Hälssen & Lyon composes two innovative teas from renowned musician’s violin

Hälssen & Lyon, one of the large traditional companies in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt district, has created two special new teas with transformation as their theme, in collaboration with internationally renowned composer and musician Sven Helbig.

Helbig’s violin was returned to its untreated state and planted with the fungal mycelium of the reishi mushroom. The reishi feeds on the wood on which it grows and gradually transforms it into its own organism. In Asia, it has for centuries been considered one of the most valuable edible and medicinal mushrooms. Over a period of eight months the violin was transformed into a mushroom. Hälssen & Lyon then “composed” two exclusive tea blends from it:

  • ‘Reishi Winter Time‘, an elegant combination of Reishi, various spices and a Pu Erh tea, with a chocolatey, cinnamon and sweetish earthy flavour.
  • And ‘Reishi Winter Fire’, aromatic Ceylon black tea and Reishi, subtly tart and slightly smoky with a winterly, fruity orange note, supported by the freshness of eucalyptus.

The cinematic documentation of the transformation process also became the creative focus of Sven Helbig’s music video, which was featured and celebrated by the international platform for classical music The Strad even before its release. The growth phases are artistically presented on various visual levels. Accompanied by the emotional Helbig composition, the audience experiences how the supposedly simple fungal organism absorbs the violin, the symbol of high culture par excellence, and gives it a different purpose.

A limited edition of this “rare cooperation between art and tea culture” will be available to national and international business partners of Hälssen & Lyon.

Dietmar Scheffler, managing director of Hälssen & Lyon commented, “With this exciting
project, we have overcome a boundary in people’s minds. We transformed acoustic enjoyment into a new multiple sensory enjoyment. Music can suddenly be perceived not only with the ears, but also with your other senses – through the tea.”

Sascha Hanke, CCO & co-owner of häppy, the company responsible for the overall creative implementation of the project, said, “I am delighted that we were able to bring together two top innovators from completely different worlds – one of the most exciting composers of our time and one of the major tea companies in the world. The Metamorphosis project takes both ‘How do you promote a music release today?’ and ‘How do you create new innovative B2B conversation starters today?’ to a whole new level.”

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