ESTA has been participating for five years at Horeca Expo in the lovely city of Gent, and this year we were part of the Sweet Sensations feature.
COMPETITIONS
The winners of our two competitions, Kjell Muylle, new Belgian Matcha Latte Art Champion, and Annabelle Maes, new Tea Tasting Champion, will represent Belgium in the European Tea Championships at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival in April 2025. Congratulations to both of them!
Tea Tasting
Annabelle Maes, new Tea Tasting Champion
Tea Tasting Championship
CAFFÈ CULTURE SHOW
Getting Ready to Start
This is the 5th year that ESTA Hub has been a central part of the Caffè Culture, delivering a tea brew bar, education workshops, panel discussions and two tea competitions.
COMPETITIONS, The winners of our two competitions, Louis Suen, new UK Matcha Latte Art Champion, and Mero Lam, new Tea Tasting Champion, will represent the UK in the European Tea Championships at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival in April 2025. Congratulations to both of them!
EDUCATION, Oscar Woolley of Suki Tea and Gosia Lendzioszek of Matthew Algie held the Matcha Workshops where they explained and demonstrated practically the skills of preparing and whisking matcha and then adding milk to create latte art.
Matcha Workshop with Matthew Algie
PANEL DISCUSSIONS, We hold two panel discussions:
“The Rise of Matcha and its Opportunities” a panel of industry experts including Olivia Nottin of Matcha and Beyond, Emilie Holmes of Good and Proper, Allan Piret of Novus Tea and Oscar Woolley of Suki Tea.
“The Importance of Regenerative Farming in Tea” a different panel of experts, moderated by Annabel Kalmar of tea Rebellion.
Thanks once again to our sponsors who made it all possible
LONDON COFFEE FESTIVAL
ESTA had a presence at London Coffee Festival again this year, with members Tea Rebellion, Novus Good and Proper and Canton brewing their teas.
Annabel from Tea Rebellion describing her tea
Steve Lovegrove from Canton, brewing tea
We were also present on the Marco stand where Quinteassential’s Green Flamingo blend was cold brewed for 30 minutes before being dispensed with chilled sparkling water through Marco’s Pour’d cold brew system. It was very popular.
We had meetings with several potential members and a delegation from Ceylon Artisan Tea Association.
Marco Cold Brew Dispenser
Visitors queuing for cold brew tea
Nearly thirty delegates attended three workshops on How to Brew Tea Like a Pro which focussed on the four key areas of water quality, correct brewing temperatures, tea/water ratios and quality of tea
It was good to be at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival again and witness how many coffee people are now getting excited about tea. We brewed and served some delicious teas from China, Myanmar, Japan, Thailand, Nepal and many other countries, crowned the first Dutch Matcha Latte Art Champion and delivered workshops on How to Brew Tea Like a Pro.
Nearly 10,000 visitors attended the event, and eight volunteers, mainly from the Benelux chapter, helped to make it a great success for ESTA. Lorela Lohan, Joyce Maina, Annabelle Maes, Ann-Katrin Witt, Yang Ping, Irina Petrovska and Annemarie Tiemes brewed and served teas from Tanzania, Japan, China, Myanmar, Thailand and Nepal, all much appreciated and complimented by the visitors.
The first ever Dutch Matcha Late Art Championship was held, with 16 competitors going head to head in a knock out format. The two finalists were Anne van Renkum and Noëlle Meis, and the winner was Anne van Renkum. Congratulations!
Anne van Renkum and Noëlle Meis
Here is the winning moment for Anne as outlet as our three expert judges make their decision and our Superb host Wendelien van Bunnick announces the result.
Anne van Renkum won some Golden Chai from Bradleys Tea, ceremonial Matcha from Kaori, a matcha set from Mount Everest Tea, a bottle of champagne, a Teasy and a sensory kit from Brita and free membership and 500 Euros from ESTA.
