An Shim Life, Rātslaukums 7, Riga (2026)

22/08/2026

"Dear friends and future friends, I would like to invite you to a new chapter in our events: LITERATI GATHERINGS.

The term “Literati” refers to the educated, who have an interest into the vast world of ideas and literature. Over the centuries, they would gather in intellectual circles that would be composed of scholars, poets, artists, and thinkers for whom the quest for truth and beauty was a way of life. Some romantic examples can be found in the Song and Ming dynasties in China, the Edo period in Japan, the Joseon period in Korea, the Renaissance in Europe or the Russian intelligentsia movements.

In Asia, these movements have a deep connection to tea, which is a beverage that awakens the senses and deepens the thoughts. The gatherings happened in tea houses surrounded by greenery or along riverbanks, to read and write poetry, contemplate nature, appreciate tea, fragrances and food, and engage in refined conversations about philosophy, literature, and art. I have often felt an attraction for those places and times I was not in, and over time this curiosity has guided my research and travels to find people who have kept those practices alive.

In recent years, I have started to understand that much of my work has been dedicated to reviving the spirit of the Literati movements, in a form that is informed by the past but rooted in the present and my hometown. For me, it has gradually become a way of life, and one that I think worthy of sharing in the times that we live in, to meet again and continue a dialogue from heart to heart.

So let us gather, and let me be your host for a refined moment. Through exceptional teas from my collection that open the senses and encourage a meditative mind, each gathering combines conversation around the theme of the evening with moments of silence, allowing us to immerse ourselves in a particular atmosphere and mood. It is about harmony filled with aesthetics and meaning. It is about beautiful objects and the stories behind them, and, on a deeper level, it is about tea and the Way of Tea."

-Andrei Ivanov (Founder of AN SHIM TEA)

Date: 29 August 2026
Time: 17:00
Location: Krāsotāju iela 5, Riga, Latvia

Registration:
https://anshimtea.com/tea-experience/events

AN SHIM TEA

19/08/2026

GOOD MANNERS FOR A TEA GATHERING

First, it is important to explain what we mean by tea ceremony.

In the case of Japanese tea ceremony, the term actually comes from an unfortunate mistranslation. In Japanese, the practice is called “the way of tea” (茶道, Chadō) or “the hot water for tea” (茶の湯, Cha no Yu). This approach to tea (usually matcha, but it also exists for sencha/gyokuro) is seen as a lifelong practice that teaches how to make a good bowl of tea and how to receive it in the most harmonious way.

In China, though way less codified than in Japan, brewing good tea is also considered a practice that is referred to as Gong Fu Cha: refining one’s tea making skill over time.

10/08/2026

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. It seems we’ve had plenty of heat this year, and now it’s time to cool down a little.

According to the traditional Chinese calendar, August 7 marks the Beginning of Autumn. If you pay attention to nature, you have probably already noticed the subtle changes taking place over the past few weeks. From this point on, the nights gradually become cooler, the summer heat begins to fade, and the gentle warmth of early autumn slowly settles in.

Together with these changes, our state of mind and our tastes change as well. Starting this month, every newsletter will include a special section where we recommend a tea that perfectly fits the season, the weather, and your body and mind, along with a few other new features. In this post, we would like to share some highlights from our August Newsletter.

We continue to expand and refine our Collection. We are also adding new live gatherings to our EVENTS page and warmly invite you to join us. Registration for the new TEA LIKE ART school group, beginning in mid-September, is still open.

We are also about to open registration for our spring Tea Experience Tours to Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. As the number of places is limited, we encourage everyone interested to submit an inquiry through the TEA TOURS section.

For a limited time, we have introduced our TAKE FIVE sample sets, created to help you explore our quality while discovering the unique character of different tea-producing countries and tea types.

We are also back with our Monthly Subscriptions, created for everyone who wants to deepen their understanding of tea and learn how to evaluate it like a true tea connoisseur.

