STI Advisory Board Member Gail Gastelu Reports on Ceylon Tea, Part 3

Peter Goggi, President STI and Tea Association of the U.S.A, Inc., attended a Vietnam Trade Meeting with Swiss counsellor and the Vietnam Ambassador in attendance.

STI Advisory Board Member Gail Gastelu Reports on Ceylon Tea, Part 2

Since my last post, I’ve been working hard to organize over 2500 photos, videos, and mountains of information about Ceylon tea. There is much work to be done and I hope you continue to follow the tale of my January 2017 trip to Sri Lanka.  (If you are a member of STI, be sure to access and read your complimentary March/April issue of The Tea House Times featuring Ceylon tea! –emailed to members). Today, here, I would like to discuss taste. If anyone understands this at all, it is certainly members of STI and/or the Tea Assoc. of the USA.

Here at the Tea Association and Specialty Tea Institute, we are driven to support the entire U.S. tea industry and strive to ensure that Accurate Tea information is made public.  At the heart of this are our STI Certified Tea Specialists© , who have gone through our Certification Program, the only Tea Certification authorized by the Tea Association of the U.S.A., Inc. 

STI Advisory Board Member Gail Gastelu Reports on Ceylon Tea, Part 1

If you are not already aware, 2017 marks the 150^th Anniversary of Ceylon Tea! I’ve just returned from the most amazing, once in a lifetime experience, trip to Sri Lanka and will be working over the next weeks and months to help consumers and businesses to better understand Ceylon tea, its seasons for plucking year-round, and distinctive characteristics thanks to seven growing regions.   

These were taken in Malawi about 23 years ago.  As usual, the pictures themselves don’t tell too much of a story.  They’re typical scenes of tea gardens at the base of the Mount Milanje.  

Gail Gastelu is the owner and publisher of The Tea House Times as well as many other tea-related businesses and websites.  She has been connecting businesses and consumers with all facets of the tea industry since 2003.  In addition, she has been a member of STI’s Advisory Board since 2015.  We wanted to learn a little more about her and share what we learned with you.

In our continuing series of interviews with STI’s Advisory Board, we talk this week to Jem McDowall, its current Chair and the nominated Board representative of the Tea Association of the US to its STI Advisory Board.

Todd Rubin is President and Minister of Evolution of The Republic of Tea as well as a new member of STI’s Advisory Board.  We wanted to introduce him – as well as the rest of the Advisory Board – to our members and to other tea-lovers and learners, so we asked him some questions about his tea path. 

Peter Goggi became President of The Tea Association of the USA, Inc., and its educational arm, The Specialty Tea Institute (STI) in 2014.  He brings a lifetime of worldwide tea experience to the position.   Over the next few months, we’ll be posting interviews with STI’s staff, Advisory Board and Tea Mentors and we are initiating this series with a conversation with Peter.

So, last Friday I turned 60.  Holy Crap, how did that happen??

In any case, I was feeling awful, and ended up in the Dr.’s office that day due to an upper respiratory infection.  Not good, but not the point of this musing!  

This past week I made an effort to get out of my office and tour a few tea shops in NYC.

I am really glad I did!

The Tea Council of the USA, Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of a #DrinkTea Campaign representing a consumer-friendly, business-friendly, social media-friendly approach to promoting the benefits of tea consumption in the USA.

I’m still quietly ruminating over my pictures from China in November as I drink my morning cup…my own personal blend, by the way!

I still can’t get over the gentle, beautiful and unique Brick Tea Ceremony in which I was able to participate while in Hubei.  Not only was it a very interesting ceremony, but I learned quite a bit. 

I have just completed a weeklong stay in China, where I spoke at the 2015 International Tea Forum in Chibi, Hubei.  Hubei is world famous for its teas, such as Cloud-and-Mist Tea , Tuanhuang Tea and Qimen Tea.  It also was the birth place (well close by, anyway!) of Lu Yu, author of the Classic of Tea in the 8^th century.  I have not been to China in a long while and nave never been to Hubei Province, and I was very impressed.  The infrastructure from Wuhan (the Provincial Capital) down to Chibi was impressive, modern and possessing more than enough capacity to cover the 130 KM in about 2 hours.