Search This Blog

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Northwest Tea Festival 2010

This past weekend I attended the Northwest Tea Festival

http://www.nwteafestival.com

It was located at Northwest Rooms at Seattle Center.

9 AM - 6 PM Saturday, October 2nd
9 AM - 4 PM Sunday, October 3rd

5$ suggested donation

This was the third year of the festival.

There were hands on classes, but not enough for the number of participants, they filled up early in the morning and left many people, myself included, excluded from many items we would have loved to learn about. It was also a little smaller than I expected. there were also lectures, vendor booths, and a snack area.

But despite those downsides I had an enormous amount of fun, met interesting companies, fun tea lovers, and had a wonderful time. It also was a bargain of a price (if you weren't silly and paid airfare from Philadelphia to Seattle like me).

Vendors:


My Saturday, October 2nd

Tea Brewing Tips (hands on)
Brett Boynton
10:30

Tea 101
Ken Rudee
1:00pm@ Barnes & Watson Stage

Tea 101 will take you through a fast paced photo journey of a tea leaf from soil to cup. You will learn about the five basic types of tea, where they come from and how they are processed. We will put to bed some myths about tea, discuss some tea controversies and learn different ways to steep the perfect cuppa.

Tea, The Drink That Changed The World (Cultural Impact Of Tea)
Judy Williams
3:00pm@ Barnes & Watson Stage

For centuries, tea has played a major role in social customs, art, politics and more. In this talk the audience will get a history of tea from its discovery in ancient China to a product and drink that has had major impacts to political, social and economic customs around the world as well as an influence to art & architecture. The audience will hear how tea truly is - The Drink That Changed The World.

Who wrote the book of tea
James Norwood Pratt
4:30pm
Click here to see pictures.

My Sunday, October 3rd

Pu-erh Teas (hands on)
Marcus Gramps
10:00

Intro To Types of Teas (hands on)
Eric Ring & Rod Hanson
11:00

Tea Cupping Workshop - Professional Tea Tasting (hands on)
Suzette Hammond
12:00pm@ Tea Tasting Booth 3

How does one learn how to taste and talk about tea? What is the difference between 'tasting' and 'drinking'? Learn how to explore tea using professional cupping equipment, working with standards used by tea buyers and quality control experts the world over.

You don't need professional credentials to attend, just a genuine love for tea and a desire to want to learn more. Intermediate tea experience encouraged: this is a truly hands-on brewing workshop, so you will be working with hot water and evaluating lots of tea! The workshop is limited to ten people, sign up for it at the PSTea information booth. A $10 materials fee applies to this class (for your very own cupping set that you get to keep).

Phoenix Oolong and Tie Kuan Yin Oolong (hands on)
Jason Chen & James Norwood Pratt
3:00






Bag Swag!

Tea Tasting Cup






Two tea samples from "Afternoon to Remember" (Golden Heaven Yunnan, Kalej Vintage Dargeeling 2nd Flush)




Tea Lady Pen

No comments: