Sonnentor: Where Joy Grows, Naturally
Sonnentor welcomes you to a world of herbs, traditions, and alternative ways of doing business.
As a Manila girl thrust into the Austrian countryside at the tender age of 8, I initially felt like a fish out of water. Instead of being surrounded by concrete buildings, cars that emit black smoke, and bombarded by constant noise -- I was amongst green fields, evergreen forests, clean fresh air, and birds chirping. During the first few days upon my arrival, I'd have a rude awaking realizing that I wasn't in Metro Manila anymore. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't welcome the change, which I did wholeheartedly … I just wasn't used to being so close to nature … all … the … time. It didn't take long for me to adjust and savor every moment though, and I am eternally grateful have had the opportunity to spend some of my best years as a child in Austria.
Growing up in the Austrian countryside, particularly in Maria Anzbach, meant that the people were steeped in and venerated age-old tradition. These people commemorate life and welcomed change while having a firm hold on core values. It was through them that I learned that in life, there was a right time and place for everything. True to form, lokal folk eat, work and celebrate according to the changing seasons. This was the Austrian way of life that I grew accustomed to, never really veering away from life's fundamentals.
As an Asian living like a lokal, I discovered the importance of going back to basics, in its purest form. In the summer months during my stay in Austria, my mom insisted that I inculcate myself further in the Austrian way of life -- as if attending the lokal Volksschule where the medium of instruction was Austrian German wasn't immersion enough -- my mom whisked me off to spend my summer, weeks on end with Mama Rosa. She was the mom of my German tutor, Elfriede who I absolutely love and adore. I call her Mama Rosa because she was indeed like my second mom as she took me in as a second daughter of sorts. With her, I felt like I genuinely lived like a lokal Austrian girl during the summer months traversing from her place in Wiener Neustadt and Elfriede’s place in Hochneukirchen. This time of the year called for the abundance of fruits, most especially berries: strawberries (Erdbeeren), blackberries (Brombeeren), raspberries (Himbeeren), red currant (Johannisbeeren) and lingonberries (Preiselbeeren). My favorites are strawberries and raspberries, but others don't lag far behind.
I loved spending time with Mama Rosa because together, we would go to her garden in the backyard and picked whatever was ripe and ready to eat. Whatever wasn't consumed were made into homemade jams or baked goodies such as delicious cakes and homemade pastries. After working in the garden in the morning or doing household chores, afternoons were spent with a slice or two digging our teeth into her sumptuous cakes coupled with either hot or iced tea made with dried herbs also from her garden. Mama Rosa's garden was always loaded with fruits, herbs, and plants for every season. She would be self-sufficient in whatever vegetable she needed, all she had to do was to go to her garden and pick some. Going to the grocery to buy salad greens was totally unheard of, and we ate whatever nature provided us depending on the season.
These are the tea flavors of my Austrian summer days in Austria.
Can't choose which tea to buy? Try a sampler tea selection like the ones here.
Many would call this going back to basics. One lived from the produce of one's own backyard. Milk was purchased from direct dairy farms, meats were provided by the village butcher, and the baker would provide a daily supply of freshly made bread that would fill the home with its aroma during breakfast. Some would call this old-fashioned or passé, but it is precisely this that made such a lasting impression on me growing up. In the years that followed after my family settled back in the Philippines in 1989, I dismissed the thought of returning to that lifestyle. Besides, it was almost impossible to replicate that in Manila anyway. Moving back in the city meant re-learning how I went on with my day-to-day activities -- it was sorely different from what I had become accustomed to in Austria. Sadly, my summer days were no longer spent by Mama Rosa's lush garden.
Fast forward to 2013 when my dear friend from the Volksschule, Sigrid, gifted me with yummy edibles from Austria. She bravely shipped them in December only to arrive on my doorstep in March the following year. I had (almost) forgotten what it was like to experience Christmas in Austria … and I was wonderstruck! The tea that she gave along with other goodies brought me back to how we feasted on the very same flavors as children during Christmastime. Austrians pride themselves with highly anticipated and enthusiastic preparations leading up to Christmas, and although they may not begin their yuletide merriments during the first of September like we Filipinos do, Christmas in Austria is as big as it gets.
Found my first Instagram post on the brand five years ago.
