CATHY ZHANG

Hello! I’m Cathy Zhang, the founder of Ms.Cattea tea company.

I have been professionally “brewing” in the tea industry since 2002, however my passion in tea is still growing strong. I have obtained a bachelor degree in Tea Science (yes there is such a thing!) from the University of Southern China Agriculture University. It was a rare subject to study. I only had 18 classmates but had 30+ teachers and professors to teach me. During the 4 years study, I have gained the highest Level of Tea Tasting Certificate nationally, and been awarded as The Professional Tea Ceremony Artist in a national level too.  After graduation, I have been continuously doing tea practice in China and eventually built a tea business and teahouse at home.

In 2012, the concept of building Ms.Cattea in Sydney was born and since then I have been promoting real tea culture in Australia. I have been participating in many international tea competition as the tea judges, host various tea events and run a large scale of Tea Expo in ICC in Sydney. After many years of careful planning and preparing, in 2019, Ms.Cattea Tea Bar is finally built right at the heart of Potts Point in Sydney. I now get to share my passion in tea and tea culture to a larger community.

I believe that every wonderful creation in the history of tea always comes with interesting stories and full of beautiful coincidence. Here is an astonishing fact, tea has played an important role in shaping the world history!  For example, it was the most important commodity for the Tibetans for many dynasties and it been used by the authorities to control their borders and bring peace for centuries; Tea was also the trigger of the Opium wars in Qing dynasty; and it encouraged many new dimension of tea trade developments in the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasty in China and the world.

The more I learn about tea, the more I realise how little I know. That is a core philosophy in our eastern tea culture  – being modest and pay respect. The knowledge of tea is so profound that no one could manage to learn everything in a life time. Everyone is everyone’s teacher. That is the charm of tea, as you don’t find much things in life give great value in both material and our spiritual world. When you understand the tea more, you will feel the same way as me.

One of the fundamental value of Ms.Cattea is that tea can bring people together and create good time. Each moment is unique and each cup of tea is different, one can never taste the same tea again. (一期一会(いちごいちえ).  Different tea, water, season, weather, people, mood, location, different time and so many more elements can affect your experience in tea.

That is why, Ms.Cattea Tea Bar is built to help to create these unique moments. Have a wonderful tea journey my friends!