Join us for a pause with Nōta Gathering, a delicious tea collection by founder Anouk Yve Bos, built around everyday moments for Taste, Time, Giving, Gathering and Choosing. Beautifully presented in stackable packaging – thoughtfully made to keep, reuse and display.
What first drew you to tea as a medium, and how did the idea of Nōta Gathering begin?
Tea entered my life almost as a counter-movement. I'm living this fast pace life, I really feel being 40 that you're in the middle of a storm that's called life: my business is thriving, I have kids in the age of 9 and 10, sports I have to drive them to, my social life, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and lovable relation. In a world that seems more manic than ever, I just needed to calm down and tea is that little moment for myself. So I already had a lot of beautiful tea in the house. I also make ceramics, little objects, tea pots – for the ceremony, everything came together. When I started dreaming of a new business I started dreaming of something that could give back, something that says: I understand you, I live this manic life too.
Also… At a certain point, I felt a growing resistance to the pace and expectations tied to alcohol, the social rituals, the heaviness. I wasn’t necessarily looking for a replacement, but I was searching for something that could hold the same sense of occasion, without compromising presence.
Tea revealed itself as something far more layered than I had previously understood. It carries complexity, depth, and nuance much like wine, but it invites a different state of being. Softer, more aware, more intentional.
Nōta Gathering was born from that shift.
A desire to create a world where tea is chic and sexy, a conscious ritual. A gathering point. A pause.
How do you approach selecting teas – what qualities or feelings guide you when building your collection?
I don’t approach tea purely from taste, but from atmosphere, moments and needs. I look at my own life, the rhythm, the pace, from there I start briefing our tea experts. I need a tea that gets me through the morning without the jittery feeling coffee gives me, or I want a tea that can stop my craving.
Each tea needs to hold a certain stillness. It should feel grounded, almost architectural in structure, clear, balanced, and refined. I’m drawn to teas that unfold slowly, that don’t reveal everything at once. Of course these are the deeper single origins, I really fell in love with how terroir, climate can influence the leaves.
There is always a search for tension: softness with depth, lightness with presence.
I think in moments rather than categories. Not “green” or “black,” but: early morning light, late afternoon energy, a celebration moment ect.
The collection becomes a composition of these moments, each tea carrying a distinct emotional landscape.
Tea invites a slower pace. How do you hope people engage with your teas in their everyday lives?
Not as an addition, but as a shift.
I don’t see tea as something you “fit into” your day, but as something that gently redefines it. Even if it’s just for a few minutes.
It can be as simple as boiling water, selecting a cup, noticing the first inhale. That small act already changes your rhythm.
I hope people allow tea to create a pocket of stillness whether that’s alone, or shared.
A moment where nothing needs to be performed or optimized.
Just experienced.
Sustainability can be both a practice and a perspective. How does this way of thinking shape the choices you make – from sourcing to the small, often unseen details?
For me, sustainability begins with attention.
It’s not only about materials or processes, but about the intention behind every decision. Choosing less, but better. Working with people who respect the land, the pace of growth, the integrity of the product.
I’m not interested in excess or overproduction. Everything within Nōta Gathering is meant to feel considered from the origin of the leaves to how they are stored, presented, and eventually experienced.
Even the unseen details matter.
Because they carry the same philosophy: quiet, respectful, and enduring.
Would you share a glimpse on what your most recent tea ritual has looked like?
Lately, it has been very simple.
Early in the morning, before the house fully wakes. No distractions.
I prepare our Japanese Gyokuro tea. There is no phone, no input. Just that moment. This tea is high in antioxidants because the Gyokuro is made from shadow grown tea leaves. Because of this the leaves contain much more antioxidants, Matcha is for instance also shadow grown. It has the same health benefits.
As Nōta Gathering continues to unfold, how do you see your tea curation evolving, and what are you curious to explore next?
I see it expanding beyond tea as a product, into tea as an experience. I can also make a ceramics line, we are looking into all the possibilities. And I really see our tea as the perfect gift. I would rather receive a tin of premium loose tea than a bouquet of flowers. It holds so much meaning.
There is a strong curiosity around how tea can live within spaces in hospitality, at the table, in environments where it has traditionally been overlooked. How it can be served, presented, and paired with the same level of care as wine.
I’m also interested in deepening the sensory world around it.
Objects, textures, rituals, environments.
Not to add more, but to refine further.
To create a universe that feels coherent and deeply intentional.
Always returning to the same essence:
a moment of pause, held with care.
Thank you Anouk Yve Bos for this special gathering
