Our Story
Tea as a Practice, Not a Product
POUR was born from two years of listening. To tea, to farmers, to participants in our Kathmandu wellness studio. What emerged was a simple truth: the most transformative experiences begin with a cup and full attention.
The Beginning
A Question in a Cup
In 2023, we started asking a question: Why does tea, this simple leaf steeped in hot water, change the quality of a room? Why do conversations deepen? Why does presence become tangible when a cup is shared?
For two years, we tested this in SOMA Wellness Studio in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Hosting tea circles with corporate professionals, spiritual seekers, trauma survivors, artists, and practitioners of many traditions. We didn't have answers. We had tea and attention. And that was enough.
What those gatherings revealed was not just consumer insight. It was confirmation of something ancient: that the act of preparing and sharing tea, done with care, becomes a doorway. To the body. To presence. To each other.
The Practice Ground
SOMA: Living Laboratory
POUR didn't emerge from market research or business planning. It emerged from SOMA Wellness Studio, a somatic practice space in Bhaktapur devoted to care, presence, and embodied learning.
For two years, we hosted tea ceremonies with over 4,000 people. We tested ritual formats, refined brewing protocols, and listened to what deepened nervous-system regulation. Every product decision, every ritual framework, every piece of the POUR experience was shaped by real practitioners engaging with real tea.
SOMA remains the heart of POUR. It is where we continue to test, learn, and refine. It is where we remember that this work is never finished. It is alive, responsive, and always listening.
Our Lineage
Rooted in Tradition, Built for Today
POUR's ceremonial framework draws directly from Sufi tea practices and Himalayan wisdom traditions. We honor the teachings of Murshid Kiran Rana and his lineage of presence-centered work. This is not cultural borrowing. It is direct transmission with permission.
"Murshid Kiran Rana taught that tea was never just tea. That the pouring, the waiting, the tasting. These were invitations to remember what it means to be alive, present, and connected to the ground beneath us. POUR carries this teaching forward."
The Cup of Light series, dedicated to Murshid Kiran, represents this intellectual and spiritual foundation.
Leadership
Meet the Founders
This work is built by people with deep roots in both tea culture and contemplative practice. People who understand that authenticity cannot be faked.
Adarsha Bhattarai
Founder & Visionary
Adarsha brings decades of immersion in Sufi and Himalayan meditative traditions. He is the Murshid of the Sufi Way and holds direct connection to the teachings of Murshid Kiran Rana and Guru Aama Radhika. With his wife Prakriti, he co-founded SOMA Wellness Studio.
Adarsha's work lives at the intersection of healing, culture, and human experience. His direct relationships with tea farmers across Nepal, his understanding of how altitude shapes nervous-system outcomes, and his grounding in lineage work are the intellectual and spiritual bedrock of everything POUR does.
Adarsha approaches POUR with deep listening: to the tea, to the farmers, to the practitioners, and to what each moment requires.
John Chipponeri
Operations Lead & Advisor
John brings over 30 years of global leadership experience spanning large-scale international operations, high-performing team building, and complex organizational systems. He spent the last decade focused on personal development coaching, men's growth work, and community-building rooted in presence and service.
At POUR, John ensures that Adarsha's vision translates into sustainable, replicable practice. He brings strategic guidance on scaling, operational discipline, and grounded insight into what wellness communities actually need, beyond trend cycles.
Leading U.S. operations and distribution while maintaining POUR's commitment to authentic, values-driven growth.
Prakriti Bhattarai
Co-founder of SOMA Wellness Studio and partner in POUR's mission. Prakriti brings somatic practice expertise and deep commitment to creating healing environments. Her work at SOMA ensures that every POUR experience is grounded in embodied presence and genuine care.
How We Work
Three Principles Guide Everything
Authenticity Over Trend
We don't borrow from traditions. We are rooted in them. Our ceremonies draw from documented lineage work with explicit permission and acknowledgment.
Relationships Over Transactions
We maintain direct, multi-year relationships with tea farmers across Nepal. This creates traceability, ensures ethical sourcing, and supports communities.
Community as Practice
POUR is built for gathering. For practitioners to sit with tea, with each other, and with themselves. Community deepens the work.
Proof of Concept
What Two Years of SOMA Testing Revealed
People served tea through SOMA
2023-2025
Dedicated ceremony participants
Formal tea tasting programs
Positive response rate
From formal participants
6-month retention rate
vs. 12% for typical wellness
Join Mystique
Experience POUR with monthly ceremonial gatherings, exclusive tea selections, and direct access to our founding community. Membership is the deepest way to engage with what we're building.
Explore MembershipDive Deeper
Read our complete whitepaper to understand POUR's research, philosophy, and go-to-market strategy. Built on evidence, grounded in practice.
Read Whitepaper"POUR exists because presence is not a luxury. It is a necessity. And the practice of tea—done with genuine attention, rooted in authentic lineage, and shared in real community—is one of the oldest and most reliable technologies we have for remembering it."
Built in Kathmandu. Shared with the world.