I had the great privilege of having tea with Emilio Del Pozo and his wife Spring of The Jade Leaf in my home. They were visiting from Taiwan where their business, The Jade Leaf Tea is located in Taipei. I had a chance meeting with Emilio when he walked into the tea shop where I worked. He asked me what my favorite tea was in the shop and I immediately grabbed the Alishan we carried. After chatting with him I knew I had found a great person and company to feature on this blog. We exchanged contact information and arraigned to have tea. Emilio was humble and knowledgeable about his business and Spring was gracious and smart. I learned a lot about the differences between tea culture in Taiwan and tea culture in mainland China. Because Taiwan didn’t go through the Cultural Revolution that destroyed so much of high culture in China the attitude of the Taiwanese is to preserve the more elegant aspects of tea and traditional Chinese culture in general. It’s very clear that Emilio is happy and in love with his new home and with the Taiwanese people.

The following is an abridged recording of our tea session where I casually interview Emilio on his business and thoughts on tea.

In my next post I’ll discuss some of the tea he left with me until then, check out some great tunes.