S002 | Our Curation Process

The Heart - Beginning of Everything

Buddhism says, "One in all, and all in one. All is created by the heart." In my daily life, I try to consciously practice this awareness, and because I understand the importance of the heart, when looking for the right tea, whether the other person has a kind heart or not is fundamental to me.

Initial Contact

Tea comes into our lives in different ways, and apart from natural encounters, we also take the initiative to look for partners. Usually, the first contact with them may be through phone calls or websites. From a short conversations we get a general idea of the person’s personality, working style, the types of tea he produces. And then we try to get tea samples for testing.

First Meeting

If the tea is suitable for us, we will arrange a first meeting - a visit to the tea plantation. Human connection is very important to us. We spend time with each other and immerse ourselves in the moment as much as we can with all our senses to get to know the tea farmer or tea maker. How this person lives, what kind life values he has, and how he deals with the world, are all things that we want to learn from him. In addition, out of respect for tea, we will observe what we can see in the tea plantation, which includes:

Growing Environment

A. Surrounding water sources, neighboring farming methods, wind direction, sunny side, latitude, altitude, to get a general idea of the characteristics of the environment. B. The type of soil, particle size, and whether it is rich in organic matter to understand the degree of soil health. C. The health of the ecosystem in the entire tea plantation through checking out what species coexist together, and whether there is a diversity of symbiotic plant species. D. The growth of the tea tree, including the thickness of the bottom branches, the number of open branches, the pruning status and height, and the abundance of the leaves, from which we can understand the management of the tea plantation. E. The resting condition of the tea tree and the land. The tea tree and the land are like human beings, they need to rest, we don't want to exploit the nature to satisfy our own selfishness. The number of picking in a year is what we pay attention to.

All of the above growth information will be concentrated in a cup of tea, forming the essence and richness of the tea, which includes how much empathy you have for the land, love, patience, and time you have for the land to let it grow slowly, and the balance of these base on the understanding "equality of all beings" have its price in the world, and also its pricelessness of treating all beings well.

Production Environment

Usually we tend to look for relatively small-scale independent tea makers, who grow and make their own tea, and have their own equipment at home. However, under the current structure of tea industry, most of the tea makers will rent a place from a nearby tea factory. We prefer small teams which produce a small amount of tea during the season, and have the fine procedures in place. On the other hand, the concept of industrialized mass production, rough manpower, just going through the procedures, the result of the process is not in place, is what we want to avoid.

Cultivating Deeper Understanding

Living with tea for a period of time, cultivate deeper understanding
After confirming that the land and the tea-making process have a clean and pure foundation, I will spend a period of time with the tea as if it were a friend. Through more and more in-depth observation, tea's temperament and uniqueness will naturally emerge.

Based on my personal sensitivity and preference, at this stage, I mainly focus on the following aspects, some of which take time to understand:

Ａ. Cleanliness from the land
From some tea one can taste the cleanliness from environment and earthy energy from soil. The sincerity and simplicity taste of the land always touches the heart deeply.

B. The richness of the heritage
According to the different farming types, such as wild, wild farming, or natural farming, the more natural the environment in which the tea tree grows, the more downwardly rooted the roots are, and the richer the vegetation is, the more or less colloidal substance and the richness of the inner texture reacts differently, and the smoother the sensation of sipping the tea tree in the mouth tends to be in the balance of diversity, which implicitly expresses the unspeakable beauty of abundance in nature.

This is usually complementary to the above point. C. The fineness and accuracy of the production process
The clarity and finesse of the processing is reflected in the aroma and all aspects of the tea's performance.

D. Body Sensation
Observe the response of the body, the degree and depth of openness. At the same time, observe whether there are any adverse reactions, such as skin allergies, headaches, stomach aches, nervousness and other undesirable physiological reactions.

E. Touchingness
Tea is like a friend, we all have different degrees of friendship base on how deeply this person touches your heart. How much the tea touches you in the moment is a matter of true feelings.

F. Uniqueness
Tea has infinite forms of expressions, which are mixed with complex factors such as the environments, the species, the production process and other elements. All these create the attributes of tea , just like human personality. I want to find the tea that has its own unique characteristics and essence, which may be interesting, introspective, down-to-earth, or bold, all of which are relative adjectives, and purely personal preference.

Closing Words

This is how we find the tea we want to share. The seemingly long process of filtration is actually the way we live with tea every day. Through practice, we naturally develop insights and choices. And through drinking tea we re-learn the way we look at the world, return to the oneness of respecting the land, the ecology, and all the people and things around us. These teas, which we share with you, hold the essence of purity and goodwill, and are healthy for the human body, so you can drink them with peace of mind. At the same time, you are helping and supporting tea growers and tea makers in Taiwan who share the same vision and want to do their part to help the planet, so that they can focus on what they want to do and what they are good at.

Thank you for joining us in creating a cycle of goodness for life.

"One is all, all is one, all is created by the mind", let's continue the cycle together.