Marianna Varga decided to become a tea expert about a decade ago, and soon enough, her firm Tea Programs was born.
The former somelier was the first to recognise the endless potential in bringing high-quality, sustainably-produced tea to the Hungarian market. As the thirty-something argued in a previous interview, she felt exhausted by the lack of product and the lack of general awareness of the culture of tea drinking.
Determined to teach people about the endlessly-fascinating world spanning beyond your average cup of sugar-drenched, artificial-lemon-flavored, syrupy Earl Grey tea, Varga ventured so far as to open up the first-ever plantation in Hungary, situated in Maglód, Pest.
Currently, thousands of crops of Camellia Sinensis, a Chinese green tea are grown on the farm in Maglód. To optimize costs, Varga invited fellow tea afficionados to participate in the project, bringing together a team of seven. She also accepts tea bush donors - investments that ensure the growth of one, individual bush, akin to the guardianship programs ran by zoos.
Photo credit: szmo.hu