Hello from Tea in Spoons | Tea Feature & Update

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Happy New Year! I want to first thank everyone for all the support I have received over the last few years! It means a lot to me that people have come along with me on my tea journey. As my interest in tea grows, I realize that the growth needs to be reflected in the blog, therefore there will be some changes to Tea in Spoons (TiS) in the upcoming year!

To mark this occasion, I am drinking the tea that started it all, DAVIDsTEA Coffee’s Pu’erh! When I started this blog (on Tumblr), it was only meant to document which teas I liked and which ones I didn’t.

I had never heard of ‘loose leaf tea’, nor had I ever steeped it. I didn’t even know that there were more teas types than green, black, pu-erh, and herbal. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to try various teas from around the world and to expand my tea knowledge.

To continue to share the breadth of what I’m learning, the blog will also grow in terms of content. In 2018, I plan on writing reviews about not only tea but also tea books, teaware, shops and tea 101 articles, to name a few things. I also created a new logo for the blog! This is only the tip of the iceberg.

My big surprise is that I will be going on a 4-month trip in February! As of now, I will be visiting Japan and China. In Japan, I will be spending 3 months in Wazuka, Kyoto and a month in Hong Kong.

Now, you may be asking, why Wazuka, Kyoto, and how does this relate to the blog? Well, I will be living on the Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms as an intern! One of my biggest dreams has been to visit a tea farm. Ever since I started this journey, the top thing I wanted to do is pick tea, as well as, learn more about tea production.

I want to bring everyone along with me! Therefore, I plan on writing about my life while in Japan and explore Japanese teas, culture, food, etc. In Hong Kong, I would like to also visit a few tea shops as well!

To accommodate my trip, as well as the new content, I am also adjusting how frequently I post. Since I’m not sure how my weeks will progress while on my trip, it is most effective if I can dedicate all my time to one post. The new schedule will be every Thursday.

That being said, I am excited to move forward with all the new content in 2018! It has been a pleasure to be able to share my thoughts with everyone on the various teas that have come my way. For the weeks leading up to my trip, I thought it would be fun to feature various people who have come into my life through the world of tea, whether they are a tea business, blogger, or artisan.

I asked everyone the same question: What does tea mean to you?

That being said, I realize that I’ve never introduced myself! So, I will answer the question as well.

Hello, I’m Connie!

Now that I look back, I realize that the most remarkable aspect of my tea journey is that I had no idea that I was taking my first step, metaphorically and physically, when I first walked into a DAVIDsTEA shop. As cliche as it sounds, visiting that DAVIDsTEA shop changed my life.

To be honest, it took me a long time to realize that I was on an adventure, much less one related to tea. However, one day, I received a message from someone explaining how they purchased teas based on my reviews. I was floored. I realized that I wanted to learn more about tea so that I could be more informative to others.

Therefore, to me, tea is more than just water and leaves. It encompasses a wealth of knowledge ranging from history, production, and blending, to brewing, among other aspects. It also includes drinking it at dim sum or on those cold nights when you’re sharing a cup with a friend or family. Lastly, tea put me on a new path I never expected.

At the start of this year, I wrote about visiting a tea farm as a long-term goal. Next month, I’ll be on my way! When I started this blog, I never expected anything. But now that I’m on this road, all I want is to continue this journey. I hope that you’ll join me on it too!

Let’s go!

EDIT: Nicole from Tea For Me Please added my post to her Friday Roundup! Check out all the other new tea-related posts that came out the week of December 31st – January 6th.