A big thank you to all of our sponsors for supporting ESTA at this event. The enthusiasm for tea, given that it was a coffee event, was amazing.
Amsterdam Coffee Festival moves to a different venue next year and we hope to be there.
High Commissioner Bogollagama, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in the UK, meets with the European Speciality Tea Association
In line with Sri Lanka’s participation at the International Food Exhibition (IFE) 2024 held at London- ExCell, on 26.3.2024, His Excellency Rohitha Bogollagama, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in the UK, joined by Mr. Niraj de Mell, Chairman of Sri Lanka Tea Board, met with the Board Directors of the European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA) at the High Commission of Sri Lanka in London.
High Commissioner Bogollagama welcomed the ESTA and CATA to the High Commission and appreciated their commitment to the speciality tea world wide and the assistance and the ideas being generated in promoting Ceylon Tea, while closely associating with the authorities in Sri Lanka and the tea indutry in Sri Lanka.
It was discussed in detail that Sri Lanka needs to refocus in promoting and regaining the UK tea market through various collaborations and joint actions based on the dynamics and the consumer preferences of the tea market in the UK. Mr. Mel requested the ESTA to be the link point in regaining Ceylon tea market in general and invited the ESTA members to attend the International Tea Convention in Colombo in July 2024.
Taking actions to upgrade the quality, standards, and the new technology, innovatives in the tea industry while protecting the indigenous methods, the ethical practices and the focused manufacturing and branding etc, in the tea plantations and to focus on speciality tea promotions in the UK was discussed. The ESTA already presented a draft MOU in this regard to the Sri Lanka Tea Board and it was agreed to continue the interactions. A Working Commitee to achieve such collaboration was proposed by High Commissioner Bogollagama together with required deep studies, researches etc, in order to penetrate the market.
Mr. Nigel Melican, President of the ESTA, together with its Executive Director Mr. David Veal and the other directors and members of the ESTA who attended this interactive meeting mentioned that they are pleased to work with the High Commission to take forward the ideas generated to a strategy called ” Ceylon Tea, to make fashionable again”
The meeting was also attended by Mr. Simon Nihal Bell, Chairman of Ceylon Artisonal Tea Association (CATA) who contributed with important ideas on the development of the speciality tea sector from Sri Lanka’s view point.
After this meeting the directors and the members of the ESTA attended the Ceylon Tea and Sri Lanka Food Business Networking reception held at the High Commission which was attended by nearly 100 members of the UK tea and food trade, senior UK officials including the Department of Business and Trade and the Commonwealth related bodies, trade chamber representatives, media and influencers, and also the exhibitors who came from Sri Lanka to showcase their products at 02 pavillions of the Sri Lanka Tea Board and Sri Lanka Export Development Board at the IFE London 2024.
Sri Lanka High Commission
London
26 March 2024
The Benelux Chapter of ESTA has successfully held the first Dutch Tea Tasting Championship at Horecava in Amsterdam kindly sponsored by BRITA Group, Mount Everest Tea Company GmbH, and Bradley’s (Tea Reinvented).
The results of the Championship were:
Third place: Thomas Vos from J D Peet’s
Second place: Frans van den Berg from Barista Brothers
First place and Dutch Tea Tasting Champion: Niels de Vaanhold from Mocca d’Or
The first Dutch Tea Tasting Champion Niels te Vaanhold (right) receives an ESTA voucher from Jeroen Van Den Bosche (left) of sponsors Brita Benelux
Thanks once again to our sponsors who made it all possible
PAST EVENTS 2023
HORECA EXPO GHENT
Bart Deprez of Viva Sara became the first Belgian ESTA Tea Tasting Champion at Horeca Expo in Ghent.
Congratulations Bart! and well done to the ESTA Benelux Chapter for organaising this event.
Tea Tasting Competition participants
Tea Tasting competion
COMPETITIONS
Cupping Competition
Matcha Latte Art Competition
EVENT SPONSORS
WAKOCHA GRAND TOUR
Tokyo Tea Blenders Wakocha Grand Tour in Europe started in London on 10th November.
