Wenzhuo Liu
Maren Fichter, a German, has been interested in tea since childhood. After graduating from Oxford University, she settled in Bath, England and is currently engaged in multiple tea related jobs. As a food and beverage walking tour guide, Maren introduces British afternoon tea culture to tourists. As a trainer, she trains professions for Bath Matcha Cafe and UK Tea Academy. Maren believes that the reason why matcha can be integrated into European dining culture is because it is easy to blend into daily life in Europe. Simplifying tea sets and brewing steps is the concept of Maren’s training for beginners. In 2025, Maren participated in the international tea processing training organized by the Chinese Tea Science Society and the tea tour organized by the Tea Times Magazine. She will be an assistant manager at a Japanese tea farm in 2026, assisting with tea farming and processing as well as managing the international tourism program.
Maren gradually fell in love with drinking tea and asked her father to bring different types of tea from China home every time.
Maren was born in Munich, Germany and immigrated to the United States with her parents since childhood. Maren’s father often visits China for work reasons and brings many tea gifts to his family every time. He described that Chinese people drink tea in small teapots of Gongfucha style. Maren gradually fell in love with drinking tea and asked her father to bring different types of tea home every time. Out of interest, Maren worked in a tea house in the United States, organizing tea tasting events and wholesale sales of loose tea, and learning from many teas produced in different countries. In 2016, Maren went to the UK to study and obtained a master’s degree in linguistics from Oxford University. She has conducted research on Chinese language and cultural history, and has a basic understanding of Chinese. Linguistics does not offer many opportunities for professional work outside of academia, so Maren chooses to pursue multiple careers related to tea.
After graduating from Oxford University, she settled in Bath, England and is currently engaged in multiple tea related jobs.
Bath is a famous tourist city in the UK, visited by nearly five million tourists every year to visit famous historical sites and experience unique cultures. As a tour guide for local dining tours, Maren takes tourists on classic walking routes to visit independent food and beverage businesses in the city. While tourists taste handmade agricultural products, British afternoon tea is also an unmissable stop. Most people’s understanding of British tea culture is the English afternoon tea served with refreshments or the English breakfast served with an tea bag in mug. However, Bath has also been home to independent businesses representing other world tea traditions, which also feature on these tours. When Maren talks about tea with customers, she often introduces tea based on their familiar patterns. For example, many people are familiar with specialty coffee, and this gives them context for thinking about flavour notes, origin, or processing. Coffee and tea are both hot drinks, from an analogy perspective, customers are more likely to understand. Maren gave an example, when she visited her parents in Munich, Germany and browsed local tea houses, she found that Japanese tea was very popular in Germany. She understood it as the craftsmanship spirit that Japan admired, which could resonate with German manufacturing culture.
Maren found that even many European consumers are not aware that matcha is a tea product, so her trainings and events focus on helping people develop a greater context for understanding the global tea world and matcha’s place within it.
In recent years, matcha has become popular in many countries in Europe and around the world, and matcha drinks have become popular due to their health benefits. Maren’s second job was related to matcha, where she worked at a matcha cafe in Bath, preparing specialty drinks for customers and helping to develop new products and provide training. Near the University of Bath, many students take photos to check in and share drinks from the matcha cafe on social media. The popularity of the matcha has also skyrocketed, so when developing new products, Maren emphasizes the importance of appearance. Maren’s third job was responsible for teaching matcha class at the UK Tea Academy, mainly training personnel for the matcha service industry. At the same time, Maren also takes on temporary work, doing technical design and content editing for some tea brand online stores.
In August 2025, Maren participated in a one week tea processing technology training organized by the China Tea Science Society, as well as a three-day tea tour led by the Tea Times Magazine.
Maren is slowly developing her own business, Leaf and Buds Tea. In addition to running an online store selling loose leaf tea and accessible teaware, she also hosts events and tastings. Simplifying tea sets and brewing steps is the concept of Maren’s training for beginners. Based on years of teaching experience, Maren advocates the use of simple tea brewing utensils. For example, students are arranged to gradually understand and first feel the Gaiwan with their hands, without rushing to heat water for brewing. Especially for European beginners who are new to Asia’s exquisite tea sets and brewing techniques, they may not know how to start and are often intimidated. A simple tea set that is easy for beginners to pick up, and easy to accept and store. It can be set up anywhere in the kitchen or living room of the home. Maren believes that the reason why matcha can be integrated into European dining culture is because it is easy to blend into daily European life. Powdered and green in color, with health benefits, it is an excellent dietary additive. Maren found that even many European consumers are not aware that matcha is a tea product, so her trainings and events focus on helping people develop a greater context for understanding the global tea world and matcha’s place within it.
After visiting the Tang Dynasty Tribute Tea House and Jingshan Temple, Maren finally realized where the tea cakes she received a few years ago came from. At that time, she couldn’t find any information about tea cakes at all. Experiencing those histories firsthand was the best way to learn.
In August 2025, Maren participated in a one week tea processing technology training organized by the China Tea Science Society, as well as a three-day tea tour led by the Tea Times Magazine. This is an experience that Marlen cherishes, learning about Chinese tea from multiple dimensions and details, including processing and evaluation, as well as tea brewing. The teachers are very friendly, willing to share knowledge, and provide careful guidance to each student. Although Maren had some tea processing experience in Japan and the UK before, she was very impressed when she saw Chinese teachers demonstrating Longjing green tea roasting techniques without wearing gloves. Maren once imagined the situation of China’s tea processing industry, and when she really saw the factories, especially the matcha production line, it was still impressive. After visiting the Tang Dynasty Tribute Tea House and Jingshan Temple, Maren finally realized where the tea cakes she received a few years ago came from. At that time, she couldn’t find any information about tea cakes at all. Experiencing those histories firsthand was the best way to learn. Maren once experienced three months of tea plantation life in Japan. In 2026, she plans to join the international assistant manager program at Obubu Tea Farm in Japan and work there for one year to help develop the international tea tourism. Maren hopes that Chinese tea gardens can also develop more similar projects, and there will definitely be many international tea friends willing to participate.
