Farmers’ Market.
“I was in the oncologist’s office, and I was reading medical magazines, and I came across a medical magazine that said that green tea was good at preventing breast cancer,” Wyatt said.
Eventually, after a lot of trial and error, she found a green tea recipe that suited her taste. That was the beginning.
Her doctor acknowledged the benefits of green tea but urged her to stay on her prescribed medication. He also recommended cutting refined sugars from her diet — advice that sent Wyatt on a search for a natural sweetener.
“I gave it away for years, to anyone who needed it. If I thought they had cancer, were trying to prevent it, or just because,” she said. “And then my kids kept saying, ‘You should sell it.’ ”
Her teas, including green tea, ginger tea, lemon balm tea, and hibiscus tea, are made with organic ingredients. Wyatt said she makes thousands of samples each week, giving away an estimated 50,000 a year to customers who can discover which teas suit their taste.
“My first sale was at the Crim Festival of Races, where I sold tea right next to free beer, and it did well. And I just knew then that it really needed to be sold,” she said.
For years, she sold out of a cooler at events while keeping an eye out for vendor openings at the Flint Farmer’s Market. There were never any until early 2022, when a space opened outside.
After a summer of pitching a tent outside the market, Wyatt was informed that there was a temporary space inside for them. Temporary became permanent and Wyatt and her husband, Ples, have been there ever since, trading their coolers for refrigerators.
The name “Brook’s Tea” is inspired by her granddaughter, Brooklyn, who was born around the time Wyatt started making teas. She told herself, “I’m gonna have to live long enough to see Brooklyn’s grandchildren graduate, so I’m gonna need to start eating right and drinking right.”
Many of her teas began as custom blends for friends and family dealing with respiratory, digestive, and anxiety issues. She gave them away until they earned a permanent spot on her menu. Wyatt still makes tea at home, carefully monitoring the temperature and hand-cutting the labels herself.
Beyond selling tea, the stand serves as a starting point for conversations about health and recovery.
“I have had a lot of, maybe about four fellows, come to me about their wives and breast cancer,” she said. “They talk to me, and then I talk to them about it,” she said.
She sees eliminating white, refined sugar as the first and often most difficult step in a larger journey toward wellness. Because sugar is so addictive and appealing, she believes offering a flavorful, healthy alternative like her tea can make it easier for people to let go of unhealthy habits and stick to better choices.
Wyatt said many of her long-time customers are now cancer-free, not solely because of the tea, but due to broader lifestyle changes that the tea helped support.
“We care at Brook’s Tea about your health for real. We want this to be a part of your nutrition. So I think that’s what sets us apart,” she concluded.
Brook’s Tea is located inside the Flint Farmers’ Market and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.