My dear friend Joanna Fowles and her equally talented partner in life and love, Jonas Allen, have their fingers in many creative pies. They are one of those collaborative couples that seem to conjure and manifest all sorts of wonderful ideas and initiatives for themselves and the world at large. One of Jonas' latest projects is The Organic Tea Project - an idea that has been brewing since Jonas was a young boy growing up in a small utopian town called Auroville near Pondicherry in Southern India.
Immersed in the tea culture from a young age, Jonas and his friend (and now business partner) Alok met when they were three years old. Well into their adolescent years the pair schooled together and continued to share tea experiences. In their words:

"It is in some ways natural that (our) mutual appreciation of tea should manifest in an interest in uncovering the secrets and the whereabouts of the finest brews to found The Organic Tea Project. Our mission is to bring back quality organic tea drinking. We feel something is lost in the appreciation of the tea process, the preparing of tea and drinking. We talk about great wines or great coffee, it's all about the purity of the soil and the environment that its grown in. Tea has exactly the same elements to consider. Taking a tea break allows you to slow down, contemplate and appreciate...a tea somehow helps to create the right pace to the day. The Organic Tea Project is about the ceremony and the details of what makes a quality tea. You could say our challenge is to bring back the tea break."

One of the things that I love most about this project is that it brings together two childhood friends who now live on opposite sides of the world - yet they are side-by-side again. They are working with each other in a professional business relationship whose actual research began in their boyhood. The business also involves a wider circle of folk that they both grew up with in Auroville. All of those pieces fitting back together give the brand and the company greater depth and power.
When visiting in Sydney a while back Jonas asked if I had some time to take photographs of the tea. We had a very small window open to us and I managed to take a couple of images that he now uses on his website. I traded my photography services for some generous packages of sticky chai - enough to last me for a good while. I must say that I was extremely satisfied with the swap. The sticky chai is the best I have tasted and the high quality of the ingredients does not go unnoticed. It elevates the chai experience to a sublime level and certainly encourages the ceremonious feeling that the company is seeking in their brand. Keep your eyes peeled for this wonderful tea experience.

Em x