Tea and Zen
PEACEFULNESS THROUGH A BOWL OF TEA
ABOUT
The idea behind Tea and Zen was to create a boutique tea brand specialising in exceptional quality green teas and directly sourced from small family-run farms in Japan. It would also offer distinctive, artisan-produced hand-crafted teaware, ceramics and accessories.
BACKGROUND
During the London summer of 2013, my best friend and I decided to embark on a journey to go and study the ins and outs of Japanese Tea Culture in Japan. This was based on a shared love for the exquisite deliciousness of Japanese tea, including its taste, health benefits, hospitality and rituals. We wanted to share this incredible experience with the world.
Our aim was to eventually create our own unique Japanese tea brand, selling directly from small family-run farms in Kyoto via our small market stall in Devon. The tea would be sealed and packaged ‘fresh’ and in such a way as to retain its freshness and flavour. We would also live-demo the delicate 'way of' (sah-do) - how to correctly steep and serve superior green tea in order to extract the best flavour.
FROM JAPAN TO YOUR TEA CUP
The packages would be sold in 50g and 100g sizes at a sales prices ranging from £11 to £21. Certainly this is at the higher end for tea prices but our desire was to serve superior green tea and after adding in packaging, import duties and VAT, this was the cost necessary to deliver a profit margin of around 15%.
And so we jetted off to Japan to live and work on a Japanese Tea Farm for three months. We landed in the heart of rural Kyoto, steeping ourselves in the cultivation, production, marketing, promotion and exquisite enjoyment of green tea (from farm to business to family). We stayed primarily at Obubu, a tea farm and online tea business based in Wazuka, Kyoto-fu, that aims to spread Japanese tea culture around the world (www.obubutea.com).
Obubu Tea
The Japanese tea fields of Wazuka, Kyoto, where we stayed during our time in Japan.
Tea Ceremony
A Grand Tea Master from the prestigious Urasenke School of Tea.
“A little known fact is that less than 3% of Japanese tea is exported abroad. What’s more, the Japanese culture are massive drinkers of tea (like the Brits) yet the difference in quality and taste is enormous. We hoped to bridge this gap by introducing the UK to the fresh, superior tea leaf that the Japanese experience every day with every cup..”
OUR STAY AT OBUBU TEA FARM
We set our sights high, got down and dirty (on the farm), connected with local experts from farmers to traders to grand tea masters, met inspiring people along the way and emerged even more passionate about tea.
During this time we attended a World Trade Show in Shizuoka (the capital of Japanese tea production) which showcases the very best of tea from leading global producers including Korea, Taiwan and Japan; studied with a tea sensei from the esteemed Urasenke Tea School; sipped ceremonial matcha with a Grand Tea Master during the traditional ceremony known as ‘the tea ceremony’; and experienced the hospitality of some of Kyoto's oldest tea houses including Ippodo and Tsuen (the latter being an 850 year old tea tavern).
BUSINESS CARDS
We created a brand logo with business cards. The zen aspect captured the serenity one feels in the ritual of steeping and savouring green tea, a process that uses all the senses.
WAZUKA TEA FESTIVAL
Part of our work whilst on the farm (alongside building our own tea brand), was to help out with their annual preparations for the Wazuka Tea Festival, an event which attracts thousands of tea drinkers and enthusiasts from around Japan each year.
As a contribution to our time there, we filmed and created a promotional video of the festival, which Obubu could then use for their promotional events, and as part of a sponsorship drive for future festivals.
Click below video to view.
Wazuka Tea Festival Promo Video