NoviCha said

Advice on dedicating life to tea?

Okay I know the title seems a little out of the way, but I truly need some advice, and I hope you fellow steepsters can understand.

I am in first year of Uni at a course IT informatics. Around 3 years ago I started gaining more interest in tea and now I am obsessed with tea, I love learning about it, drinking it and talking about it. I love everything about it. I have realized tea is my passion. My true passion, I want to travel to China and learn from the source. I really want to open a teahouse and teach people everything about it.

Now my current uni course isn’t related to it(I like the course though, but more as a hobby) and I dont know if I should finish uni, change course to something more related to tea or drop out. And how should I go about it all?
The problem is I am kinda scared.

Sorry for the long thread but I hope you understand, and I hope you can give some advice or experience, it would mean a lot to me!

Thank you in advance!

17 Replies
AJ said

I’m going to say this straight up: Have a backup. If you can afford it, don’t drop out of university. Assuming your program is for a career (you said a hobby, so I’m unsure—I don’t want to go dumping on certain degrees or anything).

There are several people on Steepster who have gone on to start businesses or at least work in the industry. I work as a tea taster/quality director and blender, Roswell Strange works for DAVIDsTEA’s head office… There are several people who post to Steepster that own their own independent companies. Some started during their time here, many had their companies prior—but most had some idea of what they were doing going in. Three years isn’t much time, honestly. So definitely think longer term. This isn’t something you’re opening tomorrow. But there are so many people who utilize Steepster still, or frequent other tea communities, who started their companies and may be willing to talk. Anne with 52Teas (and LiberTeas). Other small operations like Liquid Proust.

Keep in mind the age-old advice “never ever ever ever open a restaurant”. I think that stands with physical tea shops too. I’m not saying “don’t open a teashop” but I am saying 9/10 fail in that first year. The market’s saturated. Think about what you bring to the table first. I live in an area with a booming independent tea market. I watch every new company pop up and go under.

Build a niche, build an identity, build a brand. These lead heavy into bloggers and Tea Personalities. Nicole with Tea For Me Please is a great example—she wants to get into tea education. She’s got a voice and it’s growing. There’s identity enough there that people are more likely to nod along and listen to her recommendations, what she thinks is tea worth selling, etc. Jay started TeaLife in a similar manner—he was well known on TeaChat before starting his company. Liquid Proust was a well-known regular before starting his as well. “Build a niche” pertains to—look what’s on the market. Look what you can fill. What makes your ship different from White2Tea? Is it more YunnanSourcing? Do you have an interesting cache? Why should people listen to you? What authority do you have?

Take standardized ‘tea education’ with a grain of salt. Most of it’s nothing. Most of it’s tea companies hoping to make a few extra dollars by doing ‘classes’. Very little of it means anything in the industry, unless you happen to study in a tea-producing region. That’s not true for everything, and there are some certificates that will get a nod—Tea Sommelier is the only “recognized” one in Canada, but believe me every Tea Sommelier I actually know laughs it off as a bit of a farce, unfortunately (no offence; I know some snooty tea drinkers—they’re currently pushing to create their own standard). And there’s a Tea Specialist certification in the States that a lot of the industry folk I deal with have. You’re always learning, and these programs never cover everything… If I could, I’d take all of them, but I’ve not the time nor money. A few blogs (Nicole’s maybe, might be another one) are doing series’ specifically on demystifying Tea Courses and comparing them. Look into your area and your options. I’ve got no certificates myself, and my career/current employment was based entirely on “high I drank a lot of tea for 12 years please hire me” (no joke).

Think about your connections. “Sourcing on-foot” is kind of a gimmick in itself. You do build connections, and you do come back to those connections… But it’s a really common joke and trope of New Tea Entrepreneurs showing up at farms and just getting horribly scammed because they don’t know what they’re doing. …The other weird trope/story is “the owner travelled to China and slept on the Tea Master’s porch for ten days and ten nights until he agreed to train him” which is a surprisingly common “backstory” I hear pop up.

Definitely look for tea opportunities. Look for existing companies, make friends with other people in the industry, here, on TeaForums, TeaCommunity, put your name out there, build your brand, learn about tea. Share your passion. Try to find work, build a stable backup. Twining’s apparently scoops up people to train from the ground up as Tea Tasters (or so I hear). Probably not what you’re going for. But working in the tea industry is a weird niche… It’s definitely different for everyone, and it doesn’t transfer 1:1 great if you don’t have a fallback.

