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The theme of this year's Nantou Global Tea Expo is rooted in the ancient Chinese custom of sharing refreshments and co-creating poetry and song while sitting beside a stream. This tradition dates back to the Jin Dynasty in the 4th Century.

Upon meeting Mr. Ye, the farmer, I knew my neighbor had a reliable supplier. His humble manner and simple, direct communication was recognized as what I value the most in the industry here. An independent farmer with decades of experience producing small batches of Oolong Tea in a secluded mountainous environment.

My friend ended up sharing a small amount of the remainder of this award winning tea that proved to be quite delicious as it transformed in quality over several brews. I proudly took it across the globe to share with a friend in Los Angeles who has appreciated the Dong Ding Oolong that we have shared with him for over a decade.

Sourcing director Andy Kincart visited Google in San Francisco last week for an informal tea tasting with the staff in their Conscious Café. Eco-Cha teas have been served to the Google team in San Francisco since last year.

The entire team has been working hard for months and we can finally share our new gift sets with you! These packs will be available next week in time for the mid-autumn festival in Taiwan. Stay tuned because we'll kick it off with a launch-sale! 

A perfect cup of tea is no accident. It requires a convergence of many factors all coming together in just the right way. If just one of these is missing, your cup may suffer. Over the past 22 years we’ve visited hundreds of tea farms and spoken with many amazing tea farmers about exactly what makes a great Oolong tea.

Roads were blocked as a result of landslides in many mountainous areas of Taiwan for weeks and months following Typhoon Morakot. This meant that the tea farms on the other side of these landslides were left unmanaged until the roads were opened.

We are often asked questions such as "How did you get into tea? What is it about tea that impressed you enough to make it your career focus?"

In our experience, the naturally developed interest in tea that literally "grew on us" rather than us "deciding" to learn about it, has put us in a unique position and perspective. We have learned about Taiwanese tea because we loved being in mountainous territory and exploring the source of something we were immediately captivated by 25 years ago. And our interest and learning has continued to grow and mature. Now, it is the central focus of what we do. We visit farmers, ask questions, observe, lend a hand, and make friends. And we share this experience.

So, it was on my visit to taste the minimal batch of summer harvest that was filmed by the TV crew that we tasted the "special spring batch" that Mr. Liu had retrieved and put through a single roasting. I reiterated that I would like to buy this tea if it becomes available.

Sipping a cup of your favorite tea can be an enjoyable, healthy and relaxing thing to do, but what about all of the other things you can do with tea besides drinking it? Both savory and sweet, there is no end to what kind of recipes you can create using tea!

We can now present you with a short film that not only documents the organic certification of Mr. Lin's newly established tea farm and our cooperation with him, but also provides an overview of tea production in Taiwan, and an explanation of why this is a prototypical case of sustainability in the local industry.

When GYI contacted us to ask if we were interested in being a part of this year's program in Taiwan, of which the theme is "Redefining", we promptly said yes. And so we filled their slot of agriculture amidst other subjects such as design, health, media, and more in their 2-week program.