bringing style to the art of tea appreciation
I’ve been back for over a week and still not fully unpacked. Maybe not fully here. I feel as though I’m floating somewhere mid-Pacific. There are so many stories to tell, photos to share and teas to taste that it feels a bit overwhelming. The purpose of my trip was to spend time with our youngest son Malcolm who is teaching English in Korea. He was generous to spend his August vacation accompanying me to Korean tea regions, acting as […]
Caffeine Science Maintaining one’s health and alertness can be challenging during Expo. After a busy day on the floor and in sessions there is barely enough time to make dinner plans. When relaxing with friends in the evening, my beverage of choice is a glass of wine. It helps to balance the day’s accumulated caffeine intake. Tasting upon tasting, moving from booth to booth, I wondered just how much caffeine I was consuming. I hoped to find some reliable information […]
A Taste of Korea I’ve been enjoying Korean green tea for a few years now. Last year I was introduced to some very fine green teas at WTE. This year Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. decided to step up their promotional campaign. Representatives of Korea’s tea industry have a “pavilion” on the Expo floor, where from booths 232 to 239 you can sample teas and visit with Korean delegates. This afternoon they invited influencers and tea writers to taste […]
This year the Expo has moved to the North Building of the Las Vegas Convention Centre. The orientation was confusing, but once I got my bearings and a cup of Oriental Beauty from Teas Etc. tea break lounge, I was in my happy place. Core Sessions “Competing with the Big Guys” was presented by Shabnam Weber, owner of The Tea Emporium with 4 locations in Toronto. Her advice was sage, constructed from 12 years in the business selling premium teas […]
World Tea Expo 2012 In a year where we saw tea retail grow and take over new ground, it should be interesting to notice subtle developments within the tea community at World Tea Expo. Teaopia in Canada was recently bought out by US chain Teavana which went public with its IPO in July 2011. Montreal-based David’s Tea opened 2 new shops in NYC. Starbucks hired Charles Cain formerly of Adagio Teas, to run their Tazo Tea operation. Wherever you […]
Tea in the City: The perfect guide Two years ago, at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas I purchased a series of three books by Benjamin Press, called “Tea in the City”. Jane Pettigrew and Bruce Richardson collaborated on guides to Paris and London. They are currently out of print, but usually available on Amazon through sellers. A New York City guide (also, currently out of print) was written by Elizabeth Knight with photos by Bruce. It was from […]
Escape from the city Last month we spent a week in Canada’s Laurentian Shield, about 275 Km north of Toronto. Also known as the Canadian or Precambrian Shield, it is comprised of the hard crystalline remains of a heavily eroded mountain system, between 300 and 600 million years old. Most of the exposed rock is igneous granite which at a certain angle sparkles in the sun. Every afternoon we packed up our gear, left the cabin and canoed to a […]
Reflecting on Sunday June 26 My badge is hanging by my desk, a reminder of an extraordinary weekend. I’m back home and looking over the many fine teas I will be sampling, business cards I collected and photos of people and product. World Tea Expo may be over for another year, but the friendships and contacts will keep building. Sunday was all too short and I spent a good deal of it exploring the exhibit’s booths. Even though the vendors […]
Saturday June 25th I got off to a late start, but managed to catch most of Chuck Underwood’s session on Marketing to Generation X. His speech last night was a highlight of the Conference. He has done deep research on the subject and everything he says makes the glass clearer and the picture come into focus. There were many Aha! moments. Here’s a distillation of his message. Marketing to Generation X: The “Island Generation” Generation X is the most elusive […]
Friday June 24th I started my day in the “Tea Break” room. Located near the educational sessions and generously sponsored by Teas Etc. there were several tables of teas to choose from, including the Meyer Lemon that I tasted. They were all carefully pre-measured in unbleached paper tea bags ready to take the water that had also been carefully calculated for temperature. Amazing accuracy considering there were easily over 80 people to refresh! The day ahead was to be filled […]