Our Story
Dreamed in Tahiti · Grown in China · Shared with you
The founders
Herenui & Winston
Herenui and Winston have one thing in common: an obsession with tea and milk teas.
Herenui discovered milk tea in 2009, during her first trip to England. It was in South Korea, three years later, that she came across matcha and bubble teas, an obsession that never left her: at every trip, she had to try every milk tea she could find!
Winston has been drinking tea his whole life. It was during his many trips to Hong Kong that he discovered matcha in all its forms: in pastries, snacks, and milk-based drinks. Milk tea eventually became one of his favourite drinks too!
The turning point
The problem!
But coming back to Tahiti after our travels, we always faced the same problem: matcha was nowhere to be found! Even more than a decade later, the available options were either too processed or just disappointing. We had to order online (with the shipping costs to Tahiti that came with it) or ask friends to bring some back from their trips abroad, which was already a luxury!
It was during our first trip to China in April 2025 that everything clicked. Travelling through Yunnan and discovering matcha milk teas that were all incredible (we even tried one made with yak milk!), we knew we had to find that matcha and bring it back to Tahiti to share.
And so an endless quest began: thousands of hours searching for a producer who would meet all our criteria. Months later, after hundreds of samples tested and categorised… we had finally found it!
The beginning
The start of the adventure!
Chalala Tea was born from a simple desire: to share our passion for tea and milk teas, and to introduce you to matchas from Chinese terroirs. But before all that, we knew absolutely NOTHING and couldn't understand why some Western brands were marketing matcha as a miracle beauty/health product, or why there were different grades in the West that simply didn't exist in Asia... For us, matcha is not a "trend" or a "magic pill" : it's a tea that could have never existed at all if the Japanese hadn't brought it from China, preserved and developed it over centuries. Its history deserves to be known, and its taste deserves to be appreciated and shared!
So when we decided to create Chalala Tea, we also decided to give matcha back the simplicity we first experienced: for us, this tea is simply what it is: a delicious drink that lets us create the most creative recipes and share moments with friends and family!
Being naturally curious, we learned as much as we could about its characteristics, history, the tencha production process, cultivars, and different grinding methods, not only to choose a matcha that respects Japanese expertise, but also to introduce you to a delicious matcha from Chinese terroirs!
We launched our first matcha in Tahiti in September 2025. And as the weeks went by, a new idea started forming: Chinese matcha still seems largely unknown and underestimated by the general public. So we decided to find a way to share it with the entire world!
Chalala!
"Chalala" in Tahitian means to chat, to talk. "Cha" (茶) means tea in Chinese. And "lala"? It's the sound of a surprised "oh là là" that slipped into the name without asking permission.
And by a happy coincidence: in Chinese, 啦啦 (lala) is a little particle of joy. A name born at the crossroads of three cultures: Asia, the Pacific, and France; that already carries everything we want to share.
For us, tea has never been just a drink. It's an excuse to gather, a journey through cultures we dream of knowing better, and sometimes just a pause in a world that never slows down.
The mascot
Chacha
Our mascot is called "Chacha", he shows up everywhere: on our socials and on our cans! He's our little companion, the cat who joins us for every matcha latte.
Why a cat? Because cha (茶) means tea in Chinese, and in French the word for cat, chat, sounds almost the same. But mostly because a cat is just so cute and brings so much joy!
On top of that, in Chinese the word for cat (猫, māo) is a homophone of 耄 (mào), which means longevity. The cat is also a symbol of luck and prosperity, in reference to the "Maneki-Neko" of Japanese culture.
So we hope Chacha keeps you good company and brings you luck and prosperity while you sip your matcha.
What we stand for
Our values
Curiosity
There's always more to learn. Every terroir, every producer, every cup tells us something we didn't know the day before.
Exigence
If it's not good enough for our cup, it's not good enough for yours.
Honesty
Origin, composition, griding method, batch analyses, we tell you as much as we know The rest is up to your palate.
What's next
Welcome to the adventure!
This is just the beginning. China is an immense territory, terroirs still unknown, flavours yet to be explored, traditions waiting to be rediscovered. We're still learning every day. And that's exactly what drives us.
Our ambition isn't to do everything. It's to go find what we're passionate about, and bring it back to you.
Every new tea is a promise: to introduce you to something you might never have come across otherwise.
Happy sipping! Herenui & Winston 🍵
Discover our matchas →