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| Alba Ameller dokodemocha |
| Made in Barcelona, based in Tokyo since 2013. Alba has been studying and practicing Japanese tea ceremony under her teacher’s line- Omotesenke. During the day, Alba works in multimedia production and experience design. In her spare time, you will find her building small initiatives and experiences to revitalize the art of Japanese tea ceremony. More here. |
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| Ian Chun Yunomi |
| Matsu seduced Ian into the tea industry in 2010, and he began promoting Japanese tea farmers and small factories globally establishing Yunomi.life as an online platform in 2013. Yunomi.life now offers a thousand teas from over a hundred Japanese tea producers. |
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| Lilia Dzyk Fujini Shokai Kyoto |
| Lilia is an avid tea-lover and enthusiast. She has spent time volunteering on a Japanese tea farm and now works at a tea company in Kyoto. |
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| George Guttridge-Smith Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms |
| George's fascination with tea started nearly 10 years ago. Since 2019 he has been working at Obubu Tea and leading several creative tea projects. |
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| Jason Eng Kametani Tea Factory |
| Jason's background is in marketing management and now he works in a business development and partnerships role at a tea company in Nara. |
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| Helen Hayashi |
| Helen has been living in Japan for a long time and has been teaching yoga. In future she would like to open a take out tea shop in Sakai. |
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| Yasuharu Matsumoto Global Japanese Tea Association, Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms |
| Matsumoto is one of our association founders. He has been working with Japanese tea since 2004, has been focusing on bringing Japanese tea to the world |
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| Caven Mitchell SIVENTH |
| Caven is the CEO of SIVENTH, a technology focused consulting and mentorship provider. He is also developing a tool for sustainability evaluation in tea industry practices. |
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| Ryo Morisaki Morifuku Chaen |
| Ryo is the first generation tea farmer in Wazuka, Kyoto. He focuses on making natural tea that is good for people and the environment. |
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| Moe Nakashima Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms |
| Moe has a passion for tea and tourism. She has been working at Obubu Tea since 2019 and has been helping to manage several ta tourism activities. |
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| Mak Tsui Shan (Vira) |
| Vira is a Buddhist nun, who is teaching meditation around the world. She has also a deep interest in tea. |
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| Yoshihiro Sugimoto Wazuka Koucha |
| Sugimoto-san is a 5th generation tea farmer in Wazuka, Kyoto. He specializes in Japanese black tea - Wakoucha |
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| Simona Suzuki (Zavadckyte) Global Japanese Tea Association |
| Simona is one of our association founders. She has been working with Japanese Tea since 2013. Her focus is on making Japanese tea more open and accessible to the world |
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| Noriyasu Uejima Uejima Sourokuen |
| Uejima-san is a 5th generation tea farmer in Wazuka, Kyoto. He makes high-grade teas including Matcha and Gyokuro |
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| Jun Watanabe Deai Noen |
| Jun is the fourth generation tea farmer from Shimada, Shizuoka. He mostly makes deep steamed tea - fukamushicha, but he has also been experimenting with other kinds like Wakoucha, Oolongcha. |
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| Micah Nieriz Agustin |
| Micah's background is in statistics and operations management. She also really loves Japanese tea. |
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| Kirsten Glenwright |
| Kirsten is a an artist with a deep love for tea, especially Gyokuro. |
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| James Millward |
| James has been a long-term Japanese tea enthusiast since studying at Kochi University in 1997. He has recently completed a Japanese tea course with our association. |
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| Bonnie Robin Parlor Tea |
| Bonnie is the co-founder of Parlor Tea, a Melbourne based tea brand, that focuses on organic green tea. |
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| Camellia Thistleton Miss Camellia Tea |
| Camellia is the founder of Miss Camellia Tea, that provides boutique teas and bespoke tea ceremonies. |
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| Claudia Befu Tea Room Stories |
| Claudia is a tea lover and tea ceremony practitioner, who shares here passion through here page Tea Room Stories. |
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| Michaela Scheda |
| Michaela has been interested in tea and she really likes Japanese tea. |
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| Carol Bailleul The Art of Tea Brewing |
| Carol has been working with tea since 2013. She runs a Wabi Sabi Guest house, provides tea consulting and has published a book called "Afternoon Tea or High Tea?" |
