Golden City man and his wife introduce their tea to the world
By Allison Riechman-Bennett
“Our tea is a little bit different. It’s not just a drink. It’s a spiritual product.” – David Manke
Purcraftea is not just another tea company. It is the product of a cross-country and cultural journey, a deep respect for traditional farming practices and a belief that tea is more than just a drink; it’s an experience.
David Manke grew up in Golden City, Missouri, but left the Barton County town in 2006 after high school graduation.
“I lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and studied transportation and logistics,” he said. “Afterward, I was hired as a logistics process developer and engineer at Volvo Group Trucks but found I was sitting behind a desk without any meaningful connection to people most days. I then moved to Thailand for 3 years to teach English.”
David then had the opportunity to teach English in Guangzhou, China, and he met his future wife, Sherry, there. “We met online and started having adventures hiking and exploring villages and cities. I was teaching and she was designing architecture. We fell in love and decided to live and travel together as teachers around the world when the Chinese economy experienced a real estate bubble.”
When that happened, the couple moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, to teach. “We ended up getting married while we were teachers there,” he said. They then moved to La Paz, Mexico. Sherry got her first taste of living in the Americas, but she missed a lot of the conveniences of living in China. They returned to China and decided to go into business selling tea as an e-commerce site.
“I was mesmerized by the tea shops and the smell of 300-plus-year-old tea trees in the Jingmai Mountains,” David said. “In October 2023, we began the planning process for Purcraftea and in September 2024, we developed our business plan and began searching for truly captivating tea products. In February of this year, we launched our online sales.”
For Sherry, tea was always a part of daily life. “Everyone in my family drank tea,” Sherry reflected. “It was the most common beverage in the house, drunk by my father, grandfather and myself.”
The difference, however, was the quality of the tea. While tea was an everyday drink, it wasn’t until David and Sherry dug deeper into tea culture that Sherry realized how good tea could be. She noticed many people, especially outside China, were unfamiliar with how to brew and appreciate traditional teas. Her goal became to share the value of quality tea, not just in taste but in the experience and mindfulness it offers.
Their journey into the world of tea started with the foundation of the six types of traditional Chinese tea: green, white, yellow, black, pu-erh and oolong, which is David’s favorite and is known for its complex flavors. These traditional teas come in varieties such as loose tea and compressed disks.
After discovering how good tea could be, David and Sherry began their search for tea suppliers, which involved visiting 40-50 different tea farms in China, ending with one that took their breath away.
“Upon walking up to that final farm, the smell alone captivated us,” David said. “We approached the farmer’s house, and by fate, the farmer had just finished work on the farm and gladly greeted us. When we tasted his tea, it was clear we’d found our supplier and the perfect tea that would soon lead to Purcraftea.”
The name Purcraftea is a fusion of their philosophy: pure, crafted tea. Their mission was clear from the start: To find and share tea in its most natural, unaltered form. This led them to source tea from 300-plus-year-old tea trees, grown without the use of chemicals or pesticides. David and Sherry’s dedication to a clean tea extends all the way back to their dedication to finding the right supplier.
These ancient trees are cultivated by family-owned farms that rely on generational knowledge and artisanal techniques. The tea is slow-cooked and processed without the use of enzyme-bleaching, a common industry shortcut. The result is a product that retains its natural taste and fragrance. The meditation in which the tea is made easily translates, as both David and Sherry detailed, to a more mindful tea practice.
“Our tea is a little bit different,” David said. “It’s not just a drink. It’s a spiritual product.”
Their website features a thoughtfully curated selection of items designed to help you begin or deepen your own tea practice. In addition to a wide range of pu-erh teas—from young sheng to aged shou—the site also offers elegant and functional tea sets that suit beginners and seasoned tea drinkers. Each item is chosen with intention, making it easy to create a meaningful, personal tea ritual in your own space.
One popular option is the Casual Tea Set, which includes a teapot, a master cup and two smaller tasting cups. This set is perfect for those who want to explore traditional brewing methods without the need for a complex setup. The inclusion of smaller cups encourages a slower, more mindful experience by allowing you to savor each steeping individually. As the tea leaves gradually open and evolve through multiple brews, you’ll taste the subtle changes in flavor and aroma with each pour.
Purcraftea also hosts an assortment of informative videos, covering everything from their origin to the different ways customers can brew their purchased teas. David and Sherry’s intentional, grassroots marketing includes videos, such as tutorials on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
Of special note is a video about tea pets. The tiny ceramic animals, both a buffalo and elephant currently available in the shop, can enjoy your cup of tea with you. As directed in the video, pour your brew over your ceramic animal. While the animal may not be able to taste the brew, especially curated by Purcraftea, it’ll be happy to sip some with you. These pets are a part of traditional Chinese tea culture and can bring good luck and companionship during your own tea rituals.
The most rewarding part of this venture for David and Sherry? Well, that’s yet to come. Because of current tariffs on products such as tea, and tea specifically out of China, Purcraftea is unable to ship to the United States at the moment.
David and Sherry said their favorite part of owning this business and what they look forward to for the future of Purcraftea is watching people try tea in person.
Above all else, David and Sherry are excited to bring Purcraftea to the United States, offering nationwide shipping and in-person stalls at local farmers’ markets across Southwest Missouri. After years of sourcing high-quality, ethically grown teas from China and building strong relationships with small-scale farmers, they are eager to share their passion with local communities. Markets in towns like Joplin, Lamar and Carthage can expect to see Purcraftea stalls as soon as tariffs on Chinese imports are lifted. In the meantime, they are preparing their product line, creating tasting menus and developing educational materials to help customers better understand the origins and preparation of each tea.
David and Sherry’s goal is to offer more than just a transaction; they hope to create a welcoming space where people can explore tea culture, ask questions and discover new favorites. Whether online or in-person, Purcraftea is ready to connect with American tea lovers one cup at a time.