The man selling tea to China - and brewing a premium culture

Tony Dick suspects his passion for tea could have a hereditary basis - one of his ancestors started a tea merchant's business in Glasgow in 1840. Dick arrived in Hong Kong in the 1990s as an engineer. He worked on the Hong Kong International Airport, among other projects. But when his company decided it was time for him to return to England, he realised Hong Kong had become home, so he quit his job and stayed in the city.

What sparked your interest in tea?

Being English, and the way I was brought up, I was exposed a lot to tea. When I was very young, there was a place in my hometown called Robertson's Tea & Coffee Merchants. It was one of those places that have been there seemingly forever. They had a coffee roaster at one end of the shop and all this ancient tea at the other end. I'm sure all the tea was contaminated with the smell of coffee, but there were all these wonderful old Chinese teas. Afternoon tea at home was the most important meal of the day, and we always had fantastic teas. I found that very interesting.

Did coming to Hong Kong expand your horizons as a tea lover?

I got exposed to a lot of Chinese tea, and that was something of a revelation to me because all I'd known in Britain about green tea was that it was a bit like mouldy grass - probably because it was quite old - and that it wasn't very interesting. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to drink it. Once I came here and had really good quality Chinese tea, and I saw the Chinese tea ceremony, that got me interested in the whole idea of tea again.

As an Englishman selling tea to Chinese customers, you must get some interesting reactions?