A Life in Tea
Where Nuance Meets Inspiration
By Karen Foley
Photographs by Kurt Prassé

"You want to see my worms?" David Lee Hoffman turns to ask as I attempt to match his swift pace. Always several steps ahead, Hoffman darts about his rugged hillside property as if he intuitively knows the whereabouts of every protruding tree root, uneven step or cracked walkway. I, on the other hand, swerve awkwardly to the side every few minutes, cautiously hopping over puddles and pivoting to avoid large rocks that seem to jut out of nowhere. Hoffman stops for a moment and rests his hands on a small wooden bin. "A lot of people know me more for my worm work than for my tea," he says, opening the box and scooping out a handful of black earth and red worms. "It's all kitchen waste, and when the water comes out, it's highly nutritious. Oh, and I should tell you, we had this analyzed-this stuff is gold."

   Hoffman, the owner of Silk Road Teas, has created an unexpected oasis just 45 minutes outside the flurry of San Francisco. Not far into the sleepy mountain town of Lagunitas, a narrow road winds up to a steep driveway that sheers its way through a Gaudí-esque complex of organic structures. Small adobe-like buildings speckle the land, outlined by towering noble firs, miniature ponds, intricate rock walkways, and curious contraptions that look like a mix of genius art and engineering. The human hand imprints everything, from a carefully tiered vegetable garden to a shadowy cave packed wall to wall with pu-erh. And it's quiet. So quiet that the manufactured static of urban life is completely hushed by the sound of roosters crowing, fire crackling and leaves rustling in the breeze.

   For 30 years, Hoffman has been meticulously molding this Northern California hideaway, an ambitious reflection of his magnanimous outlook on life: to return as much to the earth as he takes from it, to make use of his own ability to provide what he needs for survival and to live consistently by the ideals he espouses. Without exception, this thoughtful sensibility also extends to Hoffman's work in the tea industry, where he is a champion of organic tea production and consumption. Since founding Silk Road Teas in 1992, he has made a career out of acquiring some of the world's finest teas, and in doing so, he has dedicated himself to teaching producers in China the benefits of organic farming while helping American retailers and consumers appreciate the value of the teas he brings to the marketplace. For Hoffman, it's all in a day's work, but for the tea industry, it represents the bridging of two cultures, one struggling to sustain some of its most treasured tea customs, the other struggling to develop a more sophisticated level of tea connoisseurship.

Karen Foley: How did you get involved in the tea business?
David Lee Hoffman: It really grew out of my going to China to support my own habit. I would bring tea back for friends, and it grew from there. Also, I was interested in songbirds, and I noticed that there were fewer and fewer every year. I didn't know what to do, but I wanted to do something. So I thought that if I could build a successful business, I would have more of a voice. My whole premise was to do something good for the planet. I saw Silk Road Teas as a good vehicle to do that. It seemed to fit all the criteria for the Buddhist concept of right livelihood-having a kind of business that is good for the planet and good for people.

KF: So you already had an interest in tea?
DLH: I've been a tea drinker for 30 years. I lived in Asia back in the '60s. I was 10 years out of the country, and I drank tea everywhere I went.

KF: Where did you travel during those 10 years?
DLH: Nepal, India, Vietnam-over 100 countries.

KF: Did you attend college?
DLH: Yes. I attended San Jose State University and studied physics and engineering. But after traveling, I never went back. I found that I was getting a better education traveling than at any school. When I left the country I had goals and ambitions, but once I started traveling, I realized that I was learning so much more.

KF: When did you fall in love with tea?
DLH: It probably wasn't until I met the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan refugees in 1966 that I started drinking pu-erh. That's when I really fell in love with tea.

KF: What appealed to you about pu-erh?
DLH: It was partly the taste and partly the way I felt drinking it. Some teas you drink for the taste, some you drink for the aroma, some you drink for a combination of those, and some you drink for the appearance. I drink pu-erh for the way it makes me feel.

KF: How exactly does it make you feel?
DLH: There's the taste on the palate, there's the aftertaste and there's the taste going down, and we don't usually talk about that. It's the feeling that comes after you've already swallowed the tea. There's a sensation-a kind of alert, smooth and rich, warming character.

KF: You have the only pu-erh cave in the U.S., correct?
DLH: Yes.

KF: When did you build it?
DLH: I started about 20 years ago.

KF: How many pu-erhs do you have in the cave?
DLH: About 70.

KF: How old is your oldest pu-erh?
DLH: [It dates to] 1949.

KF: When will you sample it?
DLH: I've already sampled it. It's a good tea.

