Over 20 years ago while living in Japan's ancient capital Kyoto, Tim became fascinated by tea culture and the tea growing areas around the city. Using Japan as a base, he soon started to explore the tea traditions of Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong as well. These experiences led him to start importing tea in the late 1990s from the people and places he had visited and in 2000 he co-founded East Teas at Borough Market in London with the tea expert Alex Fraser. Since then he has travelled extensively across Asia to many of the famous tea producing areas in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and China.