Sourcing claim — provenance verification

What you get

• A signed PDF document detailing vendor, region, production year, and full procurement chain

• A photo-trail from the original sourcing trip — field shots, wet leaf, pressed cake, and lot packaging

• Cross-referenced data from Teamotea’s internal procurement archive, including lot codes and purchase invoices

• Verification by either Sandry Law or Michael Zhan, who personally visited the origin in Yunnan or Fujian

• High-resolution images of the exact tea lot, wrapper, and compressed cake or loose leaf

• Optional organoleptic notes — appearance, aroma, and leaf condition — confirmed by the verifying master

• Priority queue for institutional accounts registered with tea.community

How a verification claim is assembled

Every sourcing claim begins with a single request — a trade buyer or journalist submits the details of a tea lot or pressed cake through the secure web form on tea.support. The lot might be a 2018 Bānzhāng shēng pǔ’ěr (班章生普) from a well-known factory, or a batch of Tiě Guān Yīn (铁观音) from Anxi. Once the query lands, our system routes it to the procurement specialist whose on-ground sourcing itinerary covers that region. This is not a generic database lookup; it is a reconstruction of a specific human journey.

Michael Zhan, for instance, walked the tea gardens of Bānzhāng in Xīshuāngbǎnnà Prefecture during the spring harvest of 2022. His field notes — scribbled in a waterproof notebook while leaning against the trunk of an ancient qīngmáo tree — describe the bud-to-leaf ratio, the colour of the fresh leaves, the altitude fog that drifted over the village that morning. Those notes are archived alongside dozens of photographs: the wet leaves after a quick firing, the compression cloths at the pressing factory, the final cake still warm with the wrappers being applied. When a verification claim arrives for that lot, Michael retrieves every image, notes the vendor’s name and purchase date, and compares the lot code against the tea’s journey through Teamotea’s Kunming warehouse.

If the claim reaches Sandry Law, his approach is equally meticulous. From Kunming, he oversees the procurement archive and cross-checks sourcing records across multiple seasons. A request for a Bái Háo Yín Zhēn (白毫银针) cake from Fujian might cause him to pull up high-resolution photographs of the silvery buds on the processing trays — taken at the moment when the down feathers were still luminous white. The written document he prepares includes close-ups of the dry leaf, the precise shade of pale straw in the first infusion, and the delicate honeyed scent that rises from the gaiwan. These sensory data points are not subjective reviews; they are markers of authenticity that a buyer can compare with their own sample.

The verification process rarely requires a physical re-inspection. With a deep archive of photographs, purchase receipts, and master-level olfactory memory, both Sandry and Michael can confirm a lot’s provenance within a few business days. If a sample does need to be examined, Sandry will brew a small portion in the Kunming office — a miniature ceremony — and note the mouthfeel, aftertaste, and how the wet leaves unfold after the sixth steep. The resulting PDF document, signed and timestamped, includes a clear statement of origin, the verifying master’s name, and the date of the original procurement trip. It is a certificate that holds weight for importers, retailers, and writers tracking the path of Chinese tea from mountain to cup.

Members of tea.community who maintain institutional accounts receive priority on these verifications, and the documents are often cross-referenced with cellar logs stored on puerh.app to ensure continuity. For additional transparency, the photo sets are sometimes made available for educational use on tea.school, showing the direct link between field research and the final product. The claim is sent as a ready-to-publish asset — no further interpretation needed, just a clear provenance trail that stands up to scrutiny.

Verification masters

• Sandry Law — Oversees all procurement records from Kunming and personally signs each claim after cross-referencing field data.

• Michael Zhan — Brings firsthand sourcing experience from Yunnan and Fujian; verifies lots against his field notes and photo archive.

Practical notes

• Submission — Web form on tea.support — institutional accounts only

• Turnaround — 5–10 business days, depending on archive depth

• Format — Signed PDF document with embedded images

• Requirements — Cake or lot details, known vendor and year; supporting purchase documentation appreciated

• Eligibility — Trade buyers, journalists, and verified institutional accounts

• Annual allowance — First 3 claims each calendar year free; additional claims €40

• Signature — Digitally signed by Sandry Law or Michael Zhan