Devan Shah, 1962 - 2016

life of Devan Shah Born in Bombay, Devan grew up in southern India in the city of Coimbatore. From childhood onward, he acquired an easy familiarity with many of India’s religious traditions and languages. The only son and youngest child of a brood of six, Devan’s parents worked as dedicated educators. His father was a school headmaster who raised his family in comparative privilege. Devan spent his summer vacations from school high in the Nilgiri mountains near Coonoor on a tea estate, managed by his eldest sister’s husband. His life-long love affair with tea can be traced to these childhood summers in a Nilgiri tea garden. Here, he gradually became intimately familiar with the workers and the work involved in growing, harvesting and manufacturing tea. In college, he earned a degree in business and then swiftly climbed the rungs of the tea profession, starting as an assistant to a south Indian tea broker. In his mid-20’s, like many other young Indian professionals, Devan emigrated to the US to start a new life.

The American tea trade in 1990 was not just sleepy; it was comatose. That year Devan started India Tea Importers.That same year, he married Reena Mahash and started life in Los Angeles. He had abandoned a successful electronic import/export business because he realized this was not right livelihood for a born tea man. He stored the first six chests of his imported tea in his father-in-law’s garage in Pico Rivera. His new friend, James Norwood Pratt was the first person he invited to taste tea, delicately arrayed on the gleaming hood of Mr. Mahesh’s Buick. Devan’s taste for quality and nose for opportunity has been helping shape America’s tea scene ever since.

In 1994, Devan and Reena acquired Chado Tea Room, just over the border from Beverly Hills. Then in 2002 India Tea Importers was rechristened as International Tea Importers.The stage was set. Remebering his exact words, “slowly the quality of tea will create some kind of market”.

life of Devan Shah Devan patiently grew his business from supplying a few tea rooms, to being a launchpad to some of the most prominent tea companies that exist today. With Chado, under Reena’s management, Devan found the perfect conduit to discover and create the latest trend in the specialty tea industry. In time, Devan was stocking and selling over 300 premium teas, and retailing them through Chado to a growing clientele of tea lovers, some of them celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker.

The great goddess Lakshmi has blessed her devotee Devan, always bringing him to the perfect place at the perfect time. Today, there are three Chado locations at choice addresses in downtown Los Angeles at the Japanese American Museum, in historic old town Pasadena, and adjacent to the Dolby (formerly Kodak) Theatre where the Academy Awards are held in Hollywood. ITI occupies over 50,000 square feet of warehouse stocked with over 600 premium teas available by the pound or by the ton, overnight. Along the way, Devan has proved indefatigable at creating opportunities and markets where no tea market existed before.

The triumph of chai in the US is much to his credit, as is the expansion of small tea rooms and businesses. Perhaps his greatest gift to American tea culture is as an educator. He has conducted countless tastings, sponsored countless events, and always ranked among the foremost supporters of World Tea Expo, Specialty Tea Institute, and all tea periodicals. He is the founder of the Los Angeles International Tea Festival and publisher of James Norwood Pratt’s Tea Dictionary, as well as JNP’s classic Tea Lover’s Treasury. Together, they have extended their love of tea to countless thousands. As tea educator and patron of tea writers, as a business man and enabler of tea entrepreneurs, as the father of two brilliant college students and god-father of many hundreds of brilliant tea enterprises, Devan Shah has been second to no one in spear-heading America’s Tea Renaissance.

by James Norwood Pratt

eulogy

by James Norwood Pratt It’s a hard thing for an older brother to pronounce the eulogy for his baby brother. For almost one-third of my life, one half of his life, we have loved one another like brothers. We still do—some things don’t change. But the truth of love is not for words to speak of, nor describe. What will survive of us is Love, the rest is dross.

