West China Tea Company: The First Six Months

My recent birthday coincided with the 6-month anniversary of when West China Tea Company began doing business in earnest.  To celebrate, we're holding a big white tea and pu er preorder sale.  I also finally forced myself to sit down and write a retrospective of sorts, summing up the last half year.
I started West China Tea Company in August 2012 in Austin, Texas, after returning from two and a half years in China.  Initially it was just a way for me to ensure a steady supply of high quality tea for myself and my tea-loving friends.  After a 3-month sourcing trip the following spring and more than a year of grappling with the intricacies of international trade regulations, West China Tea finally began doing business in earnest in December 2013.  Its first official action was bringing a large, direct shipment of Mt. Nannuo pu er and black tea from the Li family in Southern Yunnan to Austin, Texas.  

Since then, the business has taken on a life of its own, growing at a rapid pace in directions I never could have anticipated.  What started simply as a side project has become a cultural force of which I'm merely a part, carried along by its momentum.  

I'm taking this opportunity just past the 6-month mark to look back on all we've done in our first two quarters of business.  The events, markets, projects, and interactions we've participated in have ranged from predictable to utterly bizarre, and the support we've gotten from the community has been immense.  Without the openness, enthusiasm and patronage of the people and businesses of Austin, none of this would have been possible.  Rather than expand on every item here, I've given each its own blog post which is hyperlinked. And so I present:

West China Tea Company: The First Six Months

• Acquired more than a dozen wholesale accounts
• Participated in advancing medical science by conducting a Pu Er Tea Blood Sugar Study with Mr. Natural
• Partnered with Austin institution Juiceland 
• Presented a Discussion of Fair-Trade Tea with Slow Food Austin at In.gredients
• Partnered with Austin's ephemeral and mysterious Woven Tea House for multiple events
• Established a tea room and built a charming outdoor tea pavilion at the Birdhouse in east Austin
• Joined forces with local chocolate maker Chocosutra to hold multiple tea + chocolate events
• Held a tea-inspired prix-fixe Valentine's meal with Loveballs Japanese street food trailer
• Began vending at HOPE Farmers Market and made tea for kids with HOPE play
• Cooperated with local Austin artists Mary Cotterman and Chris Long to make gong fu teaware
• Helped to design tea + liquor cocktail recipes with Cha Jiu and served them at Dandy's Menswear
• Teamed up with local performer Ciara Blossom to create SensualiTEA, a wholly unique experience
• Served and sold tea every Fourth Friday at Tiny Taiga
• Held a tea tasting and seminar for the Chinese language class at Texas State University in San Marcos
• Did a tea tasting for the staff at Apple Computers Austin
• Sold some of our finest tea to Dobra Tea in North Carolina
• Sold the same tea to Austin's nationally-acclaimed fine dining restaurant Qui
• Were invited to contribute to established tea blog TChing.com
• Had our teas reviewed on Steepster and Steep Stories (of the Lazy Literatus)
• Had our events covered by local media Eater Austin and Culture Map
• Served tea at the first annual Texas Wild Rice Festival in San Marcos with Woven Tea House
• Served tea at Spring Convergence and the first annual Archaic Revival Festival with Chocosutra
• Made tea at numerous private parties ranging from children's birthdays to elegant rooftoop soirees
• Participated in a Bitcoin Outdoor Market (yes we accept Bitcoin)
• Served tea at a Party Plants concert
• Started holding bi-weekly tea tasting + open mics at the various Juiceland locations
• Served tea to San Francisco's Long Now Foundation

If you'd handed me the above list, in the imperative rather than the past tense, and told me I had 6 months to complete it, I would have said it was impossible.  It is thanks to our friends, partners, collaborators, volunteers, customers, and Head of Sales Lacy Quin that we've come as far as we have.  

And still we persist, growing faster than ever.  There are many exciting projects and developments in the coming months, including:

• The opening of a retail space and art gallery in the Wunderpilz Tea Gallery with Clementine & Co. Jewelry, Chocosutra, Chris Long Ceramics, and other friends above Uncommon Objects
• The opening of a full-service teahouse in the courtyard of Austin landmark Spiderhouse
• The launch of a line of tea-leaf jewelry by Clementine & Co.
• A pu er bing wrapper design competition where the winner will receive a tong of Mt. Nannuo pu er cakes
• The launch of our new, redesigned website that resembles a weapons shop in a role-playing video game

And other exciting things that are too top secret to divulge at the moment.  And of course, we plan on returning to China in the spring to source more exciting farm-direct teas and exquisite Chinese teaware.  Our gratitude goes to everyone who has helped us on our mission to make Chinese tea culture a part of Austin and America.

Sincerely,

So-Han Fan

Owner, West China Tea Company