Media & press enquiries

What you get

• A direct line to Sandry Law, Head of Procurement in Yunnan, for origin verification

• Fact‑checked sourcing claims for any tea in the THETEA ecosystem, mapped to mountain and factory

• High‑resolution photographs cleared for editorial use — wet leaf, dry leaf, tea gardens, processing steps

• Press kit with brand assets, background on the tea supply chain, and market data snapshots

• Sample box of three representative teas for sensory reference, so you can taste the story

• Coordination of interviews with tea masters or factory owners in China

• Early access to trade publications and community data shared via tea.community

From enquiry to clarity — a journalist’s path

The enquiry arrives as an email. Our press queue, monitored from Kunming time, sends an auto‑reply within minutes, and a real human response within one business day. That first message often comes from Sandry Law, whose signature carries the weight of a procurement desk in Yunnan. Alongside his note, you receive a PDF deck — a clean, calm briefing on the THETEA constellation, with key sourcing philosophies and a map of our 34 brands.

A few days later, a small cardboard box arrives. Inside, three sample pouches rest on a bed of shredded paper mulberry bark. Each pouch is sealed with a twist‑tie and a handwritten label: a 2018 Xiàguān shēng pu’er (下关生普洱) from Dali prefecture, a Bái Háo Yín Zhēn (白毫银针) from Fuding, and a Dà Hóng Páo (大红袍) from the Wuyishan cliffs. The dry leaves release a quiet scent — the pu’er carries a hint of aged camphor, the white tea a whisper of hay, the rock oolong a mineral smokiness.

You brew the first infusion. The shēng pu’er opens with a deep amber liquor; its first steam reminds you of apricot stones and damp forest floor. The texture is brisk, coating the tongue with a slight astringency that fades into a soft, lingering sweetness. For a journalist chasing a story on Yunnan’s ancient tea trees, this is the taste of those mountains — and it is exactly the kind of detail that will anchor a feature.

Your scheduled call with Sandry comes next. He appears on a video feed, often from a warehouse on the outskirts of Kunming or from a rented table at a tea market, a gaiwan and a glass pitcher in front of him. He walks you through the sourcing data: the farm gate coordinates of the Xiàguān material, the picking standard for the Bái Háo Yín Zhēn, the roast curve for the Dà Hóng Páo. He answers questions about the difference between tea grown in Lincang versus Puer prefecture, quoting batches and factory records. The process is rigorous, but the tone is unhurried — a conversation between a professional and someone with a notebook.

Throughout the call, you might reach for the second sample. The Bái Háo Yín Zhēn’s pale champagne infusion catches the light. As you sip, the mouthfeel is silky, with a sweet‑nutty roundness that settles on the middle of the tongue. Sandry explains how the downy buds were withered under Fuding’s gentle April sun and why this particular lot, unlike cheaper versions, retains its structure after multiple steepings. The sensory detail becomes data, and the data becomes narrative.

After the call, you receive a Dropbox link with high‑resolution images cleared for editorial use — wet leaf against celadon, tea pickers in straw hats, parchment wrappers with Chinese factory seals. Every file is named by origin and date. The fact‑checked sourcing claims can be cross‑referenced with the open procurement ledger on thetea.app, while technical background on processing chemistry lives on tea.school. Journalists who are active members of tea.community often get an extra round of sample sharing before publication, a gesture that turns a one‑off enquiry into a lasting professional relationship.

In the days that follow, you shape your story. When a fact checker queries the altitude of a tea garden, Sandry replies with a screenshot from a GPS log. When the photo editor needs a higher resolution, another download link appears. The entire arc — from the first email to the closing footnote — moves with the pace of a well‑steeped pot: slow, deliberate, and full of quiet confidence. By the time the article goes live, you have not only a verified news story but also a personal understanding of the craft behind every cup of Chinese tea.

Handled by procurement

• Sandry Law — Procurement lead in Kunming; validates origin data, issues sourcing claims, and acts as the media point of contact.

Practical details

• Where — Email correspondence; optional encrypted video call via tea.support/chat

• Time — First reply within 1 business day; replies are asynchronous, respecting UTC+8

• Language — Mandarin and English — briefings and source documents available in both

• Sample delivery — We ship a box of three reference teas to any address worldwide at no cost

• Image licensing — High‑res, editorial‑use images delivered via Dropbox; usage terms included

• Confidentiality — Off‑the‑record briefings and embargoed data available on request

• Follow‑up — Post‑publication fact‑checking and further sample shipments arranged as needed