When Passion Becomes Vocation

Lorela Lohan
4 days ago
12 min read

The Tea Journey of Eduardo Molina Anfossi

Introduction

I first met Eduardo in 2023 at the Berlin Tea Festival. At the time, he was working as Head of Tea Experience at Paper & Tea, and even in the busy, vibrant atmosphere of the festival, his presence stood out. There is something unmistakable about Eduardo: an innate drive, a contagious energy, and above all, a deep and genuine love for tea.

Two years later, we met again — once more at the Berlin Tea Festival. This time, however, he was standing at the beginning of a new chapter, building his own project. Meeting him again felt like witnessing someone who had fully stepped into his vocation.

Eduardo is one of those rare people who have truly found their calling. Listening to him speak about tea — from Chilean childhood rituals to Himalayan tea gardens, from cruise ships to Taiwan tea ceremonies — is to follow a journey that is both remarkable and deeply personal. I enjoyed immensely learning about his unique and inspiring path, and I am grateful to share his story here.

Lorela: Eduardo, last time we spoke, you were in the thick of building something new. How are you feeling now that you’ve been out of Paper & Tea for a while and fully focused on your own project?

Eduardo: Honestly, it’s been exciting in a way I didn’t expect. My last year at Paper & Tea was probably not as good as the first ones—but being out for a while and working on something that is my own, with all the obstacles… it’s such positive energy. It’s a completely different experience every day. I don’t have that feeling anymore of “ah, I have to work.” It’s more like: there’s this, and that, and that—and then this feeling of accomplishing milestones: we finished this for the first time, we did that for the first time. It’s very motivating.

And it’s also fascinating to see how complex it becomes. Things you don’t think about—contracts, logistics, topics that aren’t directly “tea”—but they make it super interesting, because you’re holding the whole picture now. Before, I used to work very focused on one thing, very connected to the product. Now it’s: okay, there’s so much more than buying tea—education, packaging, wrapping, who wraps it, how everything comes together. Seeing all the steps is very enriching.

Growing up with tea in Chile

Lorela: Let’s start from the beginning. What first drew you into the world of tea—and what made you stay?

Eduardo: I always like to explain that I come from South America, and a lot of people don’t relate South America to tea. But Chile is an exception—Chile is a tea-drinking country. I literally grew up drinking tea. We start at a very early age—even younger than recommended, I would say.

It’s cute actually: in Chile you have the teacup and saucer, and they would pour the tea into the saucer so children can sip it from there, so it’s not too hot. So tea is a family tradition, a national tradition.

Of course, it was poor-quality tea—tea bags, sugar. Like many tea-drinking countries, they consume a lot but not necessarily the best. That was my first chapter with tea: it was cultural, everyday, very normal.

The Ritz-Carlton and the first “wow” moment

Lorela: When did speciality tea enter your life?

Eduardo: The first time I got in touch with high-quality tea was working at the Ritz-Carlton in Santiago. I was in between studying and trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I had done three years of economics at the University of Chile, and I wasn’t happy. I took time to rethink everything.

I spoke several languages, and they hired me because of that—because I had absolutely no experience. Holding a tray in the first weeks was horrible. I broke glasses, spilt things—I thought, I’m not made for this.

But then they showed me the afternoon tea service. In Chile, we also have a tradition of having tea in the afternoon, but there it was elevated: tray, scones, finger sandwiches, pâtisserie—it was “afternoon tea” at another level.

Then they took me to the tea wall: about 40 teas. Loose leaf, blends, Darjeeling, Chinese teas—things I had never heard of. I was shocked that tea could be this big. Slowly, I started trying them, and I got obsessed in a good way. I started reading, buying books, and researching.

That’s when I thought: this is what I want to do. I want to become a tea expert. I told my parents, and of course, they said, “That doesn’t exist.” And I said: “I’m going to make it exist.”

Tea as a path — building a plan

Lorela: How did you turn that passion into a career?

Eduardo: My dad asked me to create a plan. Like: how are you going to become a tea expert? So I created a real roadmap: schools, courses, travel, regions I needed to visit—China, Darjeeling, different academies I wanted to learn from. At that time, the World Tea Academy tea specialist course had just launched, and I said I needed to do that. I also went to sommelier school, because I felt that what I could learn about wine—tasting, perception, and regions, I could eventually apply to tea.

That first chapter was hospitality-based: pairing tea with pastries, desserts, understanding brewing temperatures, teaware, and service. And honestly, it was one of the happiest times of my life. I got so involved that I was telling everyone: no, the water temperature! And at the end, the whole team was doing it properly.

Until today, some people tell me, “You were the one who taught me how to prepare tea.”

Travel, curiosity, and visiting the world

Lorela: You’ve travelled to more than 100 countries. How did travel shape your tea journey?

Eduardo: I’ve been to 107 countries. My 107th was Nepal, when I was doing the story work for this first collection.

I started very young. When I was 16, I lived in Vienna for a year and a half, and I backpacked through Europe alone, visiting 19 countries. I always had this interest in travel, and when I found tea, it clicked: I needed a career that involved visiting places.

