Sandry Law’s quest for the perfect mineral balance
When Sandry Law, our Head of Procurement in Kunming, first tasted tea brewed with water drawn directly from a mountain spring in Yunnan’s Jingmai region, he knew he had to bottle that sensation. Unable to transport the spring itself, he turned to the geology that made it special. Over two years, Sandry mapped the mineral profiles of half a dozen Yunnanese rock formations, working with local geologists and tea masters to identify stones that reliably raise total dissolved solids (TDS) without adding off-flavours or cloudiness. The final set draws from five distinct sites. The pink sandstone hails from Honghe, where iron-rich soils give it a gentle, sweet signature. The grey limestone comes from Wenshan’s ancient seabeds, adding calcium and a round texture. Milky quartz, hand-picked from riverbeds in the Nujiang valley, lends a crystalline purity. Speckled dolomite, sourced near Mengzi, imparts a soft, almost chalky mouthfeel that carries through the finish. Dark schist from Shidian, metamorphic and dense, rounds out the set with a trace of magnesium and a subtle smokiness. Every stone is hand-washed, graded, and cut to a size that fits comfortably in a standard 1-litre pitcher. The result is a miniature terroir kit — a way to tune your brewing water with the same precision a teapot craftsman uses to season a new Yixing pot. Sandry insists on describing the process as ‘a collaboration with the mountain’ — and tasting the difference, you’ll understand why.