Sans & Sans

Salvador Sans grew up in his parents' coffee business and made his first tea import in the second half of the eighties; the Sans & Sans brand was created in 1993 at Carrer de l'Argenteria 59, in El Born. Alexandra Witty joined the company in 2001 and directs it today, tasting the samples that arrive from importers and building the house blends; she is a Tea Sommelier designated by the ITMA and has travelled to Sri Lanka and Japan to visit the gardens the shop buys from.

Almost the whole catalogue is sold in 100, 250, 500 and 1000 g, which is what makes this an everyday shop as well as a specialist one: Uva Highlands BOP1, Pu erh Sheng, Pu Erh Shou, Menta, Manzanilla, Classic Chai, Earl Grey Luxus, Genmaicha, Milky Oolong, Dong Ding, Assam Halmari and Sannen Bancha all start at the 100 g mark. The Japanese section is bought by family: Sencha Mai and kukicha from the Otsuka family in Kakegawa, sannen bancha and hojicha from the Sugimoto family, matcha in 30 g.

The rarer lots leave that scale and start at 50 g: Zomba Pearls from Malawi, Hakuval Frost from Nepal, Jazmín Imperial Silver Needle. The house introduced nylon pyramid bags in Spain in 2003 and packs its Atelier collection in biodegradable soilon; in August 2018 it opened a boutique in the L'Illa Diagonal mall specialising in Japanese teas, with a tea bar for tasting. The company also lists addresses on Carrer de Xuclà 25 and Rambla de Catalunya 124, and runs a wholesale line and an outlet.