Good Tea Presentation/Dimenstration Topics?

Last year for National Library Week I gave a presentation at the library where I work on tea. As we had never done anything like that, it was a bit catch-all with a little on history, general knowledge on tea types and preparation, culture, and then provided some sampling. I had a much larger turnout that I had anticipated, which put a bit of strain on me when it came to the sampling, since I was working with all my own supplies in a library program room, heh. The good news is at least it was popular and well-received?

So now it is just about a year later (National Library Week is next week!) and our HR supervisor stopped by and told me that she was at one of the craft programs the other night and two of the patrons attending told her, “That tea program the library had was so good. Are you ever doing another one?” While I am mildly flattered they still remembered it a year later and want to see it return, I do know in hindsight I would need at the very least some sort of a sign-up sheet so I know exactly how many people to expect/prepare for, and I’d also hate to do a carbon-copy presentation of before (also, the Great Server Crash of 2018 last year meant I also completely lost that presentation so I’d have to start from scratch anyway). So, my tea friends, what are your thoughts on what would make some fun topics/ideas for tea presentations or dimenstrations that could logistically be given in 1-2 hours to a smallish group in a public library program room setting? Just looking for some brain-storming before I decide if I want to hold another program!

10 Replies
derk said

Different tea-producing countries and not only the major players. Efforts to cultivate tea in the United States.

Just curious, but what companies currently offer US-grown cultivars? I don’t think I have any, and other than the herbal yaupon (I know a few places to get that) I’m not sure if I know any sources to get other types of tea that have been US-grown. But I am certainly interested in that!

derk said

I think I’ve seen Charleston Tea Plantation thrown around. Owned by Bigelow?

Daylon mentioned in some reviews several months back about Chinese-style American grown teas sold by The Cultured Cup. Maybe Daylon can get you some more info.

Golden Feather Tea Farm that was destroyed by the Camp Fire. I think you even made a thread about it.

You know the Ferry Building that hosted the SF International Tea Fest? One of the sponsors, a fellow named Roy Fong who owns the Imperial Tea Court in the lower market level of the building has attempted growing tea in the Central Valley of California using plants grown in a greenhouse in Oakland. I haven’t followed up on this article to see how that’s going. https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Roy-Fong-and-the-quest-for-a-California-tea-farm-10783391.php

derk said

I found the company Daylon talked about: http://www.greatmsteacompany.com/

Thanks for the info! I remembered about the farm destroyed by the fire, but considering the fire, I’m betting that tea would be hard to procure these days… but I’ll see if there is any info out there on their re-growing efforts.

I’m sure I read Daylon’s reviews since I read everything I Follow that comes through my feed but my memory is trash from my migraine medications, so that is very helpful. I’ll look into this!

That is all very helpful!

Minto Island Tea Company is growing/selling tea near Salem, Oregon. It looks like they’ll even sell you plants to grow yourself. http://mintoislandtea.com/tea-plants

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Roy Fong’s Tea Blog would be a good thing to look through for inspiration. http://blog.imperialtea.com/

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Nicole said

US League of Tea Growers might be a good starting point for US tea info

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Thanks everyone! Very helpful!

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derk said

Mastress Alita, I came across this, very helpful:

https://specialtyteaalliance.org/world-of-tea/us-grown-tea/

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