To preserve his sensitive power of smelling gambier and jasmine as well as tasting tea leaf blends, Willyanto has to do without breakfast every day. “It’s to make the tongue neutral,” said the heir to a tea firm with the brand Bandulan from Pekalongan, Central Java. Gambier and jasmine become a serious matter as they typically characterize Bandulan tea.

Willyanto is the grandson of Thang Tjeng Kiat and wife Kho Pek Ngoo, now carrying on th