The process is mesmerizing. Starting as seed then growing to a bush, a series of laborious steps fueled by passion and skill transforms this once hard, waxy leaf to make it ready for the teacup. When thinking about this year’s World Tea Conference + Expo – held in Las Vegas, June 28-30, 2021 – the agony of the leaf became forefront and prominent in my thoughts.
Just one step remains before we can delight in a sip. The dry, shriveled and often rolled leaf must come into contact with boiling water. As the hot water overwhelms the leaf, the leaf appears to fight against the “attack.” It can seem painful, and the resistance is often fierce. But, at some point the battle shifts into something beautiful and elegant. The unfurling leaf appears engaged in something more akin to an exquisitely choreographed dance with the hot water. The boiling water, initially perceived as an assault, has proved to provide the alchemy necessary to transmute the leaf and release the flavor of the leaf – and thus the true beauty of all the labor and passion of processing tea.
Poetically, we in the tea world, often refer to this as the agony of the leaf, and the pursuit of the agony of the leaf underpins many a teaist’s lifelong obsession with the leaf.
The Transformation of the World Tea Conference + Expo
When thinking about this year’s World Tea Conference + Expo – held in Las Vegas, June 28-30, 2021 – the agony of the leaf became forefront and prominent in my thoughts. Almost 20 years ago, the “seed” of the World Tea Conference + Expo was planted with Take Me 2 Tea (the name of the event when it first began). Since then, the show has gone through a series of processes and transformations. It has changed names, it has had different owners, and it has had different locations. At all steps, tremendous labor and passion have been poured into the production of the show.
When educating newcomers to the tea world, I find their wonder and awe derives from the simple fact that all tea comes from the same plant. Similarly, the desire for the World Tea Conference + Expo comes from something that is the same for all of us – a deep-seeded passion for tea, perhaps important to keep in mind when assessing this year’s event.
I have witnessed the progression of the World Tea Conference + Expo firsthand and in different capacities as an attendee, presenter and booth manager for almost a decade now. And, as much as I am a purist, the liquor of the camellia sinensis leaf is nothing short of the nectar of the gods in my opinion (I am also a realist). Without increasing the number of tea enthusiasts who attend and make the show profitable – not only for the organizers but for those who buy booths and fly from around the world to build their market – the show is not sustainable.
Increasing the number of tea enthusiasts means we, as an industry, need to seek converts in new sectors and vertical markets. The announcement that the World Tea Conference + Expo would be co-located with the Bar & Restaurant Expo (previously known as the Nightclub & Bar Show) felt like a hopeful step in that direction. After all, restaurants (and even bars) are a natural ally for tea given their direct contact with consumers. Restaurant staff are perfectly positioned to be ambassadors of tea for the end consumer. While bars do not immediately scream that meditative moment one has with tea, the mixology opportunities presented by the bar scene are truly endless.
So, that was the hope… to “mix” these two industries together for potential success and opportunity for all. But how did it turn out when we added the proverbial tea to the boiling water of the merging with the Bar & Restaurant Expo? From my own experience at the event, this was the start of a beautiful dance between two wonderful and complementary industries.
Surprised by the Turnout; It Was a Success
Given my development of an online mixology program during the COVID-19 pandemic, I was asked to provide a mixology workshop for attendees at the World Tea Conference + Expo. To bridge the gap between tea and the spirit world, I was asked to work with someone from a distillery. It was scary because I had never met this person, had no idea of their taste or personality. Yet, I decided it was best to approach the prospect with an open mind and try to convert the opportunity I was given.
And… I was shocked! Phil Atee of Mammoth Distillery (my co-presenter) and I found we had far more common ground than differences. We were both obsessive about respective liquids and fiercely protective of highlighting the uniqueness of our product. The consequence was a collaborative creative process that led to three new tea cocktails. The one aspect that truly resonated with our class of more than 100 people (the most I have ever had in a World Tea Conference + Expo class!) was when we took the same spirit (gin) and the same tea (Shangri-La Gold from Nepal) and created versions of gin and tonics. It was truly fascinating to the attendees – and us as well – how different it could taste whether you were trying to highlight the tea or the gin while maintaining balance.
In my other session, “Navigating Customs to Better Understand the Regulations for Tea Importation,” there were about 50 attendees. For a class I thought would be far too dry to attract a large audience, this was far more than the five to 10 people I had expected. Moreover, the makeup of the class surprised me. There were several people from the restaurant and bar world in attendance, too.
I also had a booth at the recent World Tea Conference + Expo. First of all, there were more than 8,700 attendees at the show, including some celebrities that created quite a bit of excitement on the show floor. I was fortunate to be positioned as the first booth in the World Tea Conference + Expo exhibit area. This position allowed many of the restaurant and bar attendees to accidentally drift over into the world of tea. I found many of them eager to learn about tea and why it made sense for tea to be at the show. The show personally felt like a success for me.
However, I do recognize that was not the case for all tea attendees/booth holders. There was a different quality to the show than when it was just the World Tea Conference + Expo on its own. A more seamless integration of tea and the rest of the show would have been beneficial, in addition to a better explanation through signage or on-the-floor collaborations to explain to the masses of people as to the logic behind the co-location and the two industries colliding. However, this is just the beginning of a wonderful partnership, and I expect to see more changes as these two events learn how to co-exist and work together for the better. Transformation is agony, even if it will turn into something beautiful like a cup of tea.
Yet, because the co-location of the World Tea Conference + Expo and the Bar & Restaurant Expo was necessary for the expansion of the tea world, this was the perfect year to experience the most agony of this particular “transformation dance.” No matter what the show did or tried this year, it was going to be difficult to overcome the challenges of a worldwide pandemic. So, if we were to bring two different yet complementary events together, this was the year to do it. Now, the tea industry can concentrate on extracting the exciting possibilities that come from being part of a much larger show with so many more opportunities.
And let’s not forget the other part of the agony of the leaf. While the boiling water transforms the tea, the tea also – and some could argue, more substantially – transforms the water. With the co-location of these two events, this is the tea industry’s chance to make a huge impact on the restaurant and bar world. I am eager to indoctrinate that world into the agony of the leaf. Join me on this journey next year, March 21-23, 2022, as the World Tea Conference + Expo takes place again in Las Vegas with the Bar & Restaurant Expo.
To learn more about the World Tea Conference + Expo, visit WorldTeaExpo.com.