Real tea found me through an old friend. Together we tasted a high-mountain oolong from Taiwan's Li Shan mountain (梨山), of the Qing Xin (青心) cultivar - and that taste never let me go. An occasional cup became a daily ritual and, in part, the way my day is arranged.
Tea is more than a drink to me. Behind every cup is something specific: the place where it grew, the hands that processed it, the cultivar, and the way of brewing that decides everything. And when it comes together, the reward is a taste and aroma that resonate long after the last infusion.
Tea Mates is my way of passing it on. Mates because that's how it all began - and that's exactly how I approach it too: as a friend, not a seller. I choose only what I drink myself - high-mountain red teas from Taiwan and China above all - and for every tea I'll tell you where it's from and how to brew it so it tastes as it should.
Maybe the taste of tea will catch you the way it caught me - and that's the greatest reward for me.