A couple of nights ago I decided I wanted to make fried rice, so I went on the Internet, found a recipe and started looking for all the ingredients I was going to need. I soon realized there were a few things I was missing: green onions, carrots and celery. I went to my local grocery store, walked towards the fruits and vegetables section and bought the ingredients I needed.

Camellia sinensis

Making fried rice was pretty easy once I knew what I needed to buy, where to get it and how to make it. I would have never gone to an electronics store to buy the ingredients I was missing. Making sense of things by placing items into groups where they share commonalities makes sense, and that is exactly what scientists do with plants.

Camellia is the name of the genus (a group) from where the tea plant comes from. The name of the species where the tea plant comes from is called Camellia sinesis, but before I confuse you, here is the complete classification of the tea plant:

1- Kingdom: Plantae
2- Division: Magnoliophyta
3- Class: Magnoliopsida
4- Order: Ericales
5- Family: Theaceae
6- Genus: Camellia
7- Species: Camellia sinensis

All teas, whether they are green, black, white, etc., come from the same plant. What makes each type of tea different are characteristics such as the age of the leaves and how those leaves are processed before they make it to your cup.

Ms. Camellia Tea

I’ve created a new category on the newsletter which I’m calling “Ms. Camellia Tea.” I thought it would be fun to give the category an interesting name. If you don’t know what the name stands for, you might want to read the first post.

The purpose of the category is to discuss all things related to tea, such as its history and important facts.

There is a lot to be said about this internationally famous plant and what it can do for all of us. I know I will be learning a lot from my research and I’m sure you will too.

I know this category won’t cover everything I would like to talk about so I will definitely be adding more categories soon. Enjoy and let me know what you think. - Antonio

Before I talk about tea, it’s only fair that the first article is devoted to Bullen Tea, the company, and how it all got started. Like many entrepreneurs, I am constantly searching for that next big idea. The idea for Bullen Tea came for reasons that had little to do with tea, the actual product I was going to be selling, and a lot to do with web programming and design. My goal was simple: to develop a website from top to bottom from where I could learn how web programming and e-commerce really works so I would be able to do the same thing again and again if I wanted to. That goal hasn’t changed. What has changed is my love for tea.

Antonio Bullen - Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Bullen Tea started in my bedroom in Panama, my home country. I moved to the United States at the age of 21 and I always thought I would make millions of dollars out of the software I had saved on floppy disks and CDs. Because I was doing all of the web programming, customer service and inventory logistics myself, Bullen Tea took years to get up and going, and I was working on it every time I could. As soon as I immigrated I started working long hours for other companies that would eventually teach me many valuable lessons I have applied at Bullen Tea. I was saving a little bit here and there from every paycheck so I could invest it on my business ideas. Between a full time job and college classes, I barely had enough time to devote to Bullen Tea. Nothing was moving fast so I decided something had to give and I quit school. Things didn’t work out the way I wanted. The money wasn’t there and yes… it was partly because of the low paying jobs I was doing. It was enough to pay my personal bills, but not to sustain my little baby company. I realized quiting school was not the right decision. I needed to have a plan B in case Bullen Tea didn’t work and as long as I was working low paying jobs, there would be no Bullen Tea.

After much humiliation and struggling, I went back to college and traded my little fast car for something with better gas millage and cheaper maintenance. I’m still going to school. I’m studying International Business at San Diego State University and I’m having fun doing it. The difference I’ve seen in myself from going to classes now and before is that I really want to learn this time around. I’m actually going to school for the right reasons!

I’ve learn some valuable lessons from working on Bullen Tea and I keep them in mind so that I don’t like to make the same mistakes twice. Bullen Tea is growing and soon it will become the company I have envisioned for so many years now. Right now my job is to build by acquiring as much knowledge as possible. That’s the reason why I created this newsletter section. I want to be able to tell you about what I’ve learned.