Wenzhuo Liu
Christian Beck, a German who transitioned from management to the tea industry, has accumulated nearly a decade of experience in online tea sales in Germany. From 2020 to the present, collaborating with a photographer, he has successively published two books on Chinese and Japanese tea culture. In 2025, he attempted to shift his business from online to offline by trial-operating a tea event space in Augsburg, Germany, hoping to provide Germans with more ways to enjoy tea.
Regardless of which Chinese province Christian visited, Christian would go to local tea houses to taste tea, and whenever possible, he would even visit tea mountains.
Christian was formerly a professional management consultant. Starting in 2011, he worked part-time with partners on online tea sales, and over the past decade, the business gradually grew. In 2020, Christian decided to resign completely and change careers, dedicating himself fully to developing the tea business. In Christian’s memory, he often drank traditional German herbal teas with his family as a child. After his mother discovered his fondness for tea, she would also buy him Japanese tea as gifts. After starting work, due to reasons such as visiting friends and the requirements of his management consultant career, Christian visited China almost every year. Regardless of which Chinese province he visited, Christian would go to local tea houses to taste tea, and whenever possible, he would even visit tea mountains. High-quality green tea from the current year’s harvest was rarely available on the German market. Christian and his partners identified a business opportunity, tried opening an online tea shop to sell tea, and have been continuously developing and operating it to this day.
Augsburg is located in southern Germany and is the second oldest city in Germany. In 2025, Christian opened a tea event space in the city center, regularly providing activities like tea tasting for the local tea community.
In recent years, many European tea houses and tea shops have been providing tea lovers with experiences like tea tasting and knowledge-sharing activities. Whether traditional stores or emerging tea spaces, they all seem willing to try this method to establish deeper connections with customers. This could very well be a future development trend in Europe’s tea service industry. Augsburg is located in southern Germany and is the second oldest city in Germany. In 2025, Christian opened a tea event space in the city center, regularly providing activities like tea tasting for the local tea community. During these events, Christian shares his years of accumulated experience, and many people are interested in his story. Christian joked that even though his parents still maintain German tea-drinking habits, he is providing Germans with more choices for how to drink tea.
The books primarily share stories of representative local tea farmers and tea gardens from characteristic regions, complemented by photographs related to tea.
Christian, photographer Stefan Braun, and Slanted Publishers collaborated to publish their first tea book focused on China, titled “Tea Trip,” in 2020. Their second book, published in 2025, is a Japanese tea collection. They also plan to publish future books about other tea-producing countries. The books primarily share stories of representative local tea farmers and tea gardens from characteristic regions, complemented by photographs related to tea. Christian positions their book series as educational books for general tea enthusiasts, not as tea guides. Their aim is to let readers learn more about tea culture and other knowledge through their travels.
Christian feels changes have already begun, with more and more Germans starting to try different tea-drinking methods and high-quality loose-leaf tea.
When it comes to German tea culture, most people’s impression is of East Frisian blended black tea, locally characteristic porcelain tea sets, accompanied by sugar cubes and heavy cream, which is highly distinctive and representative. Christian feels changes have already begun, with more and more Germans starting to try different tea-drinking methods and high-quality loose-leaf tea. With the increase in German-language tea magazines and books, as well as changes in how people access information, more people are integrating tea drinking into their own lifestyles, even joining local small tea tasting groups to exchange ideas and find a sense of belonging. Christian’s online store offers products including loose-leaf tea and herbal tea from various countries. Japanese tea is the best-seller, while Chinese tea accounts for 30-40% of sales. Chinese green tea, black tea, and jasmine tea are the main products sold. White tea, oolong tea, and Pu’er tea also attract some customers and have a certain sales volume.
With the increase in German-language tea magazines and books, as well as changes in how people access information, more people are integrating tea drinking into their own lifestyles, even joining local small tea tasting groups to exchange ideas and find a sense of belonging.
Tasting Afternoon -Video Replay-
This event is to celebrate Chinese New Year and allow everyone to experience Chinese New Year tea culture. We have invited Christian Beck, he will explain to us his Chinese tea travel and his tea books, as well as the stories of Chinese tea people.
Welcome everyone to watch the video replay with a price of 10 euros. After payment, we will send you the link.