Global Tea Festivals, Seminars and Expos, 2019

2019 Global Tea Festivals, Seminars and Expos

For U.S. and Canada festivals, please check out the post on January 24, 2019.

Here are a sampling of festivals that I found doing a little research on the internet. Perhaps you'll find some of interest to you!

Mar 1-3. Bologna Te Festival, Bologna Italy, www.in-te.it

Mar 13-15. Russian Coffee & Tea Epo.

Mar 21-23. International Coffee & Tea Expo, Singapore.

Mar 28-29. Thailand Coffee & Tea Expo with bakery goods, ice cream, coffee, tea.

April. Netherlands Tea Festival. Utrecht, Netherlands. www,festeaval.nl

Apr 4-6. Bangladesh Tea & Coffee Expo, Dhaka Bangladesh

April 27-30. Beijing Tea Expo, Beijing China. www.teaexpo.org.cn

May 20. Melbourne Tea Fest. Melbourne Australia. www.melbourneteafestival.com.au

June 20-23. Busan International Tea & Craft Fair. Busan South Korea. www.teafair.co.kr

July 3-5. Japan Intl Tea Show. Tokyo Japan. www.teashow.jp

Aug 13-17. Hong Kong Intl Tea Fair. Hong Kong. www.event.hktdc.con

Aug 18. Sydney Tea Festival. Sydney Australia.  www.sydneyteafestival.com.au

Sept 7-8. Australian Tea Cultural Seminar. Tasmania Australia.  www.austcs.org

Sept 27-28. Tea & Coffee Festival. Yerevan Armenia. On Facebook.

Oct 7-10. Moscow Coffee & Tea Expo. Moscow Russia.  www.pirexpo.com

Oct 13. Great British Tea Festival. Derby UK.  www.greatbritishteafestival.co.uk

Nov 21-23. World Tea & Coffee Expo. Mumbai India.  www.worldteacoffeeexpo.com

Dec 4-6. Dubai Intl Coffee & Tea Festival. Dubai United Arab Emirates. 






 

2019 Tea Seminars and Festivals, U.S. & Canada

After attending the Global Tea Initiative's tea seminar, I became interested in finding other workshops and festivals. After spending some time researching,  I thought it might be useful for you if I shared my results here. I haven't been to any of these festivals before, so these are not recommendations nor  is this a complete list, but it's a start. If you have ones to add, let me know.

In Canada and the United States:

↠ Toronto Tea Festival. February 1-3, 2019. Toronto, Ontario Canada. www.teafestivaltoronto.com


↠ Coffee & Tea Festival. March 23-24, 2019. New York City, New York. www.coffeeandteafestival.com/nyc

↠ Festival du The Quebec. April 19-20, 2019. Quebec Canada. FestivalDuTheQuebec.com

↠ SacTeaFest. April 27, 2019. Sacramento, California. . 30+ vendors, 20+ workshops. www.SacTeaFest.com

↠ World Tea Expo. June 10-13, 2019,  Las Vegas, Nevada. www.WorldTeaExpo,com

↠Tea Fest PDX. July 20, 2019. Portland, Oregon. www.TeaFestPDX.com

↠ Sip for Peace. September 2019. World Peace, One Cup at a Time. 30 days of Tea & Peace. www.TeaSipperSociety.com

↠ Midwest Tea Festival. September 7&8, 2019. Kansas City, Missouri. www.midwestteafest.com

↠ Northwest Tea Festival. September 28 & 29, 2019. Seattle, Washington. www.nwteafestival.com

 ↠ Pennsylvania Tea Festival. September 28 & 29, 2019. Mechanicsburg, PA. www.teafestpa.com

↠ Chicago International Tea Festival. November 1-3, 2019. www.citfest.com

↠ SF International Tea Festival. November 2019. San Francisco, California. www.ssitf.co


For festivals outside of Canada and the U.S: watch for future blog post...

Global Tea Institute seminar

Well, there has been the teeniest tiniest break since my last post (6-1/2 years ago!!!) but I just went to a seminar today at the Global Tea Institute at the University of California, Davis and wanted to tell you about it. It was a 1-day, free seminar focusing on the body, mind and spirit effects of tea. Leading scientists spoke about their latest research findings on the health benefits of tea consumption. There were also lots of tea samples. I'm including a picture of the agenda for you and some photos of the tea samples. Enjoy!