Tokyo Tea Blenders LLC and tea farmers Etsuro Masui, Hiroki Matsumoto and Toshifumi Shibamoto showcased Japanese teas we rarely find in Europe.
Etsuro Masui, Toshifumi Shibamoto and Hiroki Matsumoto
Tokyo Tea Blenders works with high-quality organic wakocha producers. They're bringing different wakocha produced with many different cultivars.
Masui, considered one of the wakocha revival pioneers, is an unconventional tea farmer producing GABA wakocha and withering green tea (made with withering leaves).
Matsumoto creates smoked teas using different types of wood chips, from whisky barrels to cherry trees.
Toshifumi is specialised in kamairicha, tea produced by pan-fry the tea leaves instead of steaming, the traditional method in Japan. He also produces white tea and honey scented black tea.
Next stop was Paris on 14th and 15th November and then Berlin from 17th to 19th at the Berlin Tea Festival.
CAFFÈ CULTURE 2023
CAFFÈ CULTURE 2023 was another successful event where we were able to fulfil our mission of promoting speciality tea and ESTA through education and engaging with visitors through several exciting activities
WE SIGNED UP NEW MEMBERS including Bohea Teas and Baiji, and all of the competitors in our two competitions received a year’s complimentary membership.
Matcha Latte Art Competition
TWO NEW COMPETITIONS, Matcha Latte Art and Tea Tasting were a great success and very popular with visitors and competitors alike
Tea Tasters Competition
Matcha Latte Art Competition
Matcha Latte Art Finalists
Tea Tasting Finalists
EDUCATION took the form of a Tea Barista Foundation workshop delivered by Oscar Woolley of Suki Teas.
Tea Barista Foundation Workshop
PANEL DISCUSSIONS, moderated by Annabel Kalmar of Tea Rebellion, covered the topics of Speciality v Commodity and Tea v Coffee, the latter of which can be heard here
Speciality v Commodity Panel
PANEL DISCUSSION
Coffee v Tea; Are they similar? Are they completely different? Can they learn from one another?
LISTEN TO RECORDINGS FROM THE VERY SUCCESSFUL TEA v COFFEE DISCUSSION HELD AT CAFFE CULTURE MODERATED BY ANNABEL KALMAR OF TEA REBELLION AND SPONSORED BY QUINTEASSENTIAL
Kai Ellerbrock of Market Grounds
Kai Ellerbrock of Market Grounds says that the profit margins that are in tea are higher than those in coffee, especially when you take into account the cost of machinery for making coffee.
Annabel Kalmar of Tea Rebellion and Oscar Woolley speak about the importance of tea training not being underestimated.
Oscar Woolley of Suki Tea
Oscar Woolley of Suki Tea discloses that the average price of a teabag tea in Cafes is £2.20 whereas the average price for loose leaf is £2.97, giving a much higher margin. Yet still coffee shops are willing to make a lower margin on tea than they are on coffee.
Kai Ellerbrock explains how using similar methods to teabag manufacture will allow a good quicker brew as long as good quality loose leaf tea is used.
Alan Piret of Novus Tea
Alan Piret of Novus Tea describes how after training staff on tea in three hotels and energising and enthusing them within three weeks tea sales increased by 200%.
Camila Morgan of Victoria Arduino and Alan Piret
Alan Piret and Camilla Morgan of Victoria Arduino answer a question regarding technological advances in the timing of tea brewing.
Tea v Coffee Discussion Panel
Listen to the whole recording
Thanks once again to our sponsors who made it all possible
SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT YEAR!
