If you love tea as much as I do, you might choose to dedicate your entire career to understanding its many facets. You could spend a lifetime learning about the plant and its harvest cycles, terroirs, processing, and brewing methods.
More than seventy countries produce tea. Each contributes its own flavors, aromas, and rituals. Tea is nature, history, culture, and religion. It carries the contradictions of life: energy and calm, conversation and quiet reflection. Tea connects.
Where to begin?
Between the many styles and varieties of tea, it’s easy to become disoriented. With my own tea label, I wanted to provide not just a product, but give guidance. Eduard/ was created as a way to share knowledge and passion. I like to think of myself as a storyteller, and tea was always my favourite window through which I could see the world. So, I thought, what if each collection was its own journey to a different place?
Only, how would I decide between seventy countries, some of which have more than one prominent tea-growing region? Surprisingly, the choice came easy. I had to start somewhere, so I picked a place that felt familiar in more than one way:
The Himalayas: A home away from home
Hailing from Chile, I have an innate connection to mountains, which are sadly missing from the panorama of my chosen home, Berlin. That is why seeing the tea gardens of the Himalayas unfold before the backdrop of towering, snow-covered peaks felt like a homecoming. Although taller than those of my home country, they put me at ease: Even without a map or compass, mountains provide a sense of direction to those who know them well.
If you’ve been there, you’ve probably felt the special energy of the Himalayas. Hospitality is not a question – prepare to be greeted with a gentle and heartfelt “Namaste” wherever you go. Spirituality is ubiquitous, colorful Tibetan prayer flags line the hills, and the region is home to many languages, religions, and customs that share its layered history.
A story across borders
This is why I chose to focus not on a single nationality, but on a landscape stretching across borders, which abound in the Eastern Himalayas. Nepal, India, Bhutan, and the autonomous region Tibet: They all inhabit a piece of the mountainous terrain, as well as a heritage of tea culture they’re nurturing through craftsmanship and care.
Eduard/Himalaya brings together five teas from three gardens with three unique stories ranging from the familiar to the unknown. Come with me as we discover more about each of them.
With love from Berlin,
Eduardo
