It’s been more than three and a half years since I launched Tea-Guy. Here we are, a couple hundred tea reviews, a dozen or so accessory reviews, several book reviews and three World Tea Expo recaps later.

It’s time to step things up a bit. My commitment to you may seem to have waned with less frequent posts. Let me assure you, this is not the case. If anything it pains me to not have had the opportunity to engage with you as I would have liked.

I started Tea-Guy as an experiment. An expedition of discovery looking to find valuable business opportunities in the tea industry and chances to mix and mingle with my fellow tea lovers. I have done this. I’ve become addicted to it!

I’ve received praise for my content and writing style. I’ve received praise for my methodology when reviewing teas. I’ve even received praise for some of my tea travels reviews (which I love to do by the way.) Just about the only thing I haven’t received some level of acclaim for is the design of the blog itself.

But today is a new day. This week is a new week. The world we live in won’t stop or slow down, it moves faster every day, and within it we all individually can take an opportunity to reflect. Some of us use tea as our excuse to do just that.

The start of next week marks the beginning of a new era with Tea-Guy. A completely new design with more readable layout and design and more modern amenities will welcome you. I couldn’t be more pleased with the design and implementation put together by my team of tea drinking monkeys.

This redesign comes in no small part by the constant lack of traffic to deeper areas of the site. I’ve written articles on a myriad of topics which simply haven’t been viewed by you. I’m not sure if this is more because of the theme or because I haven’t chosen to highlight it at times. But I refuse to believe those articles are of no interest to you as readers.

When the changes go live next week, please take the opportunity to critique the design and let me know how you feel about it and what your thoughts and recommendations are. We’ve worked hard to improve your experience, and I’d really like to focus on that.

If you are a fan on Facebook or you follow me on Twitter you may have seen a sneak peek of this new design already. If not, you’re in for a treat.

Keep Steepin’,
Tea-Guy

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This year’s World Tea Expo is my 3rd trip to this event. I’ve appreciated the opportunities to learn and meet new people each year. I’ve made friends and contacts from every corner of the world and every continent save for Antarctica. The events and sights from this first day of the expo are similar to those from the past two years. Full of energy, vibrant colors and effusive scents tantalizing for everyone here. Read more to learn more.

Check out my coverage of both Day 1 and Day 2 of the 2011 World Tea Expo.

Read the rest of this entry »

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The past two years I’ve made the trek out to Las Vegas for the World Tea Expo. If you’ve not read my coverage, you should check out the 2009 coverage and the 2010 coverage. This year’s expo is June 24th, 25th and 26th. I’ll be in Vegas a little longer to provide some extended coverage.

The event is a huge mishmash of industry awesomeness all in one place. It’s not just tasting teas. The expo has everything from business seminal sessions to special speaker events, new blends and coverage of tea trends.

Understanding the industry on a deeper level has been a wonderful adventure for me. My love of tea has only gotten stronger in the hands of the past two expos. As such, I am understandably excited to attend the expo again this year.

Last year I had such a wonderful experience exploring the show floor. I met many new friends and found more than a few new impressive favorites.

Me sniffing some Himalayan Tips

This year promises to be equally outstanding. Some of the winners of this year’s World Tea Championships have promising outlooks for them. No chance to be a slouch though, everything should be tasted and sampled. All our palates are different, so I will continue to attempt to be as objective as possible.

Charlie Palmer is giving an interactive session on cooking with tea at this year’s expo I hope to sneak into. There are limited slots available, but I should at least be able to get some photos in for you. Charlie runs the Aureole restaurant in Mandalay Bay in Vegas and is considered one of the best chefs in NYC.

Going into the expo World Tea Expo staff released some info on emerging trends, which I always find interesting. Tea brands continue to differentiate themselves with unique or innovative packaging, deeper marketing to men and people aged 25 to 35. On top of this celebrities are mixing it up on their end by releasing their own tea lines. The likes of Donald Trump, Lady Gaga and Padma Lakshmi started their own tea lines.

Right along my lines of passion are industry trends related to social media (Facebook and Twitter) and an increasing emphasis on origin and culture. I’m very excited to see the industry moving towards my interests and will try to provide deeper coverage in this area.

Check back around the 26th of June for updates from this year’s expo with plenty of photos and info in full recaps later on.

Posted in Announcement, World Tea Champion, World Tea Expo, WTE | 1 Comment »

I wish to express my heartfelt concern for you, your friends and family.

While I understand many of you live and work in parts of Japan far from the epicenter of yesterday’s earthquake, and some are in the US, Europe or other parts of Asia, the devastation and continuing concerns regarding nuclear fallout have us all concerned for the safety and well being of you and your family and friends.

As you continue to wrestle with the short and long lasting impacts from the events of yesterday, know that you’re in my thoughts and prayers.

Chris Giddings
Tea-Guy

Posted in Announcement, Tea | No Comments »

I feel the desire to apologize to you. It’s not apparently recommended for bloggers to feel bad about anything since we provide a free service, often in our spare time… but I don’t feel that’s right.

I haven’t been keeping my post schedule (or really posted at all) for going on three months now. I feel pretty bad about it because I love tea, and everything to do with it. But most of all, I care about all of you who have continued to drop by this site every day in the hops that I’ve provided something new to read.

The past couple months I’ve been either aware I’d be losing my job, or out of work. I’ve been busting my daytime tail trying to get some income to pay my bills, including those for this blog. Thankfully, as of today I have procured a new position.

With this in mind, I still have at least a week before I start the new job and do fully intend to close out a large number of review cycles and post some great new info, tea tours, reviews and pictures for you!

I have trips from New York City, Minneapolis, Orlando, Columbus (Ohio) and perhaps even a trip to Dayton (OH) this upcoming week to post tea tour notes about.

I have dozens and dozens of teas and tisane’s to review and a number of additional projects to uncover in the coming months.

Your Tea-Guy,
Chris

Posted in Announcement | 1 Comment »