Category: About Us Page 4 of 5

Wild tea trees grow quietly in forests, covered by very thick layers of moss, flowers, grass and plants, they live together with plenty insects, birds, small and large sized animals.

The naturally restraint order in the natural environment does exist, but that does not stop the peace and harmony coexist, actually the vase diversity complete the beauty of wonder in the Nature.

We all think we love tea and love the Nature, but in the reality how often we can really come across with differences and are willing and able to collaborate with each others?  If tea trees could coexist in the Nature with plenty of plants, insects and animals then why we couldn’t?

It is said the worst enemies are not others but own egoism and fragile pride. The best teacher is the clarity in consciousness and in heart. Belgium Chinese Tea Culture Association is proudly commissioned by CTPFA as Belgium Exchange Centre for Chinese tea and tea culture.

Our mission is to promote authentic knowledge and wisdom in Chinese tea culture and we are interesting to collaborate with individuals and associations who share the same passion for tea.

For more information, please contact Mei Lan Hsiao directly.

Such recognition also means responsibilities.  After receiving such recognition, I keep asking myself the following question:  What does Cha Ren means? Tea Amateurs, Tea Lovers, Tea Sommelier, or Tea Master?

Even though her family has nothing to do with tea, but she learnt the importance of consuming tea correctly in daily health diet based on the Chinese traditional medicine principles, the essence of keeping a well balance and appropriate adaptation based on Yin-Yang and 5 elements from her mother when she was very young.

She entered the tea learning in Taiwan since 1985, left her root because of marriage in 1991 was a hard emotional decision but that helped her to expand her learning horizon in tea and Chinese tea culture from original limited inward-outbound one-direction view to 360 degree.

She started to promote the authentic knowledge about tea and wisdom in Chinese tea culture in Belgium since 1995.  Efforts in promoting tea and Chinese tea culture helped her to strengthen her roots for humane. Based on her observation and experience in Europe, she deeply realizes tea is speechless and often being misunderstood or misused because of wrong information and/or interpretation if people have no chance to understand its authentic flavor and taste.  Her life time mission now is to speak for tea, to share more authentic knowledge about quality and pure taste.

She earned the title of “Tea Master” through recognitions from other well known experts in tea and Chinese tea culture from China and Taiwan.  This title does not limit to the meaning of who she is but aggrevates her recognition of her responsibility to promote tea and Chinese tea culture in more serious manners further.  Their recognition also urges her to keep her head down to focus on tea and deepen the learning in tea and Chinese traditional wisdom for health and life through tea.

Tea has always been and will continue be her best teacher. In front of Nature and Tea, she remains as an innocent child, a life-time student.

Dear Friends,

Starting from 25/May/2018 we are obliged to comply the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) .  Even if you are not living in Europe, we will still extend the same principle to show our respect to your privacy and personal data.

When you sign in to our newletters, you will receive an email about the information and/or knowledge about tea and Chinese tea culture whenever we update on this site.  In the future, just as we did in the past,  your data will remain protected in our database.

The learning of Tea and Chinese tea culture provides a very pleasant and rewarding life time learning journey.  I’m glad that I can share my learning and inspiration with many tea lovers around the world via internet.

In case you do not wish to remain on our email list, you can simply drop me an email, so I can delette your data from our list.

We don’t have the stamp on the package for fair trade, WE SIMPLY DO FAIR TRADE.

We don’t have the organic label on the package, WE AND OUR PARTNERS SIMPLY  COMMIT TO ECO BALANCE. Just because Nature and health are important.

We believe each pesticide analysis  handles by European laboratory to assert the organic quality serves as more true evident than stamp or label.

Do we have to “visit” the tea garden and “check” the quality every year? No, we don’t have to with the close partnership with friends who share the crazy commitment. Especially when we choose to work base on partnership, commitment and trust to the Mother Nature, wisdom from Chinese old traditions, health and QUALITY.

Honesty and commitment not only important to TEA, NATURE  but also to  friendship in life.

If we have more profit, we rather to invest on tea but not on hotels and flight tickets for pleasure.

There is only one planet we treasure, and we are committed to eco-balanced healthy tea.

I know normally it’s honor to meet or able to have a President to give endorsement, but I really can’t share that kind of joy and proud with ITQI when they posted the photo of President Tsai Yin-Wen today.

Because the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) under Tsai’s command issued an announcement ‘quietly’ on their web site what they intend to loosen the pesticide tolerance standards.

