A sign is on JT & Tea's Building (5/4/2018)

This is a story, about "Love and Friendship"...

An iron sign used to be hanged on the wall of an old tea house located in an alley of Taipei's Chungshan N. Road... As a new restaurant was taking over, there laid the cast-iron sign...

this sign traveled and traveled...linked up with a string of friendship...
finally, it is on again... On 5/4/2018, this sign is hanged on JT & Tea's building.

All starts from... our good friend, Jerry Liu's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Michael C Liu noticed the sign having been left behind. They asked the new owner if the sign were being used.  Thinking their sone would find a nice home for it. The new owner stated to please take it. Thus, they hauled the sign up to their flat nearby.  After the return of their son, months later. Jerry asked Norman, Thomas' younger brother, to have it picked and packed in Sha Keng Tea Factory at Hsinchu and then shipped to the US for JT & Tea.

Josephine and I decided to have a new painting job on it with our logo color.  Our good neighbor, a welding shop, is offering his professional service to help mount the sign.

The second day, one of our good friend, Warner came with his high-end cameras to take a series of photos on the sign also our office. 

It is not just a sign, it is Love and Friendship deep in so many good friends' hearts.

We are blessed.      Thank you all!

A heartwarming story in Taiwan tea history...

This YouTube film brings me a heartwarming story in our Taiwan tea's history.
Taitung and Hualien two counties, we used to call them "Back of the Mountain in Taiwan". They locate on the other side of Central Mountain Range, facing Pacific Ocean...
In 2009, I had visited there 3 times: one scouting trip, one with 2009 TOST, and another one for the Indigenous tea bush study... Since then, I have thought of helping promote the teas from that district..."HuaTung Encanto" is what I tried to brand the teas from that district. The unique tropical weather and special cultivars planted there, something that Taiwan tea industry has overlooked in the past, will draw new attention with many new ideas and programs, especially when Terroir being valued more and more in tea.
Actually, TRES / Taitung Branch is such a beautiful place with wonderful facilities, and they are about to write new history for Taiwan tea. (Please click to see the link of our 2009 TOST visit.)

Seeing those fallow rolling machines are busy running again after 50+ years, confirmed what I have in mind for the past few years. Mr. Wen's father is from my home town, Kuanshi/Hsinchu. He moved over to Luye/Taitung to expand his family's tea business there when Kuanshi was still the Capital of Taiwan Black Tea. Just like many fellow tea professionals in that era...for securing more resource of crude tea to back up the strong demand...younger members of many tea families were sent over to Hualien or Taitung for having new tea plantations and tea factories to produce more materials to transport back home town for the refinery. Hua-Tung tea has long been treated as a secondary or supplemental tea for blending, and not like other tea districts in Taiwan famed with certain specialty. While Taiwan black tea was not competitive any more, business was gone and worse after Taiwan started importing tea from overseas...
Nowadays, with younger tea entrepreneurs who redefine their business, finding new niche and also with TRES / Taitung Branch's continuous R&D and guiding the farmers and factories making new teas...a new era is coming... I believe HuaTung Encanto (Paoli Oolong, Pomelo Oolong...) will soon be known and pursued by tea connoisseurs from the World.

Write your own Tea Stories!

We have custom made this package for displaying 6 teas at a time with their stories...
The first Azusa Tea Club MeetUp, we introduced "A Taste of Taiwan Oolongs" - 6 different Taiwan's specialty Oolongs: Wenshan Pouchong, Oriental Beauty, Classic Tung-Ting, Alishan Jade Oolong, Mucha TieGuanYin, Chichong Pouchong (Baked Pouchong).

The second Azusa Tea Club MeetUp, we introduced "USDA Certified Organic Teas, Around the World" - another 6 different Organic teas: Taiwan Jade Oolong, Formosa Bonita, English Breakfast, Rooibos Bourbon, Genmai Cha, Pomergranate Tea.

We plan to have 6 teas in a group to make each Book with 6 tea stories...and serves as a Live Tea Menu for tea rooms or fine diners...even the traditional Dim-Sum Restaurants...

Wishing to have more inputs from our fellow tea enthusiasts, tea lovers... Let us write up many more tea stories...