The sweet eats and nibbles came from the brand Sonnentor. I came to know the brand even further during my first hiatus in Austria after almost three decades back in 2016. Sigrid brought me to St. Pölten and showed me the store. Entering the establishment was like being a kid in a candy store … only better, much much better. I took my time and looked around the store and beheld an assortment of products that I knew were proudly Austrian. You could leave me there for hours, and I wouldn't mind just soaking in and reading up about all their merchandise.
Sonnentor literally translates to Sun Gate. This brand of the smiling sun is based on the so-called "sun gates" in Waldviertel. During the Middle Ages, wooden gates with a carved sun stood for peasants who did not belong to a manor lord; instead, they worked for themselves and their family.
The first lineup of products that I quickly gravitated to was their collection of fine teas. As a tea enthusiast, I was in awe at the diversity and unique blends that lined up before me. There was so much to choose from, and so I decided to purchase a little bit of everything, to Alex's disbelief, and begrudgingly left the store … eager to replenish my stash in our next visit. That evening, I decided to sample one of their fruit tea variants … and I must say that it did not fall short of my expectations but rather, exceeded it. After savoring that first sip, it brought me right back to the lazy summer afternoons with Mama Rosa as a child, with the warmth of the summer sun across our faces overlooking the garden and its bounty … I knew then that I was hooked to the brand.
Now this is my kind of heaven. This display is only one of the many areas dedicated to tea inside the boutique.
Alex and I repeatedly went back to the store before we left for Manila as often as we could, and selected the products that I would later pack and bring back to the Philippines. When Alex and I flew back to Austria last year, this time with our girls in tow, we brought them to the store. I wasn't at all surprised that they too loved the brand and everything that it stood for. As our family headed back to Manila, I did some research of my own and learned about the company's philosophy and vision. As I took in more and more of its history, I uncovered that Sonnentor was the idea of a single man, Johannes Gutmann. He wanted to stay put in his native Waldviertel region (Lower Austria or Niederösterreich), not wanting to leave home for the city, which was how things were done in the 1980s. Johannes wanted a reason to stay. He believed in the produce of lokal farmers from his birthplace and wanted to focus on organic agriculture, with the idea to market herbs and spices to the rest of the country.
Sonnentor believes that the whole world is a village and they know the communities well. The company practices in direct trade, buying directly from international farmers thus avoiding intermediary business that allows them to have a personal relationship that ensures a fair price for the farmers. More than 500 organic farmers from all over the world have found a livelihood in herbs and spice cultivation.
The store also has other goodies that ring true to the company's organic philosophy like these delicious strawberries covered in milk chocolate from Landgarten. These are our absolute favorite and buy them by the handful.
Sonnentor has been on a recycling roll since 1988 and is 100% organic. Each product is contained in eco-packaging and is meticulously packed and labeled by hand, including the loose herbal teas. The brand also uses recyclable and compostable foils to help protect the environment, disregarding the use of palm oil and chemical crap. Palm oil causes large-scale endangerment of rainforests and increases environmental pollution. Moreover, pesticides and commercial fertilizers are not found in their farmers' fields.
What endeared me to the brand is that they are able to capture the essence of a feeling or a momentous event and translate it into excellent products such as tea. Seen here are examples like the Gratitude (Dankeschön) and Birthday (Geburtstag) teas. They come in flavors that both mimic and conform to that special moment.
How can one possibly choose just one item from this assortment of tea paraphernalia that comes in an array of colors? The answer: You needn't buy only one. Hehe
What is it with this unicorn fascination? They seem to have a mighty comeback from the 1980s and bewitching little girls ... and everyone else including Sonnentor with this Limited Edition Unicron Tea.
Liza, my eldest daughter, just had to have this hand-painted unicorn ceramic bowl. It is beautiful, and according to Liza, was absolutely worth the added luggage weight.
Today, Sonnentor has successfully spread beyond the borders of Austria with international partners that offer world-class commodities from all over the globe. More than nine hundred products from herbs, teas, spices, coffee, and essential oils are developed and cultivated by select farmers with the same agricultural, environmental and economic like-mindedness that stem from Johannes' vision. As its ardent consumer and probably its number one Filipino fan, I believe that Sonnentor isn't just a brand name of food and beverage. For me, Sonnentor is an Austrian lifestyle brand that brings the very best in what nature has to offer – preserving and highlighting tradition, going back to life's essentials, back to basics, back to our roots. Sonnentor has always been this way, and the truth is … they've never left them.
