New flavors in Town Center

The Spice & Tea Exchange opens its doors in Big Sky

Story and photos by Doug Hare EBS Staff

BIG SKY – On Dec. 23, Karen and Joel Marshall opened The Spice & Tea Exchange in the new 19,000-square-foot building near the entrance to Big Sky Town Center. The store is nestled next to Asian restaurant Lotus Pad’s new location in the same building, and across the street from East Slope Outdoors.

The Marshalls’ shop offers an extensive selection of spices, exclusive hand-mixed blends and rubs, naturally flavored sugars, nutritious grains, gourmet salts and the finest teas from around the world.

Joel Marshall opened The Spice & Tea Exchange with his wife Karen on Dec. 23 in Big Sky Town Center.

With more than 50 franchises across the U.S., this is the company’s second location in Montana—the couple opened their first storefront in June 2016 on East Main Street in Bozeman, near Ace Hardware. Visiting the Big Sky shop proves to be an enjoyable sensory experience, as the owners encourage visitors to open jars, sample spices and find things they can be creative with in the kitchen.

The Spice & Tea Exchange’s mission is “Creating and sharing the experience of a more flavorful life,” according to its website, and the Marshalls look forward to exemplifying this mission by sharing flavors, tastes and aromas, and expanding the horizons of the palates of Big Sky residents and visitors alike.

Prior to this entrepreneurial franchising endeavor, the Marshalls each had successful corporate careers in Houston, Texas. Joel was a real estate developer for three decades, and Karen followed her passion for cooking and baking to start her own a catering business.

While the couple was visiting Breckenridge, Colorado, they happened upon a spice and tea shop Karen felt was exactly the kind of store she wanted to bring to Montana.

“We’ve been coming to ski Big Sky for well over a decade, and we’ve always known this is a place where we would like to live,” Joel said. The Marshalls split their time between their house in Bozeman and an apartment above their Big Sky store.

“Business has been robust at our Bozeman location and we hope that it can be just as brisk here in our new shop,” Joel added.

With more than 140 spices, over 85 hand-mixed seasoning blends, 17 naturally flavored sugars, 25 distinctive salts and 35 exotic teas from around the globe, The Spice & Tea Exchange promises to have something for everyone—from the gourmand to those without culinary expertise. Find specialty seasonings for popcorn, pizza, and bloody mary cocktails to boot.

The Marshalls’ new store also offers recipes, books, gift boxes and accessories to complement their vast selection of new flavors in Big Sky. Stop in and add some spice to your life.

The Spice & Tea Exchange is located at 47 Town Center Ave., Unit C. Visit spiceandtea.com/bigsky or call (406) 993-2163 for more information.