Hawaii-grown Tea ... Kauai

I have this forum to thank for broadening my awareness of available teas.

In my tea inventory searches I’ve been to the Vegas Tea Expo and several food shows. Basing a tea buying decision on what is available in samples in a vendor booth, while nice, being able to smell and taste the tea, still seems lacking. With the addition of the combined opinions of dozens and dozens of palates one might be even more discerning. Is there an AP for that? hmmm, probably a whole other thread with that question. ( I see there is one)

What I wanted to share just now is that, because of this forum, I will get to experience tea much more intimately than I ever thought to.
Having discovered, via Steepster, that tea is being grown in Hawaii, my interest was piqued. I thought to sample it at Samovar’s but the one I visited did not have any of the Hawaii-grown in stock. A vacation on Kauai has been in the works for over a year now, suddenly the trip seemed to offer so much more than sun and relaxation. There is a Tea Farm on Kauai. In the crater of an ancient volcano and close to the Princeville area Cloudwater Tea Farm, established in 2001, is a 10 acre farm with 10 varieties of tea.

I will be there next Thursday and Friday processing black tea with the owner, Michelle Rose. For a tea shop owner and tea purveyor, what an opportunity. Combining that with my planned classes at the Tea Expo in June, this will be an educational year.

Thanks Steepsterites! I will be back with photos and tea, some of it my own production. How cool is that.

If anyone here has been to Kauai, I’d love to have some tips on anything else I might not want to miss.