Michelle Rabin

Michelle Rabin is the founder of T Ching. Seven years ago, she left New Jersey where she'd been in private practice as a psychologist for 25 years, and moved to Hood River, Oregon with visions of tea in her mind, body, and soul. Her mentors, Robert G. Allen (N.Y. Times best-selling author) and Mark Victor Hanson (Chicken Soup For the Soul) taught her that she is limited only by the limitations she imposes on herself. It is her vision and drive that is the inspiration for this innovative new business. She was able to see, early on, the direction the tea industry was headed in this country and was drawn to every aspect of it. A former coca-cola addict, Michelle first discovered green tea as a healthier beverage choice to wean herself off of her coca-cola jones. Her love affair with tea began while studying the traditions of the Japanese and Chinese Tea Ceremonies. But it didn't end there. As a tea connoisseur herself, Michelle saw the need to educate consumers about tea. Her prediction is that once Americans can make a delicious cup of tea quickly, painlessly, and perfectly, their consumption of tea will significantly increase, bringing it in line with the rest of the world's enjoyment of tea. Second only to water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. The profound health benefits associated with tea consumption will have the potential to impact health and wellness in this country unlike anything before it. We're currently working on a new project and expect to launch it in the late fall. We'll keep you posted so you can be the first to participate in this exciting new area for tea lovers.

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Sandy M. Bushberg

Sandy M. Bushberg is one of the original founders of T Ching and a member of the board of directors. Having been in the healthcare field as a psychologist for over 20 years and as a clinical herbalist, Sandy has a long-term vision of promoting health and wellness and devoting himself to reversing the destructive trend of declining health in this country. He is driven by the realization that if more people don't start to do something soon to begin reversing this rapid decline in our health, then our nation's economy will be overwhelmed by the growing costs of healthcare. His interest in tea as an inspiration for promoting health was piqued during a trip to Southeast Asia where he began to study the myriad health benefits of tea. During the ensuing years, Sandy has done in-depth research about tea - its history and health benefits, both physiological and psychological/spiritual - and has obtained certification as a Tea Specialist through the Specialty Tea Institute. Sandy's strong vision and creative insights have been key in the development of Tching.com.

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Connie Armstrong

Third-generation Californian and software developer, Connie lived behind the "Orange Curtain" until she couldn't stand the commute any more. Now happily established in Culver City with a husband who is a professional musician and serious coffee addict, a live-in high school stepdaughter, and two cats, she has very little down time and relishes her daily commune with her morning cup.

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David Baer

David Baer is an ex-pat New Yorker living in Portland, Oregon. Following a dozen years working as a performing arts administrator, David left the theater world to find new adventures in wine. Today he works in importing and distribution of natural and traditional wines from Europe (and places influenced by Europe). David also consults with restaurants about their wine lists and teaches consumers about wine through his business, Winebaer (www.winebaer.net). He spends his days in front of his laptop reading and writing about wine, often with a cup of tea by his side.

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Bio coming soon.

 

Cheryl Beck

When Cheryl gets an idea in her head, look out! Some people just talk of doing big things; Cheryl does them. She first got the inspiration for Tea Party Angels from reading "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and then was further motivated by reading "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World" by John Wood. Both men were doing extraordinary things to help educate girls around the world - Cheryl wanted to help. Imagine mothers and daughters hosting tea parties across the country to raise money for girls' education. Such a simple idea, but it wasn't being done on a large scale. Cheryl quickly recruited the right women and organizations to help her make Tea Party Angels a reality. Tea Party Angels is a tribute to the memory of her grandmothers Beck and Jackson - two completely different, yet amazing, women whose tea cups Cheryl keeps visible to her every day for inspiration. Cheryl’s background includes working in Sales, Marketing, and Events for many Fortune 500 companies and startups. She has served on several non-profit boards, including Resources for Children's Health, and founded a 501(c)(3) in Philadelphia called Friends United in Need Network (FUNN) that raised thousands of dollars for non-profits. She graduated from Bucknell University and received an MBA in Marketing from Drexel University. Cheryl currently resides in Manhattan and spends a much of her free time traveling the world.