EUROPEAN TEA DAY
The inaugural European Tea Day took place at the Belfius Bank in Brussels on 2nd June with an introduction from Ellen Joncheere, President of The South African Chamber of Commerce who sponsored the event, and presentations from Lorela Lohan from Wanderlus Tea on the European tea market, David Veal of ESTA on the power of the tea community in Europe, Stijn Van Schoonlandt of Kruze Tea and Coffee on tea entrepreneuring in Belgium, Edouard Malbois of Grands Jardin on tea and food pairing and introducing speciality tea as an alternative to wine in the hospitality sector, Han Meerburg from Carmién on expanding rooibos in international markets, and Katrina Wild and Gundega Silniece from Tea Tea Me on innovative ways of attracting a new tea generation.
The presentations were followed by a tea and food pairing session and then cupping and tasting of some beautiful teas. Several ESTA members attended and this first European Tea Day, organised by Lorela Lohan and supported by European Speciality Tea Association, was a great success.
Tea tasting
INTERNATIONAL TEA DAY - World Tea Sipping Event
Raising a cup for women in tea
Thanks to everyone who did participate and made it such a good event, and a special thanks to those who donated and helped us exceed our target of £1,000 which will go to supporting education for women in the tea industry in Malawi and Nepal.
HOW THE DONATIONS WILL BE USED
All of the donations will go to education for women in tea, specifically in Malawi through the Rare Foundation, and in Nepal through the Nepal tea Foundation. Details of these two organisations and links are below. To learn how the donations will be used, visit International Development HERE
RARE CHARITY
Talented young people from tea communities are passionate to continue their education, but for many this is not possible without additional support. Malawi, where Rare Charity focuses our work, has the second lowest enrolment in tertiary education in the world.
Through tailored assistance we remove the barriers and pressures our scholars experience. This allows them to focus on and succeed in their studies, and develop the self-belief to realise positive change for themselves and their communities.
Because of the significant and distinct challenges they experience in continuing education, 50% of our tertiary scholarships are reserved for women. 100% of secondary scholarships are for girls, increasing the number of women finishing school and applying to further education.
Through our dedicated support we have achieved a 100% completion rate, with our scholars excelling in their studies and tertiary graduates moving into professional careers.
There are many more passionate young people in the communities around Satemwa, and we receive more applications for support than we can currently accept. Each kind donation contributes towards access to education for another talented scholar.
NEPAL TEA FOUNDATION
NEPAL TEA FOUNDATION AIMS TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO MOBILIZE THE CURRENT GENERATION THROUGH EMPLOYMENT AND TO EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATION THROUGH EDUCATION.
Founded in March 2019, our organization believes positive impacts should be sustainable, interconnected, and holistic. In breaking down barriers that confine working-class communities, we target three key focus areas – Poverty, Literacy, and Community Growth and lead multiple initiatives that focus on creating subsistent opportunities and expanding access to education at the grassroots.
ESTA members enjoyed a successful event at Catex in Dublin delivering tea tastings, workshops and educational presentations
Jeorg Mueller from Solaris Botanicals discussing tea and botanicals with a visitor
Presentation of one of the tea masterclasses
Oscar Woolley of Suki Tea unlocking the potential of tea with young visitors
Oscar promoting speciality tea
The ESTA Brewbar was supported by Marco Beverage Systems, Brita Professional, Suki tea, Irish Food Service Association and Eventhaus.
Julia Murray of Bewleys presenting the six categories of tea
White, yellow, green, black, oolong and fermented teas
PAST EVENTS 2022
CAFÉ SHOW SEOUL
ESTA participated in the Café Show in Seoul, South Korea, for the first time in November 2022 where Annemarie Tiemes held a class, sponsored by our members Handybrew to certify 16 students in Introduction to Tea.
These were our first certifications in Asia and we hope that these are the first of many as we now have six Authorised Tea Certifiers based in Asia and Australasia. We also have Certifiers in Africa and North America as well as those in Europe.
Café Show Seoul is one of the biggest events in Asia dedicated to coffee and tea so we were pleased to be invited to participate. Handybrew, based in Taiwan are long standing pioneer members and supporters and donated their new style tea brewers for use in the workshop.
