They started making sweets in a town in San Luis, opened a tea house and want to launch franchises: favorite blends and the history of the motorhome

It could be the dream of many. Paula Rufino and Esteban Cirino lived in Buenos Aires, they worked as employees in sales, marketing, customer service and also with their own businesses. But at some point they began to think that they wanted a life more in contact with nature .

Paula's mother was already living in Villa de Merlo , San Luis , and that made the choice of location easier.

“We loved it from the start, but we had to face many fears,” says Paula.

The plan was to settle down and, in the short term, find work in what they knew. They sent “very nice CVs”, but it didn’t turn out as they thought .

So while they were reorganizing their ideas looking to start their own project, they took advantage of the time making homemade sweets .

“It started out a bit unexpectedly, in this business of having more quality time and space. As part of a game , I started making sweets and inviting family and friends who, over time, started wanting to order and buy from me. That's when the idea of ​​doing it as a business in a more professional way came up ,” says Paula, although she assures that it was not the project they had in mind.

Their jams began to be sold in the local market and they added liqueurs and preserves as production - and demand - grew.

This movement prompted them to go a little further and Paula decided to specialize in the world of tea and herbs , something she had at hand in the nature that surrounded her.

“I brought tea from Buenos Aires. For me it has always been a grounding wire and is associated with homemade sweets,” he says.

“Tea time” was a very special moment for her when she lived in Buenos Aires. It meant sharing and entertaining her friends , “surprising them with something delicious.” And that’s why they would get together at her house on the weekends to have a relaxed snack, but with everything carefully prepared. “And there always had to be a homemade dessert,” says Paula.

Thus, with the most advanced production of sweets, they incorporated what he liked so much. After training in the subject, tea blends arrived (he created more than 80 of his own and more than 50 for other brands), mixes for mate , spice mixes and special salts .

With production underway, the first tea house also arrived, inviting people to taste their products and hear what they liked best or analyze what they took home.

Los Caminos del Té, a family-owned SME, was making steady progress.

In 2019, they decided to make a radical change . They bought a motorhome and prepared to travel the world with their children.

“It was a great exercise in detachment . We had been running the tea house for five years, we had expanded to the rest of the business and we were coming off periods of working long hours and devoting a lot of effort to the venture,” Paula recalls, while emphasizing that they had always had the “dream of traveling.”

So they sold the business , they also sold many things in the house... but the plan did not work out as they thought.

When it was time to leave, the pandemic hit.

“We waited a long time and tried to start the trip several times, but something always happened that stopped us . Things happened that seemed strange to us, something always broke or someone got sick and we couldn't get going,” says Paula.

They understood that “life was showing us another path.”

With the lockdown, production started up again at home and many people contacted them again with orders. The machinery, little by little, began to reactivate.

“People needed to consume things related to well-being in the midst of the pandemic; there was a lot of stress,” says Paula.

Located on Route 1 and Los Mandarinos, in Carpintería (10 minutes from Merlo), they opened a new place in 2023 to receive visitors with the name that identifies them, Los Caminos del Té.

Among the proposals to enjoy the flavors and natural landscapes are circuits of aromatic and medicinal plants , they offer product tasting, sell the production and can be accompanied with sweet and savory options.

“We have many outdoor spaces , a beautiful view of the mountains, a lovely olive grove, a lavender plantation, a nursery of herbaceous plants and native plants. People can learn about each of the plants we use in our blends here ,” explains Paula, adding that they have guided tours , which are open every day (in high season, in the morning and afternoon; in low season, tea/snack service is provided only in the afternoon; for information: locacaminosdelte.ar; on Instagram @loscaminosdelte).

All of this can also be enjoyed at the tea house, with a menu that includes blends, imported tea leaves and pastries that are produced exclusively for those who visit the place.

One of the most famous blends is Flores del Valle , which has a base of green tea, herbs and flowers from the area. It is one of the star products: people try it and take it home to drink.

Another is called Flores del Bosque ("inspired by the place where we lived, it's very fruity," says Paula) and Brisa Serrana is also in high demand, a blend inspired by the mountains as it has ingredients such as eucalyptus and lemon. "Sol de Otoño is a blend inspired by this time of year and Día de Sol... if there is something that represents this area of ​​Merlo it is the sun and the always clear and beautiful days ," she explains.

They currently have more than 700 clients throughout the country , work with 15 employees, are certified as a Country Brand and plan to open a franchise system and make their first export .

The motorhome? They sold it to open the tea house.

But for Paula it is very important to support entrepreneurs and that is why one of her next goals is to have an academy dedicated to people who want to start their own business, with support in the beginnings, the organization, the promotion of the products, etc.