bringing style to the art of tea appreciation
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been invited by The Tea Guild of Canada to give a talk – “Form, Function and Style: A History of Teaware”. This event will be held in Toronto at George Brown College. Those of you in the vicinity and interested in attending, just rsvp to me. There will be tea! Hope to see you there.
Tiered cake stands, white linen, dainty sweets and bone china teapots are well-worn symbols of Afternoon Tea, – the popular, more formal approach to serving a cuppa. To that end, hotels and other venues have dreamed up all kinds of themed afternoon teas – the edible garden, Asian-inspired and ultra chic! Afternoon Tea is often erroneously called “High Tea”, a name which originally defined the meal that was served at a high (dining) table close to the supper hour. In […]
In Celebration of a Good Year The events of my 2014 were exciting and life-changing. Work in the tea world was plentiful, which explains dear reader, why posts have been spotty at best. One of the projects I’ve been working on has allowed me to explore tea mixology (the craft of cocktail blending using tea as a flavour ingredient). I’m not actually a fan of spirits, but I have loved learning about the interplay of flavours to create the right […]
We just spent a vacation week in a relatively remote area of Northern Ontario’s lake country. It’s an annual escape to see the sun set on the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Known as the first day of summer here in Canada, it is referred to in England as mid-summer solstice. The birds sing into the night with the whippoorwill and loon having the last say. I enjoy tea in the canoe, on the granite rocks […]
One of the perceived advantages of holding World Tea Expo in Long Beach, California was its close proximity to importers and their businesses. The town of Cerritos is a half hour ride from Long Beach and home to QTrade Teas and Herbs, a major player in the tea industry. Taking advantage of the convenience of their location, QTrade had arranged an early morning tour of their facilities for several of their customers and a few tea media. Located on a […]
Current Trends and Future Outlook for Tea: The first session of the morning featured a panel of leading industry market analysts. They presented their research on areas for potential growth in the tea industry. David Sprinkle, Jonas Feliciano and Lynn Dornblazer had their own take on how changes in the market would affect tea sales. Here were some of the take-aways: Growth expected in the Restaurant industry Never underestimate the importance of convenience for the consumer Growth opportunity for premiumization […]
For some reason the song “California here I come, right back where I started from”, was popular in our household when I was a kid – not because we missed California. We had never been there, but perhaps because my Grandmother used to make the trip by plane in the 1940’s and 50’s to visit her brother in Turlock and would go on to Laguna Beach for some of the winter. She missed that casual artsy life in later years […]
Emma Bridgewater Revitalizes an Industry The Emma Bridgewater website is a feast for colour-hungry tea ware browsers. There are teapots, mugs, cups and saucers in floral, dot and animal themed patterns. My favourite pattern is “Black Toast” – stylized calligraphy floating on a milky background – a classic! Located in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the pottery has been producing casual everyday pieces for the home since 1985. Her business has helped to revitalize a town that built its reputation on fine porcelain […]
Myths and Vagaries A few months ago I watched uncomfortably as a fellow tea sommelier asserted that the reason they had presented White Tea first was that “it was unoxidized”. I know this to be untrue, but I could understand how they might believe it. There is wide spread misunderstanding of White Tea with inaccurate information lounging everywhere on tea retail websites eg. “white tea contains almost no caffeine”. Another eg. “try our Anji Bai Cha White Tea”. Nope. It’s […]
Toronto’s Spadina House plays host to Downton Abbey’s Costumes Season 4 of Downton Abbey has just ended and filming of Season 5 has begun, although in North America we will have to wait a year to view it. For those of us in Toronto suffering withdrawal from the series, it’s wonderful to know that we can indulge ourselves during the hiatus with an up-close look at Downton costumes. “Dressing for Downton” is an exhibit of 20 mostly Edwardian […]