NoviCha said

Wow, thank you so much for such a in depth detailed reply. It really meant a lot. Let me add few things to better describe my position. I am interested in tea tasting as well but not as much as I am in learning/teaching and selling. I feel like I am on a right track to finding my niche. I had a tea blog, although I am rebuilding it currently, ground up. I am currently also taking a “tea course” which is suprisingly cheap but it has good info i believe(it’s on udemy from this chinnese woman who has worked in industry and started international tea academy, it has it’s flaws but im learning)

Also one thing I must mention, I am extremely happy I have discovered steepster, and I am very excited to meet people here, seems like a womderful community. I hope I will meet people and learn from all of you too.

Thank you again!

AJ said

I mostly bring up myself as that’s where I am right now. My goals run a little similar to yours, and this is how I’ve gotten my foot in the door so far. It’s opened me up to contacts with brokers in the industry, and some well-known tea personalities that also work as wholesalers, and for that I’m grateful.

I’ve also got a tea blog, which I think is a solid way to build an identity (granted teatra.de is having Issues at the moment, but I’ve been planning to move it off that platform for a while now… Once those clear up so I can log in). I focus on tea learning—history, production, growing—and largely on tea literature. These past two years, I’ve also started doing talks at conventions as well on those subjects. Covid shut that down a bit, but I’ve managed to at least attend a few of the Virtual Conventions (schedule never worked out to present… Tricky with timezones). Ah, that’s also another good idea: attend conventions when you can. Talk to people, get involved. And (you can ignore this, coming from a bookie): read tea books.

I’m glad you found a course that suits what you’re looking for. The market’s a bit saturated with them. Tea Sommelier’s something I’ve been working towards possibly challenging soon (I am gathering references from industry contacts…), largely because it’s something my direct bosses want for me.

Steepster’s community has definitely shrunk over the years, and we’ve currently come under new management, but I’m glad you’ve discovered us. I’m hoping we grow again. There are some other great groups and resources if you’re interested as well.

NoviCha said

Yeah AJ, I am also a book lover so I am reading books about it. I am wondering, what are some conventions about tea you know about.
And since, as far as I’m aware, there is really not much tea businesses where I live, I believe I could try organising an event or a convention in my country once, hopefully soon.

What I want to do, in the long run, teach people about tea,learn about it, sell it, and one of my biggest goals, introduce people to more high quality tea(than what’s on the market, of course to each his own, but I believe many people wouldn’t regret drinking tea in the “best form” to say), and make it accessible to everyone.

Also thank you for you replies, I am looking foward to talking to you again here. Also what is your blog?

AJ said

Heh, if you ever need a list of books—one of my weird side-hobbies is cataloguing tea books.

As for conventions—there are a LOT, and most are regional, so I won’t list the local ones I attend, as that’s not much help. During Covid, a whole bunch of Virtual Tea Conventions have popped up as well, which were actually a lot of fun and informative (most were done on platforms that let you chat directly to vendors). Some have also archived themselves online.

Nomad Tea Festival (archived here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBqKT_lvw5E3Z0r_QX4IqEA/videos )
Virtual Tea Festival (hosted by tealet; I’m not sure if they archived it)
Victoria Tea Festival Revival (which was originally a revival of a physical festival, but Covid put a stop to that, so they recently did an online version, which is archived here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGprnopr4XNsd_cakjJwKvg/videos )

Also The World Tea Expo, which is the big physical one in America, definitely focused more on wholesalers/innovations, but generally worth attending:
https://www.worldteaexpo.com/

There are a lot of online companies that focus on teaching and introducing people to high-end teas, but most of these are English-speaking, and geared towards the US/Canada or the UK. So there’s the possibility of a niche there, but there are still a lot of companies to contend with.

Oof, at the moment the website the blog’s hosted on is glitched and unusable, so I almost don’t want to link it. If the website ever starts working again: https://artoftea.teatra.de/

NoviCha said

Oh wow AJ thank you so much for that, I dont know how I didnt know about any of those. I really need to be more active online and follow all things related to tea, to gain connections and all that… The artofteablog is yours righ?

AJ said

A lot of the Virtual Conventions I just happened to stumble upon from following the right people. And: Yes, that’s mine. The website was broken for a while, but it should be working now.

Hello – quickly echoing in that I whole heartedly agree with basically everything that AJ has said so far! I would add that a willingness to move to areas with a bigger tea scene/industry presence is definitely really important and I would SUPER emphasize that having an “industry in” or “knowing the right people” is an INCREDIBLY valuable asset.

As AJ mentioned, I work for DAVIDsTEA – I’m the Research & Development Lead within the tea department. However, I started as a part time seasonal Tea Guide in a very rural area of Canada that didn’t have ANY tea scene/industry opppertunities outside of DAVIDsTEA’s retail stores. The goal was always to use that as a stepping stone to get to the head office, and then from there establish myself as someone to take more seriously. It was definitely a long term progression spanning many years – and it required a lot of hard work and effort to be promoted within that store while also putting in work outside of the store to have enough of a presence online to attract the notice of people already in the industry. Eventually I was able to connect online with people working at the head office in the tea department currently, get to know them and prove that I was committed to growing within DT/was passionate about pursing a career in tea on a greater level and willing to move to do so.