We hope to be back in Korea in 2023!
We had a very successful event at Horeca Expo in Ghent in November 22 in partnership with and supported by Brita Professional Benelux and Viva Sara. Teas were sampled and compared, presentations were made and new members were welcomed.
One of the most pleasing aspects of the event was how it brought many Belgian members together for the first time, and as always plenty of business and social networking took place. It was agreed that, as part of the rejuvenation of the Benelux chapter, a meeting for members and guests will be held in Ghent in April 2023.
Thanks to our Sponsors Brita and also our volunteers Carol Bailleul, Ines Geerts, Irina Petrova, Anna Zemzulinya and Sergey from Moy Chai, Hans Verhoosel from Lulin Tea and Thee Faktorie, Annabelle Maes from Kaori, Wouter Gryson from Valley of Tea, Yang Ping and Chenlin from Cha Moods, Wouter Verelst from Setamwa and Lorela Lohan from Wanderlust Tea.
NISHCHAL BANSKOTA NEPAL TEA
What an amazing show at the Caffè Culture Show!
It was my first visit to #London and I was amazed at the co-existence of the #coffee and #tea culture there! While the show was primarily dominated by coffee in general, the tea companies/varieties represented really did play an important role in showcasing the evolution of tea. From the classic English breakfast to tea sodas almost the full spectrum was represented!
I had the immense privilege to represent two amazing organizations that i am a part of!
First, European Speciality Tea Association (European Tea Society) ESTA, as a newly elected board member, it was amazing to finally meet the people who run such an incredible organization! David Veal Bernadine Tay Alexis Elizabeth Kaae Oscar Woolley Ajit Madan. I dearly missed you Nigel Melican Steve Lovegrove Willem Huisman Sharyn Johnston Joyce Maina Gundega Silniece Wouter Verelst Will Battle and wish to meet you sometime soon.
ESTA is on a mission to create and inspire excellence in the speciality tea community through innovation, research, education and communication. If you are in the tea industry or are thinking of joining the tea industry, you’ll find ESTA to be super valuable. DM me or just comment below if you need more info on the org, happy to explain what we’re all about!
Second, my own company Nepal Tea Collective | We're Raising along with our head of growth/strategy Amigo Khadka. We sampled our award winning teas from the Himalayas that won the hearts of many and we’re delighted to form new partnerships to create a global identity for Nepali teas!
It was amazing to meet so many of our partners in London, esp. Annabel Kalmar from Tea Rebellion and Allison Tran from The Karma Tea Co. who have truly been playing such an important role in not just supporting our work but echoing the identity and values of Nepali teas all over the #UK! I couldn’t be more thankful for having such amazing #leaders in the tea industry!
As with any tea shows, I made a lot of new tea friends and I am excited to be working with you all in the near future! Lorela Lohan Angie, James Sharplin, Paul Eagles, Dr. Mung Yuen Li.
If you’re in the tea industry and you’re looking for some award winning teas directly from the producers of #Nepal, do get in touch! We’re actively looking for partnerships in the #US and beyond!
https://bit.ly/3QEGTsL
PAST EVENTS 2021
ESTA exhibited at Horeca Expo Ghent in late November 2021, hosted by Willem Huisman and his team from Brita and supported by members of the Benelux Chapter. As well as tea cuppings we were offering tea cocktails mixed by Kiona Malinka and tea brewed through Aeropress by Wendelien van Bunnik, the current World Aeropress champion. Peter Deprez of Viva Sara presented about ESTA at the Coffee and Tea Academy. We hope to have an even bigger presence next year.
It was good to be involved with Catex as the Irish Horeca community got together for the first time in nearly two years. Our large brew bar was located just opposite the SCA competition stage which we were able to use on the third day to deliver presentations by Nigel Melican, Oscar Woolley and David Veal and a tasting workshop by Diana Riquel.
