bringing style to the art of tea appreciation
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 […]
Traquair House, located in the borderlands of Scotland, announces itself as the oldest inhabited house in Scotland. Surrounded by lush lawns, ancient yew groves and a good-sized maze, it holds its history and age well. It has been visited by 27 of Scotland’s monarchs including Alexander I, Mary Queen of Scots, James VI (James I of England) and Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart). It was originally built as a hunting lodge for Scottish royalty in the 12th Century. […]
An Interview with Chris West The tea community in the western world is still relatively small. So small that most of us follow and interact with the same people on social media sites like facebook, Google+ and Twitter. This is where I initially met Chris West of Min River Tea. He has lived in China for 9 years and became a tea drinker gradually. Living in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province he is surrounded by neighbours and friends who invariably […]
Part I: The Garden “I do not know anything half so refreshing on a hot summer’s day as a cup of tea; I mean pure and genuine as the Chinese drink it, without sugar and milk, It is far better and much more refreshing than either wine or beer.” Ch VII, pg 116, A journey to the Tea Countries of China, Robt. Fortune, 1858 London was hot in August – not as oppressively hot as my August trip to […]
When planning my visit to Hangzhou I wanted to be sure to include some ‘Silk Sightseeing’. I knew that Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province, was central to China’s development of the silk trade. Through a series of water canals and rivers, its precious cargo was ultimately transported to the Ancient Silk Road, starting in Xi’an and ending in Persia, the gateway to Europe. Hangzhou’s Silk Market is popularly known as Silk City, an outdoor pedestrian shopping area located at Xinhua and […]
I’ve just returned from Europe and on every street, signs beckoned me to tea as I walked past on my way to meet up with relatives or friends or visit a sight. The weather was beautiful (only 2 days of rain in 3 weeks) and there was so much to see. I purposefully avoided a busman’s holiday and walked on by. Most European and UK bistros, tea rooms, salons de thé still serve teabag tea and scones (UK) or cakes, […]
In my quest to learn more about the deep affection Koreans have for rustic ceramic teaware I asked my friend and artisan tea producer Cho, Yun Seok of Jukro Tea if he knew of a ceramic artist that we could visit in the Hadong area. His aunt, who owned a tea room in Hwagae Village, knew of someone high up on Jiri Mountain. Yes, he could arrange this and we would visit him tomorrow. We picked up Cho’s aunt in […]
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, […]