KF: How do you know how long to age a tea?
DLH: There isn't really a rule. If you feel it's going to improve by keeping it longer, then you do that. The best ones for aging are greens because they aren't already oxidized.

KF: Have you noticed pu-erh catching on with consumers?
DLH: Absolutely. I brought in 30,000 pounds of pu-erhs last year and 25,000 the year before.

KF: Other than pu-erhs, what are some of your favorite teas?
DLH: Oolongs, of course. My favorite tea of all is an oolong-Phoenix Bird. There's a particular Song Dynasty Phoenix Bird that dates back 700 years. It's the most remarkable tea in the world.

KF: Why is it so special?
DLH: If you get a really good one, there's so much excitement and complexity. I've always said that it is the most complex and sophisticated of all teas because it really requires you to pay attention when you make it. Not that it's difficult to make. But to bring out the nuances and the full complexity requires a real presence and attention.

KF: How would you describe its character?
DLH: It tends to be very floral and long-lasting, and it has an extremely seductive aroma. It's often likened to a young lady. But I've asked the ladies in China what they think, and they never say it's like a young lady.

KF: What draws you so much to China as a tea origin?
DLH: The beauty of China is that so many teas were developed in isolated pockets of the country, so some teas have been made exactly the same way for hundreds if not thousands of years. China doesn't change much.

KF: You're known as an advocate of organic agriculture. What do you do to promote organic farming practices in China?
DLH: I've worked with a lot of academics in China. I've worked with the Tea Research Institute and the tea department of the agricultural university. I was also the only foreigner invited to give a presentation at the first conference on organic tea in China. As far as the farmers go, they know that organic teas are better than the alternative. But they don't know that some people are willing to pay the premium for organic tea, and that's very important, because you have to give them encouragement to go the extra mile. I try to teach them that organic farming is a more sustainable practice than using fertilizers. This was all they did 50 years ago. It was all organic in those days.

KF: What happened over that 50-year period to compel farmers to use more and more synthetic fertilizers?
DLH: Government directives. The government wanted to increase production, and they did. They not only increased the use of chemicals, but they developed varietals of tea plants that were high-yielding, insect-resistant and drought-resistant. All of these modern varietals were basically chosen for those reasons. An interesting side note is that a lot of the farmers now recognize the advantages of growing old heirloom varietals of tea trees. They're so special that farmers are going into areas at night and stealing branches off of trees and planting their own farms with these heirlooms. It's kind of a double-edged sword. It's good that they're propagating old varietals, but it's creating a lot of bad feeling between farmers. It's a very complicated situation because there is such a surplus of tea, and the price is driven so low that there is no incentive to grow quality tea. It's very sad. There were eight million tea farmers in China a few years ago, and that number is dwindling rapidly.

KF: What are farmers doing instead?
DLH: They're moving to the city, shining shoes, taking pretty much any job they can find.

KF: Do you try to establish long-term relationships and contracts with tea growers to help them sustain their farms?
DLH: Yes. Relationships are everything, and doing business in China is all about relationships. It's taken years to develop that trust with some of my suppliers.

KF: How many farmers do you generally work with at once?
DLH: It depends on what you consider "working with." I have relationships with hundreds of farmers.

KF: What's your longest-standing relationship with a farm?
DLH: Twelve years.

KF: They must be like family.
DLH: Yes. There are wonderful people in China-hard-working, honest, fun, spirited. It's amazing how well I get along with them.

KF: What sorts of things have you learned from them?
DLH: Some of the farmers I work with are actually tea masters and have been so for hundreds of years in the family. They're like dancers. They're so efficient and so in tune with the process of making tea. I learn so much from them. I've learned a great respect for their way of life. I have a deep regard for who they are as people in the world. They are so connected with their work rhythm, the weather, the seasons, and the planet. They're hard-working, honest, humble, generous people. You could walk into any farmer's house and be welcome.

KF: When you source teas, what leaf qualities are you looking for?
DLH: First and foremost it has to taste good. In China they can sell tea because it looks good. But Americans aren't as interested in appearance, and even aroma is not so important. Aroma is very important to Chinese tea drinkers. In fact, it's so important that they developed special cups only to enjoy the aroma. What's happening now is that Americans are learning a new sense of appreciation for tea that we didn't have before. The exciting thing is that we're now developing what will be known as American tea because we're borrowing from other cultures that already have a sense of tea appreciation. And we're all participating in this transition.

KF: So is a lot of your focus on helping to cultivate these evolving traditions in America?
DLH: Yes. It's about education. People simply don't have the knowledge to appreciate tea. There's something missing in our culture, and that is showing respect and giving respect with a cup of tea. You don't just hand someone a cup and say, "Here's some tea." You use two hands, offer it in a respectful way, and they receive the tea in a respectful way. It's a way of showing respect that we don't have in this culture. So we're learning that we can enjoy tea in different ways.

