Sustainable Monsoon Tea

I recently met this lovely couple, Shii Hua and Pete, at a tea gathering and was intrigued by their tea business story. They currently run Tea Bunnies, which is the exclusive distributor for Monsoon Tea in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Monsoon Tea carries Thai tea from wild and free-grown tea plants in Chiang Mai. This traditional non-invasive cultivation method has been carried out by Thai tea farmers for generations. As such, Monsoon teas are free from herbicides and pesticides. Best if I let Shii Hua fill you in from here 🙂

Hi Shii Hua, can you tell us more about Tea Bunnies?
Tea Bunnies Pte Ltd was set up in January 2017 by a group of like-minded individuals who are passionate about teas and the sustainability towards our environment and local communities.  We are the exclusive distributor for Monsoon Tea in Singapore and Hong Kong and I am the General Manager for Tea Bunnies.

How did you discover wild tea in Northern Thailand?
In 2011, Pete and I left the corporate life and spent about five years as full-time volunteers for a NGO based in Chiang Mai Thailand, coaching and providing education to underprivileged children.  As many of the children are from Northern Thailand, we spent much time in the northern region.  During this time, we met Kenneth Rimdahl who is the founder of Monsoon Tea in Chiang Mai. Besides being a tea connoisseur, Kenneth is just as passionate about protecting the environment via sustainable tea farming methods.  He shared with us about the many free-grown and wild tea trees in the forests of Northern Thailand.

Why did you want to get involved with Monsoon Tea?
In the recent years, climate change has brought about much impact not only to our lifestyle but also the biodiversity.  We love nature and animals, and we feel strongly that we should help to protect our environment.  Monsoon Tea’s concept of sustainability extends beyond responsible farming and protecting the forests, but also empowering the minority tribes in Northern Thailand to maintain their traditional lifestyle.  We feel strongly that we can make a positive impact to both the environment and community by adopting sustainability as our purpose for the tea business.

As such, we decided to set up Tea Bunnies to distribute quality teas from growers who are equally committed to creating sustainable communities with minimal impact to the environment.

What is Monsoon Tea’s process for sourcing, producing and packaging the tea?
Monsoon Tea source our teas from tea farmers who have age-old Miang plantations or access to wild tea trees and shared knowledge to the farmers to produce good tasting teas. As the exclusive distributor for Monsoon Tea in Singapore, we also sourced extensively for biodegradable packaging which have minimal impact to the environment.

How does Monsoon Tea stand out from other local tea brands in Singapore?
While sustainable teas are not new to the Singapore market, free-grown and wild teas harvested from the forests are rare and few.  Our key motto “Growing in Harmony with Nature” illustrates our sustainability concept in protecting our forests against deforestation, protecting natural wildlife habitat and preserving our biodiversity.  As such, our teas are natural and free from pesticides.

 What have you learned about the tea business?
The tea market in Singapore is saturated and very competitive.  Given the fact that some of our teas are available only on a seasonal and limited basis, it has been hard to manage the inventory.  Many consumers in Singapore are also more accustomed to drinking teas from China and Japan, and are unfamiliar with teas from the forest of Northern Thailand.  There is a lot of education and awareness on sustainable teas to be done.

Why is sustainable tea meaningful to you?
Monsoon Tea’s concept of sustainability extends beyond responsible farming and protecting the forests but also empowering the minority tribes in Northern Thailand to maintain their traditional lifestyle.  We feel strongly that we can make a positive impact to both the environment and community by adopting sustainability as our purpose for the tea business.

Cultures should be preserved, without losing the traditions, especially in a time where technology is so advanced and people are beginning to abandon old traditions.  This way, it helps the local communities to preserve their traditions while also generating income and transmitting tea farming skills.

Where can we find Monsoon teas in Singapore?
You can buy our teas from our online shop 

Our Jungle Oolong is also available at Sun Ray Café.

Look out for updates and events on our FB page

What is your favourite Monsoon Tea and why?
Jungle Oolong. This wild tea is picked only once per year and produces only up to 100kg a year.  It is a special tea with an interesting fruity taste and a lingering sweet honey note.