Top 10 Tea Producing Countries

The results are in!  The top 10 tea producing countries in 2011 were:

1. China, 1.6 million tonnes
2. India, 1.0 million tonnes
3. Kenya, .4 million tonnes
4. Sri Lanka, .3 million tonnes
5. Turkey, .2 million tonnes
6. Vietnam, .2 million tonnes
7. Iran, .2 million tonnes
8. Indonesia, .1 million tonnes
9. Argentina, .1 million tonnes
10. Japan, .1 million tonnes

For those who like their measurements in pounds, a tonne is 2,200 pounds.  So, China and India combined produced 5.7 BILLION pounds of tea last year.  Holy Hot Beverage, Batman!

The top 10 country rankings are the same as they were in 2010 but Brazil dropped off the top 25 list and was replaced by Cameroon.  I don't know if Brazil's output declined, but African output is increasing  because its tea bushes are reaching the age of optimal production, says the Food & Ag Organization of the United Nations.

Data sources: FAOSTAT.com .

Pesticides in Chinese Tea

Would you like a little sugar with your tea?  Honey?  A splash of hazardous pesticides?

A 2012 Greenpeace report found the "massive use of chemical pesticides" in samples of Chinese tea.

Greenpeace tested 18 medium grade oolong, jasmine and green teas from 9 major Chinese tea companies.  All of the samples were found to contain multiple pesticides and most contained hazardous, banned pesticides.

The report indicated that the Chinese government has a 5-year plan to reduce the use of pesticides by 20 percent.  Greenpeace is urging a "drastic reduction."


What's a tea drinker to do?  Dirty Harry would say you have to ask yourself, "Do I feel lucky?  Well, do ya, punk?

Having said all that, is chinese tea is more or less safe than tea from other countries?  The report may not change my tea drinking habits a lot but I'll probably reach more for certified organic versions.

Tea Clipper Ships

"Thermopylae" clipper ship. Chromolithograph by M. Reilly (19th century)

It's exhilarating to imagine being a captain of a clipper ship.  My long, sleek boat skimming atop the waves as a stiff wind snaps the canvas sails into billowing clouds.  What a rush!

The heyday of the clipper ships was in the mid 1800's when American and British shipbuilders competed to build the fastest designs for bringing fresh tea from China.  Tea lovers on both sides of the Atlantic wagered on which boats would arrive first and captains commanding the fastest ships would win public acclaim and  monetary rewards.

Many ships names evoked images of speed and beauty:  Flying Cloud, Champion of the Seas, Hurricane, Flying Fish, Snow Squall, Stag Hound and Lightning.

The clippers could travel at speeds of 20 knots per hour and cover 400 miles in a 24-hour period.  By comparison, cargo ships of the time traveled at 4 knots per hour.  The route went around Cape Horn and took about 107 days.

The clipper ship era ended around 1869 when the Suez Canal opened and steamships made the trip in 50 days.

I'd like to someday see the last surviving clipper ship, the Cutty Sark.  For the last 6 years, it has been under renovation but was re-opened in April 2012 by Her Majesty the Queen.  The ship's home is at the Royal Museums Greenwich, London.

Tea Review: Numi Tea Breakfast Blend

One of my favorite bagged teas in the morning is Numi's Breakfast Blend.  The tea blends four Fair Trade organic black teas:  Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling and Keemun.  The blend combines the best of the four types into a flavorful and pleasing brew; strong flavored yet mild.

Numi Tea was founded in 1999 by brother and sister team Reem and Ahmed Rahim and is based in Oakland, CA. All of Numi's teas are USDA Certified Organic.

And now, the details of my review:

Liquor - a caramel reddish/coffee appearance

Aroma - raisins and toast

Astringency - mild astringency, dry finish

Body/texture - nice body, has substance to it

Taste - Roasted quality.  Hearty but mild.  Not overpowering.

Aftertaste - slight tannin flavor

I like to save my Breakfast Blend for days that I can savor it and start the day off right!

In an upcoming blog, I'll be tasting the individual black teas that go into the blend and seeing what they add to the flavor and quality.