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Brett Boynton

Brett Boynton is the manager and assistant tea buyer for Seattle's Teacup store. In 2004 he began a side business called Black Dragon Tea Bar, which provides Chinese tea education, sales and catering. He is often hired by private clients to provide personalized Chinese tea demonstrations around Seattle. His hobbies include studying Mandarin, and vegan cooking.

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Jack Bukowski, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Jack Bukowski is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a physician (rheumatologist), a scientist, and chief scientific officer of the Nutritional Science Research Institute (NSRI). He has been researching the immune system for over 30 years and became interested in tea when he discovered that tea boosts the immune system's ability to fight colds and flu.

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Charles Cain

Charles is an entrepreneurial executive with extensive business development experience and a unique perspective on the U.S. Tea Industry. Since 2004, Charles has opened and tested four different retail models (two approaches to traditional tea retail, a tea café, and a tea restaurant), launched a tea-based E-Commerce site, built an international wholesale program, and developed a tea shop-franchising operation. Today Charles is leading Adagio Teas' expansion into Tea Retail and advising on the company’s E-Commerce and international wholesale operations. Adagio Teas operates the most popular tea website in the U.S. and manufactures a custom line of packaged loose tea, bagged tea, ready-to-drink iced tea, and teaware products.

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Chris Cason

Chris Cason is the author of hundreds of tea articles, as well as the book "A Guide to Tea." Chris' work has been featured in the U.S. National Archives as well as in many other museums and publications. When he's not writing about tea, Chris is the co-founder of New York City's tea sensation, Tavalon Tea, where he is also the tea sommelier and editor-in-chief and creates unique blends, delicious tea treats, and intoxicating tea cocktails.

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Richard Chow

Drinking tea is part of Richard's culture, having spent his childhood years in Hong Kong. Richard began exploring photography in his teens, but pursued a degree in Computer Science and a high-tech career. While this may seem like a dichotomy, Richard feels the challenges of a high-tech career complement his creative side and views computer programming is an art rather than science. Most recently, he acted as a Regional Manager for Citigroup deploying global Internet banking systems to Europe and the Middle East. As a photographer, Richard was initially intrigued by all aspects of the medium. As he refined his technique, early mentors, recognizing his mastery, encouraged him to explore beyond the boundaries of purely technical considerations, exposure, and lighting. This shift in focus allowed Richard to create images that enable people to see the world in new ways. While he never abandoned precision, it is truly his natural ability to see mundane things in unique ways that makes his art special. Richard has crafted a style that highlights strong and compelling composition. Richard was honored by Nikon who selected his image, Twilight, for their internationally distributed 2007 Nikon NPCI calendar. The calendar was comprised of 13 photographs selected from an annual contest, for which 31,000 entries were received from 117 countries. Richard is represented by the Art Rental & Sales Gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). His work can be viewed and purchased at the gallery, and a portion of the proceeds are contributed to the ongoing support of LACMA. In an effort to aid at-risk and high-risk youth through creative arts mentoring, Richard serves on the Board of Directors for CREATE NOW in Los Angeles.

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Erika Cilengir

A native Californian, born literally on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, Erika Cilengir grew up in the Highland Park/Mt. Washington area of the city, a haven for persons marching to a different beat. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Pomona College, Erika spent four months in Germany, studying German at the Goethe Institute in Luneburg, where she met her future husband. Erika then began her nearly 20-year career as a technical communicator in the computer industry and received a master’s degree in Communication from the University of Southern California (USC). In 1998, Erika made a career transition, moving into business analysis. She continues to work as an IT business analyst, but took a brief break from the corporate world in 2008 to pursue her dream of starting a tea house. After eight intense months of pursuing her dream, Erika decided it was not the right time to open a business and put her dream on hold. But Erika continues to be a tea enthusiast and makes a point of savoring at least one cup a day. Her positive associations with tea began many years ago when Erika regularly spent afternoons with a good friend and tea lover, sampling various teas, enjoying her company, and leaving feeling refreshed and relaxed. Today, steeping a cup of tea is one of the best ways Erika has found to take a break from the hustle and bustle of living. It is a healthy habit that complements her other healthy habits of running and eating well as well as her volunteer work with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

