About Jade Mountain tea

History: Jade Summit Tea > Jade Valley Tea Arts > Jade Mountain Tea

In the Spring of 2014, after an 18 year journey as a practitioner of the Way of Tea, I had entered a new era, being fatefully phoned by a friend about a for-rent sign in the center of downtown Nevada City.  Two months later, and with full community support, Jade Summit Tea & Antiques was birthed. Converting a large portion of my personal antique collection to store stock, plus tapping 15 years of established relationships in the Tea world to source high quality whole leaf Teas, Jade Summit was off to a stellar beginning with the concept of operating a high-end Tea & Antique Shop alongside a fully Private Tea Room.

DISASTER STRIKES (or was it Divine Intervention?)

On January 10, 2017, after several days of monsoon style rains and flooding, Jade Summit was hit with a deluge of water, and subsequently had to be evacuated. The shop was permanently closed within three weeks due to structural damage and mold issues in the 170 year old brick building. Fortunately, sensitive Tea and wood antiques were removed immediately and spared serious damage. But the shop was closed for good, and along with it, an income, a livelihood, and a public location to connect with clients.

Jade Valley Tea Arts

Having moved my family to a beautiful new home location just six months prior to the flood, I found myself looking for a new business models and realized I need look no further than my own front door. Thus, Jade Valley Tea Arts was initiated, as a private tea house and Nature Retreat Center where we could host events, clients, tea ceremonies, workshops and retreats in a park-like setting accentuated with Japanese-esque architecture. This unique property seemed to be a custom-made location for our Family, my Japanese (professional chef) wife and two children. Many current guests assume that we designed and built the Jade Valley location because of its perfect-fit aesthetics. Indeed, it did turn out to be a stellar location for our work, and a great home for all the Asian antiques that had once adorned the Jade Summit shop.

Growing Tea - a New Project Emerges

Recovering from the blow of having lost the storefront, I was confronted with something new: growing Tea. I had been visiting tea farmers in various Asian regions for a decade. Some of these plantations were similar to N. California - in climate, altitude and natural flora. Two of these places were in Japan, examples that stood out in my mind. Could we grow tea at Jade Valley?

And then serendipity happened: I had met a man who had been growing a small private tea plantation in the Sierra foothills not far from Nevada City, who had gained some recognition for his tea after 7 years of cultivation. This confirmed my gut feeling: that growing tea could be viable in N. California. Immediately I set out to find organic seedlings, and in Autumn of 2017 proceeded to prepare beds and begin to plant 1/2 acre of tea. Word spread quickly across the local community , and soon many others were showing serious interest in diversifying their crops by adding tea. Thus, SIERRA TEA GROWERS ALLIANCE, the agricultural arm of Jade Mountain Tea, was officially incorporated - in early 2018.

JADE MOUNTAIN TEA APPEARS

As we began to attract business partners, other elements were naturally falling into place around the new business model and architecture. It become obvious that there were several branches to the overall picture developing around Tea. Agriculture is certainly a main branch. But so is our product-line. Since there is a time line of needing to wait for several years before a network of tea farms have matured for optimum harvest, putting out amazing tea ‘lifestyle’ products becomes a major revenue building, brand building aspect. Included alongside products are media, publishing, education, and experiences. An entire eco-system had developed around the initial concept and Jade Mountain Tea (JMT) was formed in early 2019, as an umbrella to cover all the branches of focused activity, and to represent as a single brand, and main message of planetary regeneration. With a triple bottom line approach as if it were a “B” Corporation, Jade Mountain Tea values planet/people/profit all linked together, where each aspect is being brought to health and success.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY

This is an excellent opportunity for coming on board in the early stages. Incredible growth is inevitable with this project. Please send us an email for further inquiry.

About MJ Greenmountain

MJ is the CEO of Jade Mountain Tea in Nevada City. He has had a deep 30 year relationship with Tea, and a daily disciplined practice since 1997. He spent many years under the tutelage of an Elder Master and Scholar in the SF Bay Area and has also had the opportunity to sit with many Masters from various lineages in China, Japan and Taiwan since 2010. Deeply knowledgeable and heart-centered, MJ focuses on harmonizing the array of historic cultures into his Tea and Zen Practices, and transmits the Ancient “Spirit” of Tea in all aspects of his life. Widely known for his professional music endeavors spanning 3 decades, MJ has been living Nevada City since 2012 to raise his family and deepen his community organizing and healing work.