At the brew bar the aroma competition was popular as always and was won by Peter Garland of Sextons Bar and Bistro in Dundalk. Several new members joined us with even more showing interest in doing so.
A special thanks also to Joseph Smith, the National Coordinator of the Irish chapter and his volunteers for organising the event and also thank you to our sponsors Marco, Brita, Catex and IFSA for making it possible.
A wide range of speciality teas were provided by Bewleys, Clement and Pekoe, Nik’s Tea, Java Republic, Suki Tea, My Tea workshop and Solaris. Thanks to all of those members for their support.
DANIEL VERSEY OF MARCO RECEIVING HIS PIONEER PLAQUE FROM DAVID VEAL
Caffe Culture Show was a successful event for ESTA, we received many compliments for our very impressive Speciality Tea Hub which dominated the main exhibition hall.
We had 22 volunteers helping us to promote speciality tea through a number of highly interactive and successful activities. In fact one of the most positive aspects of the show was the way that our volunteer members, most of whom had never met before, bonded and worked together as a team, creating a really professional and convivial atmosphere.
Many fantastic tea samples were shared with visitors by our brewing team led by Ash Reda of Camellias, assisted by Katie Coleman, Aurea Ruiz of Whittards of Chelsea, Jo Harper and Kathryn Bennett of Dartmoor Estate Tea and Harriet Lamyman of Fine Tea Merchants. Teas sampled included Jun Chiyabari Nepalese First Flush (only 30kg in total were produced), Gong Ting (Palace Puerh) Shu Puerh Cake from Yunnan, Baolam/Dalat Oolong from Vietnam and White Bud Puerh, also from Yunnan, amongst many others.
On the Innovation section of the Hub Stewart Johnson from Reginald Aimes was demonstrating nitro tea and cold brew, whilst Amy Gallagher of LuLin Tea was Mistress of Mixology using her own speciality teas and alcohol from Bushmills.
Alexis Kaae of Simply Tea in Denmark was responsible for demonstrating the various attributes and flavours of the six categories of tea, and with her daughter Natascha presented two matcha whisking workshops followed by the first ever UK Matcha Whisking Championship with nine competitors, won by Gosia Lendzioszek of Matthew Algie who becomes the UK Matcha Whisking Champion! The competition was judged by Alexis and Natascha as well as Oscar Woolley of Suki Tea and Marc Pierre Dietrich of TeaSmiths.
Tea and Food pairing and more tea sampling were offered by Tracey Jackson and Karen Robinson of Marco Beverage Systems, assisted by Phyu Thwe of Mogok Tea who became a member after the show. Marco also provided the hot water dispensers for brewing the tea, and the water specially formulated for speciality tea was provided by Brita Professional Systems, represented by Samantha Scoles and Gary Norwood who were on hand to answer any technical questions about water standards.
One of the most popular activities was our aroma workshop and competition where we invited visitors to smell six different aromas including rose, tobacco and fresh grass from our Tea Sensory Kit developed in collaboration with Lucta. Good fun but also a great educational tool for learning about the sensory aspects of tea.
We launched four products for sale at the event, the Handybrew teapot, Teasy on the move brewer, ESTA sensory kit and tea flavour wheel, and Michelle Hawkins and Denise Alborough of the ESTA executive were on hand to handle sales as well as membership enquiries.
Three members, Sunbird Rooibos, Jade Tea (Teasy) and Teasmiths had small commercial pods to promote their products, and since the show as well as the aforementioned Mogok three other companies have joined us, Pekoe Tea, Novus Tea and Karma Tea, with several more also about to join. Thank you to you all. And a thankyou to Hans Verhoosel and Amy Gallagher of LuLin
Finally the volunteer and other members were able to relax at our members reception hosted by Katy Woolard of Whittards of Chelsea, at one of their central London stores, who provided a warm welcome, food, wine, beer, and of course speciality tea!