Luckily such quiet ‘pesticide standards” announcement was discovered by a politician from the opposite party in time and then the issue was exposed on media on 15/3. Instantly I posted my concern and protest on Facebook and to the Taiwan Tea Manufacturing Industrial Association.  Eventually MOHW admitted the decision of new pesticide standards was made based on the request from American agriculture chemical company.

If this announcement was not discovered in time, then 60 days later that ‘quiet announcement” could become official regulations. Luckily the planned new standards was not supported or agreed by most tea farmers and manufacturers or traders,  because the new standards would allow the tolerance of Fluopyram to 6ppm while the tolerance of this particular pesticide in EU is only 0.1ppm.

Under severe protests, finally the MOHW decided to “temporarily postponed” the implementation but did not decide to deny the request from the American agriculture chemical company’s request.

Taiwan produce very good quality tea that we really emphasis on superior taste and quality but not quantity.  But ff we allowed Tsai’s government team to implement the new tolerance standards, then the name of Taiwanese tea will be ruined, and Taiwanese tea will face a lot of challenge to sell tea outside of Taiwan.

Therefore I am sorry that I really can’t give my thumb up for this article from ITQI just because they were able to meet or listen Tsai’s speech during their visit in Taiwan.

ITQI emphasis quality, then meeting international pesticide tolerance standards for tea must be the basic requirement.

Indeed this is a very expensive approach for a small tea centre like us, but I truly believe this is the responsible and correct attitude to show my respect to tea, and this is the most solid way to win trust from consumers who are looking for superior taste an fine quality tea.

Which tea to drink in case the weather is warm and humid, feel sick when like to sweat but can’t sweat?
Suggestions:
1. traditional fermented & roasted Oolong
2. Red (black) tea
3. Ripped Puerh
4. Aged tea
5. Ginger tea

Tea has more than 5000 years or more years of history in Chinese culture which has been through various major cultural shifts in the history of mankind, the journey started from China and it is now spreading to the world. Preparing a cup of tea is easy, but learning of tea and wisdom from tea that you can apply in life are much more complex than you think.  Tea is healthy only if you have the basic knowledge about the basic principles of tea and the essential 5W and 1H.

Tea is about health that influences the quality of life. The best way to advance the learning of tea is to shorten the distance between person-to-person and person-to-tea.

Professional knowledge, respect of business ethics and able to live by example are essential quality to tea sommelier.

The basic module of tea sommelier certification program helps you to learn more than just about tea, it does not limited to how to brew tea and how to present tea. The certification program aims to enhance your knowledge in tea at the forefront level; more importantly it helps you to learn more about health, the wisdom about inner self , respect of nature and humane values that you know what and how to build and sustain a well balance and harmony in life.

The program is built based on over 32 years of learning and practice of Tea Master Mei Lan Hsiao aims to provide you a passport to continue your journey in tea with the authentic and correct knowledge. The program will equip you professional knowledge and skills  as tea sommelier.

Basic Modules program :

Purpose of the program

• Intensive interactive learning approach in a small learning group
• Intensive tea degustation, learn by tasting
• Intensive interactive learning, learn by doing
• To enhance the clarity of each learning, students need to complete small exam per section
• At end, students need to a) present learning thesis, b) oral presentation c) Q&A d) blind taste of tea e) tea cupping presentation

Logistic arrangement 

• Location: Paul van Ostaijenlaan 12, 2050 Antwerp (Linkeroever)
• Frequency: Once a week
• Hours: 3-4 hours per lesson
• Period: 20 weeks
• Fee: 2,500EUR/per person (excl. VAT)

Basic quality parameters has no cultural differences, it goes back to the basic :

1. how tea garden is managed
2. type of tea tree
3. the health condition of tea tree
4. tea picking
5. tea processing and post processing

…………….. once tea is available, then we must examine our own actions:

1. how much do I know about tea?
2. do I know what and how to choose to drink?
3. how much do I really know and respect  tea?
4. do I know how to bring out the best characters from tea during the brewing?
5. how much can I distinguish the quality  and the pure and authentic flavour and taste?

Last but at least, we must question ourselves : what do we really learn from tea? It depends on our learning attitude.

Not only in European market but also in the rest of the world today, let’s face it the market is dominated by aromatic flavored tea for simple reasons:

1. How much tea importers/traders really know and love tea before the attraction of  ‘$$$”?
2. Many only interest in “buying low, selling high”,
3. There are still too much ‘funny’ stories about tea published in various media today
4. There are still too much consumers don’t have the correct knowledge and information about tea