Saicho is a UK sparkling tea brand founded in 2019 by husband-and-wife team Charlie Winkworth-Smith and Natalie Chiu, who met while pursuing their PhDs in Food Science. Eager to craft a premium, non-alcoholic beverage that could rival the complexity of fine wine, they spent two years sampling hundreds of single-origin teas and perfecting a meticulous 24-hour cold-brewing process. By celebrating tea’s terroir—focusing on harvest times, regional characteristics, oxidation levels, and seasonal weather conditions—Saicho captures an impressive range of flavors reminiscent of the depth typically found in the world’s best wines. This dedication has earned Saicho a place in eight Mandarin Oriental hotels, five Four Seasons properties, and over fifty Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide.
Founders & Ongoing Vision
Charlie and Natalie remain committed to showcasing the remarkable parallels between tea and wine—namely, how terroir and nuanced production methods profoundly influence flavor. Their approach emphasizes single-origin teas, carefully balanced sweetness and acidity, and a subtle sparkling finish that pairs beautifully with food.
Saicho’s innovation is further reflected in the second edition of The Rare Tea Collection, featuring Sixty Stone Mountain, an exclusive high mountain tea cultivated on a tiny parcel in Hualien County, Taiwan. Developed in collaboration with Golden Fork award-winning Tea Master Junjie Lin, this honey-like tea is limited to just 1,288 individually numbered bottles. Each sip exemplifies Saicho’s mission: to bring tea’s natural complexity to discerning palates worldwide and redefine the experience of sparkling tea in fine dining and beyond.
