Jake and I decided it would be fabulous for RAW ESSENTIALS/ROACH FOUNDATION if we visited the “International Tea Expo” in China.

We felt it would be a great opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the International tea scene and come home with some ideas for our RAW ESSENTIALS blends.

It was the wet season. This means very high temperatures, lots of rain and consequently, very bad hair! Excitedly Jake and I on Day one, perspiring in the heat raced over to the Tea Expo but it was far from what we had imagined.

Firstly, to make things difficult, we struggled to find many people that could speak English (Lesson learned for Day 2 as we very quickly organised a translator!)

Secondly, for those whom have never travelled to China, the lavatory experience is far from what us Melbournians are used to. It comprises of an uninviting hole in the floor. The fact that we were drinking gallons and gallons of tea meant that we were having to race to that experience far too many times than what was preferable.

Thirdly, and something we struggled with throughout our entire trip was the cuisine as it is very dissimilar to the kind of Asian we are used to eating in Australia.

The upshot of 9 days of drinking an Olympic swimming pool of tea in 32-35 degree heat in the rainy season is……………………………

“There is a reason why our suppliers are sooooooo expensive”.

It hit home very hard what beautiful quality our teas are.

Our herbs are sourced from companies in Europe, like a German company that has been going for 300 years, and a London trader that deals only with the most reputable and experienced organic herbs in the world.

Herbs are seasonal. If we can buy a wild field of a particular herb, we buy the whole field.

It also made us realise that RAW ESSENTIALS is actually not a tea company in the true sense.

RAW ESSENTIALS is a health and wellbeing protocol bursting with additional benefits.

Every time you drink a cup of any RAW ESSENTIALS blend, you are flooding your whole body with high doses of anti-oxidants, at the very least.

RAW ESSENTIALS IS NOT A TEA, IT’S A WHOLE NEW CATEGORY.

We have spent 18 months researching, sourcing our herbs and special teas, blending, and testing our blend on hundreds of people.

Our Teas WORK.

We put our bodies under so much stress, we eat our food (which is already depleted in nutrients) cooked, or processed with added chemicals, our water is kept drinkable with chemicals, we breathe polluted air. We are all so toxic.

RAW ESSENTIALS eating protocols may seem extreme. They were designed to be used by people who are serious about their health. People who realise there is no magic “cure in a box”.

So we have these learnings and are leaving China feeling very confident about our brand and product offering but it was far from smooth sailing. Now very tired, very hot and eager to get home we made out way to the airport. I somehow managed to get into a heated argument with our Taxi Driver resulting in the Airport Polices involvement. By the time the argument subsided, we were running very late so raced to the check-in counter, only to find out that our flight had been cancelled. Frustrated and disgruntled and after much back and forth this resulted in Jake and I having to spend the night in a very average Hotel that the airline organised for us. This hotel was complete with not one but two beaming and flashing lights that entertained us all throughout the night until our alarm clocks rang and it was finally time to come home!