Images courtesy of Tea Bunnies

Tea Loves: Kim Whye Kee

I haven’t done Tea Loves in a while, but when a young friend excitedly tells me about a new man in her life who makes teaware, that is surely a sign that a story must be told on my tea blog, right?

But as I chatted with Whye Kee, I realised that this is really a story that goes beyond tea. And yet, it is very tea. Tell you what, I’ll leave him to tell his story.

Hi Whye Kee! What made you go into pottery?
In 2007, I picked pottery up in the last few months in prison. I spent 10 years of my youth in jail and towards the end of my sentence, my father passed away and I could not stop thinking about it. I signed up for pottery class in prison because I thought it would take my mind off things and true enough, when I did pottery, I would go into this quiet zone I could not get anywhere else. I spent all my time creating and studying pottery.

A vase I made was displayed at a Yellow Ribbon art exhibition and some people noticed it. One of them  was Chen KeZhan, an established abstract ink and wash painter. Eventually, when I was released in 2008, KeZhan encouraged me to study art formally and he sponsored part of my fine arts degree at LASALLE.

What made you go into teaware?
I only just started making them this year to challenge myself. Teaware is the hardest form of pottery. If you look at a tea pot, there are so many parts to it and everything has to fit. Nothing can be missed.

But it’s also because drinking tea reminds me of KeZhan. Whenever I go to his place, he’ll serve me some fancy tea like pu’erh with ginseng in antique Chinese teaware. I find it very touching because he is like a teacher to me and I should be the one serving tea to him. But he serves me tea with his own style of doing the tea ceremony and it’s executed with such grace.

What have you learned about tea so far?
Tea has a deep taste. When I drink it, I’m reminded of nature and memories of hiking.

But I don’t really think a lot while drinking it. Recently, I went to Korea to learn more about tea and teaware there and met up with a tea friend I made from Instagram and we sat down and drank for four hours. I did find that session quite challenging but I was also very touched by his hospitality and generosity.

And then I realised that people being passionate about tea is very much like why I had so many tattoos done all over my body when I was younger. You want to get strength from something other than yourself. Also, it’s the process of brewing tea slowly that calms you down and not so much the drink itself.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, Whye Kee!

p/s: He’ll be selling his range of terracotta, stoneware and porcelain teaware soon – for the latest updates, join his Qi Pottery Facebook page.

Images courtesy of Bernice Wong

Tea Loves: Julie Wang of Australian Tea Masters

Julie is an Instagram friend who has become a real-life friend because we bonded over – what else – tea! I’ve had the privilege of experiencing a sublime tea session over at her place and there really couldn’t be a better person to finally bring awesomely legit tea courses to Singapore.

That’s right, Julie is now a Training Director with Australian Tea Masters (ATM), where she previously attained Certified Tea Master accreditation. She’s been super busy setting up a Singapore branch of ATM with an exciting series of tea courses lined up, but for now, Julie tell us more about her amazing tea journey so far.

How did you fall in love with tea?
I have always been a tea drinker but I fell in love with the world of specialty tea when I started my training with Australian Tea Masters in 2013. I recall being blown away just by the sheer variety of teas available at the training and getting my taste buds awakened to these beautiful natural flavours.

Sharyn Johnston, CEO and Founder of Australian Tea Masters was also a key influence. She opened my mind and soul to both traditional and modern ways of appreciating tea, while teaching me to respect the artistry of the tea makers.

What are your favourite teas and why?
This is hard to answer! I’m always discovering news teas or new flavour notes with new batches of tea. There are also other factors such as changing terroir and a developing palate that gets more pronounced over time. But that’s what gets me excited about tea: it’s a never-ending journey of discovery. But if I must choose a few at the moment, I go with:

Duck Shit Scent (Ya Shi Xiang) Phoenix Dan Cong
I was initially repelled by its name until I tasted it. The complexity of the tea, starting from the lifted aromas of stonefruits and the finishing of a lingering sweetness, is just beautiful! It’s one of the teas that I love serving to my guests who are unfamiliar with the range of tea. I enjoy observing how their reaction changes from repulsion to amazement after tasting this tea.

Gyokuro
I love this because of its intense umami-ness! A good grade Gyokuro can taste almost like a savoury soup and it’s very versatile. You can steep it over ice, brew it warm or even season the steeped leaves with some yuzu sauce for an appetizing cold dish.

