Our story

 

HAKU Tea was inspired by the Japanese aesthetic Yohaku (or Yohaku-no-bi), meaning the beauty of white space.

Japanese and Chinese artists would often use deliberate empty space in their work to make room for the viewer’s own imagination and interpretations. Emptiness and minimalism are key concepts in yohaku-no-bi where the artist warmly invites the audience to share a moment with them.

HAKU tea seeks to capture that experience through specialty Taiwanese oolong tea. I wanted to invite people to pause more throughout their day to observe themselves, their environment, and the moment.

Tea has long been a part of my every day. When I’m stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed with emotions, I would often take a pause with a cup of tea. The smell of the leaves, the look of the colours changing, the flavor of the fresh, floral, earthy scents as the leaves uncurl never fail to give me a sense of gratitude and appreciation for being here.

I want to share with you the wonderful leaves that create the white space in my life to observe, digest, accept, and be present. If you’re feeling all the feels right now. It’s okay. It’s normal. Drink some tea, think positive, slow down, take life one sip at a time.

 

What makes HAKU unique?

From small farms to you
All of our teas hold a personal connection. Each is born from years of cultivating relationships with growers and artisans — spending time on their tea farms, learning about their tea-making process, and getting to know their stories and philosophy on tea.  They are more than suppliers - they are our teachers, our partners and our friends.

How did HAKU start?

HAKU began from a sincere desire to make the finest teas of Taiwan available to people throughout the world. 

HAKU’s story started when I lived in Taiwan for the first time in 2013 . I took a hiking trip to the misty mountains of Alishan and wandered into a tea house, and into my appreciation for tea. After moving back to Toronto, I often miss the delicious teas in Taiwan and the joy of calmness it brings. I took a few more trips in subsequent years to seek exceptional tea in Taiwan.

In 2022, my partner and I took a year off from our lives in Toronto and moved to Taiwan to dedicate more time to learn about tea. We explored the tea growing regions, spending weeks at a time in each area to learn about the terroir, the history, and getting to know the tea producers. 

Generally, the best teas come from rural, isolated areas of Taiwan where small volume production and high demand make procuring them difficult. It’s incredibly delicious, diverse, and hard to find outside of Taiwan. We saw this as an opportunity worth undertaking.

What is your sourcing philosophy?

I feel a kind of kinship with all the producers we work with — those who have an appreciation for their natural environment, exhibit masterful traditional craftsmanship, and share their love of crafting tea with others. This appreciation came to be the foundation for how I source tea for HAKU.

We ensure our tea is clean, and makes us feel good. We ensure that the tea is handled respectfully, from the moment the leaves open to the moment it is in the cup. 

In each region, we seek out teas for terroir — reflecting geographically and culturally where the tea came from. Depending on their location, tea trees indigenous to each area develop distinct tasting profiles. Generations of tea producers have developed the optimal processing methods to bring the most unique tasting profiles out of the tea, and we want to cherish and celebrate that.

We work with small producers who prioritize sustainability, meaning their ways of working take into consideration those who have come before and those who will come after. One of our tea producers, Mr. Chen, always says "你用心看待土地，土地一定會回報你" which translates to "If you treat the land with your heart, the land will definitely reward you."