Tea is made to turn over a new leaf

Papp's Tea vaunts itself on being an expert in 100 percent natural blending.

"I would say about 90 percent of all the tea blends you see from the West are flavored," Papp says. "Any fruit tea you've ever tried is probably flavored."

Even though some teas are endowed with "all natural flavoring", it is flavoring nevertheless, which means "they undergo a very man-made process of soaking their teas in flavored oils developed in flavoring factories".

Papp's Tea does not add any type of man-made flavoring to blends, and all authentic flavors are found only in nature, he says.

Papp's interest in China developed from college where he majored in political science.

In 2006 he took a break from college to set up a company with two friends, importing fair-trade coffee beans and teas to the US.

Since then he has traveled the world visiting tea farms in many different countries, including China, India and Nepal, nurturing his knowledge and passion for tea.

His very first experience in China was in 2006 during a business trip to Wuyuan county in Jiangxi province, which is widely regarded as the country's most important tea center.

"I just fell in love with the new culture, the experience of going to the tea fields, seeing the production and processing, and drinking the tea."

When he finished visiting tea farms he returned to school to graduate.

"I love tea and I love traveling. So once I graduated I came to China to combine the two."