Wenshan Pouchong
This tea holds a special place in my heart because I tasted it during my first visit to a tea farm. This farm was in Pinglin, Taiwan and it produced an award-winning Pouchong. The tea leaves had just been picked the day before my visit and hadn’t been sorted yet. But I wanted this tea so badly that we ended up huddling on the ground together with the tea master to sort out the leaves from the stems. The freshness of the tea was unbelievable and came through without any need for fancy brewing equipment.

Tell us more about these lovely tea parties for that you regularly organise for friends.
In the words of tea author, Ling Wang, “Whenever friends and family sit around a table, a cup of tea will lend its rich aroma and warm presence to any occasion.” I also enjoy introducing specialty tea to the uninitiated. Food and tea pairing or infusing tea into food make great conversation starters.

Before, I found it quite challenging to get good quality tea-infused foods off-the-shelf, and it didn’t help that I couldn’t bake to save my life. But because I couldn’t get those crazy tea recipe ideas out of my head, I just had to learn to do it myself. So I really have tea to thank for motivating me to hone my baking skills!

My Hojicha Cheesecake and Thai Milk Tea Cookies are pretty much loved by my friends as I emphasise on bringing out those distinctive tea notes. As I have a good number of guests who don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I also started to experiment with tea-infused savoury dishes with the favourites being the Da Hong Pao Smoked Chicken in Mini Chia Seed Rolls (which takes about two days to prepare) and a 12-hour Lapsang Souchong Ajitsuke Tamago – my take on our humble herbal tea egg.

What do you hope to communicate to people about tea as a Training Director with Australian Tea Masters?
I hope to connect more people to the charming world of specialty tea with its myriad of aromas and flavours. The humble Camellia Sinensis plant has been life changing for me. Its subtlety has made me stop and take time to appreciate the little things in life and the wonders of nature. I hope tea can do that for other people too.

With ATM, I hope to make high quality specialty tea more accessible to everyone, especially when one is dining out at a café or restaurant. As much as we have great specialty coffee in Singapore and around the region, tea is still generally very much an afterthought. However, I truly believe in its  potential to elevate the dining scene in this region.

Also, we hope to give tea professionals here the recognition and credibility that they deserve, just as one would with the coffee baristas and wine sommeliers. We will be launching the Certified Tea Sommelier course in Singapore on 30 and 31 July. This is only programme in the world that is in accordance with the Australian government-approved standards.

What was going through Australian Tea Masters Certified Tea Master programme like?
It was pretty intense with three full days of on-site training in Australia and after that, having to juggle a full-time job with 14 weeks of assignments back in Singapore. However, it was also very enjoyable as I got to taste and evaluate so many teas over the course. I joined the programme because I was looking for a structured way to learn about teas from all around the world. I also wanted to learn about professional tea service, which I feel does not really exist in Singapore.

How did that eventually lead to you bringing Australian Tea Masters to Singapore?
While there were many offers to Sharyn for the overseas expansion of Australian Tea Masters (ATM), I was very privileged that she decided to work with me for ATM’s first branch office. I guess we share the same passion for specialty tea and the genuine desire to help the F&B operators in the region with professional tea service. Singapore is also a natural choice as a regional hub for tea education and training given its convenient location and ideal business climate.

We are very heartened by the launch of ATM Singapore at the recent Café Asia 2016. Response was fantastic and we are humbled by the public confidence in us. We are also very honoured to have been invited by Food & Hotel Asia 2016 to conduct two mini-tea courses in April. With the Global Tea Menu course, students get to taste and evaluate teas around the world and learn to develop their own tea menu for their business. In the Hands-on Basic Tea Blending course, students will learn about the type of botanicals and flavours which can be added to create a great tea blend and they will even get to make their own blends.

What are your tips on getting the most out of your tea drinking experience?
Any tea connoisseur will be able to tell you that the selection of tea leaves, leaves to water ratio, type of water, temperature, brewing equipment and brewing time will all affect the taste of tea. But I also believe the state of mind is important to create and appreciate a beautiful brew. A distracted mind will not be able to focus on these variables, nor allow the senses to fully appreciate the subtle aromas and flavours. It’s so important to allow yourself to set aside time to slowly brew and fully savour tea.

