This year’s theme Tea is Hot also applied to the weather in Las Vegas during the expo (up to 117 degrees!), so we spent plenty of time in the air conditioning.
Our Role at the World Tea Expo
Last year we won the Top Tea Infusionist Challenge, which was nerve racking but fun. This year I was asked to conduct a focused tasting on Oolong tea. This session was designed for shop owners and retailers to help them learn more about the tea, as well as how to sell and serve Oolong in their shops. Teaching a class is always a learning experience. There are so many interesting and diverse attendees open and willing to share their knowledge with others in the industry.
Our Goals
We spent time with the friends we have made over the years, tried some new and special teas, and discovered new merchandise and tea producers. Fortunately we were so focused on making the best of our time at the expo we were able to resist to the lure of the casinos.
Our Motivation for Attending
We are often asked why we still attend every year since we have already experienced many of the topics covered in the sessions and a large number of the suppliers are the same from year to year. We feel being at the World Tea Expo with other excited and enthused professionals is a great way to re-charge our batteries. If you keep your ears open, there is always something new to learn from even the basic presentations.
Our Future
During the past decade, we have seen growth and change in the specialty tea industry. Some players have come and gone, trends have risen and fallen, and new discoveries abound even though tea has been grown, studied and consumed for 5,000 years. We promise to continue our pursuit of knowledge and expand of our network of partners to bring you the best the world of tea has to offer!
