Meet Dan Robertson

Babette: How did you decide to start a tea business?

Dan: “I went to one tea house too many. It was in Wuyi Shan. A pretty girl took 15 minutes to make me a cup of tea. I watched as she meticulously brewed the tea and thought that it could have been done exactly the same way in this same place a thousand years ago.”

Dan Robertson picking tea in Yunnan, China

A common questions to ask a tea professional is how they chose this as their life’s work. One thing that seems to be universally true is that there are many experiences and then there is a single moment. For Dan Robertson, an interest in the culture of tea drew him more deeply into the love of the brew itself and his tea related businesses: The Tea House and World Tea Tours. And, in conducting his daily tea businesses he recreates something of what became his inspirational moment in tea. Tea is served at a traditional Chinese tea table. Your tea selections can be made after tasting teas and savoring bit of tea talk. Fifteen minutes? Maybe more, if you get Dan started on his stories? The pretty girl?

He can tell you about bamboo tea, pocket tea, and other more extreme methods of processing the rare leaf. He even shares a tale of one Chinese tour guide who picked a large amount and transformed the bus into a mobile drying room – bus tea.

Dan has also studied Chinese culture and language for many years, teaches Tai Chi and delights in an evening of fast-paced Mah Jong. Tea conversations can quickly drift into many other areas. Learning about the art and craft of fine teas is so much more interesting when we know the stories of the people and life in other countries.

Drinking Bamboo Tea

I’ve had the good fortune to be his next-door-booth-neighbor at World Tea Expo, to attend his classes, to enjoy several lengthy tea chats by phone and to be part of his 2009 China Tea Tour. Dan’s tea education, like many of the pros we will feature here, is the result of a personal journey. Most are not just self-taught but had to write their own curriculum. They started before STI (Specialty Tea Institute) and other tea schools. They traveled to the countries of origin, observed the complete process, talked with the manufacturers and the exporters. And they know the world history and literature as well. It’s a big picture. And most of these great teachers emphasize knowing culture to know the leaf.

Beginning as a documentary filmmaker in 1989, Dan has traveled throughout Tea Land meeting tea growers and manufacturers in the main tea producing countries. His film, For All The Tea In China, focuses the lens on the history, evolution and culture of tea. But it wasn’t until 1995 that The Tea House opened. Then, in 1997 World Tea Tours led their first tour to China. Since then there have been tours to both China (including Inner Mongolia and Tibet) and India with plans to expand into Japan, Ceylon and Vietnam in 2010 and 2011.

Lecture and tasting with Fujian Tea Manufacturer

Dan Robertson is also a tea educator and everyone who visits his shop becomes a student. Like many of the tea people in the early days of importing tea to the U.S., he realizes the importance of sharing the picturesque background of tea with newcomers. From small school groups who visit his shop to the larger venues at World Tea Expo – he customizes the message of tea. His topics vary from a basic Tea 101 and legends of tea to more specific growing and manufacturing techniques. But to every tea conversation, he brings an authenticity built on an investment in time and study of the people and places of tea as well as the leaf.

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With the rapidly growing interest in premium teas, there is also an increased need for experienced teachers. One of the most frustrating aspects of the US tea industry now is how to qualify the expertise of our industry spokespersons.

Some of the most experienced tea people, our mentors and icons, tend to shy away from the Expert label. It may be that the more you know, the more you realize you don’t yet know. And someone who might seize the label to draw media attention could have done very little to develop true expertise.

Here in our Who’s Who in Tea Land section, we are seeking out the people who have invested time in study, travel and tasting. But there will also be features on the local tearoom owners and creative writers. Each will have an interesting story and a bit of wisdom to share. We will to point to their particular areas of expertise and help you come to know the people of passion in tea.