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.

A group of people standing, one has a trophy in his hands — **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.

A person preapring the matcha latte, three people taking notes and some people taking pictures with thier mobile phones — 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

Three people, wearing red glasses are tasting tea with a spoon. There are a lot of cups for tasting — Tea Tasters Competition

A man is making a matcha latte, some people around are watching and taking pictures — Matcha Latte Art Competition

Three finalists holding their awards and surrounded by two of the sponsors — Matcha Latte Art Finalists

The three finalists holding awards in their hands — Tea Tasting Finalists

EDUCATION took the form of a Tea Barista Foundation workshop delivered by Oscar Woolley of Suki Teas.

Five perople around a table. There is a bottle of cold brew tea and glasses with tea — 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

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 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 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 describes how after training staff on tea in three hotels and energising and enthusing them within three weeks tea sales increased by 200%.

Alan Piret is talking and Camila is beside him — 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.

A man is talking with a microphone. There are 4 other people around him in front of some people who are listening. All of them are sitting. — 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.

Lorela Lohan presenting (Copy)

David Veal presenting (Copy)

Stijn Van Schoonlandt presenting (Copy)

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.

A person is sniffing a liquid from a wine glass. Theres a table with bottles. There are few people around — 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

Five secondary student girls outside laughing

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.

https://www.rarecharity.com/

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.

Students girls in uniform walking outside

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.

https://www.nepalteafoundation.org/

ESTA members enjoyed a successful event at Catex in Dublin delivering tea tastings, workshops and educational presentations

Two people talking at the ESTA stand — Jeorg Mueller from Solaris Botanicals discussing tea and botanicals with a visitor

A person is writing on a blackboard "tea masterclass" — Presentation of one of the tea masterclasses

A person sitting at a table talking to other three people sitting in front of — 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.

A person is pouring water from a kettle at the ESTA stand. Few other people looking — Julia Murray of Bewleys presenting the six categories of tea

Six bowls with the six different categories of tea — White, yellow, green, black, oolong and fermented teas