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| Greet Huybrechts Greet Huybrechts theesommelier |
| Greet's background is in tourism and she has a great passion for tea. |
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| Erik De Keersmaecker Wakoucha |
| Erik is a certified ITMA Tea Sommelier. He has been fascinated by Wakoucha and has built the whole website for it. |
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| Elena Macheret |
| Elena started her tea journey with Chinese teas, but soon she fell in love with Japanese tea and now is looking to explore them more. |
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| Cinzia Merlin The Tea Circle |
| Cinzia's background is in professional translation, but she is also a co-founder of the Tea Circle - a space for tea culture and education in Brussels. |
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| Sofie Vercauteren Tearista |
| Sofie spent nearly a year travelling through Asia and learning about tea. Now she teaches about tea to others and organizes trips to tea regions. |
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| Paula Batista |
| Paula is an agronomist with a deep interest in tea. She has been an active member of the first Brazilian tea school and is now researching about tea at the Okayama University. |
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| Eloína Telho Chazeira |
| Eloína is a tea lover and sensorial teacher Escola de Chá Embahú. She visited Japan in 2018 and was able to explore the tea regions of Shizuoka and Kyoto. |
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| Delphine Gingras |
| Delphine started drinking Japanese tea many years ago and she is looking to learn more about it. |
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| Lee Jolliffe University of New Brunswick |
| Lee is a professor of hospitality and tourism. She has been deeply interested in tea tourism and has also published a book about it 'Tea and Tourism'. |
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| Han Le Salon de Thé Oasis |
| Han is a founder and the owner of Salon de The Oasis in Montreal, Canada. Han is deeply invested in tea education, and over the years has held many workshops and events |
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| Francois Mathieu Hojicha.co |
| Francois is a founder of Hojicha.co and is working on introducing Japanese roasted tea all across North America. |
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| Lucie Pinzano |
| Lucie has a great passion for Japanese tea. A few years ago she travelled across Japan to experience and learn more about Japanese tea. |
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| Beatriz Rodriguez |
| Beatriz has been passionate about Japanese tea for a long time and she is looking for new ways how to help introduce it more in Germany |
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| Susanne Lang Horenso Consulting |
| Susanne is the founder of Horenso Consulting. Combining her experience in hospitality sector and her interest in tea, she is working to help other businesses succeed. More here. |
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| Susanne Monka |
| Susanne has a deep interest in tea and has completed several online tea courses at our association. |
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| Olesya Rudolff |
| Olesya is a real tea enthusiast based in Germany. |
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| Marten Verch |
| Marten has worked in several tea companies and associations in Germany. He is really passionate and enthusiastic about tea. |
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| Maurice Eric Zacher |
| Maurice is a product designer in Germany, who has lived in Japan for a few years and has developed a deep passion for Japanese tea. |
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| Yeuk Shing Chiu |
| Otto used to help at his grandfather's tea shop where he developed interest in tea. Now he is learning about and exploring Japanese tea more proactively. |
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| Jose Guillermo Te Invito |
| At the age of 17 Jose founded a tea company, and is working on re-culturalizing people in the coffee country -Honduras towards tea. |
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| Stella Suherman Yamaoka Tea |
| Stella is the founder of Yamaoke Tea in Indonesia and has a special affinity for Japanese tea. |
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| Shane Flynn The Plant Based Cafe |
| Shane is the founder of The Plant Based Cafe. In future he would like to introduce more Japanese tea to Ireland. |
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| Alessandra Celi Tè e Teiere |
| Alessandra's background is plants and herbs. It is natural that she discover tea, and since 2005 she has been running a tea shop in the heart of Rome. |
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| Sara Cherchi Tea Squirrel |
| Sara's passion for Japanese tea started during her university years. She lived in Osaka for several years and hopes to start a tea business in the near future. More here. |
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| Stefania Gilardi Tea Academy Italia |
| Stefania is the founder of Tea Academy Italia, started in 2017 to spread tea culture in Italy. She is also the owner of a Tea Room called Tête à Thé no so far from Milan. More here. |
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| Silvia Miglietta |
