Tea Travels
Strange, isn’t it? How random, seemingly insignificant events sometimes lead to some of life’s biggest blessings? Like how I met my husband for the first time, all because I decided to improve my writing ability. Or, for that fact, the time a work friend shared a tea bag with me, simply because I happened to mention to her that I liked tea one day.
Mind you, when I told her that I liked tea, my experience of tea up to that point was pretty much limited to a strongly brewed black tea, sometimes with the additional organic green thrown in. A peppermint or chamomile if I was feeling fancy, and a rooibos if I was feeling particularly exotic. I had absolutely no conceptual understanding at all of ‘blends’.
I remember the exact tea she gave me too. It was a Madam Flavour Green Tea with Pear and Jasmine. I’ll be brutally honest, I didn’t care for it, the jasmine was way too pungent, BUT - I was intrigued. Three flavours in the one bag? Mind. Blown.
I began blogging about my own tea adventures, primitive as they were (seriously, while all the other bloggers were out there raving about their latest Matcha, I’m still in the corner trying to pronounce Pu’Erh...), as a fun way of documenting my ever growing tea shelf. What I didn’t realise though, was that I was also beginning to learn.
I was learning all kinds of phenomenal things about tea and it’s place in our society. I was learning about its amazing health benefits, about its charisma, its ability to bring peace and calm to the soul and the way that when all else fails, it is a universal language with the power to bind us together. Incidentally, I also learned that all my life I’ve been steeping green tea fantastically incorrectly. No wonder mine always tasted so bitter - I thought it was supposed to taste like that!
My experiences, though, have not been limited to simply gaining a knowledge of tea. Over the last few months, I have met some of the most beautifully wonderful people that I’ve ever met in my life. Blenders, fellow tea enthusiasts - I’ve enjoyed every minute of getting to know them and soaking up the wealth of inspiration and diversity that they bring to the tea world. To MY tea world.
I’ve also become very passionate about our vibrant tea community right here in Australia. It is my ardent belief that we have so much to offer the world with our tea. Not only do we have a great community of dedicated and knowledgeable tea drinkers, but we have some of the most talented tea blenders and tea growers in the world too. It is a beautiful community that has welcomed and encouraged me during my little tea adventure so far. It has now become my fervent mission to do whatever I can to support that community - however small or insignificant it may seem. Sometimes you know, it's the insignificant things that lead to greater blessings. So the journey continues...
* Tania Pritchard is a tea enthusiast with an interest in health and wellness. We love her take on all things tea & she is a regular contributor to our blog.
Tania is not a qualified health practitioner. Always consult a heath professional before deciding if a health product is right for you.