When Steve Schwartz founded Art of Tea, it was with the belief that there was an opportunity to make people’s lives better through tea. His authentic yet innovative blends and passion for teaching ultimately gave rise to a highly successful B2B business through partnerships with leading restaurateurs, chefs, and hospitality brands - which grew into a D2C brand in the wake of the pandemic.
In his talk with Jesse, Steve describes his journey from inquisitive student to master tea blender to business founder. Follow him from the Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico, where he studied plant alchemy, to tea-growing fields in Asia, where he first began to “believe in the leaf,” to make-or-break business meetings with some of the country’s most well-known chefs and restaurants.
Finally, learn how Art of Tea has adapted during the pandemic to help consumers continue to enjoy a delicious, time-honored ritual that gives at least a little control back to us in these turbulent times.
Guest Bio
Steve Schwartz is a Master Tea Blender and the Founder of Art of Tea, a hand-crafted tea purveyor based in Los Angeles. At Art of Tea, Steve applies his background in ayurveda to the creation of award-winning blends that showcase his passion for the alchemy of combining herbs and botanicals.
Steve’s drive and passion for expanding people’s knowledge of the history of tea has cultivated relationships with brands, acclaimed chefs and restaurants such as Google, Vera Wang, #Slack, The Peninsula Hotels, Huntington Gardens, Wolfgang Puck, Adam Perry Lang, Rustic Canyon Group, Craft Los Angeles and more.
Helpful Links
The Art of Tea website
Spotlight on Art of Tea in the Los Angeles Times in 2014
Q&A with Steve in Forbes in 2020
Steve’s Teacher: Dr. Vasant Lad
Steve on Linkedin
Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts
