![[OUR STORY] From Cold Shoulders to a Clearer Vision: Our Tea Brand (PART 2)](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0564/4176/5933/articles/IMG_9338.jpg?v=1754748485&width=100&height=67&crop=center)
Our launch gave us an encouraging start. In 2024, however, a different challenge came into view.
We added Royal Oolong and Milky Oolong in the second quarter and began introducing the collection to cafés across Seoul. We believed in the quality, the price, and the place these teas could hold on a menu.
Many conversations ended with a courteous “not this time.” Those responses showed us that the challenge was larger than being a new brand: it was also how tea itself was understood.
For many cafés, tea was either the lower-caffeine alternative or a colorful drink built around toppings. We wanted to offer another reason to choose it—one rooted in aroma, craft, and personal taste.
Meeting people in our own words
To change the story around tea, we first had to tell it ourselves, face to face.
We moved away from cold calls and toward fairs, small tea classes, local events, and volunteer work. Each setting let us show that tea could be approachable without losing its depth.
At our first exhibition, the wall hangings and folds were still uneven. Rather than spend heavily before we understood what visitors needed, we chose to learn from their responses.
At the same fair, we were invited to speak about enjoying tea without first becoming an expert. Like wine or coffee, tea can begin with a simple question: what tastes good to you?
By our third exhibition, we had widened the stand, worked with a seamstress on the wall hanging, and improved the way we moved through the space. Our presentation was beginning to feel like our own.
We were also invited to serve drinks at a charity event connected with a community led by the head of Google for Startups Korea. Our small contribution supported a lunch-box project for older people in Seoul.
When conversation became direction
The events became our classroom. We listened to questions and comments, and the work grew from selling a product into opening a more inclusive conversation about tea.
Later that year, I was invited to lead a monthly tea class at Amorepacific headquarters. The theme was “Finding My Own Taste in Tea.”
“Do you like tea?” “Yes, but I do not know much about it, so I would like to learn.” That exchange stayed with us. Why should tea feel like a subject that must be studied before it can be enjoyed?
As we helped visitors describe what they genuinely liked, we saw that many were looking for an entrance shaped by personal pleasure rather than strict rules or specialist vocabulary.
What the gatherings taught us
We found the same curiosity at other events. Without elaborate campaigns or added flavoring, the clean and layered character of the leaves was enough to make people pause.
Some returned not only for the tea, but also for the explanations, attentive service, and the feeling of enjoying a break again.
Good leaves, careful work, and nothing unnecessary: seeing that simple approach understood and welcomed gave us confidence in the path ahead.
A new dream took shape
By the end of 2024, the future had become clearer. The classes and conversations encouraged us to look beyond curation toward creating flavors of our own.
We wanted to develop more distinctive profiles while keeping our promise to offer good tea at a reasonable price. Doing both required a place where we could experiment, refine our technique, and take responsibility for the finish.
A year that began with many closed doors ended with a new direction. We started building a production space of our own.
