As a combination of restaurant, school and shop, Chá Yê! is a treat for those who want to know a little more about the Chinese culture without leaving Brazil
It all started by chance with these two friends from Santa Cruz (famous upper-middle class school in the western zone of São Paulo), João Campos and Caio Barbosa. After finishing high school, they graduated in economics from the University of São Paulo and started working in consultancies and large companies.
That was until João took a technical course in gastronomy and received an invitation to work in a restaurant in Shanghai in 2009. The proposal ended up not working very well, but he stayed there for another year, working in a western cafe, where he helped set up a menu of special teas.
Trabalhadoras chinesas colhendo as folhinhas da Camelia Sinensis
“In Brazil, I only had coffee, but there, it was expensive and bad and I became interested in the universe of Chinese special teas,” he says. He visited several special tea plantations, and ended up in love with the subject.
As he returned to Brazil, he started, with his friend Caio, Chá Yê!, www.chaye.com.br a company specializing in high quality teas, the specialty teas, produced in millennial fashion by small farmers and tea masters, from more than 12 producing regions of China.
The beginning was only online and, four years ago, they rented a house in Pinheiros (Rua Fradique Coutinho, 344) and set up a joint of restaurant, school and store of teas and utensils.
“Our business is to work with pure, specialty teas, which have been carefully harvested and processed. Hence, we spend more than two months a year in China, developing good relations with producers and masters,” says John.
Trabalhadoras chinesas colhendo as folhinhas da Camelia Sinensis
Caio says that they have experienced two distinct phases in the company: first, getting to know and deepening their knowledge about Chinese teas by constantly visiting the producing regions, and the second, understanding the Brazilian market, which was, when they started, practically nonexistent. “That is when we realized that we would have to teach our clients everything about tea culture, and this task became the mission of CháYê!. We create a quality information channel through our blog, promoted thousands of tastings, events etc.,” explains Caio.
From there, the site began offering courses, workshops, training, specializations, trips and cuppings, always with the purpose of educating people. “We need to share our knowledge about Chinese teas and effectively create this market in Brazil,” he explains.
Só as folhinhas mais novinhas são colhidas
Within this philosophy, in 2015 they created the tea tour, so that the customers could follow the whole process. “It worked out in such a nice way that, in 2019, we will promote two different itineraries: one is the Imperial tour and the other is the Origins tour. The Imperial one will depart from São Paulo on April 9 to the east of China, starting in Shanghai and going to the Wuyi Mountains park, a region that was home to all the most famous imperial tea, from the Sui Dynasty to the fall of the Ming,” says Caio.
O pós-colheita da Camelia Sinensis é quase um ritual
Origens will depart on April 29 to the historic city of Changsha, capital of Hunan province, and will go to the southern tip of Yunnan, a mountainous province, home to specialty teas. For more information, visit www.chaye.com.br.
Growth
The pair plans to expand their business in 2019, and thus have created face-to-face courses, weekly promoting free tastings in the house. “We have received many students from outside the city and wish to open new units. The first one, still undated, will certainly be in Brasília, since the demand for our teas is really high,” says Caio.
Pedro recalls that this will be the year to increase his subscribers club, investing in exclusive actions aimed at his subscribers as remote guided cuppings (through video tutorials), preparation information, a more comprehensive selection of utensils, among other novelties.
Grupo da Chás Ye! em viagem à China. Em 2019, estão programadas duas viagens, uma em abril e outra em maio.
Tea in sachets
Another great novelty will be the launch of a line of whole-leaf tea families, packaged in a sachet made of special fabrics, in a pyramidal format, produced in Japan. At first, they will not cover yellow or white models.
Lançamento dos chás especiais chineses da Chás Yê! em saquinhos piramidais
“We believe in the success of this format, which is a means to those who are still starting in this universe. It is a high quality tea, but packaged in an easier way to be consumed. If we make a parallel with the world of coffees, we would compare our teabags with a Nespresso coffee. It is not a specialty coffee, but it is a quality coffee far above those bought in a supermarket”, explains João.
Lançamento dos chás especiais chineses da Chás Yê! em saquinhos piramidais
In addition to the site and the fixed shop, CháYê! can also be found in coffee shops Um Coffee Co., www.umcoffeeco.com.br (SP), and Objeto Encontrado, www.objetoencontrado.com.br ( BSB); as well as in the Arturito restaurant, www.arturito.com.br, Padoca do Mani restaurant, www.manimanioca.com.br, Deli Garage, www.deligarage.com.br, and in the PF Chang’s chain, www.pfchangs.com.br, all in the Capital of São Paulo.
Fotos: Caio Barbosa