I was lucky enough that shortly after there was a head office opportunity in the R&D department as a data assistant, and that person referred me for the position before it was ever officially listed as a job opening. Within two months I moved to Montreal, where I live now. It was essentially an entry level position that required strong familiarity with DT’s blends but also a basic level of knowledge about tea outside of that – not to be immodest, but I was definitely overqualified. However, it was exactly what I needed in order to meet the right people/be in the right spotlight to show those over qualifications & slowly take on more and more things within that department and get to the position that I’m in now. So… patience. Lots of patience.

My interest has always been rooted in discovering new teas, flavours, preperation methods – and while I want to be a sponge that soaks in as much tea education as possible, at the root of everything my interest is always in how those things (processing, terroir, the culture and history of tea drinking in different cultures, etc) relate to the final taste of the tea you have in your cup. Having a hand in creating tea blends was always a dream of mine, and now being a part of that innovation/development while also getting to continue my education and research is the perfect fit for me – I would never want to run a tea company/business, so this would be “my niche” as AJ described.

Also – I am a certified Tea Sommelier but I have never benefited from that professionally at all. In fact, I was already certified when I started working at DT seasonally. So, take that for what you will…

NoviCha said

Thank .you Roswell for your reply. I am wondering what certification you have? And huw much did you pay for it if you are willing to share that information
Because I am currently doing an online tea course(from international tea academy) and after the course and some exam they give some certification, which idk how “valuable” the certificate is since its not too expensive, like many courses online are.

I’m certified through the Tea Association of Canada – I don’t remember exactly how much the entire course cost, but it wasn’t cheap and it took around a year for me to finish it. I could have done it in half as much time if I’d taken two classes at once, but I was working full time/multiple jobs while I did it.

NoviCha said

If I may ask you Roswell, for your opinion on what I’m taking. It’s as said from international tea academy and its 4 courses on udemy $20 dollars each and on the end they offer some kind of certificate at the end. And I’m wondering how “valuable” it is, so I am wondering what are tour thoughts? I mean do you think something that cheap can have any value in professional world. Since you’re working in the industry do you think that on some smaller market such certificate would have any worth.

To be completely honest, within the industry, I don’t really think any certification program carries much merit – most people who seem to put stock into programs like that are either consumers (so it could be valuable if you’re thinking of starting a tea company/shop) or people working in the high end part of the hospitality/food service industry.

With that said, I don’t really know much about ITA’s program so I don’t think I could fairly offer commentary on the content of their course and it’s educational value.

NoviCha said

I see. Tank you for your reply! I browse online and see if I find any certifications I am interested in.

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Hi Lucas, step one would be to fill in your profile here on steepster and start soaking in the tea knowledge available on this platform. This community is full of folks who feel just as passionate about tea as you do, and are happy to interact on a variety of subjects, tea related or not.
Second, realize that being self employed takes grit, planning, and sometimes a bit of luck. Are you the type of person who is willing to take risks, but keep working until there is a payoff? Can you work on a project for years until you see some progress?
Third, you will need some money to fund your tea venture, and staying in Uni to finish your degree is the best way to get a good job while you work on your tea business. Blogs like MrMoneyMustache or Afford Anything are good examples of folks who made enough money to fund the projects they are most interested in. Finishing Uni doesn’t mean you have to work in IT the rest of your life, it means you have the flexibility to choose a job in IT or a job in the tea industry to suit your long term goals.
There is a lot of information about tea, tea business, and funding your passion projects out on the Internet. Learn as much as you can from folks who will share their stories with you. Find what has worked for others, and learn from their mistakes. Ask lots of questions like the one you posed to this tea community above. The more you learn the more your plan will come into focus, or you will find a different path to follow.

NoviCha said

Thank you for your reply I appriciate it.
And to reply to what you said, I am a person who is willing to take risks, and am willing to keep working until it pays off.
Do you have any advice on how to get around steepster? Just join discussions? I am asking that because I see that discussions are not too often found… So I am wondering how to start talking to people from steepster.

Fill in your profile, write some tea notes of your favorite teas, follow people. Fill in your cupboard and offer to swap. We have had a lot of spammers on steepster, so the discussions were difficult to read, hopefully those days are behind us. The discussions have a search function, lots of previous entries have good info.

NoviCha said

Thank you for that Michelle, will work on filling in my profile. And I am glad to meet you. Excited to meet more of steepsters soon!

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