Interesting Notes from the World of Tea

Happy Wednesday. It's an absolutely beautiful day here. Just had a picnic with the kids in the front yard so we could watch the workers fixing the street. Life doesn't get simpler or better than that!

I've been reading some interesting tea related news lately so I thought I'd focus on that today. These are in no particular order, just things I've happened upon of late:

• There was a really interesting article in the April 2008 "Tea & Coffee Trade Journal" about some of the tea growing locations we don't hear much about. Did you know that there have been tea gardens on the Azore Islands off Portugal's coast since the 18th century? Have you heard of Agricola Himalaya, the company cultivating tea crops in Colombia? Many of you know about the tea estate in South Carolina but did you know tea is also being grown in Hawaii and in Washington State. (The estates in Washington have not yet processed tea for commercial sale.) There is even a tea plantation and annual festival in Tuscany, Italy in the town of S. Andrea di Compito. I'd be more than happy to visit this one and do some research if anyone would like to fund a trip there...or Hawaii....or Portugal.
  


• Speaking of South Carolina, the Charleston Tea Plantation will be hosting a First Flush Festival on May 17, 2008.
  


• Adagio Tea has released a new edition of TeaMuse.


• The Guinness World Record was broken for the World's Largest Tea Party in Indore, India. 32,681 people came together to share tea. The previous record was established in Nishio, Japan in 2006 when a tea party of 14,718 was held.


• Elmwood Inn has been commissioned by the National Archives to develop a tea that would replicate the tea thrown overboard during the Boston Tea Party. The tea will be sold in the Archives' gift shop.


• And in the "Maybe someday..." category, Den's Teas and Tea: A Magazine have announced a July tea tour to Japan. You can find details here. Visit 7 cities and taste 70 teas.

That's all for now! Off to make myself some tea.

Taken from http://teapages.blogspot.com/