Finally, we shared some thoughts ABOUT FRESH HARVEST and today’s race to be the first to sell fresh tea, sometimes at the expense of quality and the traditions that made Chinese tea great. We do our best to bring you fresh tea every year, but what matters even more is offering high-quality, authentic tea produced with respect for tradition.

Subscribe to our Newsletter for insights from the tea industry, updates from AN SHIM TEA, and to join us on this tea journey.

www.anshimtea.com
AN SHIM TEA

24/07/2026

THE BEGINNING OF AUTUMN

Dear friends,

We are very happy to welcome you to a new season of AN SHIM LIFE gatherings. We invite you to the first event of the season, “The Beginning of Autumn,” dedicated to the arrival of this beautiful time of year.

According to the traditional Chinese calendar, on 7 August the energy of nature begins to gradually shift from growth towards decline. This change is reflected both in the natural world and within us, and it can be easily noticed when we observe carefully.
This event introduces a new format through which we hope to create an unusual atmosphere and help participants develop a deeper sense of connection with nature and its cycles. It is a journey through the themes of seasonality and awareness, experienced through silence, observation, and harmony with everything happening around us. It is about the silence that can say so much, and about inner peace as our natural state.

During the event, we will experience a tea ceremony featuring a carefully selected range of teas that reflect the philosophy of the evening, light vegetarian snacks composed to complement the tea, and, most importantly, a story about the unity of human beings and nature. We will explore the principles that govern everything around and within us, the subtlety of the East with its aesthetics and depth, and meditation as the only path to salvation.

The event will take place in complete silence.

Duration: 3 hours
Dress code: light-coloured clothing made from natural fabrics
Date: 7 August 2026
Time: 18:00
Location: “Deva Loka”, Raņķa dambis 34, Riga, Latvia

Registration:
https://anshimtea.com/tea-experience/events

Welcome!
AN SHIM LIFE

08/07/2026

As I am back to Latvia after my 3 months of traveling in tea producing countries, I take some time to reflect. We have barely posted on social media and I have skipped my monthly newsletter. I think I was immersed in the experiences I was living and it didn’t feel right to write for the sake of content. Maybe because I feel there is too much online anyway?

Our Tea Experience Tours went well. In Vietnam, the group was an interesting mix: a family of 4 and 3 women, with people from various ages. I want each tour to be unique and vary the structure every year so it’s right for the group and also for me. We follow harvesting farmers and like them, we adapt to the weather. The days were so dense it’s pointless to summarize the journey in post. As always, Ha Giang inspired everyone with its wild tea tree gardens. I was a little surprised that when given the choice, the group preferred to spend the nights at our newly built factory with minimal comfort rather than at a fancy hotel. Every day in the mornings and evenings we drank tea together. We made beautiful memories and I hope everyone left with a deeper understanding of Vietnamese tea.

After Vietnam I spent some time researching ceramics in Korea, sampled some fresh tea in China, and moved on to Japan. First I traveled to the island of Kyushu to explore the pottery towns around Arita and Karatsu. I brought back some rare and interesting items that I’m planning to show during my events and classes.

Then it was time for the Japanese tour. The weather was on our side and we enjoyed the beautiful season in Kyōto and its surroundings, immersed in tea aesthetics. This year again we were lucky to be hosted in a magical 100 year old traditional Japanese house, which inspired a lot of deep conversations during our tea sessions. The last days of the adventure were spent at a hidden hot spring hotel in the mountains of Mie prefecture, before our goodbye dinner at one of Kyōto’s most artistic restaurants. After living together for 10 days, the group started to feel like family and it felt strange to say goodbye.

After the tour, I traveled to more pottery towns (Echizen, Kutani, Shigaraki), went to many antique markets, rested by the sea, met up with our organic matcha supplier, and it was time to go back to Europe.

I’m already thinking about next year tours, as I want to continue to craft peaceful escapes that allow people to learn more about tea culture in a slow and meditative style. If you would like to stay updated, feel free to sign up to our special Tea Experience newsletter to be directly informed when the details are finalized.

https://anshimtea.com/tea-experience/tea-tours

Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter to be up-to-date about freshest news and special offers:
https://anshimtea.com/contacts

In any case, I’m looking forward to seeing you soon at our next events to sample this year’s harvest!

