FOUNDERS
Charlie and Natalie share a lifelong passion for food and drink. Now husband and wife, they met while completing their PhDs in Food Science.
Alcohol has never agreed with Natalie, so the ritual of pairing food with wine, one Charlie had long cherished, was never something they could share at the table.
CATALYST
This came to a head one evening in a fine dining restaurant. With nothing on the list to match the menu, Natalie was left with a glass of water.
She listened as Charlie was taken through stories of distant vineyards, and how a particular vintage would draw out the tones and textures of each dish.
Natalie was missing a defining part of the fine dining experience. It set them thinking: could there be a drink with the same complexity, heritage and craft as wine, made from something else entirely?
Solution
Natalie grew up in Hong Kong, where tea accompanies every meal and is chosen to suit it. She knew it could hold its own beside food. Over two years, she and Charlie sampled hundreds of teas from gardens around the world, tasting and refining, until three earned their place. These became the foundation of Saicho.
COLD BREWED
You get a very different flavour cold brewing compared to hot brewing. It’s far more delicate, with enhanced aromatics and better-balanced astringency, creating a more complex flavour profile and mouthfeel which pairs perfectly with food.
Saicho uses single origin tea, hand picking the exact varietal, time of harvest, location, terroir, altitude and processing methods. Rather than being bombarded by a mongrel of flavours, there’s a simplicity and purity to using single origin tea.
Each individual tea is cold brewed for 24 hours, to extract the most delicate and complex flavours. The teas are then finely balanced by a hint of sweetness and dash of acidity. As a finishing touch, sparkling the drink enhances the flavour of the tea.
SAICHO
In 805, the monk Saicho returned to Japan from Tang China. With him he brought knowledge of the drink Chinese monks used to sustain long hours of meditation, along with its source: tea seeds.
Saicho founded the Tendai school of Buddhism and planted the seeds at the foot of Mount Hiei, where the garden that grew there is said to be the oldest in Japan. Within a decade, tea was being served at the imperial court, and Emperor Saga ordered tea to be planted across several provinces of Japan.
From a handful of seeds, tea became one of the defining rituals of Japanese culture.
OUR MISSION
Like our namesake, we are bringing tea somewhere new: to the drinks receptions and dining tables of the world. Today Saicho is poured in more than 150 Michelin restaurants. Whether in a fine dining restaurant, a wine bar or at home with family and friends, we hope the care behind Saicho is clear in every glass.