Tealosophy

Summer has most definitely arrived here in Brisbane, Australia. We just had a wild midday storm and the temperature is set to soar again into the mid-30s. It is the humidity that does my head in nevertheless it makes great weather for cold tea formats.  Also, you may not know but I am becoming a budding Instagrammer. If you enjoy the images here these are a flavour of what you will find on my Instagram feed during a given week. I post my tea life daily and would love you to follow and be inspired. Check it out at @thesteeperytea. I...

Just a short iteration of Tealosophy this week (I know is it possible)?!  As a tea practitioner mindfully preparing and brewing tea for over 12 years I have come to realise the acquisition of tea knowledge is part tasting experience and part discipline. When I first fell in love with true teas the way I approached my tea journey was more about discovering nice teas and putting a reference in my mind about the style and type of tea I was drinking and it's growing region. Being fluid and unfussy at the tea table was most important to me and I...

And in a blink of an eye our 9 day tea study tour of Japan came to an end. This week we share our very short 2 day experience in Kagoshima. There is no doubt that this was not enough time to do the region justice from a tea perspective but due to the weather events I was grateful to make it at all and we were made to feel like royalty by the Kagoshima tea industry. I was surprised by how different the tea industry is in Shizouka and Kagoshima prefectures and thought these observations were worth sharing in...

2018 has been so much fun running our experimental Tea & Cheese paired evenings with the loveliest French cheese providore, Sarah Thuillet, of Emile & Solange. We shared 4 different menus during the past 6 months and concluded our final event for the year a fortnight ago.  With overwhelming positive feedback from our guests that tea & cheese work so beautifully together I am so pleased I approached Sarah a year ago to guage her interest in exploring this concept with me. I am fortunate that through my work as a tea specialist I have encountered other specialists that are equally...

We will continue to share a couple more posts about my participation in the 2018 Japanese Tea Export Council (JTEC) study tour. If it interests you and you have the intention to advocate and sell Japanese tea (the criteria from this year's application process) in the future I highly recommend connecting with JTEC and asking to be placed on the notification email when applications open again in future years. Unlike many of these lists where you are uncertain as to whether anyone tracks it I can assure you that if they confirm they will add you it will be done. A...