What do you hope to change about the tea culture in Singapore?
I would like to make specialty, single origin teas more relatable and exciting while still emphasising on the importance of detail, craft, skill and respect to a tea’s origin.

This is exactly what is now being done at the award-winning Cartel Roasters Brew Bar in Geelong, Australia. It is owned and managed by Sharyn’s son, Nathan James Johnston. He is not just a coffee legend; he has also been shaking up the tea scene with his mother by serving up high quality and rare specialty tea in the most innovative ways such as using the Steampunk brewing machine or the Chemex coffeemaker to coax out those fresh tea flavours. I would like to see such things happening in Singapore too.

Tea is…
… a journey of serendipity that enthralls the soul.

Connect with Julie on Instagram at @julieteabits
Find out more about Australia Tea Masters here.

Images courtesy of Julie Wang

Tea’s a Company

I love drinking tea with a friend – just one – and being able to talk about life intimately and honestly. It is especially magical when said friend is Liz Steel, a legendary (and lovely) urban sketcher who chronicled our time together with such beautiful illustrations. What’s interesting is that with this record, I can even remember what she said at each tea/dish. Given how life seems to whizz by so quickly these days, I’m inspired by her to record more. I don’t really blog regularly these days but you can find my random thoughts on-the-go at @melanderings if you find my posts here too dated 😉

I love drinking tea with a group of tea-loving friends. I appreciate their grace in brewing tea and attention to aesthetic detail (see @pekoeimp as well as @julieteabits). The ambient chatter makes the tea taste sweeter, and there are always new things to learn (would like to hunt down some Sparrow Tongue green tea soon). We may all be in very different stages of our lives, and possibly very different wavelengths when it comes to religion or politics, but in this space, we are comfortable, accepting company.

I love drinking tea alone. I consider it a blessing that a client’s office was near one of my favourite tea/Thai places, and so I’ve spent countless afternoons here this year winding down, clearing my head, reflecting and regrouping. At this point of my life, mess (in both bad and fun forms) is really the default state on most days. Tea in solitude has given me the much-needed pockets of clarity I need.

How about you? How has tea been your companion? I would love to hear from you!

Tea Loves: Regena Rafelson

It looks like I’m pretty (virtually) social with tea folks this year! Today, I interview T Ching managing editor, Regena Rafelson. She’s a retired high school English teacher from Hood River, Oregon and she tells us more about her tea life and work in this Tea Loves post.

As some of you might know, I’m a T Ching contributor and have learned much from this tea portal and its global community. Unfortunately, due to current real life commitments, I’m not able to write for them as regularly, but they’ve definitely got a loyal reader in me.

And for now, it’s back to Regena! 🙂

Tell us more about your editor position at T Ching. 

This is my second stint as managing editor.  When T Ching was a fledgling blog, I edited it for fourteen months in 2008 – 2009.  In April of 2013, the long-time editor, Erika Cilengir, handed the reins back to me.  I love the diversity of T Ching contributors and being able to read their fascinating posts before anyone else gets to!

What is your favourite tea and why? 

My favourite tea is whatever I am drinking!  I like black tea and oolongs of every persuasion.  I am currently having a serious fling with matcha.  When I am hiking, I like Earl Grey in the thermos.

What are your tea habits like? 

My first pot of tea steeps while I build a fire in our woodstove.  I pull my chair and my mug of tea up to the fireplace and drink that first pot while the fire slowly gains strength. I read the day’s post as it goes live on T Ching while I sip the second pot.

What’s the best and worst thing about being an editor of a tea website?

The best thing about being a website editor is the amazing rapport and relationships I build with contributors half a world away.  The worst thing is when those busy contributors are unable to meet deadlines.  Scrambling for posts is an anxiety-laden affair! (I’m sorry Regena for being one of those causing you this stress!)

What do you think people misunderstand the most about tea?

The most misunderstood aspect of tea regards caffeine.  The mainstream western medical community is the worst offender, repeating the “tea-has-more-caffeine-than-coffee” mantra as if it was gospel.  No amount of research budges them from their litany.  I find that irresponsible as well as misleading.

 Describe the most interesting T Ching reader you’ve had. 

