Chinatown Tea Leaves

Hui fuk-kam 許復琴 師 (former president of Hong Kong and Kowloon Chinese Medicine Practitioner Association in Hong Kong) Choi Sui-yin 蔡少然 師 (Chinese Traditional Medicine Practitioner in Montréal, Canada) For Howard Low, the path from youthful immigrant to confirmed tea master began with multiple fascinations: a passion for traditional Chinese medicine, decades spent mixing cocktails behind hotel bars, a stint at the Chinatown post office. After arriving in Canada from Hong Kong in 1967, Howard worked his way through various industries before settling on a new vocation: tea specialist, healer, and herbal mixologist. Applying his mastery of medicinal Chinese herbs and pulse reading, Howard set out to create an apothecary of tea leaves— a healing centre, seeking to preserve traditional knowledge which is slowly fading in today’s hyper-modern world. At the turn of the new millennium, he opened his tea shop in the heart of Montreal. Since then, his store has become an underground sensation; a cult favourite among the city’s tea enthusiasts and health gurus. Tucked away on a quiet side street in Chinatown, Howard’s shop is famed for its aged Pu’er, herbal formulas, and delicious “pleasure” teas. For the tea master himself, life begins at the intersection of flavor and health— the road to longevity.