A conversation with co-founders Joe Chou & Nina Lee-Burke. Edited for brevity.

On the name Silk & Jade —

NB Silk and jade were luxury performance materials that were recognized and appreciated in ancient Asian, Chinese culture. From there, we had a concept of curating modern collections of ancient treasures -- bringing back these forgotten treasures and silk and jade being the top two just came to mind. Silk is soft, good for the skin, used in medical fixtures. And jade is cool to the touch and beautiful, it's often used in musical instruments. Silk and jade stood for the ultimate luxury. We wanted to carry sustainable silk, genuine jade. Tea got brought in last minute, because Joe's mother's a tea master. And when we opened this boutique, the tea was really what struck a chord with most people coming in and we evolved by centering the boutique around tea, even though the original name came from silk and jade.

On early memories of tea —

JC I do remember every day we would drink tea when we were growing up. We wanted to be by the stove -- a separate stove -- that they use just to make tea. Houses have tea dens in Taiwan. Right after lunch, we’re all surrounded by the tea dens and grandpa or uncle would be brewing tea. A daily ritual. It’s a happy time for me because everybody was eating and everybody's happy. That was my first memory.

NL I'm half Korean and I grew up around various types of tea. My first tea cup she bought me when I was around 16 years old. It was a Korean ceramic tea cup with a built-in filter and lid. And it was a set of two. It was green and it was my favorite. And she also gave me a bag of genmaicha, which is the green tea with roasted rice. And I used to make this for myself, starting in high school through college. I had a roommate who just thought it was the coolest thing and she loved this tea. And so those were my first memories of tea were growing up around herbal teas and Korean tea cups and Japanese genmaicha style teas.  

On the challenges of running a tea business —

NL I think it's the constant comparison that tea has to lower quality teas. What makes your tea different than the tea I can get at Trader Joe's or what makes your tea different than the blended tea that I see online or available that are flavored. I think that spurs from unfamiliarity with tea and also the comparison to coffee. I don't drink tea because I drink coffee -- I'm a coffee drinker. But, I think that most tea drinkers also drink coffee. I do believe people have some preferences and will drink more of coffee than tea or more tea than coffee, but many of the people who love coffee, love tea and vice versa. I think it's the constant comparisons and the unfamiliarity that have brought some challenges with why people want to start drinking our tea. They're not sure how to make it. They're not sure what's different and why the price point is higher. I think at the end of the day, the challenges are trying to introduce tea to someone when they've never really tasted good quality tea. And so really bridging that gap, the only way to solve it is for them to taste the tea and to learn how to make the tea.

JC Well, when you approached us with the idea of the Coffee Cha Club, it was perfect because me and Nina really believe that they go hand in hand. There's no conflict. Oftentimes we start out our day with coffee beverages when we're outside.  I've gone through phases in my life, where. I didn't start drinking coffee until I was in my mid-twenties. At that point, I drank it for quite some time and I've subsequently kind of reverted back to tea as my primary beverage, but I still drink coffee here and there. I mean, I consider it a treat and I'm just lucky because I have access to really good quality tea all the time. So I drink it a lot.

NL I think tea is more subtle than coffee and its cognitive effects and that you definitely can consume different types of tea, but even in tea, the different profiles really have a different impact for each person. And so I don't want to judge anybody on their choice of tea or coffee because everybody's so different and it's enjoyable as long as they are enjoying their beverages.

On the impact they want to have in their space —

NL The impact we want to have is in the health and wellness sector. Tea is supposedly one of the first beverages that were considered a medicine. It does have health benefits when you're drinking it a lot and overall it's just enjoyable. I think the slow process of it is also de-stressing. I know that Joe's mother, we asked her what made her become a tea master. And she said, she was working a lot and she just wanted to slow down. And so the impact we want to have is on the health and wellness of people, but also it's a natural beverage and it should be good for the environment as well. I think as far as the influence, when you're making choices, we want to make sure people are thinking about it. There's some sort of thoughtful influence on the decisions you make on what you buy and buying less and higher quality is buying more is better than buying more in lower quality items. The legacy we really want to leave is regarding the valuable information that's often forgotten or lost. I think a lot of that is only learned through experiences and interactive education. And Joe is completely bilingual in Mandarin and English. I think most of the information on tea is in Chinese. English speakers don't necessarily have the access to information about tea or about things of ancient Asian origins, because all the history books were written in Chinese. It's great to have Joe essentially bridge all this information from Taiwan to the United States.

On their Silk Oolong —

JC Well, this particular silk oolong is a high mountain oolong tea. The technical name that you can find in the market is sometimes called alishan oolong tea and this is a sphere shape. The top leaf is normally one heart and two leaves. Once you steep, the tea leaf opens lightly and oxidizes. Fermented oxidation is actually the same word for exposure to oxygen during the tea making process. This is a very fragrant tea. Generally speaking—floral, sugary, and fruity.

NL I would say with silk oolong, I drink this very regularly and it has a very golden liquor that it produces and the leaves open up very large. You can steep it multiple times. I think this is one of the longest lasting teas where in a small pot or cup, you can re-steep it three to five times. I honestly will re-steep it throughout the whole day. I would say that it also has a little bit of a creamy flavor. When you're drinking tea, there's three cups you should really pay attention to. The first, second and third cup. And that first cup is really going to be where the scent comes out. It's where the leaves first open. And then you can really smell the fragrance. The second cup is really going to impact your taste buds on your tongue. So look for that flavor profile on that second cup. And then in the third cup, it's really going to smoothen your throat. And you're going to have that feeling of warmth from that cup of tea.