Tea Journey Magazine is now up and running on Kickstarter for the next 60 days. A great initiative for one of the fastest growing consumer industries on the planet and one that dearly needs a more intimate and authentic telling of its tales. I’m happily contributing to both tastings and tasting notes on teas from Yunnan…and casting eyes sideways to sample fellow contributors’ selections. Ultimately it is about opening up the world of tea and providing simple platforms by which to enjoy teas, without hype or hyperbole.
Mountain brother Kamal enjoys a sip of ‘whatever’ tea. Matters not what vintage…just that it is tea.
Rehashed tales and information needs to be greatly diluted with a bit of authenticity and some grit. It is also in need of those who care for the leaf, produce it and not simply profit from its wonderful resurrection.
About JeffFuchs
Having lived for a decade in Yunnan, Fuchs’ work has centred on indigenous mountain cultures, oral histories along with an obsessive interest in tea.
Fuchs is the author of 'The Ancient Tea Horse Road' (Viking-Penguin) and he was the subject of 'The Tea Explorer' documentary based on his exploration of the Tea Horse Road.
His photos and stories have appeared on three continents in publications such as Kyoto Journal, TRVL, and Outpost Magazine, as well as The Spanish Expedition Society, The Earth, Silkroad Foundation, The China Post Newspaper, The Toronto Star, The South China Morning Post, and UNESCO amongst others. Various pieces of his work are part of private collections in Europe, North America, and Asia. Fuchs served as Asian Editor at Large for five years at award-winning Outpost magazine.
Jeff has worked with schools and universities, giving talks on both the importance of oral traditions, tea and mountain cultures.
His recently released book ‘The Ancient Tea Horse Road’ (Penguin-Viking Publishers) details his 8-month groundbreaking journey traveling and chronicling one of the world’s great trade routes, The Tea Horse Road. Fuchs is the first westerner to have completed the entire route stretching almost six thousand kilometers through the Himalayas a dozen cultures.
Fuchs partnered with Wild China to create a journey along the Tea Horse Road which National Geographic Traveler called one of the "50 Trips of a Lifetime".
He is co-founder of Akahiao Nature Institute on the island of Hawai'i along with his wife, Julie Rogers.