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Cesar De Vasquez

An artist in several media, Cesar De Vasquez has been in the entertainment industry as an on-camera and voice actor for over fifteen years. He has appeared in countless national and regional commercials and major motion pictures. He’s also a screenwriter with a play, two films, an animated pilot, and another feature under his belt. In addition, Cesar is a songwriter and bass player for the band he formed in 2004. Since the birth of his son, Evan, in 1997, Cesar has been on a spiritual journey, trying to find the perfect balance of mind, body, and spirit. Along with a healthy lifestyle and positive thinking, he believes we are all here for a purpose and that we are all one. In his search for inner peace, Cesar has done extensive traveling over the years and has experienced the struggles of life first-hand in countries where all hope is gone, which has given him insight on how the spirit lives in us all. Cesar also believes that we are all here to serve and that giving back in the smallest of ways can change a person’s life forever.

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Pearl Dexter

Pearl Dexter is the editor and publisher of TEA A MAGAZINE ®, now in its twelfth year of publication. It is dedicated to a worldwide audience, informing, educating, and entertaining its readers with articles exploring the history, culture, consumption, and dramatic health benefits of the venerable beverage. Its raison d'être was the passion for the way of tea (she calls it "pachado"). Her tea enthusiasm and spirit are felt throughout the magazine, and is carried over in her lectures on many aspects of tea. In 1999, Pearl founded The TEA Schoolâ„¢. It was established to give people who are serious about tea a firm foundation on the subject. Many of the school's guest speakers have included distinguished leaders in the tea community. Also in 1999, Pearl co-authored TEA with Presidential Families. It gives a fascinating look at the tea history of America's first families. It is lavishly illustrated with photographs, prints, and original works of art—many never before published. Her second book, a compilation of tea poetry, debuted in November 2003. And her third book, a compilation of recipes, Scones, Shortbread, and more, released in March 2006. Pearl has lived in San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C., Providence, and London, and has travelled throughout Europe. Visits to Sri Lankan, Indian, and Azores tea estates afforded her the opportunity to learn about tea from bush to cup. Working with everyone in the tea business, from small tea-room owners to the president of large companies like Lipton, she keeps her finger on the pulse of the fast-growing specialty end of tea. Although tea is just a beverage to some, to Pearl it is a way of life. For further information, contact TEA A MAGAZINE ® 3 Devotion Road ~ Scotland, Connecticut 06264 1.888.456.8651or Email: teamag@teamag.com

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Rebecca Doverspike

Rebecca Doverspike graduated from Beloit College with a degree in Literature and Religious Studies. She studied Tibetan Buddhism in Sikkim, India for four months. She works at a cafe in Madison, Wisconsin, and keeps creative through art and writing. Currently, her favorite tea is organic peppermint; it awakens every sense as it's breathed in and sipped. Her immediate plans are to read as much as possible and find more opportunities to write.

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Kate Dumont

Kate Dumont is a writer and artist living "la dolce vita" in Sausalito, California. She has had a love affair with tea all her life when she began drinking tea at the tender age of 16. In a family of hard-core coffee drinkers, she felt like she was a cocker spaniel living with dobermans. When she was 18, she lived in Sweden for one year, where tea drinking was more common, found her tea bliss, and learned that there is more to tea than Lipton (tho her British friends love Lipton.) The clouds parted and the heavens opened when she lived in Los Angeles in the 1980s and took a tour of Chinatown; one stop on the tour included the Ten Ren tea shop…rose tea, oolong tea, white tea, jasmine, and all the varieties were available there. Right now she is on the hunt for the best Masala Chai.

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Holly Erdogan

Holly Erdogan is a firm believer that tea soothes her soul because it’s done just that. From drinking iced green tea on a terribly hot day in the San Fernando Valley to snuggling up with a book and the perfect cup of hot tea in the middle of the day, she is absolutely in love with tea for all aspects of her life. Holly will be earning her Nutrition and Dietetics degree from California State University, Northridge in May 2011 and resides in Southern California. Holly grew up in a small town in Oklahoma where it seemed like the only tea people drank was good ole’ southern (highly sweetened) sweet tea. It wasn’t until moving to California in 2007 that her addiction to tea began. She loves the simplicity of a cup of tea, the healing benefits, and the pure, honest taste it delivers. Holly is planning to become a Registered Dietitian and teach the benefits of tea to our bodies to her future clients.

