bringing style to the art of tea appreciation
Ephemera I recently inherited boxes of family photos, ephemera, dishes, etc. Having culled the less important material, I’m now left with the more interesting remnants of past family life. There are plenty of faded black and white photos of my Dad’s family, in particular his mother who I never knew. Tales from my Mom’s side of the clan had become part of family culture since I was very young, but legends from my Father’s family and the characters that may […]
Bloggify! I had to get up bright and early for the first core session of the day. There was no missing this one as I was on the panel! I wasn’t sure how full Room 258 would be for the 8am panel discussion, “How to Use Blogging in Your Business”. The sign outside the door read “How to Use Bloggers in Your Business” – subtle difference in the semantics I think. The second implies that you can’t do it yourself, […]
H²O On Friday I had been given some Essentia Water while visiting the Healthy Beverage Show (conveniently co-located with World Tea Expo). Before heading over to the Convention Center Saturday morning, I decided to test it out by making some tea. I thought it would be fun to compare it with spring water that I bought at the hotel’s cafe. Essentia Water is quite scientifically formulated through purification, electrolyte infusion and ionic separation. Product info claims that “Essentia removes acidic […]
This is my fourth World Tea Expo. I’m a newbie compared to many who’ve been attending since the start 11 years ago, but it still feels like coming home. I’ve noticed an evolution in the look and direction of the Expo in these four short years. It is an indicator of the increasing popularity of tea and the ability of the organizers to respond to that. In my opinion the core conference sessions are becoming more relevant to the shifting […]
I have just returned from a convivial ‘Meetup’ of the Henderson/Las Vegas Tea Lovers Group, featuring the book launch of “The Infusiast – Diatribes from the Devotea”. The Devotea being Robert Godden, the Australian Tea Merchant and writer who has gained a following through his blog Tea Sprouts. A pocket of old Las Vegas The venue was a 1940’s cottage converted to an artist studio in a part of Las Vegas I had never seen. A small miracle that these […]
Yes it is and that’s how I prefer it! I’ve never been a big fan of iced tea, except during the throws of enveloping summer humidity when anything with an ice cube in it gets my attention. But I’ll be heading to Las Vegas in a few weeks to attend World Tea Expo and in the U.S., restaurants will serve you iced tea unless you specifically ask for “hot” tea. June 7, 8 and 9, Las Vegas, Nevada World Tea […]
I don’t like the term “blog”. It sounds like a gurgled choke. Or an onomatopoeic comment on the quality of my writing. Can’t we come up with a more sophisticated term for what we do? When I started my tea sommelier business 3 years ago I wanted my “blog” to be a vehicle to prove that I had something to say, that I could build on my past career and fuse it into the new. I also hoped that I […]
Xiangji Yard Boutique Hotel Booking a hotel room online can be a stressful experience particularly when you only have one week ’til lift off. I knew there was a chance that I might be disappointed by my hasty selection, but really I had given up on expectations the closer I came to departure. Several hotels were candidates for my short stay in Hangzhou, the capital city of China’s prosperous Zhejiang province. On the short list was a boutique hotel which […]
A Unique Afternoon Tea As part of this event, I will be giving a talk on the History of Teaware: Form, Function and Style. If you are in the Toronto area, please consider attending. See details on the poster below.
My visit to Hong Kong this August opportunely coincided with the Hong Kong International Tea Fair. It is one of dozens of trade events produced every year by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. I was only available to attend on Sunday which was open to the public, so it was crowded. As luck would have it though, it was also the day of the 4th Annual International Hong Kong-style Milk Tea Championship. I thought this would be a small […]