Qatsi Wants You To Think About Japanese Tea Like It’s Wine

What does a sommelier do if they stop drinking wine? 

“If you’re a sober sommelier, god help you, but it’s hard mode,” says Paddy Harrowsmith, who quit drinking after 15 years in the industry. “I made the choice to do something completely different.” 

That something was studying horticulture – where the former Love Tilly Group somm clocked onto wine’s sober cousin, tea. He was drawn to the parallels between viticulture and tea production with concepts such as terroir, varietals and cultivars piquing his interest.

“ And so I started researching quite deeply,” he says. “ I got obsessed.”

Japanese tea became Harrowsmith’s singular obsession after a tasting with Arthur Tong of Sydney’s Tea Craft, where he tried a life-changing sencha tea. 

“Chinese tea is sort of roasted and  Japanese tea is steamed, so in my mind Japanese tea is more of a pure expression of the tea leaf,” he says. “And then it quickly moved to, ‘ I’m just gonna start my own business and go over there.’”

Launched in October, Qatsi (“kaht-see”) is the result of a deep dive into the world of Japanese tea, and a trip to Japan in which Harrowsmith drove from Tokyo to southern Kagoshima, visiting some of the country’s most remote tea farmers. He now works with seven of them – ranging from young producers to legacy farms with roots six generations deep.

The brand’s name comes from the Hopi word koyaanisqatsi (“life out of balance”), which was inspired by the 1982 experimental documentary of the same name and chosen for its upbeat intonation. The bold and colourful branding was simply designed to make tea more of an exciting proposition for drinkers. 

Ultimately, Harrowsmith aims to spotlight single-estate teas and prioritise transparency in sourcing – something he thinks the tea industry could improve on as a whole.

“Being from a wine background, where you know who the winemaker is, where exactly that vine is, and the winemaker’s dog’s name, I wanted that information for tea and I couldn’t find it,” he says. “It’s important to know where your product comes from, and also I think part of the tea maker’s personality comes through in the tea.”

The Qatsi range naturally includes several varieties of sencha and matcha. But you’ll also find hojicha (loose-leaf and powdered), wakocha and genmaicha teas. The brand also stocks a small selection of Hario teaware and ships Australia-wide.  

The potential for loose-leaf green tea is still being realised in Australian dining, with high-end restaurants such as Lee Ho Fook embracing it as a serious food pairing. It’s the sort of movement that could use the right person at the helm – perhaps a former sommelier? 

Harrowsmith agrees. “What I really love first and foremost about tea is the taste and its versatility, and ability to be a great alternative to wine. My goal is to get it to a level where it could be treated like another page on a wine list.  I do think there’s a real opportunity for it in Australia.”

qatsi.com.au