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Dharlene Marie Fahl

Dharlene Marie Fahl is the author of a Tea Trilogy, three books connecting tea and spirituality. She has also written 101 healing prayers to enjoy while slowly sipping tea in sweet surrender. Her first book, "Sipping Tea - Celebrating Me", is available now and the other two are being represented by a literary agent, with a Foreword by James Norwood Pratt in the second book. She is a level three + certified tea specialist with the Specialty Tea Institute of America and traveled to China as a delegate in the China Tea Tour with the Tea Association of the USA. Dharlene was also a participant in the first American Tea Masters Association program in San Diego. She is an inspirational speaker with several heartfelt presentations she offers to companies, organizations, women's groups, and churches. In addition, she is on a personal mission to address the ever-growing issue of childhood obesity by getting to the heart of the problem - self-worth and self-love. Having been morbidly obese herself, Dharlene is looking for help from anyone interested in assisting with this current dilemma. You can find her at www.dharlenemarie.com, www.TakeUpTheCup.com, and www.LeanTeenSelfEsteem.org.

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Donna Fellman

It was the ceremonies of tea that first intrigued Donna Fellman and moved her to look deeper into tea. It was the wisdom of the spirit of tea, informing our traditions and rituals, that inspired her to learn more about this enduring drink. And it was the discovery of the world of tea and a healthful beverage that infused her life with a sense of well-being and centered energy that motivated her to share that knowledge with others. As director of the Tea Education Alliance (T·E·A), she offers professional consulting and staff training programs, and publishes educational materials about tea. She is the co-author of Tea Here Now, (Inner Ocean Publishing, December 2005) exploring tea as a lifestyle and written for everyone who wishes to infuse uncomplicated spirituality and mindfulness into his or her tea drinking. And she is Chairman of the Specialty Tea Institute's Education Committee where she is working to expand the structure as well as cohere the educational core of the STI Tea Certification Program to meet the needs and demands of the rapidly growing tea industry. She studies chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony through the Urasenke Foundation.

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Kelley Gold

Although new to the tea scene, Kelley is an enthusiastic tea drinker. In her final year as a Nutrition and Dietetics student, Kelley is interested in the correlation among tea, health, and nutrition. Although food is the main lesson in class, tea is often on her mind. One day, along with a fellow dietitian, she hopes to open an organic coffee and teahouse to share the glories of tea. The relationship between tea and the body is what brought Kelley to T Ching and she is excited to share with everyone what that relationship really means.

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Sarita Gomez

Sarita has wonderful memories of her grandmother’s cooking, but remembers only being given tea when she was sick. Many years later, Sarita’s sister-in-law and niece invited her daughters and her to a Christmas Tea at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. Dazzled by the elegance and the detail, Sarita became curious about the tradition of Afternoon Tea. She bought every book she could find on tea and entertaining with tea, started perfecting her own tea menu, and became interested in tea etiquette. After receiving her certificate in travel and tourism, Sarita worked as a tour guide, which she considered a dream job. After marrying and starting a family, Sarita began working for the Burbank Unified School District in the English as a Second Language Department. She also taught Spanish as a second language. Then, several years ago, Sarita was given the opportunity to teach an after-school class for kids on “Manners and How to Have a Tea Party.” A year later, she was asked to teach Tea Etiquette and Etiquette 101.

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Dan Greenfeld

Dan Greenfeld grew up in Brooklyn and was an attorney for 35 years. Now he's a New York City potter-ceramic artist (a hyphenate he obsesses over) specializing in teapots - porcelain, wood-fired, wisteria handled - that are as functional as they are beautiful. His interest in ceramics was kindled seven years ago when he met his spouse, a ceramicist, artist, and creativity educator. Having no real knowledge of ceramics, but fascinated by the pieces she was making in her studio and from which they were eating and drinking, Dan began looking at ceramics in museums and galleries, and reading and asking questions about, and ultimately collecting, ceramics. Feeling he could never really understand ceramics without some experience in making them, Dan started taking classes and had the good fortune to receive instruction from some potters during his first trip to Japan. He progressed by taking workshops with potters whose work he admired, and refined his techniques, forms, and materials by using the wisdom and experience they so graciously and selflessly imparted. Dan chose to explore the teapot because he was challenged by the form's inherently conflicting aesthetic and functional issues. As his thinking evolved, he began to understand that a teapot of sufficient beauty and functionality could enhance people's lives. The teapot can be the focal point of a daily ritual (used in the best sense of the word) encompassing aesthetic contemplation, tea connoisseurship, considered and focused utilization of the senses, and most importantly, discourse and human connection - the essence of the tea ceremony.

