Canton Tea Co is a fast-growing, independent tea company trading in high grade, whole leaf tea.
?Tea always had a big role in my family? says Jennifer. ?My father was never far from the teapot. On his sailing boat, in a crisis it was always ?Time to put the kettle on . . .? and though he was mostly a traditional tea-drinker, we lived in Hong Kong when I was a child and so I was primed from an early age to love Chinese tea ? but of course you couldn?t find it in the UK.?
That is until Jennifer?s partner started bringing it back from his business trips to China and Taiwan in the late 80s. ?It was a green tea called Pouchong that was given to him by a publishing colleague, whose cousin owned the tea farm in Taiwan.?
?The inspiration behind Canton Tea Co in 2007 was the realization that no one was supplying this incredibly delicious Pouchong tea to the UK. We had access to some of the best tea in the world and nobody here even knew about it.
?I had no experience in sales and no idea how hard it was to get the company started. That's just as well - otherwise I would almost certainly have been overwhelmed. The hardest challenge was the financial one. Tea is a seasonal product and raising enough money during the crucial buying months in spring and autumn, was tough going.
?I was fortunate to have help with the packaging from designer friends - and with our first website from a friend?s son Edgar, who was working as a bank analyst but quickly became embedded in Canton.? He has been a co director for years and his tecchie, financial and analytical skills have been crucial to growing the company.?
Being a specialist fine tea company Canton Tea Co do not use wholesalers but with buying partners they go direct to the small farms, gardens, estates and artisan producers in China, Taiwan, India and Japan.
?In China our buying partner lives locally and has long standing relationships with the farmers.? Says Jennifer. ?In Taiwan our tea comes from the mountain farm of Mr Xu, whose family we have known for many years and whose Pouchong tea inspired the business. All our tea is bought at a fair market price and supports small, family?run enterprises. Many are certified organic; all are grown on traditional farms using traditional farming methods.
?We have excellent relationships which gives us exclusive access to some of the best jasmine, white, green, oolong, black and authentic puerh teas available. Every year we have entered the scoop Gold Awards at the Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. Our Jasmine Pearls won the top three star gold award, endorsing it as the best available in the UK.
Now Canton Tea Co is supplying Michelin-starred restaurants, top hotels and cafes. There is a new wave of interest in tea and it is no longer acceptable to offer customers a fine wine, carefully sourced fresh produce, excellent coffee ? and a very ordinary teabag tea.
?We have even been approached by a prestigious 5 Star hotel in Shanghai who would like to have our tea. Supplying the best Chinese tea to the Chinese is a huge endorsement that we?re doing the right thing.?
?The Chinese have been drinking tea for health and pleasure for thousands of years. A good cup of tea is something to be savoured and is even better when shared with friends. It makes a great alternative to alcohol for drinking with a meal ? there are some fantastic food and tea pairings.
Jennifer runs regular Tea Tasting Workshops in and around London to help get that message across. The Chinese teas are generally drunk without milk or sugar; they have no bitterness and have an astonishing range of flavours.
Simplicity is key to teaware.? It is not just the way you make tea - what you make it in and how you serve your tea is also important.
Generally, glass is good so you can see the leaves steep and the colour of the liquor. It comes down to personal preference but it needs to be either very practical or absolutely beautiful.
The small Yixing teapot is for people who drink a lot of tea - particularly oolongs and puerh. The clay comes from a specific region of China, which has a particular mineral content. The authentic teapots are handmade from this clay and are left unglazed which is said to lend a special quality to the flavour of the tea.
One of the latest developments are the Canton Tea Pyramids. A range of high grade, loose leaf teas but in biodegradable mesh teabags, after all there is always a time and a place for good tea in a quick and easy bag.
If you want to learn more about tea visit them at www.cantonteaco.com
Poppy Watt
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Women Talking?would like to offer you chance to win?a Shen Glass?Tea Set?(containing a Glass Teapot and a glass Teacup and Saucer)?with the?Canton Tea Pyramid Taster Pack??(together worth ?50.00)
To enter the competition just answer the following question:
What is the name of the mountain region where Canton Tea Co's Pouchong comes from in Taiwan?
Send your answers to?competitions@womentalking.co.uk, ensuring you place the words?Canton Tea Co in the subject header and also include your?Women Talking username?with the submission. Any entry without a valid username will not be accepted.
The competition closes on September 2nd and the winners will be contacted soon after.
Posted Mon, 08/06/2012 - 13:13 by Poppy Watt
Source: http://www.womentalking.co.uk/topics/business/jennifer-wood-canton-tea-company
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