I know now that those words have failed me. Its impossible to describe the brotherly love that existed between us all these years or to convey his loyalty for family and his is a large family! How does one begin to describe the joyous emotion he felt for friends, far more numerous than those of us now present. Finally, there are not enough adjectives in the english language to communicate Devans love for tea, his passion for sharing that love, the sheer enjoyment of tea, respect for the meaning of tea, with anybody and everybody who was sent to him. He reached tens of thousands of people directly and millions more indirectly with this passion, most of them perfect strangers. He was a great man, our Devan, and most people who got to meet him realized this.

All of us have come here because of the power of the great love that existed in the heart of this man. Nobody knows that love better than Reena, Brendan, Bianca, Margaret Mahesh, Charu, Yamini, Shilpa and the countless family members that are here from around the world. As for me, I have been an honorary family member for these many years. This love for Devan, words cannot begin to describe, I can tell you, because I’ve tried and failed. I’ve therefore decided to show you a small selection of memories through the visual senses.

They will speak eloquently of our great Devan Shah and his immense love, more than I could ever do. It is that great love of his which has brought all of us togather, over many seas and borders to be here today.

Visualize the love

memories

Devan & his late brother in law Alson

Devan & Sid

World Tea Expo 2008

Devan & Reena’s Wedding

Tea Board of India & Friends

Tea Tasting in India

memories

Devan & his Sisters

Devan & Brendan

Reena & Devan open Chado 3rd Street

Bianca’s Sweet Sixteen

The Shahs of Diamond Bar

memories

Devan, Mike & The Late John Harney

Devan & Ron Rubin

Craig, Devan & Chris @ Lifetime Achievement Award

One of his many Awards

Silver Tips Tea Room

Thomas, Devan & Norwood

memories

Qtrade @ International Tea Importers

Devan & Allan

Devan with the Guhas

Devan with Faith & Pearl

Devan with Nephews, Amit, Mehul, Bhavin, Satyan, Dhaval & Apu

memories

Devan & Friends @ Chado

Early Days @ Sam & Raj

Specialty Tea Pioneers

Devan with Norwood &The Late Steve Smith

Devan @ The Owl’s Brew

memories

Devan with Norwood & Amjad

Devan & Bianca

Platinum Award from the founders of Take Me 2 Tea (aka World Tea Expo)

ITI Family on Devan’s Birthday

Devan & Amit

thank you Dearest Friends and Family, First and foremost, we want to thank you all for coming. You’ve all travelled from so far just to be here for our family, and we couldn’t be more grateful. That our father elicited such an amazing show of support, worldwide, humbles us.

Over the last few days, we’ve been flooded with stories of our father. People have shared so much about the kindness and generosity that our father showed. As though he knew, he seemingly reached out to as many people as he could in his last week. He was so unbelievably happy in these last few days. Bhavin, our cousin from Florida, visited with his wife and 3 beautiful kids Jayan, Anya, Jianna — all whom could not get enough of their Devan Dada. He finally got to see Kobe Bryant play, figure out how his Tesla can drive itself, and eat ice cream made with liquid nitrogen. Even better, both of us were here, as Brendan was visiting from Seattle to spend time at home last week. Even on his last day, he went to the airport to pick up our cousin Amit, and watched movies with our mother.

His “infectious smile” — a phrase we’ve heard countless times over the last few days — lasted till the very end.

The success our father enjoyed was because of all the people he loved and the people who loved him. Devan Shah, our dad, was a wonderful man.

Thank you all for coming, Brendan, Bianca & Izzy

accomplishments - 1990’s Founded India Tea Importers Founded Chado Tea Room Introduced the First Chai Tea in America - 2000 Introduced Nilgiri Frost Teas - 2002 Founding Sponsor of The First US Tea Expo (Take Me 2 Tea) Chado Tea Room Goes Online - 2006 Founded Urban Chai - 2008 Introduced First Yellow Tea in US Chado Tea Room introduced in India - 2010 Published Tea Dictionary Created the First Tea Sommelier Class - 2011 Founded Los Angeles International Tea Festival - 2012 Launched Waterfall Tea Company - 2013 Reciepent of Cha Jing Lifetime Achievement Award