Sipping Streams Tea Company founder, Jenny Tse, was born in Hong Kong, but raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. She spent her summers selling her mother’s vegetables at the local farmer’s market. Her vision for Sipping Streams began the summer of 2004 where she began to notice how tea brought different people together.
Jenny is an international-award-winning tea expert, consulted by artisanal growers in Hawaii, India and China And she runs the leading tea manufacturing company in Alaska. Now she is growing tea in the only geothermal and sustainable tea farm in Alaska. In fact, it is the farthest north tea farm in the world.
Tse, a certified tea specialist, found her passion for sharing tea knowledge after exploring various tea farms in China. Motivated by these experiences, she eagerly shares her expertise within her local community. Her dedication to crafting custom hand blends and specialty teas has resulted in remarkable honors: claiming 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes at the North American Tea Championships, securing 2nd place at the Global Tea Championships, and achieving 1st place in the prestigious Top Tea Infusionist Competition at the World Tea Expo.
“I want people to know that tea in Alaska could be grown, be sustainable — and we can have amazing products here in the state,” Tse said. And yes, not only when its warm and the sun shines 23 plus hours a day in summer, Jenny is growing tea when its winter, dark, cold…very cold, like 35-50 degree fahrenheit below zero.
Tea plants are everygreen trees. “It’s got to be in soil, and I knew a lot of things about what the tea plant needed; it needed warmth, it needed humidity, it can withstand snow, but not 30 below. So, where in Alaska could you do that?” she said.
She thought of Chena Hot Springs, in interior Alaska and spoke with Bernie Karl, the entrepreneur who pioneered sustainable energy projects and year-round food production in geothermally heated greenhouses.
“I just asked him if I could use his greenhouse. He said, ‘here 45 will fit in here,’ because he has the gardening experience. He’s like, ‘you need to order 45 plants.’ I’m like, ‘okay, order 45 plants,’” she said. And thus started the experiment. Long hours in the cold, dark and driving in the dark, worrying about Moose on the road, Jenny stuck to her experiment and successfully produced a small batch of tea that survived the dark and cold and thrived in the sustainable envoronment of the geothermally heated high tunnel greenhouse. She plans to continue growing tea, perhaps in a larger scale.
Jenny runs a successful tea company in interior Alaska, where they do all manufacturing, like processing and packaging. She has a thriving retail place where people gather for “tea experiences” and to eat the delicious food prepared by her father, who is a retired and well know chef. Her credentials include,
- Best Selling Author of The Essence of Tea
- Host of “ The Essence of Tea” podcast
- Over 20 years of experience crafting Tea blends and infusions
She travels all over the world to give presentations, educate and inform about all things tea. Her story is unique, interesting and her dedication to her art is impressive. You can learn more about Jenny and Sipping Streams Tea company on https://sippingstreams.com