LEVELLING UP COFFEE AND TEA

NEW ISSUE 11 OF EIGHTY DEGREES TEA MAGAZINE

To win a free copy of Issue 11 send the answer to this question to hello@specialityteaeurope.com.

In which country do Honeybush and Rooibos grow?

One correct answer will be drawn and we will send a free copy to the winner.

Hello to Issue 11!

When you think you’ve seen it all in publishing a magazine independently, there will always be new challenges that hit you. I was excited to have this issue done and dusted in November, but then printing machines broke down and a straight-forward process became a nerve-racking waiting game. Three weeks later, here we are and I am positive you will find the new issue worth the wait!

To learn about tea, one has to learn about cultures, countries, and histories. And this issue has it all. It’s perhaps the most travelled one with stories from all corners of the world.

We start in Darjeeling to sample the ‘Champagne of tea’, as they say. We venture to Tokyo for, counterintuitively, a cup of chai. We crisscross South America in a quest to unravel the complicated story of yerba mate, and see how a farmer in Argentina is hoping to elevate the country’s tea culture while preserving its natural heritage.

We analyse the factors that make it challenging to obtain Lao tea outside the country, exploring what works and what doesn’t in the tea industry of Laos. We speak to tea business owners in Georgia, US, about how tea can be used as a vehicle for self-care.

Nature will take over once again as we stroll through a forest to observe the minute details of the ever-changing ecosystems. An ikebana master shows us how to pay attention and how to bring a piece of nature into our homes.

A synesthete tells us about what it’s like to not only hear words, but to taste them, and how to synthesise them into teas that spur long-forgotten memories.

To ground us back from this mind-altering journey, a newly-minted father challenges the idea of a perfect tea moment under the constant distraction of his young children.

Last, but not least, we have listened to your burning tea questions and have had various experts answer them for you. Plus, we have a brand new playlist made for you in the theme of Issue 11.

Issue 11 is now available to pre-order, and will ship on 2nd January 2024 to avoid delays during the festive season.

— Martin, founder of Eighty Degrees

June 2nd 2021

European Speciality Tea Association has appointed two new Directors to its board, Ajit Madan based in London and Joyce Maina originally from Kenya, now living and working in the UK.

Ajit established Camellia’s Tea House as a leading player in the specialty and wellness tea market from a standing start in the U.K, Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea. Operations encompassed domestic and international wholesale/trade sales to premium hotels, hospitals and spas, two retail stores and a multiple international website business.  He has created and developed an international premium consumer brand with sales in the UK, EU, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, developing and building a core offering of tea products including innovative health tea concepts, all centered around wellness, sustainability and health.

Ajit said:  ‘I very much look forward to working with  the team at ESTA, there are exciting times ahead and I hope I can contribute well to the vision that the Board have’.

Having worked with many of the larger tea companies such as Taylors, Unilever, Twinings and Tetley, Joyce founded Cambridge Tea Consultancy in 2019, specialising in such areas as tea business advisory services, education, training and communications, media and PR, strategy building and implementation including tea sourcing, buying, blending and marketing. 

Joyce said: ‘I am excited to work with everyone to continue to raise the profile and the standards of speciality tea. I admire the work that European Speciality Tea Association has done so far and their achievements, and look forward to us doing even more together in the future.’ 

To join European Speciality Tea Association visit the website at www.specialityteaeurope.com and click on the membership tab for further details 

David Veal. Executive Director of ESTA commented ‘There is so much work to do as our association expands rapidly and the addition of these two first class members to our board will add much value and experience to our mission’. 

ENDS

For further information please contact the European Speciality Tea Association Communications team at hello@specialityteaeurope.com

October 16th 2020

NEW DIRECTOR APPOINTMENT

European Speciality Tea Association last week appointed a new director to the board, Sharyn Johnston, CEO and founder of Australian Tea Masters based in Geelong, Victoria. Sharyn, who has been a member of the association for a year and collaborated with the association on the TEA101 online education module, brings her skills, knowledge, experience and passion for tea as well as an extensive network of contacts around the world, especially in Australia and South East Asia.

Sharyn said I was delighted and honoured to be invited to join the board of European Speciality Tea Association. I am looking forward to helping them to grow the speciality tea community and promote speciality tea and also to link consumers with tea 

David Veal, Executive Director of European Speciality Tea Association added we are still a young, but growing association and Sharyn’s wealth of experience and knowledge will undoubtedly help us achieve our mission and objectives sooner than we would have done. We all look forward to working with her.

 To join European Speciality Tea Association visit the website at www.specialityteaeurope.com and click on the membership tab for further details

For further information please contact the European Speciality Tea Association Communications team on +44 (0)1244 515610 or email hello@specialityteaeurope.com

12th October 2020

EUROPEAN SPECIALITY TEA ASSOCIATION

LAUNCHES NEW PRODUCER MEMBER CATEGORY

European Speciality Tea Association has launched a new category of membership aimed at producer members both in traditional tea growing countries and also in Europe. Tea producers will be able to join and their membership fee will be calculated according to the size and production level of their tea garden as well as other factors, making it much more accessible to smaller growers. As well as receiving the same benefits as other members producers will also receive an exclusive document entitled Small Producers – Planning Guidelines written by the well-respected tea consultant and President of the association Nigel Melican. This will provide start-up producers with invaluable practical advice.