Andrei
AN SHIM TEA

08/05/2026

TIMELESS TEA: GREEN TEA

Nowadays matcha seems to take a lot of space in tea conversations, which is only one part of the bigger trend of exponential interest for Japanese tea. For a lot of people, it could overshadow other classical expressions of the category of green teas.
This is why it seems timely to remember the great traditional Chinese teas whose history shaped the very foundation of green tea culture as we know it today. Despite all trends and changing fashions, green tea continues to exist far beyond modern hype, preserving its depth, refinement, and identity. We call this TIMELESS TEA: teas that have traveled through time, inspired countless generations and styles that followed, and teas that will remain long after temporary trends fade away.

We have gathered for you a selection of 10 green teas produced in China. Each one of them became, in its own way, an inspiration for many teas that followed. Today, nearly all of these teas represent unique production technologies that create an extraordinary diversity of appearance, aroma, and taste within a single tea category. It is remarkable how, within the seemingly narrow boundaries of this one plant, people arrived at such different and distinctive results. These variations, linked to terroirs and cultures from what was once a distant, hard-to-reach country, inspired tea-seekers from my generation to study tea production as an art form. Even after 15 years of working in this field, I continue to be inspired by the depth of Chinese green tea.

Originally highly specific and limited products of small regional traditions, the names of these teas have today become powerful marketing instruments. As a result, they can now be found not only throughout China, but far beyond its borders as well. This has greatly increased the amount of “tea carrying these names” on the global market, while simultaneously reducing the presence of the truly authentic teas from which everything originally began. It was precisely the search for “the real one” that eventually led me to where I am today.

Welcome to our website https://anshimtea.com/tea/green-tea-collection where you can explore each of these teas in greater detail. Ten teas is of course far from a complete list, but it is certainly a good place to begin.

30/04/2026

TEA EXPERIENCE AFTERTASTE

A few days ago, our annual tea tour in Vietnam came to an end. While the emotions and memories are still fresh, I reflect on this experience and mostly feel gratitude.

Seven participants, seven days, seven nights. Once again, we gathered a wonderful group of people with an interest in tea culture, Vietnam, and a conscious way of living. Their curiosity and appreciation for the program we crafted is always fulfilling and inspiring for us! Indeed, these tours are about connection: between the participants, and all of our local friends and partners who share their culture.

So I would like to express my gratitude to all the tea experts we had the privilege of visiting this year. Your warm hospitality, meaningful conversations, tastings, excursions, and shared energy made this journey special.

Special thanks go to my Vietnamese friends and colleagues, without whom organizing such an experience at this level and with this degree of care and service would not be possible. Thanks to the passion and unity of our team, we have once again been able to create the atmosphere of calmness and inner balance that are dear to AN SHIM TEA.

I would also like to thank all the people at our new factory, which began its operations this year and became a highlight of the tour. They gave participants the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the production of different tea categories, to live at the factory, and to experience firsthand the rhythm of the spring harvest. For the first time, we also visited ancient tea gardens that supply leaves to our factory. This allowed participants to gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the entire process, from the terroir of the tea trees to the final cup.

For nearly ten years, we have remained dedicated to offering people the chance to experience some of the finest teas produced in Vietnam. For those who would like to join our future tea experiences, we invite you to visit the “Tea Tours” section on our website to receive the details of our next tea experiences.

https://anshimtea.com/tea-experience/tea-tours

As for me, I will soon start my next journey, following the quiet path that tea continues to unfold before me.

20/04/2026

BACK TO THE MOUNTAINS

We have arrived in the Vietnamese mountains, and for the past three weeks our new factory there has been producing its first spring harvest. It is truly a historic moment for us, filled with new emotions and a deep sense of joy. Throughout this time, we have been fully immersed in production, crafting new teas, evaluating recent batches, and developing blends that you will soon be able to experience at our live gatherings. We have created a new signature sheng called “AN IV” and conducted several experimental productions, the quality of which will be assessed later, as such teas require time to settle, balance, and fully reveal their character.