Even at home, I have a map with dots: gold for where I’ve been, red for where I’ve travelled with my partner. It’s a big part of who I am.

Cruise ships, tea times, and a first tea plantation in New Zealand

Lorela: After the Ritz-Carlton, what came next?

Eduardo: I joined a cruise ship—Crystal Cruises. It was a very exclusive line; they called themselves six-star. I planned one contract—six months—, but I stayed two years. I got promoted to host of the ship, in charge of PR onboard, again, because of languages. I was very young—23—surrounded by wealthy guests. My job was to have dinner with them, talk, and guide their experiences. It was funny—like their grandson sitting with them.

And the ship travelled around the world. I crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific by ship, and I used every opportunity to connect with tea. Wherever there was a tea time, I went: in Dubai, in Singapore, everywhere.

My first tea plantation visit was Zealong in Hamilton, New Zealand—very remote, and very far away from where tea “should” come from. It was around 14–15 years ago, and at that time, the project was just starting, small. I remember drinking tea there with a French guy who was working there. I’d love to go back now and see how much it has changed.

The tea studio in Chile — and becoming “the tea guy”

Lorela: At some point, you created your own tea studio in Chile. How did that happen?

Eduardo: There was a YouTube video that changed everything. A woman named Ada had a tea studio in Shanghai. People came, sat, drank tea, and she explained the tea. When I saw it, I was like: that’s what I want.

Six months later I was sitting with Ada in Shanghai, drinking tea with her.

Back in Chile, I adapted my apartment and created a small tea studio. I invited people for tea sessions—different themes: tea colours, countries, and preparation. In Chile, tea is culturally important, so it worked. People were curious, magazines wrote about tea, and there were many brands. Suddenly, the media found out. This was before Instagram—Twitter was my main thing, and my nickname was “Tea Sommelier.” And I became a tea celebrity in Chile.

At some point, I was full. Four sessions per day. Very intensive.

Retail chapter — building stores and learning the commercial side

Lorela: And then retail entered the story.

Eduardo: A wealthy family in Chile wanted to build a tea business. Two of the sons came to one of my sessions, loved it, and asked if I could do sessions at their father’s office. I created ten sessions for him and his family. After that, he said, “We have a proposal—we want to build this tea company, and we need you.”

They offered me part of the company without me putting money in—just for being part of the project. Super generous and exciting. That’s how my retail chapter started.

We brought an American brand to Chile—Adagio. In three years, we opened seven stores in shopping centres. I was in charge of selecting teas (from their range), training, PR, and events.

Education has always been central for me: I want people to drink better tea, and I want them to know what they’re drinking. But as the stores grew, it became more commercial: more traffic, more blends, less training. Chile isn’t a market that always focuses on quality. And that’s when I decided to leave. I sold my part to my business partners.

A year of tea study — and living in Taiwan

Lorela: What did you do after leaving the company in Chile?

Eduardo: I left Chile for a year. I had time, I had money from selling my part, and I wanted to learn. I took tea courses everywhere. Sri Lanka. Darjeeling at the National Tea Management Institute. Seminars in Japan. Tea ceremony training. Taiwan—where I did a tea ceremony instructor certification and kept going deeper.

Then I realised: I’m spending so much money flying in and out. If I want to become a tea expert, I need to live in Asia.

So I stayed in Taiwan for a year. I studied Mandarin intensively, and on weekends I visited tea plantations, practiced tea ceremony, and went to tea houses in Taipei. Eventually, I ran out of money, and I had to work again—and that’s how I found Paper & Tea and ended up in Germany eight years ago.

Why leave Paper & Tea — and why start Eduard/

Lorela: Let’s talk about your new brand. Why did you decide to start your own?

Eduardo: The company is called Eduard/. When I decided to leave Paper & Tea, I didn’t leave because I wanted to create my own brand. I left because I needed distance to figure out what I wanted. I was too loyal to even send an email to another company while I was there. For me, it was: first, I quit, then I could explore, talk to people, and interview.

I had a couple of interviews, for example with brokers in Hamburg. But I realised I didn’t want to work for a big company again.

And I also realised: I have a specific kind of experience. I’ve seen two companies grow. I’ve seen successful practices—and mistakes. And I’m thankful for the retail chapter because it gave me something many tea experts don’t have: the commercial understanding.

There are tea experts who love quality tea deeply, but they lack commercial thinking. I know how to balance high quality with customer expectations. Not every amazing tea is a good product to sell: if it’s impossible to explain, too expensive, or too unknown, it might not work—even if it’s mind-blowing. I’ve trained hundreds of people to communicate tea in stores, and I’ve spoken with countless customers. So I understand where customers are, and how to move them gently upward—in quality, in knowledge, in willingness to spend more for something better.

For me, it’s not just about tea. It’s about tea and the customer—and what I want them to experience.

“/” as a bridge — transparency and story

Lorela: What is the philosophy behind Eduard/?

Eduardo: The “/” represents a bridge. We want to be the bridge between the tea maker and the tea drinker.

Transparency is the heart. We want customers to know where their tea is coming from, who made it, and how it was made. And it’s important to me to be clear: we didn’t make the tea. The producers made it. We bring it here and tell the story.