Dan Versey, Director and Leader of the Producers Working Group for European Speciality Tea Association said  We are really excited about this new initiative, and feel that the new member benefit package will be a great help to new or just started small producers in traditional countries but particularly those in Europe.

Nigel Melican, Co-Founder of European Speciality Tea Association and CEO of Teacraft added one of our objectives when the association was conceived was to engage with and support tea producers so this is a particularly important milestone for European Speciality Tea Association. As I have been working with tea producers around the world for the last forty years I am personally proud that as an association we shall be able to work with them in the future.

To join European Speciality Tea Association visit the website at www.specialityteaeurope.com and click on the membership tab for further details

ENDS

For further information please contact the European Speciality Tea Association Communications team on +44 (0)1244 515610 or email hello@specialityteaeurope.com

26th August 2020.

EUROPEAN SPECIALITY TEA ASSOCIATION LAUNCHES TEA 101

European Speciality Tea Association has launched an online introductory tea education seminar, TEA 101 in collaboration with Australian Tea Masters, specifically aimed at entry level tea students who are not able to attend traditional tea education courses due to the current pandemic situation.

The course, which can be completed in one or several visits was developed by Australian Tea Masters and has been successfully delivered by them for several years. The European Speciality Tea Association version was amended to suit European markets, the course is offered free of charge to their members and has a cost of 45 Euros (£40) for non-members. All successful students will be awarded a certificate jointly issued by both bodies.

Alexis Kaae, Vice President and Head of Education for European Speciality Tea Association said “We had not originally planned anything like this as our main focus is developing our Tea Certification Programme which will be launched later this year, but we felt that offering TEA 101 to our members and other tea students who are unable to attend training in person would be beneficial to them, and early results are very encouraging .”

Sharyn Johnston, CEO and Founder of Australian Tea Masters added “As members of European Speciality Tea Association we wanted to support them in the education of tea beginners in Europe so we were happy to share our experience and success with TEA 101 with them.”

To join TEA 101 visit the website at www.specialityteaeurope.com and click on the education tab for further details

ENDS

For further information please contact the European Speciality Tea Association Communications team on +44 (0)1244 515610 or email hello@specialityteaeurope.com

Notes to editors

European Speciality Tea Association

European Speciality Tea Association is an inclusive organisation whose mission is to create and inspire excellence in the speciality tea community through innovation, research, education and communication.

EUROPEAN SPECIALITY TEA ASSOCIATION

  What is the new name? European Speciality Tea Association

When does the new name become effective? 1 July 2020

Where can we get more information? specialityteaeurope.com hello@specialityteaeurope.com, tel: +44 (0) 1244 515610

From 1st July 2020 the name of the European Tea Society is changing to the European Speciality Tea Association. This change comes following an overwhelming vote by the association’s members at the Annual General Meeting on 20th May 2020.

The rationale behind this decision is to more accurately reflect the nature and purpose of the association as follows;

1)   The word ‘association’ is an inclusive and contemporary word, one that aligns with the values of the organisation, which are totally inclusive.

2)      The word ‘association’ describes much more accurately what the organisation is, which is a members association.

3)     ‘Speciality Tea’ is very much at the heart of what the organisation does and believes in. It is enshrined in the association’s Charter and mission and is now appropriately reflected in the name.

Whilst the logo, branding and house style will remain unchanged to help promote consistency and continuity, there will be significant changes in many areas of the association.

A new three year strategic plan will continue to foster growth and improvement and support us becoming an association with the following Identity:

•       The European Speciality Tea Association is a modern, efficient, inclusive, ethical, professional, member facing, committee-driven and volunteer led membership association

•       We work closely in forming, and indeed leading relationships with other tea associations and organisations

•       We focus on promoting excellence and are at the forefront of the continuing quest to improve standards, quality, knowledge, information interest and enthusiasm for speciality tea

•       We are respected throughout the tea community with strong credibility and reputation and are an inspiration to others

•       Our members continue to make a real difference to the quality of products in our industry and to the end users in and out of the home; internationally through innovation, research, education, communication, collaboration, support and knowledge; for all sectors of members from farmers to consumers

•       We represent our members well and with integrity directly and through intermediate routes e.g. chapters

•       We have our strategic focus in Europe, our core market, and are also active, either independently or in collaboration with others, opportunistically in other areas around the world commercially and in accordance with our values

•       We provide and participate in a range of international events which engage the speciality tea community and promote tea excellence in our industry

•       This is achieved through focussed vision, management and execution, supported by a strong committee structure including membership, education, research, events and communications, but also marketing, international development as well as us fully engaging with our volunteers

•       We are happy in our own skin and comfortable with our role within the tea community whilst being ambitious to achieve new objectives

In order to grow our membership, to make the association stronger, and assist in our mission to promote speciality tea we will be initiating a major membership drive to reach new and potential members across Europe.

