Specialist for tea specialists, since 1998

Leo addresses Yuji Wakiya's tea group from Japan in 2001. Wakiya was the host to a popular TV series "Pleasure with Chinese Tea" in a national network.

Leo in Gloucestershire, England helping a client with the training and setup of a tea bar operation.

Presenting tea in Slow Food 2004 in Italy when he was Head of Delegation of traditional oolong producers from China.

Leo with producers and farmers in a tea farm in China. Wudong, 1999

Since 1998, our tea master Leo Kwan has pushed the arena of tea business beyond traditional buying and selling to provide consultation and specialist training for tea house operators, and soon later for hotels, celebrity chefs (some in Michelin starred restaurants) and tea importers, spreading from Hong Kong to Japan, Switzerland, France, and UK. That was way before all these "tea sommelier" classes were around.

Direct access to tea production bases

We have always worked directly with tea producers to bring to our customers the best quality at the best price. Most of these producers have been generations of tea planters, processors or fresh leaf gatherers who work in ancient methods deep in the mountains of pristine natural environments. Some are in virgin forests. 

Since we make it a practice to pay directly at market prices, and treat all people as equals, we have established a strong and intimate bond with these producers. They have a preference in selling to us over collectors for export companies, whose margin depends on undercutting the supplier. That is why we have exclusive quality products rarely found in other teashops. 

Others just sell tea. We guide them to sell better products, in better ways

Another key element is our specialist experience with a huge range of products. Tea selling is not a matter of simple buying and reselling. Deep understanding of specific varieties, selection, timing, source network, post-production processing, packaging and storage are key know-hows to provide the best possible quality at value. 

Behind our drive to excel is our passion to advocate the use of finer teas, because we love them so much ourselves. Leo himself even resorts to using his own resources to set up the much referenced tea guide and commentary site: TeaGuardian.com

Hong Kong — the advantage to deliver the best

We are based in Hong Kong, the only free and global city on the Chinese soil. We are therefore close to the largest and most diverse tea production base in the world and yet maintaining all international practices in trade and food safety. Most importantly, information integrity. 

We are also right in the center between the other important quality tea production bases in India, Nepal, Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Japan. Hong Kong is currently the largest wholesale center for fine wine and we hope it'll be for fine tea soon.

As a top global logistics center, delivering your purchase from Hong Kong is also optimized for the world.

These mean benefits for you when you buy from us.