I once asked Yen and Hung, the wife-husband team behind Hien Minh Tea, why they decided to work in tea. They both had professional careers outside of tea before deciding to pivot into the tea business where they grow, harvest, and process their own fine teas from shan tuyet—an exclusive varietal of the camellia sinensis that grows on ancient, deeply rooted tea trees. Their teas come from Ha Giang, a highly mountainous region about a 5-8 hour journey from Ha Noi.
Photo Credit: Hien Minh Tea
Yen laughed, “Tea found us.” “It was a passion we couldn’t shake,” Hung added.
Their passion and dedication to high-quality tea, representing the best of Vietnamese products and flavors is truly unmatched. Tea is not just an occupation for them, but a deep part of their lives. They believe that tea is not merely a beverage; it is the rain that nourishes the soil, the soil that nurtures the roots, the farmers who harvest leaves from trees on high mountains, and the artisans who meticulously craft and process tea leaves into what graces your cup. To them, a tea cup is meditation and contains philosophy for life. It is also a way people come together.
Making their tea is a collaborative and community effort, involving Hung's retired parents in picking jasmine flowers for their jasmine tea and friends joining forces during lotus season to painstakingly extract seeds and petals. So when you’re drinking their tea, you’re also tasting the community's love and effort. Their young son also loves getting in on the action to help his parents and grandparents pick tea leaves and flowers whenever he’s not too busy with his legos.
Photo Credit: Hien Minh Tea
The pride, integrity, and innovation they infuse into their work are evident in the distinct and delightful flavors of their teas. Their willingness to experiment and push the boundaries of traditional tea-making techniques sets them apart as pioneers in the industry. By embracing new methods, flavor combinations, and tea varietals, they create blends that surprise and delight the palate. This spirit of innovation has not gone unnoticed, earning them recognition and accolades from esteemed global tea authorities in Viet Nam and across the world. In 2016, Hung was named Viet Nam’s Tea Master Cup Champion and Hien Minh Tea has earned several Gold designations from the Golden Leaf Tea Awards.
Aside from their tea products, Hien Minh Tea has a tea room in Ha Noi that greets guests with a sense of tranquility and ease. It is a welcomed escape from the hustle and bustle of the city with beautiful wooden and bamboo furniture and natural green foliage to invite guests to pause, reflect, and connect with themselves again. The space is airy and breezy giving you wafts of jasmine, magnolia, and lotus. There are striking art pieces by Vietnamese artists (friends of the owners) adorning the walls of this two-story tea house. On each floor, there is a large table where you can always see people congregating with Hung and Yen on any given day when they are not away tending to their teas at the farm. On the table, there are always delectable tea snacks that Hung’s family has made across many generations.
Here, folks from all walks of life, travelers, residents, friends come by for a cup of tea and to just be in community with one another. On one of my first visits to Hien Minh Tea, back in 2020, I signed up to learn about the Vietnamese tea ceremony. While Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese tea ceremonies are globally renowned and widely practiced among tea enthusiasts, I discovered that Viet Nam also boasts an ancient tea ceremony tradition. However, due to the country's tumultuous history of thousands of years of war and unrest, this cultural practice gradually faded away. Hien Minh Tea's tagline is centered around bringing tradition to modern Vietnam. With Viet Nam’s rapid economic growth, cultural practitioners like Yen and Hung are vital to preserving and nurturing the Vietnamese spirit and culture for future generations to come.
