About Us
Gong Fu Tea got its start in September of 2003. My old college friend Rusty Bishop had just returned from participating in an extreme running event held in the Gobi Desert and I gave him a quick call to see how he had fared. That “quick call” turned into a lengthy, introspective conversation in which we both determined that we were ready to embark on a venture that would be truly inspirational. At the time, we were both coffee-swilling components of the corporate machine, and looking to completely reinvent ourselves. Tea was the vehicle that we used to accomplish that feat on nearly every level.
My experience with tea began when I was child. My parents weren’t coffee drinkers at the time, so we always had tea as our hot beverage of choice. I got away from tea about the same time I started attending college. I became a coffee drinker, and continued the habit for nearly fifteen years before I finally isolated it as something which had a negative affect on my energy level. I stopped drinking coffee “cold turkey” and replaced it with common bagged teas – and felt much better as a result. My interest in tea was immediately reinvigorated at that point.
This interest, coupled with a general interest in all things gastronomically wonderful, fused to form a vision for becoming a provider of ultra-high quality loose-leaf teas to other people – people who would respond in the same positive manner to the terrific tastes and healthful aspects of one of the world’s oldest and most widely consumed beverages.
Rusty and I arranged to meet each other in Chicago for a weekend that same September. The purpose of the meeting was to determine what sort of business endeavor we would like to create. After hashing over a few dozen ideas, I mentioned the concept of a high-end teahouse that would cater to the palates of tea enthusiasts here in the United States. After I shared the seminal vision with Rusty, we were both so taken with the notion that we have never yet discussed any of the other business ideas that we had come up with that day. After scouring the third largest city in America for some representative example of our vision and finding only a few quality shops in the entire area, we mutually agreed to establish our presence in the heart of the Midwest.
We wanted to bring quality teas to the people we were familiar with and that we were sure would respond enthusiastically to the realm of teas, if only introduced to them.
We created a short list of cities to use as our base, then quickly selected Des Moines, Iowa as the finalist.
Rusty and I immediately embarked on an all-consuming tea education regimen – a regimen we continue to pursue even today. We exposed ourselves to thousands of teas, dozens of steeping and preparation techniques, and much of tea’s history and lore. We also examined tea and tea-inspired aestheticism as an outlook on life and bought into this outlook wholeheartedly. We toured both coasts of the United States, visiting a total of 57 different teahouses in the process. We met many wonderful people during our travels – growers, brokers, blenders and teahouse proprietors – each with a terrific story to tell about what brought them to tea.
We took our inspiration from an assemblage of these people and places, and began the task of designing our shop and amassing the teas and wares that we planned to provide to our customers. It was, and is, hard work, but very enjoyable and altogether rewarding work at that.
As we approach the third year of taking on tea as both a lifestyle and a means of livelihood, we can define Gong Fu Tea as the venue for tea enthusiasts everywhere to source the very finest quality teas and tea wares available, backed by dependable, expert service and 100% guarantee.
Each of our offerings is individually hand selected by Rusty and me from a multitude of global artisans. The items we select to feature are those we have determined to be the very best in their class – regardless of price level. If we don’t derive enjoyment from the product ourselves, we refuse to offer it to you, our customer. Our premise is simple, but we know of no better way to provide complete satisfaction to our valued clientele.
We would like to welcome you to the wonderful world of fine quality loose-leaf teas, and to thank you for taking an interest in our offerings. We look forward to being able to serve you.
Mike & Rusty