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Richard Guzauskas

Richard entered the specialty tea industry in 1991 by founding the Leaves Pure Teas. Since selling that line, Richard has been employed as a consultant within the industry, developing tea lines, traveling to the countries of origin and promoting, buying and lecturing about teas. On May 15th, 2006, Richard commenced work with Tea Forte', a high end specialty tea company, on an exclusive and full time basis. An avid traveler, contributor to many tea publications and lecturer, Richard has taught many overflowing classes on the subject of tea. He continues to lead seminars on teas across the country and abroad, serve as Chairman of the Specialty Tea Institute and sits on the Board of Directors of the Tea Assn. of the USA.

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Murielle Hamilton

Born in Switzerland, Murielle Hamilton grew up on Lake Geneva, drinking tisanes from her linden tree. As she traveled through Life and The World, she tasted a variety of teas and careers, sipping and working her way from the business side of the music industry (The Rolling Stones, Prince, et al.), to Starving Composer and ending with Feast-And-Famine Fashion Designer. During that time, she wrote millions of words, drained thousands of teacups, and has some silly stories to tell. You can find her designs at www.MurielleKnitwear.etsy.com.

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Dianna Harbin

Dianna comes from a long line of tea and medicinal herbal tisane drinkers. Her paternal great-great grandmother and great grandfather gathered medicinal herbs and honey from the wild in Choctaw County, Alabama, following local Choctaw and African-American traditions. Her family still owns natural wooded land there. She fondly remembers the Spring tonics, wild greens, and “English tea” that her paternal grandmother prepared for her. Dianna founded the San Diego Tea, San Francisco Tea, and Los Angeles Tea Meetup.com groups to help people learn more about tea, to support local tea businesses, and to help people with an interest in tea build community. Dianna is a Specialty Tea Institute Certified Tea Specialist and Recommended Certified Speaker and is in the initial group of Specialty Tea Institute Level 4 attendees. She is a licensed Clinical Laboratory Scientist by trade. Dianna holds Bachelor Degrees in Cultural Anthropology, Microbiology, and Medical Technology. Her passion is tea education and sharing tea in community with others - especially pu’erh tea - and she plans to be in the tea business some day. She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Naja Hayward

Naja, owner of Naja Tea, began her love affair with tea as a young girl, observing her grandmother preparing her morning cup of freshly steeped chamomile tea and savoring each sip. Through her grandmother’s morning ritual, Naja came to see tea as a symbol of the lifestyle she cherished. This impression was only strengthened as Naja grew up and traveled the world, noticing that tea was a source of goodness for so many people: where there was tea, there was laughter, intellectual stimulation, love, and delight. Naja studied the history of tea and its many social traditions, but she also craved a fresher, more modern tea experience. When Naja visited Boston in the winter of 2003, she sensed for the first time that having her tea and drinking it too was, in fact, possible. During a brief afternoon break from meetings, she stumbled upon a unique, contemporary tea bar on Newbury Street where she enjoyed a simple, yet refreshing, cup of Bancha green tea. It was a vibrant tea lounge, full of people who seemed content with the day. Some were reading intently, others were working diligently on their laptops, and others were in the midst of conversation with friends. The energy was infectious and truly inspiring. She walked out of that trendy spot feeling satisfied and motivated, and compelled to design a company that would make others feel the way she felt that afternoon.

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Elizabeth & David Hill

Elizabeth and David Hill live in Vancouver, Washington. Elizabeth coordinates the Clark County Youth Commission, a youth-driven advisory board. David writes and edits for news media and is a published poet and lyricist. Iced tea (particularly of the Thai variety) is a favorite beverage of theirs when dining out, and they often like to start their day with a warm cup of English Breakfast.

