Michael Ortiz, a Miami local and owner of acclaimed JoJo Tea, wants you to recognize that drinking tea is not merely about drinking, but about the experience behind it. An experience he refers to as the “spirit of the tea.” JoJo Tea does exactly this by providing a natural, smooth and consistent tea experience for everyone who has a taste. A cup of their tea stands to improve health, stimulate creativity and energize the intellect through their meticulous selection of hand picked teas from around the world. Their mission to provide quality tea is also consistent with their commitment to only purchasing tea’s from reputable farms. With all these reasons and more, JoJo Tea makes it their lifework to make tea more than a soothing drink for your throat, but also a soothing mediation for your soul. We got a chance to chat with Michael Ortiz about his experience working with JoJo Tea:
1) How did you get started in the tea distributing business?
I was a full-time yoga teacher for a couple years, and got more and more into tea as time passed. Next thing I knew I was always disappointed with the teas that would be brought out at the end of my meals. So I decided to buy a few pounds of some of my favorites and present them to some of my favorite restaurants. That’s really how it all started.
2) What is unique about your tea business?
What makes us unique is our locality. Most tea companies are based on the west coast, which means that most clients out here would have to wait a week or two before their orders get in. These companies also have no local representation to train the staff of local restaurants. We deliver at least twice a week, and train the staff at all of our restaurants. We also use whole leaf tea, which offers the most complete and complex flavor profiles compared to most tea companies that use fannings of broken leaf, and even some dust. JoJo Tea uses whole leaves, even in our iced teas. That’s quite unique.
3) What tea would you recommend to someone who has never had tea before?
Chai or Green Jasmine Pearls. Chai is a rich and malty black tea that we blend with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and vanilla. It is typically taken with milk and sugar to create a sweet, spicy, creamy drink that is enjoyed all over India and the world. Green Jasmine Pearls take the first two leaves and the bud of each branch of the tea bush, which is the sweetest, most delicate-tasting part of the plant. At origin, in Fujian, China, these tips are repeatedly scented with midnight-harvested jasmine to give them a nice soft flowery aroma without quite getting perfumey.
4) What is a little known fact about tea?
Where to begin?! Its documented history in China goes back about three thousand years. The drink caught on in Japan (it was brought over by Zen monks) around the 13th century. It wasn’t cultivated in India until around the 17th century. The taste of tea will be affected by many things, including the altitude at which it was picked, the humidity of the area, and what else grows in the area around it. Also, the bigger leaves closer to the bottom of the branch will bring a thicker, maltier taste and those closer to the tips, particularly the first two leaves and the bud, will give the sweetest, subtlest taste.
5) How did you come up with the name for JoJo Tea?
While I was going to school in New York, my sister had a beautiful baby boy. He was learning everybody’s name and when, just out of curiosity, they pointed to me in a photo and said “Okay, Andy, who’s this?” He looked at the photo, squinted his eyes, and then relaxed and said, “That’s Jo-jo.” To this day he calls me Jo-Jo. Which is cute enough in and of itself, but I was amazed to find that in Chinese, Jo-Jo actually means uncle! Not only does it mean uncle, but it means maternal uncle! So, JoJo it is.
To learn more about JoJo Tea or to find out what Miami locations carry their tea’s make sure to visit, jojotea.net
