About Summit Tea
The people who bring you the best teas the world has to offer
Summit Tea is about influence. One of our labels reads: “While tea is our business, the next generation of leaders is our mission.” Middle school, high school, college, and young entrepreneurs are the sweet spot of that influence – the next generation. As lifelong mentors with more than 40 year’s experience, Patti’s and my life purpose is to draw the gold out of people like you and fan those sparks into life. This is central to everything we do, including Summit Tea.
So, what this means to you, as our customer, is that we are for you. We would like to see you live your life well, certainly live it better for us having crossed paths. We care a lot about the quality of teas we serve you and especially how you bridge from them to the things that matter to you. That same “I am for you!” value flavors the work environment for our employees and it’s woven into our relationships with our suppliers, family and friends.
Most of our full leaf tea grown in China is produced by one farmer in the center of the nation. This is a long-term organic relationship – they’re a small family business/we are a small family business. I go there and walk their fields, I know how they cultivate and handle their teas, and I know how they treat their workers. They pick and package our retail and wholesale tea on-site with care to not crush delicate leaves. Then, the teas go into a container which are shipped to the Port of Los Angeles where we pick them up. In addition, Patti and I cherry pick the best teas from those who do it with such excellence, a few contractors blend to our specifications, and we blend a select few in-house.
We want to invite you into the story we are walking out each day. It’s full of interesting people, life lessons, mistakes, and, above all else, it will be a window into how we walk out these convictions. We are people of faith, too, and we hope that you will see that lived out authentically. Patti and I love God and His son, Jesus, though we are not very religious. Then, of course, there’s craft beer (Tom)! If we are for you, then you must know that we are committed to your quality experience with Summit.
Cheers!
Tom & Patti Waller