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Daniel Hong

Daniel Hong is a Chinese tea farmer, tea master, and tea exporter, as well as the Owner of Middle Way International Ltd. (www.middleway.cn). His favorite tea is Tie Guan Yin.

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Alexandra Hoover

Alexandra Hoover has been obsessed with tea ever since she visited her grandmother and watched jasmine flowers gracefully unfold in a mug. She drinks too many cups of tea a day and tries to make up for it by consuming more water than the average person ("tries" is the key word). She is a freelance writer who also creates reviews for a travel website and a Los Angeles community resource site. Alexandra has a degree in anthropology and would love to visit Japan to see an authentic tea ceremony in action.

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Ifang Hsieh

A Taiwanese, Ifang Hsieh immigrated to the U.S. with her family at the age of sixteen. After receiving a degree in computer science and engineering, Ifang started her career as an analyst and later worked as an IT manager responsible for the development of a major bank's online banking software. Ifang also took time to obtain an MBA degree and learn to play the violin during her employment in the corporate world. In 2008, Ifang decided to pursue a career change and spent eight months touring and living in Asia. Writing, traveling, and operas are Ifang's passion. Favorite destinations include Bogota in Colombia, Venice in Italy, the Jiangnan region in China, and Taiwan. Her favorite opera is Offenbach's "the Tales of Hoffmann". Ifang enjoys visiting tea rooms internationally, especially those that provide an eclectic selection of teas and are whimsically decorated. Ifang is also a distributor of healthy, antioxidant rich chocolate.

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Elizabeth Knight

Elizabeth Knight is the author of several bestselling books on the subjects of tea and entertaining including Tea with Friends and Welcome Home. Her latest book, Tea in the City: New York - a tea lover's guide to sipping and shopping in the city has just been published. She writes for magazines such as Romantic Homes, Tea & Coffee Asia, and Tea A Magazine. Elizabeth is a frequent guest on national television and radio programs including WNBC's Today in New York, WOR's Food Talk, The Travel Channel, The Home Shopping Network and QVC. Sharing her love of tea and entertaining with others has been the basis of Knight's business, Tea With Friends, www.teawithfriends.com. As the tea sommelier for the historic St. Regis Hotel, Elizabeth is much sought after for speaking engagements and workshops. She regularly speaks to national retailers including Bloomingdale's and Marshall Fields, cultural institutions including The British National Trust, historical and botanical societies including The Missouri Botanical Garden and schools including New York University. As spokesperson for the 40th anniversary of Royal Doulton's china pattern, Old Country Roses, she created and presented consumer programs in stores across the U.S. Her latest offering is a series of guided walking tours through New York City based on her new book Tea in the City. For the first time, Knight will share her expansive knowledge of Manhattan's “must sip and shop spots.” This unique experience is steeped in the expertise of one of the country's leading tea authorities.

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Heidi Kyser

Heidi joined the World Tea News team in 2008 to oversee editorial operations for all the company’s tea-industry publications. Prior to that, she was senior editor at Tradeshow Week, a B-to-B publication for the convention industry. During her eight years there, Heidi participated in two web site redesigns and launched a local online edition of Tradeshow Week for Las Vegas. In addition, over the last decade, she has freelanced for a variety of consumer and trade publications from Boston to Los Angeles. Heidi holds a master's degree in Romance Languages from Harvard University. She is a member of the American Society of Business Publication Editors and a Yoga Alliance-certified yoga instructor in her spare time.

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John-Paul Lee

John-Paul Lee has been exposed to the food service industry since his early youth, coming from a family of restaurant entrepreneurs. John-Paul’s mother founded a highly successful restaurant chain based in Seoul, Korea during the early 1990’s, expanding the franchise to 16 units within a four-year span. In 2001, he and his family acquired a struggling restaurant in Arlington, VA. John-Paul spent the next two years revamping the business as co-owner and General Manager, and sold the restaurant at a profit in 2003. During this time, he also worked full-time as a consultant for Accenture. With a background in Finance and Computer Information Systems (CIS), he served as a liaison between the client and Accenture, translating business needs into technical requirements. In 2004, prior to launching Tavalon, John-Paul spent 9 months in Europe and Asia studying tea markets. He continued his research in the U.S. conducting market surveys to determine tea blend preferences in targeted consumer groups, store locations, and impromptu tea-tastings to get real customer feedback on newly created blends. He also served as General Manager of a local tea house in Manhattan to strengthen his hands-on understanding of tea retail operations. John-Paul is an accomplished and recognized entrepreneur who was recently honored with the Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award 2010 by the AABDC. America.gov also placed him on the list of entrepreneurs who successfully started a business in their teens/20’s alongside Bill Gates (Microsoft), Russell Simmons (Def Jam Recordings), Michael Dell (Dell Inc), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Kevin Plank (Under Armour), and Larry Page/Sergey Brin (Google). John-Paul obtained a BS in business administration from James Madison University. He also holds certifications from the Specialty Tea Institute of America and is a Siebel-certified consultant.

