#wte15

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Alright Tea peeps, jump onto the Tea train as we head full steam ahead into the World Tea Expo 2015 Conference Review! Over the course of the next few Monday's I'll be uploading podcasts discussing the conferences I attended while at this year's Expo.

Today we begin with what was one of my favourite discussions, Tea By Intuition! 

Hosted by Donna Fellman of The World Tea Academy and Suzette Hammond of Paper & Tea in Berlin, this conference was incredibly informative. Donna and Suzette jumped right in to the hard science of brewing tea, expressing the process as the following equation:

Solute + Solvent + Temperature + Time = Tea

With this in mind it presents the brewer with the ability to manipulate and better the end result through the variables. An amazing concept which I believe is often glanced over by many people who assign themselves to the view of a rigid brewing instruction for each tea they come across.

As the discussion progressed, samples of teas were sent around the classroom of 70 or so people to allow for a comparative glance of similar teas. Gunpowder vs. Sencha, Dragonwell vs. Bancha, Ball-Rolled Oolong vs. Gunpowder, First Flush Darjeeling vs. Bai Mu Dan, and Silver Needle vs. Golden Needle were all examined for similarities and differences. When given the time to closely inspect the teas side-by-side, it was enlightening to notice what the size, shape, colour, and part of the leaf were telling you about how to brew.

The emphasis remained with the tea leaves, the solute, and little time was given the possibilities of manipulating the water, temperature, and time. Alas, an hour is simply not enough time to cover all the material and it is much easier to play with the leaves.

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed. This was exactly the conference I was hoping for and will be delighted if a similar discussion presents itself next year. I strongly encourage any serious tea drinker to listen to the podcast and read the notes via the link below.

 LEEET'S BREW IT!!!

 You can see the entire slide show of Tea By Intuition here.

Check us out on iTunes or Direct Download Here

My friends and family were all curious on how my vacation to the Expo was. My response remains firm:

An Expo is not a Vacation.

Long days, frequent talks, networking, research, tweeting, recording, long nights, early mornings. I have been back a week and am still trying to get back into my routine. Exciting, eventful, and amazing are accurate adjectives to describe meeting everyone and the trip. But a vacation it was not.

I'd do it all again in a heart beat. Hell, I even got to go to the beach this time! I was baptised in tea and the Pacific.

This weeks podcast breaks down my entire trip. Rather than jumping into a specific event or coference I'm going to begin this years Expo with a quick half hour breakdown of everything I did. The weeks following today will then showcase indivual conferences, talks, and showcases that I encountered and mention today. Think of it as Table of Contents of sorts!

So listen in and enjoy!

LEEET'S BREW IT!!!

 PS. We are searching for a new Intro and Outro for the World Tea Podcast! If you or anyone you know is interested in submitting a short 15-30 second piece we are more than happy to hear it! We are offering $100 worth of teaware and tea to the winner! Simply send an .mp3 format sample to [email protected] and we'll be in touch!

I have always believed that there is something mysterious and magical about tea. As someone with a hospitality background and a tea business, it is not my intention to sound so trite but this week after travelling to Long Beach to attend the World Tea Expo (thank you Babson!) and meeting people who had travelled from various parts of the world for a 3 day event, I realized there is such a diverse, thriving and devout following behind tea. 

Furthermore, unlike wine, beer or coffee, tea has a unique and distinctly subtle way of coming into one’s life. It is never as simple as “I tried it at my friend’s house one night” or “it was the only decently priced item on the menu”. No! Tea is too seductive and adventurous for that! It prefers a memorable introduction and entrance into your life, by appealing to your core characteristics. It then teases you with its versatility, but only after you begin to seek it out, of course. More often than not, it quietly sneaks into your everyday, converting you into a bonafide Camelia Sinensis Evangelist.

 Most people don’t even see it coming, and before they know it, fall in love with tea. You think it’s not for you, primarily because you are not a baby boomer, you don’t go to bed by 9, and your idea of a nightcap consists of a generous serving of alcohol. Besides, you love coffee after all, it serves its purpose, you like its taste and have your coffee routine perfectly worked into your everyday schedule. Why would you mess with that? Why would you drink tea?

 Well first, you can do both! If you are anything like me, this hadn’t occurred to you yet, possibly because you had fallen victim to the idea that the two were at antipodes, competing for your attention and consumption. Or perhaps the zeal of coffee or tea extremists forced you to declare an ally too early in the game. Regardless, the truth is in fact they are not at antipodes! You can, just like Kenya, be host to them both! Appreciating each one for its unique qualities, benefits and attributes.