by loeyteaLOEY’s Earl Grey
06 March, 2024Hello, I’m David, the founder. When it comes to Earl Grey, I have to talk about the story that marks the very beginning. I spent my twenties exploring three different paths: fashion design, band vocals, and documentary production. In my early thirties, I entered the food industry, starting in Eastern Europe, moving to Australia, and returning to Korea. I managed international food brands in Korea for a significant period. Throughout my life journey, I traveled extensively, visited numerous places, and met many people.
Approaching the latter part of my thirties, I finally embarked on the business I had been preparing for a long time. I secured a small office space—a place with nothing, extremely small and cold. Choosing tea from the diverse forms of food was due to its universal appeal worldwide. If I were to create a tea company, the most crucial element would be Earl Grey.
Having enjoyed tea during my travels, it was essential to have a unique, high-quality, yet typical Earl Grey. To achieve this, I conducted extensive research and traveled extensively. I believed that starting would be challenging if we couldn’t offer a good Earl Grey.
Tea was a field unfamiliar to me, and there were no acquaintances or known companies. It was a challenging environment compared to existing companies. However, I was a well-trained, familiar person starting with nothing. Starting without knowledge might require paying tuition through trial and error, but the advantage was having no preconceptions.
Above all, we aimed for our Earl Grey to be smooth. Not too intense, with a softness and a distinctive scent beyond just bergamot, distinguishing it from other brands and being memorable. So, I sought Sri Lankan tea and wanted a partner who could handle substantial quantities for the future. Tea is a collaborative industry worldwide, where major origins mix and products traverse the globe like one body. However, even in my thoughts, it seemed impossible.
During various trials, I visited a food exhibition, not specifically for tea. There, I encountered a booth of a Sri Lankan tea company. The exhibition wasn’t tea-focused, and they seemed to have little to do. I greeted them, shared my background, preparation process, and future plans. They were one of the top companies there at the request of the Sri Lanka Tea Board. Later, I found out that they had come to that place only once. I was deeply impressed by their humble and sincere attitude and the quality of their tea.
After several journeys to Sri Lanka, they dedicated efforts to create the Earl Grey I desired. The scent of Earl Grey we have today, emitting a silent sigh when the lid is opened, was finally completed. Clayton Tea’s unique Earl Grey. Now, we’re ready to start. I had the confidence to begin. Despite ongoing challenges, those joyous moments propel us forward.
Every Earl Grey product from Clayton Tea company features the same tea leaf, and LOEY follows the same principle. This is the story of how we crafted our Earl Grey. When I inhale the aroma, it takes me back to those days, evoking not just a delightful flavor but cherished memories as well.