World Tea Virtual Summit

I've spent the last two afternoons in front of my desktop attending a virtual tea summit provided by World Tea/Questex.

Sessions started at 2:00 pm. and ended a little after 5:00 p.m.  There were six informative and inspiring speakers each day.  The summit opened with an update on the tea industry in North America.

In a survey conducted by the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada, 55% of the participants said they drink tea to feel good.  They like the comfort and relaxation it provides.   Many businesses suffered greatly during the COVID pandemic in 2020, but it was a very good year for the tea industry with unprecedented growth.

Day 1 ended with a happy hour of 'perfectly paired scones and tea' by Erika's Tearoom in Clermont, Florida.   Summit attendees could order the teas and scones [three of each] in advance, and enjoy them during Erika and her mother, Leila's, presentation.  

The three scones and teas were Bailey's Irish Cream Scones with Irish Cream Green Tea, Apple Bourbon Scones with Apple Bourbon Black Tea and Strawberry Champagne Scones with Strawberry Champagne White Tea. 

The mother/daughter duo have been in business since 2014 and have a YouTube show every Thursday.  I watched some of the episodes last night.

Today's speakers were just as informative as yesterday's.  

Lisa McDonald, owner of Tea Haus in Ann Arbor, MI ended the summit.  I enjoyed her since I've been to her tearoom/tea shop a few times.  Her topic was cooking with tea and she demonstrated two foods and one cocktail.

Did any of you attend/watch the summit?

A special thanks to World Tea/Questex for providing this free summit to educate people in the wonderful world of tea!