We started with a campaign from the Himalayas, and now we’re launching videos: about Nepal, about the people behind the tea, like Jun Chiyabari. For me, storytelling is important—but not as a sales trick. Tea has real stories worth telling. That’s what we want to do.

Values, packaging, and the real meaning of “quality”

Lorela: How do you define your values—and how does that translate into your selection and packaging?

Eduardo: We established three values:

Quality — the tea tastes amazing, but also, it’s produced sustainably, with fair wages, good impact on the communities. Quality in taste and in how it’s made.
Relationships — long-term relationships with producers, loyalty to partners, and relationships with customers. We want that link: we share stories, they trust us.
Curiosity — we want people to be curious about tea, to try different varieties and regions. We don’t want to only bring the traditional regions. Our next collection will be South America—off the record, but yes.

Packaging: I worked in companies where sometimes the packaging cost more than the tea, and I hated that. Most of the time, people don’t know what to do with it, and it becomes waste.

So we decided: packaging has to be sustainable, not excessive, but still beautiful. Our doy packs are mono-material and easy to recycle. For the collection design, we chose a colour system: lighter colours represent lighter teas, deeper tones represent more intense teas. Each collection has its own palette and graphic language. The Himalaya collection has lines that reference mountains and terrain.

Sourcing: “If I haven’t seen your plantation, I’m not buying your tea.”

Lorela: What does meaningful sourcing mean to you now?

Eduardo: This is where I changed something fundamental from my previous sourcing experiences. Before, sourcing often happened through computers and samples. Many of my tea trips were vacations I paid for myself, because my curiosity was high.

Now, we only work with the tea plantations we visited. If I haven’t seen your plantation, I’m not buying your tea. I can try and think: maybe interesting to visit—but I won’t sell tea from a place I haven’t seen.

And because of that, all videos and photos are created by us—not bought from a platform, not taken from producers. We want the connection to be real.

Also, how can I tell you to drink the tea if I don’t know where it grew? Being there, meeting the people, shaking the producer’s hand—that’s part of transparency.

I left at the end of August. We started the project in September. We signed the founding on September 8th. On October 5th I landed in India. I went to visit producers for our first Himalaya collection—Temi Tea Estate in Sikkim, Jun Chiyabari in Nepal, and another partner. I had known some of these teas, but visiting was game-changing.

Tea education is one thing, but there are so many stories behind why tea tastes the way it tastes.

You can’t learn that only from books or websites. And that lived experience is what we want to pass to customers through content, newsletters, blog posts—so they can actually imagine those places.

What’s next — subscriptions, pop-ups, and hospitality

Lorela: How do you see Eduard/ evolving over the next 2–3 years?

Eduardo: We’re starting as a B2C online company, focused on Berlin at the moment. The concept is e-commerce with pop-ups—because pop-ups allow us to tell stories in person, host events, educate, and do tastings.

In the coming years, I want to spread beyond Berlin—to other cities in Germany, and hopefully other cities in Europe.

Eventually, I would love a physical space in Berlin—somewhere people can go and have the Eduard/ experience. I don’t know what it looks like yet, but it’s something I want.

We want our collections to become a subscription program—every three months, a new region to explore.

B2B is also important: gourmet shops, concept stores that care about design and quality, and hospitality.

My first chapter was hospitality, and I’d love to return to that: exploring how tea can be presented today in cities. Tea is in a moment of change. A revolution. People are appreciating tea differently.

I want to see tea more in high-end gastronomy—Michelin-star restaurants, alcohol-free pairing menus with tea. Tea can be more than “a tea at the end.” I’ve done tastings with restaurants in Berlin and Munich, and chefs tell me tea is a great companion for food.

Changing tea in hospitality — touchpoints, experience, and communication

Lorela: We ended up discussing how to shift hospitality toward better tea. What do you think is the right marketing approach?

Eduardo: You mentioned two key things: communication and experience.

Communication is broad: pricing, origins, cultural background, stories, even health benefits—even if it’s not my favorite topic. You need to make tea interesting and understandable.

But experience is crucial, because there’s so much noise. Also, tea’s competition isn’t other tea brands—it’s other beverages. Coffee, juices, cocktails, everything. People have to experience tea to connect with it.

Festivals in Europe are doing a great job because people can see diversity, taste, learn, and attend talks. But there’s a gap: communication for tea drinkers vs communication for the industry.

It would be powerful to create a hospitality-focused tea expo: workshops for restaurants and hotels, not about chemical composition, but about presentation, service, pairing, and building rituals that work in a busy environment.

And change takes repetition. Like online shopping: seven touchpoints before purchase. A chef might say tea is a game-changer, but won’t act immediately. They need to see it again and again—until finally they say: “I’ve been wasting time. This is something my restaurant needs.”

A final note

Lorela: Eduardo, thank you. People know you as “Eduardo from Paper & Tea,” but this conversation shows how much deeper your story goes—from Chilean tea culture to cruise ships, tea studios, Asia, retail, and now Eduard/.

Eduardo: Thank you. It was nice to reminisce about the journey.