Tea Expo East - Philadelphia - Sept 8-9, 2011

Finally there is an opportunity to post a few items about the Tea Expo that a few fellow Canadian Tea Sommelliers and I attended last year, in 2011. It was an interesting experience as it was my first tea expo outside of Canada. This was also the first Tea East conference. The smaller fair provided ample opportunity to talk to some headliners such as James Norwood Pratt,  Jane Pettigrew, and Kim Roberston among others.

Yes, Here we are with Norwood James Pratt with the Canadian ladies,  Raelene Gagnon ot the left , Ingrid Folkers, and myself on the right.
A highlight was meeting the owners of various tea suppliers. I was most impressed with  represtation from African tea suppliers. I loved learning more about packaging options.

 I attended several conference sessions that were of interest to me from an educational and experiential perspective. I came away with better information and solidified some ideas for future use. Learning more about pu-erh teas flipped my perceptions. Now I am an advocate of taking pu-erh.

We also took in some local sites, such as the Philedelphia Reading Terminal Market and that street where they shoot part of the movie, "National Treasure" with Nicholas Cage running around with that worried look that never changes.  Hollywood actors seem to get their teeth realigned and veneered and sadly they all lisp or chew on their words. I digress.

I'm still sampling bits and peices I picked up during the conference, whether it is the content-rich printed material or the generous tea samples. I feel here in Canada we are still missing out on the tea market. The is more out there than the David's candy-tea and the Teopia's/Teavana one-size fits all.  I don't know what the formula is for providing new and interesting ways to promote tea as a beverage and as a health supplement. I think a lot more people would like to drink tea if they knew the health benefits. If there were more instant and ready to drink tea beverages, perhaps people would switch from those carbonated sugar beverages to something naturally sweet and healthy.