Connecting with the story of the tea – its history, cultivation, and production – is the motivation of many of the tea people whom I have encountered on my travels. I feel that I am so lucky to be able to know so many amazing tea growers. At Tealet, I made it my first goal for the company to find ways to share our relationships with these growers.
This past Fall I traveled from North Carolina to San Francisco to meet with as many tea people that I could; connecting via Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook,
Twitter, and even Reddit. Tea lovers and tea growers who I spent my time with had a spirit of collaboration and eagerness to connect with each other. For this reason Jason McDonald of FiLoLi Tea Farms and I launched the Tea Across America campaign successfully – because tea lovers wanted to take part in the development of US tea growing. Now there will be a tea plant in every state across the country. There’s even tea growing in Alaska! It’s amazing the power that tea has to connect us.
This coming Spring, I will be traveling to meet as many of our grower partners as possible to update them on our business and collect photos and videos about their farms and communities. My brother and I are happy to invite others to connect with us during our travels so we can continue to build our relationships. At this time we are inviting tea growers and tea people in the destinations listed below to reach out to us if you will be able to connect with us on the trip. In addition, we are welcoming tea shop owners and tea enthusiasts to plan a trip for this Spring with us. This is not a formal tea tour program, just a casual co-traveling opportunity. Reach out to me directly at elyse@tealet.com, and we’ll try to connect on the road for one of the legs of our trip. Sign up for email updates about the trip and future trips here. Below are Tealet’s tentative dates of travel:
- Kunming, China – April 4-10
- Nilgiris, India – April 10-13
- Sri Lanka – April 13-17
- Assam, India – April 17-20
- Bihar/Darjeeling, India – April 20-24
- Nepal – April 24-28
- Hangzhou, China – April 28-May 2
- Shizuoka, Japan – May 2-4
- Kyoto, Japan – May 4-7
- Fukuoka, Japan – May 7-11
- Xiamen, China – May 11-15
- Taiwan – May 15-18
- Seoul, South Korea – May 18-22
- Banten, Indonesia – May 22-24
Images courtesy of the author.
I love the Tea Across America concept. It is amazing that tea will be grown in every state in the U.S. I would have never imagined that could have been possible.
Your travels this spring sound inspiring. I will see if my schedule will permit a partial trip as well. To be part of such an adventure would be a wonderful opportunity to expand ones knowledge of tea.
Here’s what is so good about your itineraries: you are going to some of the most beautiful places in the world! The Nilgiris are misty and romantic – I hope you file your report here, Elyse.