2026

 
 

Inside Huayopata: Sourcing Tea from Peru's Cloud Forest

A firsthand look at terroir and producers, and the case for the world's newest speciality tea frontier

 
 

Peru is known globally for coffee and cacao, but almost never for tea. In the cloud forests of Huayopata, a mere 4-5 hour drive from Cusco, small producers are cultivating tea in growing conditions that rival some of the world's most storied high-altitude origins, yet remain almost entirely unknown to the specialty trade. This talk is Adrienne Bryan’s attempt to change that.

Adrienne walks you through the terroir, the history, and the people behind Peruvian tea; not as a market opportunity on a slide, but as a place and a community she’s come to know firsthand.

 
 

What We’ll Cover

✔️ A brief history of tea in Peru — how coffee and cacao came to dominate the country's agricultural export story, and what that meant for tea

✔️ Terroir of the Sacred Valley and Huayopata — elevation, microclimate, and soil conditions, with comparisons to known high-altitude origins

✔️ Meet the producers — a firsthand look at smallholder tea growers, including Elvira Infusiones, and the realities of their work

✔️ Processing and production challenges — access to equipment, certification hurdles, and infrastructure gaps facing Peruvian producers

✔️ Market opportunity for speciality buyers — direct sourcing, pilot partnerships, and what fair, transparent trade could look like with this origin

✔️ Where this origin is headed — what needs to happen for Peruvian tea to gain visibility in the global speciality market

✔️Practical guidance for buyers, educators, and enthusiasts on how to engage with this emerging origin

What You’ll Gain

Attendees will leave with a clear picture of Peru's current tea landscape, an understanding of what makes this terroir distinct, and practical insight into how speciality buyers and educators might engage with this origin as it develops, whether through direct sourcing, pilot partnerships, or simply keeping Peru on their radar as one of speciality tea's newest frontiers.

Why This Matters Now

Speciality tea has spent decades mapping the world's known origins in exhaustive detail, but Peru has stayed almost entirely off that map. That's not because the tea isn't good; it's because the infrastructure, market access, and visibility haven't caught up to what the land is capable of. Peru represents something genuinely rare: an origin story still being written. Understanding it now, at this early stage, means understanding what speciality tea's next chapter of growth could look like, and who gets to be part of shaping it.

Who This Webinar Is For

  • Tea retailers, marketers, consultants, and educators

  • Anyone interested in new tea production regions

 
 

Speaker
Adrienne Bryan is the founder of Provenance Tea Company and an expert in the Peruvian tea industry. What began as a single cup in high school grew into a lasting fascination with tea's complexity, ritual, and history. With an academic background in archaeology, Adrienne is drawn to the people and stories behind tea production and she seeks out that history in tea shops everywhere she travels.

Moderator
Alicia Gentili, European Speciality Tea Association

Build a Tea Brand People Actually Care About

Storytelling, authenticity, and growth strategies with Don Mei, Founder of Mei Leaf

 
 

There are thousands of tea brands. Very few actually matter. Most struggle to stand out—not because the tea isn’t good, but because the brand lacks clarity, authenticity, and connection. So the real question is:

Why should anyone care about your tea brand?

In this session, the European Speciality Tea Association brings you a candid conversation with one of the most recognisable voices in modern tea.

This is not a surface-level branding talk.

This is a grounded discussion on what it actually takes to build a tea brand that is trusted, distinctive, and commercially viable.

 
 

What You’ll Gain

  • A clear framework for building an authentic tea brand rooted in purpose

  • Insight into how to curate teas that reinforce authority and credibility

  • Understanding how to communicate a compelling value proposition

  • Practical strategies for using content and social media to build a loyal audience

  • Awareness of common pitfalls that weaken tea brands—and how to avoid them

 What We Cover

  • How to define a clear purpose built from your passion

  • How to shape a business model that balances sustainability and profit

  • How to find your voice in a crowded and competitive market

  • How storytelling, sourcing, and brand identity must align

  • How to build and protect your brand in the long term

  • How to use content as a growth engine—not just marketing

 

Speaker
Don Mei – Founder, Mei Leaf;  YouTuber and leading voice in modern tea education, known for combining deep tea knowledge with compelling storytelling and digital reach

Moderator
Bernadine Tay – President, European Speciality Tea Association

Who This Webinar Is For

  • Tea entrepreneurs and brand founders

  • Tea retailers and hospitality professionals

  • Tea marketers, consultants, and educators

  • Anyone looking to build a distinctive and credible tea brand

Why This Matters Now

The tea industry is becoming increasingly competitive, with more brands entering the market than ever before.

At the same time, audiences are more informed—and more selective.

Brands that succeed will be those that go beyond product and build meaning, trust, and connection.

This session is designed to show you how.

If you want to build a tea brand that people don’t just buy—but believe in—this session will challenge how you think and operate. Learn what it takes to stand out in today’s tea market.

From Soil to Shelf: Who Pays for Regenerative Tea — and Who Profits?

A live Earth Day panel/webinar on the future of tea, pricing, and responsibility across the supply chain

This Earth Day, the European Speciality Tea Association brought together leading voices from across the tea value chain for a candid, commercially grounded panel discussion exploring the realities of regenerative tea farming.

A real conversation about:

  • The true cost of transitioning to regenerative practices

  • Whether the market is willing to support price premiums

  • The risks and opportunities for producers, buyers, and brands

  • How we move from intention to implementation

 
 

Why This Matters Now

Regenerative agriculture is rapidly gaining attention across food and beverage — but tea risks falling behind unless the industry aligns on how this transition can work in reality.

This session was designed to bridge that gap.

What You’ll Gain

  • A clear understanding of what regenerative tea farming actually means in practice

  • Insight into the economic realities behind adoption

  • Perspectives from both production and commercial sides of the industry

  • A first look at the RegenTea project and its role in shaping this transition

Inside the Art & Science of Tea Blending From Concept to Commercial Bestseller

 

What really happens behind the scenes of professional tea blending?

How great blends are created and why most fail?

 
 

Tea blending is often romanticised as creativity and intuition — but in reality, successful blends are the result of precise decision-making, technical knowledge, and deep commercial understanding.

In this exclusive European Speciality Tea Association webinar, Max Frick, General Manager of Mount Everest Tea Company, one of Germany’s largest and most respected tea blending houses in Hamburg, takes us inside the professional blending process — from the first idea to large-scale production.

Designed for tea professionals, brand founders, buyers, and passionate tea learners, this session offers rare insight into how blends are actually developed within the industry.

 
 

As part of the session, Max also guides participants through a live conceptual blending exercise, demonstrating how professionals approach designing a tea under real-world constraints.

This is a rare opportunity to learn directly from industry practice — offering practical understanding rather than theory alone.

 
 

It Explores

  • How professional tea blending differs from small-scale or hobby blending

  • The role of Camellia sinensis and botanicals in modern blend development

  • How flavour, cost, quality, and regulation influence ingredient choices

  • The journey from hand sample to industrial batch production

  • A real-world case study showing how a commercial bestseller is developed

  • Common mistakes emerging tea brands make when creating blends

Who This Webinar Is For

  • Tea brand founders and entrepreneurs

  • Tea buyers and retailers

  • Hospitality professionals working with tea menus

  • Tea educators and enthusiasts seeking deeper industry knowledge

  • Anyone curious about how successful tea blends are truly created

What You’ll Gain

By the end of the webinar, you will understand:

✔ How professional blenders think and make decisions
✔ The hidden factors behind successful commercial blends
✔ How to evaluate ingredients beyond flavour alone