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Rachel Linton

Rachel Linton is a seventh grader who enjoys school, math, and being on the Mock Trial Team. Her other hobbies include reading (especially fantasy books and Shakespeare), Girl Scouts, and singing along with her CDs. She also plays the piano. Rachel loves cats, both her own Abyssinian and those she works with at the local animal shelter. She also loves tea (not quite as much as cats), especially the Cinnamon Apple variety. Rachel currently resides in Southern California with her parents, twin sister, and cat Juliet.

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Sarah Linton

Sarah Linton is a seventh grader who enjoys running Cross Country and Track. Other hobbies include collecting stamps, listening to music, and making friendship bracelets. She is also a dedicated Girl Scout and violinist. Sarah loves school, and especially enjoys math and writing. Only recently has she discovered the joys of tea. Sarah lives in Southern California with her mom, dad, twin sister, pet Abyssinian cat (Juliet), and bearded dragon lizard (Spirit).

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Ankit Lochan

A graduate from St. Pauls, Darjeeling, Ankit Lochan has tea in his veins. Starting his tea career at the ripe old age of 15, Ankit has developed a keen sense of the value of this local product. Having been trained at Doke Organic Tea Farm, he has become the main tea sourcing brain for Lochan Tea Limited. Our strategic location at Siliguri gives us an edge over others since this place is the centre of tea growing areas of Assam, Dooars, Terai, Darjeeling and Dinajpur districts of North East India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Bangladesh. All 500 million kilos of tea produced in this area passes through this town and 100 million kilos is sold through the Siliguri Tea Auction, of which we are an operating member. The small tea growers movement has led to the establishment of scores of Bought Leaf Tea Factories (BLF), which in addition to single estate teas gives a wide spectrum of choices for a buyer, sourcing teas from this town.

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Rajiv Lochan

Life provided Rajiv Lochan opportunity to experiment with tea, and that he did in Darjeeling and China, and now working on a project to find original tea cultivars which were brought from China to India to establish a parallel tea industry to cater to the needs of Imperial trade in early 1800s. After serving as a tea planter for 23 years, he started a tea business, which has helped him find more and more about tea, and finally made him into a tea researcher. Deciphering Chinese tea scriptures is the only key to success. Born in 1953 in Aligarh, in northern India, he planted about 1000 hectares of tea for his company which he served till 1997 and for his own small plantation, which he is using as an experimental plot in non-tradional tea growing area of Bihar, the land of Buddha. Promoting Indus Foundation to look after the educational needs of local children, who should grow to be better citizens, is the social aspect in his mind. www.doketea.com www.lochantea.com www.indusfoundation.com

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Laura Logsdon

Laura Logsdon has lived and traveled all over the world. While living in New Zealand as a child, she fell in love with the ritual of stopping everything and slowly sipping a warm cup of tea. As an adult, Laura lives in Los Angeles, where she works in the entertainment industry. In her free time, she travels the world with her husband on a quest for the perfect cup of tea.

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Jeff McIntire-Strasburg

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg is the founder and editor of sustainablog, which now offers a green-shopping portal along with the long-running blog. You can follow him on Twitter@sustainablog.