| Silvia works with medical devices and has a great passion for tea. She has completed several tea courses by our association and the UK Tea Academy |
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| Elena Alessia Rasetto |
| Elena is a tea lover, who has a strong interest in Japanese tea. |
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| Maria Giulia Rigon |
| While working with languages professionally Maria has a great passion for tea and has been collaborating with local teashops in holding tea events. |
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| Caren Chawa |
| While professionally involved in a different field, Caren has been a tea lover for a long time and in future hopes to have her own teashop. |
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| Giedrė Trumpienė Yugen Tea |
| Giedrė's interest in tea began over 10 years ago. In 2020 she started a tea company Yugen Tea, and now is promoting Japanese tea in Lithuania. |
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| Andri Ciang Hojichaya |
| Andri is the founder of Hojichaya. He works on promoting Hojicha and other Japanese teas in Malaysia. |
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| Martha Mendizabal |
| Martha really loves Japanese tea. She has completed several of our tea courses and in future hopes to have a Japanese tea business in Mexico. |
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| Mark Pierson |
| Mark is the founder of the International Guild of Tea Liturgists, and curates “Tea & Be” rituals at festivals, conferences and churches. |
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| Crisiljefv Garrido C-Tea |
| Crisiljefv's background in real estate, but he has also started an organic tea manufacturing company in the Philippines, called C-Tea. |
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| Sharee Mae Te Chingkee Tea |
| Sharee is the founder of Chingkee Tea. She started her tea business at the age of 21 and now runs 4 locations. |
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| Nina Gruntkowski Chá Camélia |
| Nina has a great passion for tea. She is a co-founder of Chá Camélia and one of the first tea growers in Europe. |
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| Vânia Romano |
| Vânia works for a tea company is Portugal and wishes to learn more about Japanese tea. |
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| Maarten Roos Lightcurve Films |
| Maarten's background is in science and film making. He also loves tea, of course, and is looking for ways to combine these passions. |
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| Julie Wang |
| Julie has been involved in several tea education and consulting projects. She is also a graduate of the Japanese Tea Master Course |
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| Xenia Bianco The Japanese Tea Hub |
| Xenia is the founder of The Japanese Tea Hub and she is working on promoting Japanese tea across all Europe. More here. |
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| Anna Poian Global Japanese Tea Association, Mindful Teas |
| Anna is one of our association founders. By attending tea festivals and holding tea workshops she has been introducing Japanese tea throughout Europe. |
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| Pilar Serrano Tea Academy Spain |
| Pilar is the director of the Tea Academy Spain, teaching students about tea. She is also winner of the Tea Masters Cup Spain in 2019. |
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| Dmitry Sobolev Oh! My Tea |
| Dmitry is the owner of the tea and coffee shop in Saint Petersburg called Oh!MyTea. |
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| Nixon Chen Mahidol University International College |
| Nixon is an assistant professor in Mahidol University International College. He teaches about Sales, Marketing, Fashion, Society, Wine Studies and of course Tea! |
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| Mariëlla Erkens Mariëlla Erkens Theesommelier |
| Mariëlla is a tea sommelier, tea expert, tea author. She provides advice and training on tea, and has even written a book about tea and food pairing. |
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| Philippine Kahn |
| Most of Philippine's career was in the field of law, but she is looking for a future in tea, and has been actively studying about Japanese tea. She is also very interested in wagashi. |
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| Raffaella Marziani |
| Raffaella has completed a tea course at the UK Tea Academy and she is specialising in Japanese tea. |
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| Victoria Mikheeva |
| Victoria went to Japan in 2019, where she discovered Japanese tea and got really interested in it. |
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| Marjolein Raijmakers Nagasaki Ikedoki Tea |
| Marjolein has a great passion for Japan tea. She has completed an internship at Obubu Tea and now works at Nagasaki Ikedoki Tea. |
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| Richard Schukkink International Tea and Coffee Academy |
| Richard is the founder of the International Tea and Coffee Academy. For over a decade, he has been teaching and inspiring a new generation of tea and coffee professionals. |
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| Eray Ergenc |
| Eray has roots in a tea producing region in Turkey and in future would like to have a tea farm to produce green tea. |
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| Viktoryia Toma Ikigai-shu |
