Ep 111 | Elena Liao of Te Company: Running a Tea Room in the West Village

Jan 11, 2021

26:37

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Episode notes

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

When I first interviewed Elena in 2013, she had just won the Entrepreneur Challenge and Competition. She was launching her Taiwanese tea business Té online. Since then, I’ve wondered how she was doing and a couple of years later, I learned that Elena had opened a tearoom in the West Village.

I’ve visited the tearoom and it is a place of pure zen where tea drinking becomes a ritual. A true ambassador of tea, Elena sees the tearoom as a way to connect with others, to experience tea, and to demonstrate how it is brewed. Many of her customers are dedicated tea drinkers who first cultivate their tea drinking habits there. In this space, tea drinking is an activity of tranquil introspection.

In October of 2017 I invited Elena back on to Talking Taiwan for an update.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in the podcast:

What’s happened since the last time Elena was interviewed on Talking Taiwan in 2013
What it was like opening and running the tea shop
The tea education and tea tastings that Té offers
How Elena was able to get press for Té
Advice for people who want to open a brick and mortar store like Té
What’s next, her future plans for Té