Tea origin stories
I’m very much new to the loose leaf tea scene but have been drinking tea for most of my life. One of the things that has attracted me, aside from the obvious flavour/cost advantages is the chance to find out more about where the tea comes from and the people who grow it.
I’ve gone through quite a few sites recommended in the forums, the recent thread about which three sources you’d buy from has been a wonderful resource, but I was wondering if anyone could offer a specific recommendation. What I would love is a vendor who tells as much of the story as they can, txt and images, about where the tea they are sending me comes from and the people who make their livings growing it. A great example I found would be over at adagio, http://www.adagio.com/rooibos/rooibos.html. I know it’s mostly marketing on their part but it makes the tea experience that much better for me having seen where the tea came from, reading what the tea means to the person who grew it, ect. I came across the following blog post from a wholesale that was perfect, http://www.teaseek.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-journey-to-lao-ban-zhang-bu-lang-shan.html, it was though I could taste the tea through the screen but from what I gather they only do wholesale.I apologize if a thread has already been written about this but I couldn’t think of how exactly to search for what I’m looking for hahah. Thanks in advance for any recommendations any can offer!
Verdant Tea has a lot of information about their teas and the personal relationships at all stages of the processing (farmers, etc). I can’t really think of anyone else offhand that has that level of transparency, but I’m sure there are many more.
Thank you for thinking of us, Uniquity! It’s always our goal to share our friends’ teas with as much transparency as possible, bringing focus to the real rock stars of tea – the amazing folks growing and making the tea itself :)
Thanks for the recommendation! Their story on the He family, http://verdanttea.com/laoshan-village-tea-farmers-meet-the-he-family/ , was great! I’m not expecting every tea selection to have such a remarkable tale as that, but I’ll definitely remember their story when my tea order arrives and I can taste the fruit of their labors :)
Thank you, Bgrinham! That is absolutely our goal – for tea lovers to remember the wonderful people like the He Family who make tea possible. We made a promise to help Mr. He extend the hospitality of his family and his village to tea drinkers all over the world, and we take that seriously. That’s one reason why we have everyone’s portraits up on the walls at our tea house – at the end of the day, we’re representing our friends, and we have to make sure we’re representing them with the respect they deserve!
Jalam Teas http://www.jalamteas.com/ does a tea of the month club (mostly pu’er) and each month there is a story of that tea’s farmers, how its made, area and how the locals drink the tea. There are a few videos as well (ie http://www.jalamteas.com/pages/nan-nuo-shan)
That’s exactly the sort of thing I’m looking for! I’ve never tried pu’er before but I plan on trying some from a local shop soon, it’s looks a little intimidating but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it hahah. It looks like the monthly clubs offer the kind of experience I’m looking for, now to decide on one…
Woot, glad I found what you were looking for!
Jalam has some really good pu’er – the experience of drinking the tea plus checking out the story behind it is really cool.
If you are getting into Pu’er, I’d also recommend Mandala Tea’s pu’er. Wild Monk, Noble Mark and Phatty Cake are really good. Wild Monk is the highest rated tea on Steepster at the moment.
I was about to comment about Jalam Teas, as well! Jeff is really great!
I also wanted to note that both Yezi Tea and Taiwan Tea Crafts give lots of info about where their teas come from.
http://www.yezitea.com/pages/meet-our-tea-farmers
http://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/2013/08/30/5304/#sthash.LVniVbt5.dpbs
Those are just two of the places that both companies provide some background on their teas. For most (if not all) of their teas, both companies list a good amount of information about each tea’s background/story.
Taiwan Tea Crafts is just th sort of thing I’ve been looking for! It’s so exciting to be ordering tea that was picked only weeks ago! Can you recommend any of their tea’s? I usually stick with white tea but I’ve been expanding my palette lately. Yezitea also looks like a good pick, I’m really looking forward to their Yi Fu Chun!
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