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

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

The World Tea Expo is such a fantastic event that even after only a few times through I can’t imagine not attending every year. I spark wonderful conversations with people, make new friends and contacts and come out knowing more than ever about tea in all its forms. This year really was no different in this respect. From a Tea Anthropologist I met at breakfast on Day 2 to time spent hanging out with my new buddy Ankit Lochan of Lochan Tea (we went to the Hoover Dam) I really had a great time this year.

But, without further ado…

Day 2

I spent some quality time with a few of the larger brands on Sunday. A wonderful but short visit over to the Harney & Sons booth showed Michael Harney’s lighter side and let me reconnect with the brand which first exposed me to loose tea. I always enjoy speaking with the Harney’s. They have great business sense to be sure, and they know their teas but they’re also great to talk with and learn from. You should drop in on their SoHo store if you’re in Manhattan.

Michael Harney & I

Michael Harney's Lighter Side

Moving along, I spent some time with some new friends with World Tea Media, purveyors of the World Tea News (WTN) industry publication and the World Tea and World Tea East expos. George and Kim Jage started the expo some number of years ago and it’s really grown into something wonderful! Dan Bolton, editor of the WTN articles and I had a nice long chat as well. It was a pretty awesome chance to connect with some of the larger names in the industry at the moment.

Some Tea from Rishi Tea

International Tea Importers is one of the larger wholesale groups around and they have some mighty fine product. They had a couple of the more unique items I was able to check out this year. Amongst my favorite activities at the expo are speaking with ITI’s purveyor, Mr. Devan Shah as well as venerable Tea Luminary Mr. James Norwood Pratt (to whom I always wish to bestow the title of Sir.) I hope next year I’ll have the opportunity to share a meal with these gentlemen.

Sir James Norwood Pratt and I

A stop over to Teas Etc yielded a great opportunity to chat up Beth Johnston and new friend Sherri Miller of Moonrise Tea Garden out of Hawaii. I reviewed Sherri’s crop from last year if you care to check it out. I also had a chance to speak with Newman Johnston and am always super excited after talking tea, business and happy things with these folks. There’s so much to go over and one expo isn’t nearly enough time, let alone a short conversation within an expo!

Beth Johnston, Myself and Sherri Miller

Newman Johnston and I

Another group from Hawaii whom I didn’t get the chance to review but did say hi to last year was Naliko Tea Gerden, now known as Tea Hawaii. It seems like Liam Ball of Naliko hooked up with a neat crowd. Tea Hawaii offers some neat products, an interesting brewing method where water is poured over the leaves and sifted into a drinking vessel. They also offer custom made tea cups made of clay which are all unique. The uniqueness is by virtue of a ‘slap’ to the clay as the potter is finishing spinning it which gives the cup its unique ‘wobble.’

Tea Hawaii Brewing to a Vessel

Another stop was made to a standby of mine. You can find Stash Tea products in nearly every grocery store in the United States. They’re a HUGE brand. However, they’re mostly known for their bagged teas. This is mighty unfortunate because their loose tea quality is actually pretty high. I always enjoy good conversation with Stash. I hope to cover more of their loose teas soon.

Stash Tea Products

I did also run into Wendy Weir of Libre Tea whose brewing vessel I reviewed some time ago and pit against other tea mugs in a showdown last year. This was her first World Tea Expo exhibiting. Honorable mention to my friends at Honey Stix whose products I hope to review soon. A shout to my buddies at Eastrise Trading who handle distribution for Foojoy in North America. Another honorable mention for the folks at Nucha, and David over at Gorreana Portuguese Teas.

I was disappointed not to see some of my favorite exhibitors from the past two years. Notable absences included Puripan Tea Garden, TeaGschwendner, PeLi Teas, Tavalon Tea, Village Tea Company, SAFA Himalaya and Catalyst Tea Enhancers. I missed you guys!

That’s pretty much it for Day 3. Feel free to go back and check out Day 1 and Day 2 of my 2011 World Tea Expo coverage.

Eastrise Trading Company

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.

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

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