**Warning – this will be a long post with lots of pictures!** We were in Sin City for World Tea Expo but I also made sure that my fiance and I were able to hit the town a time or two. We haven’t been able to go on vacation together in years so it was really nice to get away from everything back home for a while. We stayed at The Mardi Gras Hotel and Casino, which was a bit a time warp. It was a bit run down but served the purpose well enough. It was a very short walk to the Las Vegas Convention Center so that made life a lot…

The educational conference at World Tea Expo is something I always look forward to attending. As someone trying to make my way in the world of tea, the search for knowledge never ends. Having the opportunity to learn from so many voices in different fields is invaluable. I couldn’t make every session on my to-do list, mostly due to scheduling conflicts, but the ones that I was able to attend were fantastic. This also my very first year speaking on my own. Talk about nerve wracking! I’ll save all of that stuff for the end. Re-evaluating Tea Education The first thing on my WTE agenda was a panel helmed by +Jo J. I don’t…

One of my favorite parts of World Tea Expo is the people. Most of the folks in attendance live far afield so I only get to see them this one time of year. It’s also a rare to chance to rub elbows with some of the folks that I look up to in the industry. The North American tea industry would not be what it is today if it had not been for the groundwork that they laid down before most of us were sipping. Hanging out with my fellow tea bloggers is always something that I look forward to. These are some of my favorite people and I often find my face…

This year got a bit hectic so I wasn’t really able to see much of the show until the very last day. Jason and I hit the show floor hard as soon as I got out of +Darlene Meyers Perry‘s morning session on teaware. Going systematically row by row, I somehow managed to see almost everything. It was lucky that he brought his backpack because it was quickly filled with purchases and samples. In this post I’ll list some of my favorite booths from the expo. Bitaco I first discovered this purveyor of Columbian grown tea (that’s right, not coffee!) at last year’s expo. They were kind enough to send me home with lots…