The most interesting tea reader would have to be this particular person who heckled me about a post I had written.  Social media is wonderful most of the time, but an insidious aspect of this media is the opportunity for people to be rude without taking responsibility.  I think of it as keyboard rage.

Tea is…

Tea is a beverage which speaks to our better selves, that peaceful part of us.  Tea is like giving yourself a hug.

Tea Loves: Stella Yan

Stella (left) at Mengding Organic Tea Garden in Sichuan, China with an 85-year-old tea picker.

I’ve made another tea acquaintance! Stella is from China and does social media marketing for online tea retailer TeaVivre. She recently contacted me to do a tea review (I’m still getting round that, immensely enjoying the samples so far), and was so nice about catering to my tea preferences, I thought I would feature her on Tea Loves! She tells us about why she loves her tea job so much.

Why did you want to work in the tea industry?

I have been working at TeaVivre for more than five years, and helped to build an online presence for this brand internationally. I’m a tea lover and I wanted to work in the tea industry to broaden my tea knowledge. Furthermore, China has some of the best quality teas. By bringing premium Chinese teas to tea lovers all around the world, I can share this tea experience with other people, while also learning more about teas in other countries.

What is your favourite tea and why?

My favourite is Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea. It grows at an altitude of over 1,000 metres. As a result, this tea is naturally aromatic, mellow and brisk; and it can be steeped several times without losing its flavour.

What is your tea ritual like?

Every morning, I love to start work with a cup of green tea. For leisure, I enjoy sipping a cup of oolong while reading a book under the warm afternoon sun. When I have friends visiting, I will share my tea collection with them.

What’s the best and worst thing about working in the tea industry?

The best thing would be meeting tea lovers from all over the world. We talk about tea and exchange ideas about tea. It is very satisfying to see more and more tea lovers praising TeaVivre’s products and services.

The worst part about my job would be shipping delays due to holidays or other reasons we cannot control. I get as anxious as the customers waiting for their packages!

What do you think people misunderstand the most about tea?

I often see people regarding expensive tea as good tea, resulting in tea getting more expensive in the market e.g. pu-erh tea getting hyped up to ten thousand yuan a cake. However, in my opinion, choosing a tea should be based on your taste preferences. Quality is more important than price.

What are your tips on what makes a “good” tea then?

The leaf quality, water temperature, steeping time, amount of tea, and even the maker’s emotion all come into play. Generally, I think good tea should just be your favourite tea.

Tea is …

Tea is like life. It tastes thin at first, then builds up in character, and gradually reaches its strongest point. After that peak period, it will slowly become light, and finally loses all its flavour.

Thank you for sharing your fascinating tea thoughts with us, Stella! 🙂  

Tea Loves: Alison Appleton

I recently made the virtual acquaintance of Alison Appleton, a tea ware designer from Liverpool. She has created gorgeous tea equipment for brands such as Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel, and La Cafetière. Alison is also a hardcore tea aficionado who has travelled to tea plantations in China. I love her work, and am so glad to know a fellow tea lover who is bringing more good tea and tea ware to her part of the world! I hope you get a chance to know her as well through this interview 🙂

Hi Alison! Tell us about how you fell in love with tea.
I come from a very sociable family. The kettle was always on, and there was always lots of gossip going on over cups of tea! My grandmother always made loose leaf tea and gave it to all the children in the family with milk and sugar.

How did you get into tea ware design?
I worked as a design consultant to La Cafetière for 10 years, and they sold products dealing with coffee, tea and hot chocolate. This sparked an interest in the history of the tea trade. I then made a few visits to China and fell in love with tea.

I think the story of tea (and all the beautiful products that have been created in order to serve it) is amazing. The history of the tea trade and tea’s extraordinary popularity of being in almost every home around the world makes it a subject worth studying.

At the same time, it is very important for me to make things that are useful as there is a lot of unnecessary ‘stuff’ in the world. I want my pots to be enjoyed and used all the time, not just for special occasions.

You’re “anti-teabag” but the teabag is such a British institution – how do you deal with this?
Unfortunately, the teabag is the most common way to make tea in the UK because it is perceived as being quick and convenient. As a result, many people are used to the very blunt taste of (mostly poor quality) teabag tea.

