Why on Earth am I doing this?

Me in Japan in 2006 paying close attention to my work.

In 2006(ish), I was hired to work on a film about tea. At the time, I didn’t know anything about tea nor did I care that I didn’t know anything about tea. I decided to work on this film because it was with my friends and it involved international travel. Also, I like jobs that pay.

We began with two weeks in Japan, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to gloss over that for now. Maybe that will come up again in a later post.

The main commitment to our trip was spending a full month in Taiwan. Our schedule was basically full of drinking tea with a little bit of interviewing. Each day we would visit a plantation to interview the farmer, but to be polite, we would sit and have tea first. That seemed to last a couple hours before the interview began. The interview would take roughly one or two hours and that was immediately followed by another couple hours of drinking tea. Wake up the next day and repeat at another farm.

I’ve rarely been afraid of international travel. I went into this project with an open mind and an open heart and I was not let down. Each day we met amazing people who created even more amazing teas. I quickly fell in love with the people and this incredible drink that I had ignored all my life.

We came home to NYC with a couple new suitcases full of tea and an unbridled desire to continue our tea education. With a little bit of luck and a lot of utilizing connections, we made a dear friend out of Michael Wong who ran the “Tea Gallery” in Manhattan. He took us under his wings and was able to help support our addiction.

The Tea Gallery served as almost a club house. We would get together with the regulars to drink new finds, discuss obscure books, and just generally chat about tea. It was always about learning, but it was always fun.

In 2007 we ended up going back to Taiwan to round out some of our footage. We were there for another month and we went armed with excitement and a solid knowledge base. On that trip, we had the opportunity to see some old friends and make some new friends.

Here’s a tangental fun fact of tea: You can try a different kind of tea every day for the rest of your life and still not make it all the way through.

Even though we visited some of the same people. It felt like a totally new experience.

In 2012, I moved back to western Colorado. I grew up there, but left to NYC for school and work. NYC was an amazing place to grow and experience some of the world, but I needed a change. I needed to slow down.

The tea culture in western CO is minimal at best, so I’ve had to continue my education mostly on my own. While I don’t believe there will ever be an end to my tea education, I do feel ready to share my experiences and spread the love of tea.

This has only been a hobby and outside interest in my life up to this point. It’s taken months to convince myself that people would be interested in my experience. In fact, as I write this, my website isn’t even live yet. The simple fact of it is, I love tea and I think you will too.