eLTea international trading company, inc
was founded in 1997 by Ingo Groger in Fresno, California for the sole
purpose to make available whole leaf teas to tea drinkers. At that
time specialty tea consumption was just beginning to become popular in
the US.
Originally from Hamburg, Germany Ingo has been trained in
various tea stores in Hamburg. Hamburg, being the largest tea trading
port in Europe provided the best opportunity to learn the tea trade.
Over the years he has traveled to various tea plantation in Asia,
specifically Taiwan. There Ingo acquired the skills necessary to
prepare various Oolong teas. Participating in traditional Chinese
Kung-Fu tea ceremonies he brought this skill to California.
The
tea store was first opened in a warehouse in Fresno in 2003. In that
year Ingo started importing rare Oolong teas from Taiwan. Seeing the
need to reach a wider audience in Fresno the idea to open a retail
location was conceived. eLTea opened in its current location in Fresno
on August 16, 2004.
Over the years we have expanded our selection of
teas to include single estate black, green, oolong, white and yellow
teas. We also added a wide selection of herbs and herbal blends. Our
customers have steadily increased over the years and we have been
featured on local TV shows, newspapers and magazines over the years.
In May 2010 we decided to close our store in Fresno and move to an office/warehouse in Clovis, CA.
And remember, since we are tea
fanatics we stand behind our products 100%. If we don't like it, we
don't sell it.