However, I am very happy to report that there is a growing interest and appreciation of loose leaf teas. We hold monthly tea tasting sessions in our studio during which we take a look around the world and taste a huge variety of Chinese, Indian, Sri Lankan, African and other teas. We have also selected a range of blended and flavoured black teas. Once our visitors taste these teas, they realise how much finer they are compared to the standard teabag.

They also see how very easy it is to prepare loose leaf tea without any fuss or mess.

Some of your tea ware designs incorporate Chinese and Japanese tea ceremony elements – what sparked your interest in these aspects of tea culture?
My first collection was inspired by the history of the tea trade in the UK. As tea was introduced to the UK, Chinese decoration motifs were used everywhere. This period saw the birth of British Chinoiserie, Ming vases, Chinese wallpaper, Thomas Chippendale furniture used by famous characters such as Jane Austen and Earl Grey. It seemed like an obvious place to start. My first collection was Darcy, named after the famous literary hero himself. Jane Austen would have drunk tea all day long and it would have been Chinese tea bought from Twinings.

My favourite design is your Golden Carp Series – how did you get your inspiration for that?
As my collection is quite small, I wanted to ensure there was some variety in the range. This one is the most glamorous and has a bit of bling! For Golden Carp, I wanted to fuse a European shape with Oriental imagery. Everything about this set symbolises good fortune: the carp, lotus and gold are all auspicious.

What kind of message do you want to send about tea with the kind of tea ware that you create?
That tea is special and we should make it properly. When you consider the effort that goes into growing, picking, drying and rolling a whole variety of exquisite teas, it is only correct that we brew them in lovely tea ware.

Good loose leaf teas are relatively inexpensive and can be enjoyed by everyone. I see the new interest in tea as being similar to the recent growth in the coffee business. Today, a huge proportion of people in the UK have espresso makers at home and enjoy a variety of espresso based coffee drinks every day. I hope that one day, consumers will be more demanding when it comes to drinking good quality tea.

What is your most memorable tea experience so far?
I visited a Longjing tea plantation as a guest of a family who had a share in that plantation. They gave me a delicious lunch, and after that, we drank pre Qing Ming Longjing tea all afternoon while sitting outside in the sunshine on a warm autumn day. The plantation looked beautiful and everything was delicious. I felt very lucky to have such an experience.

What is your tea ritual?
I usually drink Uva Pekoe from Sri Lanka for breakfast. This has a strong and malty flavour that goes very well with sourdough toast or my usual bowl of porridge with honey. Mid morning, I will make a pot of Da Hong Pao or another Oolong. Lunchtime, I’ll go for something like a black tea with rose.

In the afternoon, I will always drink green teas as they give me a lift. Before bed I like something light and delicate like a white tea.

Tea is …
Tea is a comfort. It revives and soothes, and always features at important occasions when friends and family are together.

Images courtesy of Alison Appleton

Connect with Alison (@AlisonAppleton) on Twitter! 

Meeting Liz Steel for Tea

One of the most popular posts on this blog is my Tea Loves interview with Liz Steel. I’m guessing it’s because of all her beautiful tea sketches! (I’ve also written about her on T Ching.)

I finally had to chance to meet her in real life when she swung by Singapore last week and we had a lovely tea tasting session at Tea Bone Zen Mind (TBZM).

TBZM’s owner, Carrie, was so enchanted by her sketching; she said it was refreshing to look at “art without ego” (I guess she expressed it a lot more poetically than how I yap about Liz’s “happy drawings”). She kindly let us try many special things, including an aged 40-year-old kukicha and an intriguing tea salt infusion!

I’m glad I introduced the two like-minded ladies to each other – both tea lovers and inspiring artists in their own right 🙂

I’ve been around…but not really here.

Dear whoever still comes by here once in a while,

I just wanted to let you know that while I haven’t been industrious about updating this tea blog, I am still very much a tea lover and occasionally still churn out stories for T Ching (mostly because they give me deadlines – maybe I should do this here too).

Here’s what I’ve been up to the past few months:

I went for a really interesting tea workshop by Pekoe & Imp! 

After that, I did a little “tea pilgrimage” to Taiwan and it was awesome yo. 

