episode 040: Jude Wang

Cultivate Tea co-founder Jude Wang is a man who is not only interesting, but interested. Sitting at his tea bar and diving into a bottomless conversation will lead to some profound thoughts, ideas and philosophies of living. He was born in Northern China and spent all his childhood there, before moving to Canada at the age of 12. His initial school years here at Queen Alexandra School were surprisingly supportive and open as a newcomer immigrant kid, with the student body being diverse and multicultural. After high school, Jude went to the University of British Columbia for biology and finance, before moving to Beijing for four years, answering an inner call to experience a bigger city and work at a local Chinese company. It was here that he discovered tea—specifically pu’erh tea— at a small, nondescript shop with no signage. And it was here, his journey to founding Cultivate Tea really began. In this conversation, we examine his childhood in both China and Vancouver; his mischievous personality as a kid; his experience as an immigrant; the pull back to Beijing and the reason he felt the need to live there for a time in his life; how working in China differs from working in other places in the world and the subtleties built into it; the fateful way he discovered tea while living there; building deep & trusting relationships with small-scale tea farmers in Yunnan Province; the process of building his original shop on Main Street and then his current one; the ceremony of tea and why the same tea leaves will taste different, depending on who is pouring it for you; and much more.