Henrietta Lovell is the founder of Rare Tea Company and is known as the Rare Tea Lady. In the late 1990s, she was working in corporate finance, until a trip to China and a $50 pot of oolong changed everything. She fell in love with tea, not the industrial tea bag she grew up drinking in England, but tea crafted by farmers from specific places with terroir as complex as wine. For over 20 years, she's worked directly with farmers who grow tea organically and regeneratively, paying them what their work is actually worth. She runs the Rare Charity, where tea communities decide how funds are used - primarily putting kids through university who would otherwise have no access to higher education. She supplies tea to Michelin-starred restaurants around the world and has built her entire life around the belief that if you look for great flavor and know where it comes from, you can change communities while filling your life with pleasure. I joined Henrietta at the Rare Tea Company headquarters in London where we enjoyed incredible teas on a rainy afternoon. We talk in depth about camellia sinensis (tea), how the British stole it from China and grew it across their empire, the exploitation built into most of the tea industry, the 15 million people working in tea and mostly living in poverty, organic farming versus certification, bed tea as a morning meditation, and making rhubarb fool in her grandmother's Scottish kitchen. "Healthy soil is healthy mankind. It's not just us who drink the end product. It's the people who grow it and the communities around where it grows. It does matter." TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Falling in love with tea in China 03:15 - The $50 pot of oolong that changed everything 07:30 - Tea comes from one plant: Camellia sinensis 10:45 - How the British stole tea from China 15:20 - Corporate finance escape: "I can't wait until retirement" 18:40 - Starting Rare Tea Company with naivety and stupidity 22:15 - Meeting the first tea farmer in Fuding, China 26:30 - The exploitation built into industrial tea 31:45 - 15 million people work in tea, most are women in poverty 35:20 - Why we don't know where our tea comes from 39:10 - Direct trade: Paying farmers what tea is worth 43:25 - The Rare Charity: Education chosen by communities 47:50 - Why only 20% of charity revenue goes to admin 51:15 - From seed to cup: The tea growing process 56:40 - White tea, green tea, oolong, black tea, pu-erh 62:20 - Why organic certification is complex for small farmers 67:10 - Temperature, timing, and the art of making tea 71:45 - The 90-second rule for flavor extraction 75:30 - L-theanine: Why tea gives calm energy vs. coffee's crash 79:15 - Bed tea as morning meditation 82:40 - Tea cocktails: Quick extractions with alcohol 86:20 - The nun who made tea as meditation 90:15 - Favorite food memory: Rhubarb fool in Scotland 93:45 - Healthy soil, healthy communities RESOURCES MENTIONED Rare Tea Company: Website: rareteacompany.comInstagram: @rareteacompanyThe Rare Charity: rarecharity.comTea Regions Mentioned: Fuding, Fujian Province, China (white tea)Wuyi Mountains, China (oolong)Anxi, Fujian Province, China (Tie Guan Yin oolong)Kagoshima, Japan (gyokuro from Sakamoto-san)Nepal (high mountain green teas)Malawi, East Africa (second biggest export)India (Assam region)Tea Varieties Discussed: White Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yin Zhen)Tiger Oolong of Mercy (Tie Guan Yin)Da Hong Pao (oolong)Gyokuro (Japanese green tea)Matcha (ground green tea)Hojicha, Sencha, Genmaicha (Japanese teas)English Breakfast (blend)Pu-erh (fermented tea)CONNECT WITH HENRIETTA LOVELL Instagram: @raretealady FOLLOW GARDENS OF EARTHLY DELIGHT Substack: gardensofearthlydelight.substack.comInstagram: @gardensofearthlydelightpodPodcast: gardensofearthlydelight.com/subscribe Music by Constant SmilesLogo design by Hunky Kitty ★ Support this podcast ★
