Last month, teapigs Emma (Channel Manager - Export) and Andy (Trade Events & Training Manager) hopped on a plane all the way to Hong Kong, for a pop up event with our team out there. It was our first month long pop-up shop, and featured 27 days full of workshops, events, and plenty of sampling... a true tea lovers paradise! We caught up with Emma and Andy to find out a bit more about the trip...

why did we want to do the Hong Kong pop up?

emma: The aim of the pop up was to give our Hong Kong customers a chance to get more up close with the teapigs brand… to taste our teas, explore our full range and join in our tea schools and tea blending events.

what did you get up to?

emma: Our shop was on the 1st floor, it was so lovely meeting so many amazing teapigs fans in Hong Kong. As well as the shop, we also hosted a series of teapigs tea schools (over 80 people attended), a pop up collaboration with Green Queen on our 1st floor, teamed up with our friends over at Cookie Dpt for a one day pop up (the earl grey cookies we AMAZING!) and hosted a dog adoption day with the incredible people over at LAP.

andy: As well as working in the shop I was mostly busy leading the tea schools and blending events. They were all really well attended with lots of tea enthusiasts wanting to know more about the company and how to create their own blend of tea. On my last day we did a quick tour of some famous tea shops and got a chance to see a few different ways of preparing some delicious teas.

what is the tea market like in Hong Kong – how is it different to here in the UK? 

emma: The Hong Kong consumers really know their tea! Green and oolong are the ‘everyday brew’ of Hong Kong, however our sweet ginger, snooze and trim were actually our top sellers in the pop-up. The Hong Kong market is dominated by milk, bubble and iced tea bars, we wanted to offer a natural, healthy and sustainably focused alternative.

andy: In Britain, when we refer to ‘tea’ most people will think of a black tea which comes in a dusty teabag although more people are drinking green teas thanks to the health benefits. This is total opposite to people in Hong Kong, who are used to drinking loose, whole leaf green, white and oolong teas as part of their daily tea consumption while the thought of a poor quality black tea in a bag is a very strange concept indeed. I found the visitors to the pop up very knowledgeable about tea in general but it was also interesting to learn how certain flavours were favoured over others (sweet flavours always won out over tangy or tart tastes).

what are some highlight memories from the trip?

emma: Trying the incredible Lemongrass, Honeybush & Rooibos kombucha made especially for our pop up by the amazing team at Taboo Cha. We are visited some amazing traditional Chinese tea stores, it was a great experience.

andy: Visiting some incredible tea houses and drinking my first Pu-erh tea! Who knew tea that had been buried underground could be so tasty?

what’s next for teapigs in Hong Kong?

emma:  Hopefully more pop up events coming very soon…

andy: If there are more pop ups then I’ll be first on the plane as there were so many teas we didn’t get chance to try yet!

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