Almaty continental cellar opens — first audit complete
Teamotea announced the opening of its first member-accessible continental tea cellar in Almaty, Kazakhstan, following a comprehensive independent audit. The facility, with 500 tonnes of storage capacity across three climate zones, sets a new benchmark for post-fermentation care.
Almaty — 2026-10-12
Teamotea today announced the official opening of its first continental tea cellar in Almaty, Kazakhstan, after a successful third-party audit. The 500-tonne facility, designed for the long-term storage and maturation of aged teas, is now available to verified members of the Teamotea constellation.
The cellar spans three independently controlled climate zones, each calibrated to the precise temperature and humidity ranges specified for post-fermented teas. Zone A maintains 60–65% relative humidity at 20–22°C, optimised for shēng pǔ’ěr (生普洱) undergoing slow biological transformation. Zone B, set to 68–72% at 23–25°C, is dedicated to wò duī (渥堆) process teas and darker aged varieties. Zone C, with a cooler 14–16°C and 55% humidity, provides stable archival conditions for investment-grade oolongs and white teas. The entire facility is monitored in real time through the tea.services infrastructure, with every sensor logged at 15-second intervals and accessible to members via a dedicated dashboard.
The audit, conducted by an independent ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory, examined 142 storage parameters drawn from GB/T 21722-2008, the Chinese national standard for tea storage and transport. The cellar passed 139 of 142 points, achieving a 97.9% compliance score. Two minor non-conformities — relating to lighting uniformity in Zone B — were resolved within the 48-hour observation window. The third minor observation, concerning calibration drift in one humidity probe, was corrected on site. No major or critical findings were recorded, and the auditor issued an unconditional certificate of occupancy and storage readiness.
“This is not simply a warehouse,” said Dmitry Sologubov, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Teamotea. “A continental cellar is a living infrastructure that directly shapes the future value of every cake of pǔ’ěr entrusted to us. By opening in Almaty, we gain the dry, stable continental air that many private collectors have attempted to replicate for decades. Now, with the precision of our tea.services monitoring layer and the rigorous audit framework, we can offer something that no single collector could build alone — institutional-grade storage with member-controlled access.”
Members who acquire aged shēng pǔ’ěr or other long-maturation teas through puerh.app can now transfer their collections directly into the Almaty cellar via a streamlined logistics pipeline. Inventory is tracked from shipping port to rack position, with chain-of-custody records stored immutably through the platform. For teas not originally purchased through the constellation, a condition report and quarantine period apply, conducted by a senior proctor certified through the tea academy. Once accepted, each item receives a unique digital identifier linked to the member’s portfolio, viewable in real time on puerh.app and tea.community dashboards.
Access to the cellar is restricted to members who have completed identity verification and hold an active storage subscription. Subscriptions are priced at €0.42 per kilogram per month, with discounts for senior proctor alumni and founding members enrolled before 2024. The facility includes 24/7 monitored security, fire suppression compliant with NFPA 13, and backup power capable of maintaining climate control for 72 hours without grid supply. All construction materials were selected for low volatile organic compound emissions, aligning with Teamotea’s broader sustainability commitments.
Looking ahead, the company expects to double capacity at the Almaty site by mid-2027, and site selection is underway for a second continental cellar in a different climatic region — an initiative that will be detailed on tea.travel and teamotea.com later this year. “We are building the physical layer of a global tea storage network,” Sologubov added. “Almaty is the first node, but not the last.”
For further details on the Almaty continental cellar, access protocols, or storage subscription programmes, visit teamotea.com or contact the media office.
Media contact
Dmitry Sologubov