This past Sunday I was off to visit the NW Tea Festival in Seattle.
It is an adventure I look forward to the first weekend in October each year.
The first sip of tea was from Chado.
It was a purple tea that looked like regular tea,
but change color with the addition of lemon.
I particularly liked it after the lemon was added,
it gave it a nice dimension.
One of the people I wanted to meet was Mike Fritts of Golden Feather Tea
in California. I met him while waiting in line to enter the show.
He is growing tea in Northern California.
Since I am not a blended tea person I don't usually taste here,
but their booth always entertains my heart.
I love their creativity.
This tea table is always so popular that you would
be very lucky to find an empty seat here.
If I remember correctly it is Red Crimson.
Babette of Tea Sippers and Emma books is always
a JOY to see and visit with.
I didn't get a photo, but Bruce and Shelley Richardson
had a booth just next to Babette and I love chatting with them too.
I must say the same for the Tea Time people too.
This year they were introducing new tea towels and tee shirts.
I came home with the Celebrations book
and this morning thoroughly enjoyed reading it over my morning tea.
It is all about celebrating each season.
The Harney boys are always a fun chat and to stop for a sip.
There was kombucha on tap.
What I found interesting was seeing the scoby
in the plastic bag. I had wondered what it looked like.
Shen Zen Tea
Rajah Banerjee from Makaibari Tea Estate in India spoke about
growing tea organically.
Norwood Pratt moderated this conversation as well as the next.
He explained through this picture how composting worked.
I signed up for only one workshop, which was with Jeffrey McIntosh of Teabook.com
on puerh teas. We tasted seven different puerh teas. My favorite was
the 2008 Mu Shu Raw Puerh Cake.
Then the following was a conversation with Rajah, Norwood,
and Nigel Milican, who is supporting the tea farmers in the
US and helping them start with ethical, sustainable growing systems.
He spoke on What Happens when we Process Teas.
Finally at the end of the afternoon was Elyse Peterson
of tealet.com talking about supporting sustainability in the tea industry.
Once again under the Space Needle I said hello and goodbye to tea friends.
It was the best year ever.
