About us

The Teelabor Story

Teelabor is conveying the art of tea drinking. A drinking experience that excites our senses with aesthetics, a variety of colours, scents and flavours.

Tea is an ancient beverage of mankind and is part of the cultural heritage of many countries and peoples. The cultural and culinary diversity of drinking tea means to some a ritual including a philosophy of life; to others, drinking tea helps pausing, resting, savouring in everyday life.

Everyone can unfold the art of tea drinking for themselves. Teelabor hereto offers a selection of high quality tea and chosen equipment with simple design. At Teelabor, traditional tea drinking culture blends in with urban tea drinking culture.

I first became curious about the tea culture through friends from East Asia. After working for years in the fashion industry, I took a time out in New York City. There, I made friends from South Korea and Japan who showed me the culinary culture of their homelands. Through later travels to those countries, I expanded my knowledge about different types of tea. The travels inspired me to learn more about the variety of tea culture.

I further expanded my knowledge, when later working in a specialist tea shop in my hometown Winterthur. In classes at the school of tea in Berne, I additionally acquired specialised knowledge about the tea culture. Through further travels to China, Japan and South Korea I connected this knowledge with the specific tea culture of each country.

Our Teas

All our high quality teas are sourced from chosen tea estates in India, China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. Our tea suppliers choose them with care on site. We pay attention to fair working conditions in the countries of origin. We purchase wherever possible organically grown and certified teas (according to Swiss organic standards, certification CH-Bio-006).

Long distance trade routes are not avoidable. Our teas are shipped to Hamburg, Germany, and finally arrive by mail in Winterthur, Switzerland. Every tea of our chosen assortment is tasted according to our quality criteria, whether a classic like English Breakfast or a rarity like Yunnan Silver Bud YA BAO. We also create our own tea blends - Teelabor Specialty. Our teas are filled up by hand at Teelabor in Winterthur and are send off per order.

Our tea caddies are made of glass. We would like to encourage you to reuse them. The jars are UV resistant and dishwasher safe. The tea packaging is made from Kraft paper, the sample bags are compostable. Both can be reused, both are biodegradable.

Best regards, Sam