We will be introducing new membership categories, one for producers in tea growing countries, and one for a new type of person in the tea community, the Tea Barista.

As our membership grows, we will be looking to recruit members in some new and exciting regions, for instance Russia. And, when we have sufficient members in a given country, open up a chapter to help those members network and organise events.

Once the world starts to get back to some sort of normality we will resume our strategy of attending events around Europe in order to promote the association, promote speciality tea, engage with local tea communities, gain new members and deliver knowledge. We will also be looking to increase the number of competitions that we organise, this being such a wonderful tool for improving the quality of tea and bringing communities together.

Education and research are at the very core of the association’s value and mission, and we will be working extremely hard on our initiatives here, helped and supported by our growing team of volunteers. We are just in the process of launching an online basic module, Tea 101, in conjunction with Australian Tea Masters, it is aimed at beginners and is really to help people who because of current restrictions of movement are not able to partake in more traditional methods of tea education. This module will be free of charge to European Speciality Tea Association members.

Our main focus however is on launching our Tea Certification Programme, which will be delivered through our members who are trainers, or who have schools or academies, and will cover a number of disciplines at two different levels including Camellia sinensis, brewing skills, sensory skills, botanicals, tea barista skills, health and agronomy. A standalone Introduction to Tea will be available after June, and the main programme will be launched as soon as things are back to normal, most likely in early 2021. New volunteers for the groups creating the various modules are still welcome.

Supporting our education programme of course will be an equally important research programme which hopefully will develop our understanding of many aspects of tea, including claimed health benefits and the importance of full understanding of water. We are based at the University of Chester and have access to sensory laboratories both for European Speciality Tea Association research and that of our members. We also hope to be able to collaborate with various universities around Europe.

So much happening, so much to do! These are exciting times in the tea community, certainly in speciality tea, and European Speciality Tea Association aims to be at the forefront of the growth and development of the community. We need those people in tea who share our values and aspirations to join us, so if that is you, and you are not yet a member, then please talk to us, we would love you to be part of our movement. If you are already a member, thank you, please tell your friends and colleagues about us, and encourage them to join.

David Veal Executive Director

European Speciality Tea Association Board June 2020

PRESS RELEASE: EUROPEAN TEA SOCIETY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

European Tea Society to inspire a new movement in speciality tea.

London UK, October 2019 The European Tea Society, initially conceived in 2017 and presented to industry professionals in 2018, is to extend its membership offering to the wider European tea community with its launch to tea professionals at Caffe Culture in London, October 2019. This places the organisation in a unique position to link the entire tea value chain, from growers in producing countries through to wholesalers, retailers, hospitality, and tea enthusiasts in consuming countries.

European Tea Society is a not for profit and inclusive membership association whose mission is to create and inspire excellence in the speciality tea community through innovation, research, education and communication. With significant change taking place across the tea industry, both internationally as well as Europe, the European Tea Society is harnessing this movement to drive and motivate the speciality sector for the promotion and development of high quality teas and botanicals across the world.

Its members are a group of dedicated, enthusiastic and focused tea professionals from around the world who recognize the new direction that the tea industry is taking and are harnessing this movement in order to inspire, drive and influence the development of this sector of the tea industry.

European Tea Society’s patron, Jane Pettigrew says “Just as the speciality coffee industry has impressed the world with its system of training, quality standards, knowledge and education, so the European Tea Society is poised to take Europe – and possibly the World – by storm and help ensure that bad tea becomes a thing of the past and good quality, speciality tea takes over and becomes the norm in tearooms, cafes, restaurants, hotels and at home’.

As a new service for the tea industry, European Tea Society will in the first instance  provide a  platform for uniting the tea community, allowing different stakeholders in tea    to network, engage, teach, learn and become empowered to embrace speciality as a  concept. Secondly, it will continuously promote quality at all levels of the tea value chain.

The transfer of knowledge will be at the very heart of its membership, be it through education, research or events. A brand new education and certification program, covering all aspects of tea and botanicals, and set to the highest standards, will be launched in 2020. Alongside this is a webinar education series covering a range of specialist topics.

Inspiring innovation is another key pillar of the association, facilitated by its recent partnership with NoWFOODS, the University of Chester’s food innovation centre.

Members will be able to work with food and sensory scientists at the innovation centre under discounted rates, for new product development and nutritional analysis as well as other research opportunities.

 At a time when communities across the world are becoming increasingly divided and divisive, European Tea Society President Nigel Melican says ‘Geography is of no consequence. We embrace tea’s history and traditions, whilst evolving and championing European ideas and experience. Our aims are to enable sustainable growth of the European tea market, while guiding members through an ever-changing global marketplace.”

Membership is open to both professionals and enthusiasts who are encouraged to become part of this exciting movement by joining now.

European Tea Society launches to professionals at Caffe Culture, Design Centre, Islington, London on 28th October 2019. For further information and to join The European Tea Society, please visit: www.europeanteasociety.org

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 For media enquiries, please contact:

 David Veal Executive Director d.veal@europeanteasociety.org