About US
One day, a long long time ago, two people were walking by the river in York on a day trip and one said to the other "that would make a nice cafe". Little did they know that one phrase would be the start of a magical adventure.
From there La Place Verte was born, a continental Belgian cafe by the riverside in the old toll house. To them it wasn't a toll house at all but a magical castle that became filled with wonderous things such as teas from faraway lands, and chocolates and beers from Belgium.
This was when Hans and Amy first started sourcing and selling teas, from the tiny shop in their tiny castle, just loose by weight and serving as cups of tea, later branding the teas as "LuLin" which means Green Forest. They now have many years of experience of sourcing fine teas from across the world as well as blending delicious blends for your to explore, drink and enjoy!
A Brief Timeline History of LuLin Teas
Launch of new website
So here we are in 2021 in the midst of the coronavirus, but launching our new website and new product range!
We moved to the Urban Tea Factory
...and we have been busy. Producing teabags for other tea companies, creating our exciting new range. Continuing to source new teas and ingredients.
We moved to London and launched our events arm as Tea, Bread & Brownie. Working with a bakery and patisserie to create a unique stall at the Southbank Centre Food Market.
Still in 2012... Hans focused on sourcing teas Amy started blending teas and...
...we invented Tea Cubed. Unfortunately as there was no machine in existence to make it, it wasn't possible to manufacture, though it was sold in Harrods exclusively for 1 year. We still hope to develop a machine one day
We sold La Place Verte to focus entirely on LuLin Teas
We created the brand LuLin Teas and opened our first webstore
We met with many tea gardens in China and added to our range of single-estate teas directly from the gardens
We opened our cafe in York, La Place Verte, and started sourcing teas from China
Back in 2006 a walk in York is what started our whole journey.
An off the cuff comment...."that would make a nice cafe".... and so it was to be.