Last year, I started a food collective in Hong Kong called Candied Fish giving me a platform to collaborate with my friend Constance Tong, who is a graphic designer. We want to use the medium of food to tell stories through food design concepts. The name Candied Fish is a combination of both of our last names. In Chinese, our last names “Tong” and “Yu” have the same sounds as candy and fish.

For our first Candied Fish project, we created an eating design project that reflects our Chinese roots. The Tea Almanac (茶曆） was an exploratory project using inspirations from the traditions and stories associated with each of the 15 days of Chinese New Year and telling these stories through each of pack of tea. For example, according to the Chinese Horoscope, the third day of Chinese New Year is the Rat’s family big wedding so we do not disturb them and retire to bed early and sprinkle rice and salt around the house to make peace with them, a cup of Japanese Genmaicha (green tea combined with roasted brown rice) is the perfect blend for this day.

Candied Fish collaborated with teakha, a Hong Kong lifestyle concept tea cafe and zakka store for creating the tea blends and contents for the Tea Almanac project. Now available at our etsy store for a limited time during Chinese New Year.

“Ever experienced Chinese New Year through teas? Now you can with TEA ALMANAC, which takes you on a gustatory journey through the 15 days of Chinese New Year with cups of tea inspired by traditional stories. What better gift to give away to families and friends in this traditional and joyful holiday than 15 tea creations spooned with Chinese history and love?”

Photo Credit: teakha

Photo Credit: Kobo Design

Photo Credit: Kobo Design

Photo Credit: Juliuslo photography