Andrei Ivanov - Latvia Tea Masters and his passion for Vietnam Ancient Snow Shan Tea

Andrei Ivanov is the international champion of Tea Masters Cup 2017 in two categories and also the national champion of Latvia Tea Masters Cup 2017. He is no stranger to Vietnam tea and culture because Vietnam Tea Association has invited him no less than 3 times to Vietnam for being a judge in national TMC and also for tea tour. Here is what he has to said after the precious time he has here.

"Vietnam is an amazing country. People here are simple and kind, culture is original and nature is extraordinary amazing. You can talk a lot about it but it's better to go by yourself and see everything with your own eyes. We want to talk a little about Vietnamese tea.

Firstly it was the discovery for us that in Vietnam people produce all kinds of tea. During this trip we experienced amazing white, green, red, oolong and pu-erh tea made from ancient trees. Having tried a number of different varieties you will agree that Vietnamese tea is unfairly underestimated. Despite its external similarity with Chinese, Vietnamese tea has its own original very pleasant notes.

Secondly the discovery was that in Vietnam there are farms with huge plantations where tea is grown and produced for Taiwan. Later people sell this tea like Taiwanese for much higher price.

ANCIENT TEA TREES (VIETNAM)Someone once said “We all leave to return home someday”. Our journey to Vietnam ended and it seems that it's time to say few words about it. During this trip we were able to visit several places where ancient tea trees grow, as well as in the factory where tea is produced, directly from the leaves picked from these trees. Most memorable moment was our participation in picking and preparation tea from 300-year-old trees.

This factory produces white, red and two kinds of pu-erh tea, shu and sheng. They produce tea for about 30 years, so this is a young but very interesting factory. Those who used to drink tea made from ancient trees, will confirm that it is special. This tea grows at 1000-2400 meters above sea level in the wild jungle. The area we visited located on the border with Yunnan province, China where Chinese famous pu-erh tea is being produced.

As always it is better to see once than hear a hundred times. The trees I am talking about are 70 to 500 years old. We have new products in our assortment, made from ancient Vietnamese tea trees we highly recommend to try.

Finally I want to say that we will definitely return here again in order to learn more about this country and about the tea that is being made with special devotion here

Credit to Andrei Ivanov