KF: How would you characterize the state of tea retailing in America?
DLH: There's an old Chinese proverb: When the lion is away, even a monkey can be king. And that's so true in the tea industry now because there are no great tea masters in this country, but there are a lot of people who get a little bit of information and set themselves up as teachers. So I think a lot of people are being misinformed and misled about tea. Some people want to sell a product, and they use stories and hype more than the tea itself to drive business. America is really in a state of new growth. I think we are on the right track, but the next phase of tea is education. We need to learn more about the simplicity of tea, not how complicated it is. Right now people think, "Oh, we have this expensive rare tea. Let's put it on the shelf and wait for a special moment to drink it." Maybe that moment never comes, or maybe it comes years later when the tea is far beyond its usefulness. You don't hoard great tea. You share it. If it's great now, go ahead and drink it. I had someone working for me at one time, and they were going around to restaurants showing our teas, and we weren't getting any orders. So I started calling the restaurants to see what was going on. I spoke to someone who had tasted the teas, and he said, "Oh, it's far too complicated. It has to be served at 185 degrees with two-and-a-half grams, and you have to use scales and thermometers. We're a fast restaurant, we can't do that." Once I heard that, I realized that the challenge is not to show people how to make the perfect cup of tea, because there is no perfect cup of tea-it's a state of mind. You have to develop a relationship with the particular tea you're serving and know what your customers would enjoy drinking. The main thing with restaurants is letting them see how easy making tea is and letting them trust their palates so they know what works for them. Until we reach that point, we're never going to develop our tea culture in America.

KF: How long do you think it will be before you can go to a restaurant and, more often than not, get an exceptional cup of tea?
DLH: I don't know. I usually bring my own teas with me, but there are a few restaurants where I can go and get a nice cup of tea. That's exciting, and you have to appreciate their efforts.

KF: What's a typical workday like for you?
DLH: I used to get up between two and three in the morning every day. It took me years to work up to that, and I was so proud of myself. But then my health started suffering, and my doctor said it was a classic case of sleep deprivation. He said it's not healthy to sleep so little. And I said, "I have too much to do-I have to get up early." Now I actually enjoy getting more sleep.

KF: How much do you sleep these days?
DLH: About five hours, sometimes six.

KF: Once you wake up, how does your day begin?
DLH: I'll go into my office, turn on the computer, generate orders, talk to customers, and taste teas.

KF: How many teas do you usually taste?
DLH: Twenty or 30 different kinds every day.

KF: What do you enjoy most about your job?
DLH: I love going to China and seeking out the really incredible teas that no one has seen before. It's very rewarding to find something exceptional.

KF: Does it make you feel like an explorer of sorts?
DLH: With pu-erhs it's like being an archeologist. You come across these old teas that are tucked away. With the new teas it's like being a treasure hunter.

KF: Is there a particular tea you've found that stands out in your mind as the ultimate treasure?
DLH: That would be the old teas from the Song Dynasty. They're extremely hard to get. Their quantity is very small, and they're often sold before they're picked, but they're extremely rewarding to purchase. I've found some fantastic pu-erhs as well.

KF: What made you want to be an importer?
DLH:I didn't choose it-it chose me. I was going over to China to support my own drinking habit, and friends would ask me to bring back tea. I had another business that was very successful, and I wasn't trying to start a tea business. In fact, when I started, I had to learn to be a businessperson, and that was hard work.

KF: So does the success of Silk Road Teas surprise you?
DLH: It's like I created a monster. It's running me as opposed to the other way around. I tried to downsize, and it just keeps growing and growing.

KF: How do you plan to handle your growth?
DLH: My plan is to find a way to make it easier so I don't have to work so many hours. I'd like to have a private life again where I can do things that aren't related to tea. I'd like to transition so that I don't have to do a lot of the everyday work that's associated with business. I'd like to concentrate on sourcing tea.

KF: What keeps you inspired as a tea importer?
DLH: You meet really nice people working in tea. One of the great tea masters in China who is 94 years old has the saying, "Through tea making friends." It's very sweet, but it's much more than that. There's a way of developing wonderful relationships through tea. A lot of my customers end up being personal friends.

KF: What kind of legacy would you like to leave in the tea industry?
DLH: An appreciation of what I've discovered in China. There's a depth to tea that I had no idea existed. It's very satisfying to know that other people have learned to experience that from my efforts. Once you've had a good tea, you can never go back. A good tea really changes your life.

Karen Foley is a freelance writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. She can be reached at karen@krfcreative.com.