Tea and Travel, World Tea Expo

Advance! My Picks for World Tea Expo 2016

Advancing the Business of Tea   In World Tea Expo’s 14 years, the popularity of tea has grown in North America and beyond. The market is crowded with online retailers – some with big dreams. How can the industry support them and what’s the next step? The expo’s tagline “Advancing the Business of Tea”, suggests that there is work to be done examining other markets and ways in which tea and all its supporting product can be exploited (in a […]

Social History of Tea, Tea Science

More Tea Advice from Fannie Farmer (Part 2)

1906 As I continue to examine Fannie Farmer’s earnest observations and advice on tea in her Boston Cooking School Cookbook, it might be useful to put her book into the context of the world in which she and her readers live. Wilfred Laurier is Prime Minister of Canada Theodore Roosevelt is president of the USA As mentioned in Part 1 of this post, The US establishes the Food and Drug Act to ensure that only food that passes inspection may […]

The Tea Book

THE TEA BOOK

As well as being The Tea Stylist, I am also the author of The Tea Book, from DK Publishing. Support your local bookstore! And if purchasing online, The Tea Book is available at Amazon or Chapters Indigo Update: June 14, 2017, World Tea Awards, Las Vegas, Nevada I’m  happy to announce that The Tea Book has won The World Tea Award for Best Tea Publication at World Tea Expo. I’m so grateful that the jury recognized this book as a […]

Tea Science

Gardener’s Intuition & the Ancient Tea Bud

Spring Flush At this time of year in my part of the world (Toronto), we are keeping our eyes on the weather and hoping for clear sunny days to venture out into our long-abandoned gardens looking for signs of life – bulb leaves surfacing, buds starting to plump and earth worms stirring in the soil. Today there’s heavy snow, tomorrow could be mild and rainy – such is April. On the other side of the world, little green tea sprouts […]

Style and Design, Tea Knowledge

The Gaiwan: Tea Vessel With Soul

When I first embarked upon my tea studies at George Brown College in Toronto, I was introduced to an odd little tea vessel – the gaiwan  –  which looked like a wide-lipped sugar bowl with lid and saucer. I struggled to use it – the lid needed to be positioned in a way that allowed the tea’s liquor to flow in a stream without letting any (or not many) leaves to escape the vessel. The index finger had to control […]

Tea Culture, Tea Knowledge

Monkey Time!

Year of the Monkey The Monkey appears ninth (out of twelve) in the Chinese Lunar calendar’s Zodiacal line up. New Year celebrations run from Sunday February 7th (New Year’s Eve) to Saturday February 13th. People born under the sign of the Monkey are said to be quick-witted, charming, lucky, adaptable, bright, lively, smart. A year of the Monkey is said to be unlucky, so precautions must be taken e.g. making sure the rice jar is not empty and avoiding sharp […]

Globe-trotting, Tea and Travel

New York City: Some Book Signing, Some Tea Drinking

This was my second trip to New York City with a theme of tea in mind. My 2011 visit was a leisurely ramble seeking out tea experiences in museums and other non-tea venues. That trip was a great adventure full of visual surprises. This most recent trip could not be characterised as restful, since it was made for the purpose of launching The Tea Book at two shops at opposite ends of Manhattan Island, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday afternoons. […]

The Tea Book

The Tea Book Update: Book signings in New York City

Thrilled to announce that I’ll be visiting                    New York City November 13th – 15th Monkey Cup: Saturday November 14th, book signing, 3.30pm – 6.30pm, 1730 Amsterdam Ave. (Harlem) NYC T Shop, Sunday November 15th, book signing, 1pm – 5pm, 247 Elizabeth Street, (Soho) NYC Hope to meet you there!  

Tea Culture, The Tea Book

The Tea Book update: Book signing at Majesteas, Toronto

The Tea Book, DK publishers On Saturday, September 19th, 1pm, I will be at Majesteas, a tea shop at 950 Queen St. E. near Carlaw Ave. in the Leslieville neighbourhood of Toronto. This will be my first book signing event since the release of The Tea Book in July. Owned by fellow tea colleagues Robert Gignac and Ian Macdonald, Majesteas is celebrating 5 years in business! They have a great selection of good quality tea, especially excelling in black teas, […]

Globe-trotting, Tea and Travel, Tea Culture, Tea Knowledge

The Scent of Jasmine: Making Tea in the Heat of the Night

In mid-August 3 years ago, I was fortunate to be in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province during Jasmine harvest season. My host, Chris West, formerly of Min River Tea, arranged for us to visit the old factory of Master Yu on the outskirts of town. We would be accompanied by the provincial Minister of Agriculture. He was to be present during the filming of CCTV’s beautiful documentary series, 茶,一片树叶的故事 06 一碗茶汤见人情, which roughly translates as “Tea, the Human Story”. […]