To cap off an extremely fulfilling and exciting year for me personally I was very honoured to receive this in the mail during the week.
I have been a tea enthusiast for many years. Apart from drinking many a cup of tea, I love reading extensively on tea and my teaware collection is burgeoning to a point where dedicated cabinets have had to be purchased to house them. I have spent a good portion of my global travels as a tea tourist visiting tea estates and gardens, learning from tea masters, sitting with tea shop owners and soaking up the atmosphere in tea houses.
I undertook the Certified Tea Master course with the Australian Tea Masters earlier this year. The formal training helped to bring my tea knowledge together and put real substance around a business plan I had been playing around with for a couple of years. It wasn’t so much about the certificate but taking the leap to make a life-long dream come true, the creation of The Steepery Tea Co.
Apart from learning many new things about tea, the training programme gave me a deep and genuine respect for tea. As we explored the eventful (and sometimes dark) history of tea, the tea ceremonies and rituals, the mastery of tea makers in creating tea in its best form and reflected on the lives of the hard-working tea workers, I was humbled. I walked away as an advocate for tea and a responsibility to bring a higher level of understanding and appreciation to the wider tea drinking community. I am particularly passionate about ensuring tea drinkers have access to accurate information about the tea they are consuming and sharing methods to improve tea preparation and service.
I feel honoured to be able to use the Certified Tea Master title but feel more comfortable being known as a Tea Professional. My learning and mastery of tea will be a lifelong journey. Tea is complex, and its impact in the world is significant. I hope to be able to contribute respectfully and positively to the Australian tea industry in the future.
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