I also did some “tea community work” by organising a short tea appreciation session for a Christian retreat. 

Time is a precious, precious commodity these days – and I’ve been finding it a real challenge to find “meteatime” regularly. But I think I’d like to spend more time with tea (and this blog); to put a pause button on all these fleeting moments and memories that seem to whoosh by my head like a roadrunner.

Cheers,
Melanie

Tea Loves: Lianne Ong (Plus Some Tea-Jewellery Pairing)

Lianne with her husband, Salmon. They love drinking tea (even though they have a “Drink Coffee” poster behind them) and have just set up an online designer fashion jewellery store called Pinwheel Jewels. Image courtesy of Jimmy Sng.

Lianne is a dear friend whom I have drunk many cups of tea with. In general, we talk about things like LIFE and FINDING PURPOSE…thank God there’s tea to mellow us down as we meander around these abstract topics.

I’m really happy for her because she’s  found something that suits her priorities and interests – opening up an online designer fashion jewellery store called Pinwheel Jewels with her husband, Salmon. She has a wonderful artistic eye, a sophisticated fashion sense and is a whiz in all things logistical – a perfect combination for such a business if you ask me!

While ogling at her jewellery over tea one day, I thought hey, wouldn’t it be fun to do a tea-jewellery pairing featuring some of the exquisite products from Pinwheel Jewels? And so, here’s what she came up with:

Lychee Oolong + Kenneth Jay Lane Chinois-inspired Carved Resin Earrings
“These earrings are a new take on traditional jade openwork carvings, just like this lychee infused oolong tea.”

Japanese Green Tea with Sweet Berries + Sakura Earrings and Bracelet by Shlomit Ofir Jewelry Design
“These earrings and bracelet are the perfect match for this tea – sweet, delicate and floral.”

Earl Grey Tea +  Pearl Tassel Earrings with Crystals by Ben-Amun
“This bergamot-scented brew and Art Deco style earrings would work perfectly on the set of Downton Abbey.”

Turkish Apple Tea + Kenneth Jay Lane Black Deco Cuff with Rhinestones and Jade
“The sweet and warm Snow White meets her match with the Evil Queen – who sees green whenever her crystal mirror reveals the truth to her.”

We had so much fun doing this – I think tea and jewellery are unexpectedly wonderful companions! And yes, as you can tell, Lianne really does love her tea. So of course, I need to do a Tea Loves feature on her too 🙂

Tell us more about your love of tea.
I start the day with tea, and I often have a pick-me-up in the afternoon as well. I started drinking tea as a child, and I remember the dentist asking my mother whether I drank tea because she could see tea stains on my teeth! Tea has become something comforting, and you can always find the right tea for every occasion. My husband also enjoys tea – we liked it enough to include it as a wedding favour for our guests when we got married.

What are your favourite teas and why?
I must qualify first that I’m not a tea expert, I just drink what I like and what seems fitting for the occasion. For cold teas, I like an iced Darjeeling. Our family has lived overseas twice, and during winter, I love a cup of chai. The spices are warming and the milk is so comforting.

Describe your most memorable tea moment.
When I was dating my husband, my future mother-in-law asked me to make a pot of tea. This was the first time I was allowed to potter around in her kitchen, which was strictly her turf. After making the pot of tea – where I had followed my gut instinct to make the tea extra strong – she told me, “I don’t know if you can cook, but you make a good pot of tea.”

How is wearing jewellery similar to drinking tea?
Jewellery is not only a way to express personal style, but also a way to make memories. I’m really sentimental about my jewellery, whether cheap or expensive. I always remember who gave what to me, during which occasion and why. It’s my time capsule. Similarly, certain tea blends can send me back in time and I’ll recall when I last had this tea, how I was feeling then, and whom I was drinking it with.

Pinwheel Jewels
https://www.facebook.com/pinwheeljewels
https://twitter.com/PinwheelJewels

And finally, I get to the best part:
PINWHEEL JEWELS IS OFFERING TEALADYMEL READERS  10% DISCOUNT  ON PURCHASES S$200 AND ABOVE! YAY!!
PROMO CODE: TEALOVES10
Promotion valid till 31 July 2013.
Not valid with other promotions and discounts.