| Viktoryia is a food & beverage specialist. She is also a WSET wine & sake educator. |
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| Anna Louise Batchelor |
| Anna Louise is an Environmental Scientist and consultant in the food industry. Having studied with the UK Tea Academy, Anna is a certified Tea Sommelier with specific interest in Japanese Tea. Anna has traveled widely in Japan visiting tea fields, production facilities and enjoying a home stay on a tea farm. |
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| Luisa Duca The Yorebridge House |
| Luisa is Chef de rang in 5 star hotel. She is also an avid tea drinker and has already completed several tea courses. |
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| Kyle Whittington TeaWithKyle |
| Kyle is a tea specialist and tea ceremony practitioner of Ueda Sōko school. He also creates shifuku - Japanese tea ceremony fabrics and runs the Tea Book Club. |
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| Michaeline Becker Mickbeauty |
| Michaeline is a professional hair & makeup artist. She would also like to start curating and selling Matcha. |
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| Dan Bolton Tea Journey |
| Dan is the founder of the digital Tea Journey magazine, and he is also the chief editor of several other tea magazines. |
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| Sam Boyles Second Steep Tea |
| Sam's background is in coffee, but he is also really interested in tea, and and is working to start a tea business |
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| Seth Griffin |
| Seth is a professional Chinese translator and a keen tea drinker. |
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| Cynthia Goldberg Global Tea Initiative Univ of California |
| Cynthia is an advisory committee member of the University of California, Davis Global Tea Initiative. She is also a recreational potter who loves ceramic tea ware. |
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| Audrey Guzik |
| Audrey is a Japanese tea enthusiast, who has been ordering tea directly from Japan and journaling the tastings. |
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| Holly Helt Chiki Tea |
| Holly is the founder and CEO of Chiki Tea - an international Japanese green tea online retailer. She has also written a book about Japanese tea. |
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| Peter Jones Trident Booksellers & Cafe |
| Peter's background is in psychology and he is also the head tea guy at the Trident Booksellers & Cafe travelling to tea regions to source tea himself. |
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| Angela Lancaster |
| Angela works in the transport industry. She has a great interest both in Japan and Japanese tea. |
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| David Lavecchia Tezumi |
| David is a member of Tezumi team. He is also a practitioner of Ueda Sōko school of Japanese tea ceremony and is training to gain Nihoncha Instructor's certification. |
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| Patrick Leonard |
| Patrick's background is in data analysis, but he has a great interest in tea. He has completed several tea courses with our association. |
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| Christopher Lum Tea Master Matcha Cafe & Green Tea Shop |
| Christopher works at a tea shop in LA - Tea Master. He is a true Japanese tea lover and Matcha is his passion. |
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| Marzi Pecen Pecen & Associates |
| Marzi is a independent tea professional consulting about the tea, fragrance, flavoring, culinary & beverage industries |
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| Lauren Purvis Mizuba Tea Co. |
| Lauren has been studying specialty tea for over 17 years. In 2013 she founded Mizuba Tea Company, that is a recognized Uji Cha Tea Dealer working with some of the most highly awarded tea producers in Japan. More here. |
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| Cathy Reyes-Gallardo Cathy Ana |
| Cathy has a great passion for Japanese tea. She has spent nearly a year in a tea town in Kyoto, and hopes to open her own tea shop one day. |
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| Jules Reyes matchajules |
| Jules is a lifelong student of Japanese tea. She is the creator of Instagram communities: @matcha.sf, @matcha.la, and @matcha.nyc. More here. |
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| Cory Schmidt Brainsteep |
| Cory is the creator for Brainsteep - a website for tea and throught. He used to live in Japan and has been an avid tea fan for many years. |
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| Aiko Strasser Savor Matcha |
| Aiko founded Savor Matcha in 2020, a female-founded & Asian owned online shop dedicated to promoting the health benefits of craft Japanese matcha in the US. |
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| Tess Thormodsgaard LA Tea Sommelier |
| While professionally working in a different field, Tess is passionate about tea and is happy to organize tea activities and workshops in LA. |
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| Erin Toyoshima Matchaful |
| Erin manages Operations and Sustainability at Matchaful, a female-founded, mission-driven matcha and wellness company based in New York City. |
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| Adrian Vega |
| Adrian has been working in the tea industry for a number of years and now he is creating a new tea company |