Truthfully, it is getting harder and harder to compete as a tea buyer.
The demand in Asia, particularly in China, commands very high volumes, even for out of control high prices. For me to buy these teas directly from high-caliber farms year after year, without enough of a wider audience in the US, is a difficult feat.
There is not such a high end tea culture in the US, we are in the niche of a niche.
We have been investing in educating about teas for years, and in the meantime, most teas in the US market are still hardly worth the dish wash water. For our tea tea connoisseurs, I am happy to invest in these difficult, strenuous buying trips, but we all have to help spread this culture of tea, for our own sakes, so we can keep buying at this level. A bit more critical mass needs to happen. China is simply a behemoth.
One tea shop can buy every drop of Ya Sai Mr. Wei makes, and literally, there’s a line out the door. He has to turn people down to save a bit for me. How long can he keep doing that? So folks, we need more tea ambassadors!
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