We have dedicated time to create photo and video content to show you the places where our tea is grown and produced. We are also honored to share that this year, eight of our teas have received recognition at the Golden Leaf Awards, which encourages us to pursue our activities.
Staying true to our core values and vision, we move with fresh energy towards deeper knowledge and new challenges.

Today marks the beginning of our annual Vietnamese tea tour. For the eighth year, we are guiding a group of tea enthusiasts through the country’s key tea regions, offering an in-depth immersion into the tea industry. This program is entirely dedicated to the nuances of tea production and represents a unique opportunity for those who wish to deepen their understanding of high-level tea. If such journeys resonate with you, we invite you to visit our tea tours page and to contact us to receive updates about upcoming tours and special offers.

May the coming week bring you many joyful and meaningful moments.

AN SHIM TEA

08/04/2026

10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY REVIEW

Dear friends, in this post we would like to share a few moments from our gathering held in mid-February with our Riga tea community dedicated to the 10-year anniversary of our professional journey in tea.

As you may remember, this February marked ten years since our founder began his path in the field of high tea culture and its popularization. Over the years, we have created many meaningful experiences, met beautiful people, and shared countless unique teas from different regions of the world.

Today, just as ten years ago, we continue this journey guided by our core values: quality, openness, kindness, and a genuine passion for tea.

More than social media, it is our website that allows us to stay connected with many of you while inspiring and educating remotely on the subject of tea of the highest mastery. Today, within the AN SHIM TEA collection, you can find over 200 carefully selected representatives of some of the most authentic classical teas from the world’s leading tea-producing countries. For each tea, we present extensive information such as history of the tea, environment, production methods, brewing instructions and organoleptic insights.

Thank you for staying with us. We sincerely hope that this project will continue to grow, live on, and inspire people to follow a refined and meaningful tea path.

For those who are just joining us, welcome to our small, yet truly refined tea community.

AN SHIM TEA
www.anshimtea.com

26/03/2026

A FEELING YOU NEVER FORGET

During my first trip to Kyushu, my French tea colleague and I decided to visit a unique tea factory located in the heart of the island. The place was not easy to reach: our journey required multiple forms of transportation, including high-speed trains and long bus rides winding through remote mountain roads. In these rural parts of Japan, of course, English is of no use and we had to figure out how to navigate with our very limited knowledge of Japanese.

We relied on intuition and the hope that we would meet kind people willing to guide us along the way. As is often the case, the most interesting tea factories are located away from cities and even small villages, which made this journey particularly challenging. We traveled from a relatively large city to several smaller towns by bus, and from there took a taxi to a tiny settlement where we notified the farmer, who was expecting us, of our arrival for him to come and pick us up.

After covering about two-thirds of the journey, here we were in the middle of nowhere, standing on a quiet mountain road with no traffic, where we had to wait for an hour until the farmer finished his work in the tea fields. For a little while we had the feeling that we were isolated in the wild, but as we were walking along the road we suddenly came across a Seven-Eleven, one of those famous Japanese convenience stores. There was nothing else to do so we had a meal of cheap snacks, and now every time I see a Seven-Eleven, it makes me think of those remote mountains.

In the end, the farmer came to pick us up and brought us to his tea factory, surrounded by volcanic landscapes, where the organic tea we had both loved for many years is produced. We spent an unforgettable day there, in the company of incredibly kind people, whose stories remain with me to this day.
During our Japan Tea Experience Tour, we design experiences that we hope will create beautiful memories from each day’s adventures.

Join us for our upcoming Japan Tea Experience Tour from June 1 to June 10.

More details:
https://anshimtea.com/japan-tea-experience-tour

An Shim Life

22/08/2026

19/08/2026

10/08/2026

24/07/2026

08/07/2026

08/05/2026

30/04/2026

20/04/2026

08/04/2026

26/03/2026

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