Growing tea in Georgia has always been an adventure, marked by challenges and the occasional breakthrough that renews our excitement. And this is one of those moments! After nearly three years of anticipation, we recently received the approval to buy a small land plot right next to our Rioni Estate and factory. If you’ve visited us before, you may recall the story of the “old toilet” (which was actually a leaf-weighing station in the old days) next to our Community Garden—a small ruin now mostly used as a shelter by local pigs and cows 😊. We didn’t see a point in buying just the abandoned shed, but we did acquire to buy the land around it. This plot is actually also part of the historic plantation at Rioni Estate and, though overgrown, the tea plants remain in good health and are ready for a new chapter. Unlike our other estates, which are rented from the state, this land will finally give our farm its first fully owned tea bushes—a significant milestone for us!
Why this land matters to us
We’ve been working for years to acquire this land, because it’s the perfect place to build our future visitor centre and tea house. The plot is 0.3 hectares, giving us enough room for construction while also restoring its tea-growing heritage.
The Renegade Community has always been at the heart of what we do and while acquiring this special piece of land, we saw that we could offer something new and unique to our community as well.
The picture on the right represents the vision of the visitor centre. The actual architectural plan will be made in a later stage.
Riverbank Gardens - an exclusive chance to have your own tea garden for life
We’re inviting 25 people to get a piece of tea plantation for life! If you’ve always dreamed of having your own tea garden, then this is your chance! With more than 2000 families already part of the Renegade Community - some people have adopted a garden for a single year, others for decades - the Riverbank Gardens project takes things a step further by offering a tea garden for life.
- Each garden is 60 m² and you'll receive 750g of tea each year, starting from
2025. The tea is included at no extra cost.
- Each spring, before the harvesting season, you can choose the teas you want to receive in the autumn(five 150g bags). We offer 21 different teas.
- You'll receive the teas until Renegade Tea Estate is alive and well :) If after some years, you feel that you'd like transfer the ownership to someone else, then that is doable as well.
- Every year, we'll organize one 3-days group workshop that is exclusively for Riverbank Gardens members to learn teamaking and visit your garden. It is free of charge for you and you can attend as often as you want. It will first take place at our existing factory and later at our new visitor center once it will be completed.
- One garden costs 850 EUR. In addition, you need to cover the shipping fee for the teas each year.
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What makes this opportunity unique:
• Your very own tea garden for life. How many people do you know who own a tea garden?
• Free tea after 6 years. Compared to our standard 750g adoption, your garden pays for itself in exactly 6 years.
• Free participation in the Bootcamp for Riverbank Garden members. The regular value of our Legendary Tea Master Bootcamp is 1300 EUR (You can read more here). -
Why are we doing this?
• We love creating unique renegade experiences for tea lovers. We always have, and we always will.
• By getting your own tea garden, you help to finance the land purchase, bringing us closer to our dream of building a visitor centre and tea house where we could introduce Georgian tea to the world.
Note: The project will proceed only if at least 20 gardens are purchased by the 10th of November, 2024. If we don’t reach this minimum, the offer will be cancelled and all payments fully refunded.