Emotional rollercoaster
I set one work-related goal for myself today (Friday 26th of June) – to have a brainstorm with myself regarding sales-boosting content that could be created for our channels. To...
RENEGADE
RUMBLINGS
Step by step journey of your tea package
It is funny to see the faces of people when they hear about all the processes that we go through just to get the teas to our customers. It is...
Benefits of black tea
Whenever you read about tea, most likely the health benefits subject comes up as well. But if you browse those hundreds of articles about the benefits of tea (yeah, I...
What makes spring teas so special?
In the world of tea, spring flush is like Christmas – something that all the tea heads are waiting for and hoping to get their hands on before it’s all...
How white tea is made?
White tea is most likely not everyone's cup of tea. It is one of the most delicate varieties of teas made from Camellia Sinensis and if you are after strong...
From an abandoned jungle to a working tea plantation. Part two.
Read the pre-story here. 1. The first shoots come out... So, we cleaned the first plantation, Renegade Estate, in the winter of 2017-2018. After finishing the cleaning works, there were...
From an abandoned jungle to a working tea plantation- what does it take?
If you have been following us, you have heard a lot that there’s a lot of work and little harvest at the moment since the bushes need time to recover....
Throwback to our first season as Renegades
We have been home (in Estonia) for almost three months now. The end of the season got a bit of an unexpected ending for me and Kendrick. After a short...
Two and a half years in Georgia
Season two at the Renegade Tea Estate has officially concluded as the last batch of our teas from Georgia has finally arrived in Tallinn. So, it is a proper time...
How to have a tea tasting event like the Renegades
Guestpost by Silver Ader This is a quick guide to tea tasting, Renegade style. Read on to find out how to have a tea tasting event like professionals. If you...
Daytrips from Kutaisi
Kutaisi is a perfect base to explore the Imereti region and actually the whole of Western Georgia. Everything from Batumi to the remote villages in the Caucasus is actually within...
What is behind organic fairtrade loose leaf tea?
As consumers, we are looking more and more what is not only good for us but what is also good for the environment and for the people who produce the...
Where to find the best organic black tea?
The world of tea makes your head spin with their big headlines that they have the best organic black tea, the healthiest green teas and the rarest oolongs. So, how...
What to do in Kutaisi
More often than not, I see people leaving Kutaisi out of their travel plans when coming to Georgia. Maybe half a day after the arrival or half a day before...
Differences between Orthodox and CTC teas
If you are not deep in the world of tea you may have never heard that there are such ways of tea production as CTC and Orthodox. But what we...
2 summers in Kutaisi as an expat
Kutaisi - one of the oldest cities in Europe, nowadays the second biggest city in Georgia, also the capital of the Imereti region and the de facto capital of the...
How to find the best organic green tea in the world?
The world of tea makes your head spin with their flashy promises that they have the best organic green tea, the best rare artisan oolong, the best black tea which...
How is it to live in Georgia?
Where did you get the courage to move to Georgia? How much does it cost to live in Georgia? What do you eat in Georgia? We have heard all those...
Best teas for beginners
When you are just at the beginning of your tea-journey (kind of like us) and don’t really fall into the category of great tea experts who can evaluate tea by...
How to make tea from Camellia Sinensis at home?
Some of you have asked, and we would have loved to read this kind of article a year ago when we started with our first tea making tests in our...
3 easy ways to brew loose leaf tea
Drinking high-quality loose leaf tea is great in theory - better for the environment, no additional chemicals in your tea from the packaging and so on... That’s why many of...
What is white tea?
I think it was around 10 years ago when I got to know the taste of white tea. To be precise, it was a white iced tea, bought from a...
How to make iced tea?
When life gives you tea... you will consume it in every possible way and be happy about it :) Summer is here and what could be a better way to cool...
Moved my family to Georgia... Wait, what?
I am writing this blog post while sitting on the balcony of our home here in Georgia. It is about 30 degrees Celsius outside, the sun is out and I...
Back to the future
About 10 months ago I was invited to take the role of interim CEO in Nordica (the national aviation company of Estonia) and steer it through the reorganization process. I...
Tea dictionary
What means what? Since usually no one really talks about how tea is processed, it can get a bit overwhelming for a tea novice to understand what is what and...
Season two as tea farmers in Georgia- let's go!
Team Renegade is back in Georgia and ready for action! Being away from the tea fields and endless surprises that life in Georgia has to offer, and spending time with...
Tea myths - what's true and what's not
As we are rookies in the tea field ourselves, we have come across many myths regarding tea and we know it can get a little difficult understanding what is true...
Tea and Georgia - what have you taught me?
So, at the beginning of 2018, I had just left my job in Estonia, preparing to become a tea farmer in Georgia. Even now it sounds a bit crazy when writing it down :)...
Lessons of Shifu
I guess it’s clear that being newbies in the tea field, we need some help from experts. We were in contact with a few and we researched and read a...
Back to the corporate world?
The last 4 months have been everything I expected it to be. Those months have challenged me mentally and physically and for sure pushed my borders. It has been at...
How we ran a 40-day marathon of crowdfunding
Selling a product that you actually do not even have yet, and doing it intensively for 40 days in a row is definitely not an easy task, and even though...
The price of tea. Do you know, for what you are paying?
There is no lack of choices when it comes to teas. We can drink some of the most exclusive teas in the world and pay 1 EUR for our cup...
გამარჯობა- learning Georgian!
Georgian is amongst the 10 oldest languages in the world and apparently, Georgians decided somewhere in the very early stages of history that they want their very own everything. Therefore...
Why did the Georgian tea industry collapse?
With its subtropical climate, western Georgia is an ideal place to grow tea. Chilly nights and cold winter months prevent disease and therefore there is no need to use pesticides...
One month as a real farmer
I am old enough to know, that usually things do not go as planned and I was mentally prepared, that the beginning will not be easy. I also knew that...
Tea- what it is and and how it's made?
I have to admit that my knowledge about tea before Renegade-time mostly consisted of the fact that there is hot water involved and something soaked in it. Now that I...
Cleaning of Renegade Estate
The tea plantation, located near Opurchkheti, Imereti, had been abandoned for nearly 30 years. The fields were completely covered with weed and bushes, tea plants hidden under it. It was...
We are the Renegades
So, where does our name come from? Per se, Renegade is not necessarily a positive name. It is often referred to as an outlaw, deserter or something similarly negative. Usually,...
How I became a Renegade aka „What intriques a Millenial?“
„I felt like it“ can be stated as my main motivation for saying „yes“ to Kristiina, when on the 1st of January she asked me, how would I feel about...
A tea farmer in Georgia or an easy way to quit smoking
Swimming in unpredictable waters of life, I have repeatedly soaked my tail in swamps and quags of different viscosity. And no one, including myself, couldn’t probably give a proper explanation...
Why did I decide to become a tea farmer?
I have never been a teaholic, I have started my mornings with a cup of coffee and honestly still do, but I have also enjoyed tea every other evening or so....
My first visit to Georgian tea region (or instruction how to find abandoned tea plantations)
It was at the end of April, 3 months after the idea of our Tea Estate had first surfaced. For the past month or so my communication with different Georgian...
My Soviet childhood and Renegade Tea Estate
When I first read about what had happened to the Georgian tea industry during the last 30 years, it was difficult to comprehend or even believe. It's not unusual to find...
Inception or what connects New Zealand, Rwanda and Vineyards in Portugal
We were wrapping up our 3-week vacation with Kristiina. New Zealand had been my dream destination for more than 10 years and now it was done. After driving 4000 km...