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Patrick McMullen

Fr. Patrick is a Roman Catholic priest serving in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, currently in the Dayton Ohio area as a relatively newly ordained associate pastor. Fr. Patrick has had many of those same experiences that many of the readers of TChing have been through, namely drinking tea as a child from one of those large corporate entities that came in one form only – BAGGED, black and dark. It was usually administered as some form of medicinal tonic with lemon during times of cold and flu season (although as a child it was quite readily accepted when mixed a little bit of bourbon or whiskey!) Those days have been past for quite some time now and having gone through a tea epiphany he now enjoys many varieties of tea (as well as owning a few preparation devices to properly prepare said whole leaf tea, i.e. a few lovely purple clay Yixing pots and a Zojirushi hot pot for proper water temperature with of course TChing tea and several other varieties to boot). Able to enjoy a good cup of tea is a bit like prayer time (meditation, down time call it what you will), a daily necessity in our hectic modern lifestyle and if Martha Stewart were to write about it would be considered a “good thing.” Keep enjoying the good stuff – namely, most any tea related beverage/food product that you enjoy and know that the other benefits (fellowship, health etc.) are just the icing on the cake. Peace

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Susana Mojica

Susana Mojica is a sun-loving California native currently living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She studied organic agriculture in Northern California and has a deep understanding of nature and our relationship to it.  She is fascinated by the synergistic relationships we have created with plants. When arriving in Milwaukee, she was fortunate to find Rishi Tea and expand on her knowledge and love of plants.  Over the past three years, her esteemed teacher and tea mentor, Joshua Kaiser, has had a profound impact on her road to understanding the way of the leaf. She now helps run the Mail Order Division at Rishi Tea and is able to expand on her knowledge of tea while helping guide many on their own personal tea quests.  

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Tracy Monson

Tracy Monson is the owner and founder of Essencha Tea House & Fine Teas in Cincinnati, Ohio. After graduating with a degree in Film from the University of Colorado (Boulder), Tracy took a 2-1/2-year trip around the world, spending much of her time in tea-producing, tea-drinking cultures. A large portion of that time was spent in Japan, where she worked while studying ceramics, tea, and Japanese. Although she had always been a tea drinker, it was during this time that she began a true love affair with tea and its associated cultures, rituals, history, art, and aesthetics. After leaving Japan, Tracy decided to backtrack, taking another trip around the world, during which time she met and married her husband of 14 years. After her return to the States in the mid-90's, Tracy began a career in IT while pursuing her MBA. It was during this time that she began to explore the feasibility and viability of opening and sustaining a modern teahouse in Cincinnati. About a year and a half after graduation, she left her career and opened Essencha Tea House in March 2006. In addition to overseeing strategy at the teahouse, Tracy is the mother of three young children and spends what little free time she has outside the teahouse exercising, cooking, reading, and entertaining.

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Zhena Muzyka

In 2000, Zhena was faced with the most difficult challenge of her life when her son, Sage, was born with a severe birth defect. Barely making ends meet, and with no health insurance to cover Sage’s mounting medical costs, Zhena was determined to earn the income necessary to support the needs of her son and finance the several surgeries to ensure Sage’s survival. With her degree in aromatherapy, her love of tea, and a small collection of money from friends and family, Zhena embraced her Ukrainian Gypsy ancestry and began peddling her teas out of a cart on California street corners. Believing that selling her tins of tea could alter fate, Zhena became a purveyor of hope and the founder of Gypsy Tea. Today Sage is a healthy, energetic boy and the company is an award-winning brand delighting consumers around the globe.

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Nancy Murphy

Nancy Murphy lives in Austin, Texas, where, after many years in the corporate world, she is currently on sabbatical to learn more about tea and work on her dream of owning a tea shop. Although currently looking for a full-time job, she is continuing to pursue her tea interests, and has been pleasantly surprised by how open and welcoming everyone in the tea world has been. She has enjoyed exploring tea shops and markets in locations such as China, Malaysia, England, and France, and would love to take a trip to the tea estates in India, Taiwan, and China.

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Nini Ordoubadi

Nini Ordoubadi is an interior decorator and stylist who lives in New York City. She embarked on the path of tea in 2002 when she created her signature tea blend, Persian Rose (a black tea with rosebuds, rose petals, cardamom, and borage) to serve at the many dinner parties she hosted at the time. Encouraged by friends and family to share this widely popular blend with a larger audience, she founded Tay Tea in 2003. In the same year, she and her husband bought a farmhouse in upstate New York and soon after Nini opened TAY HOME in the nearby hamlet of Andes. The teashop soon became her showroom, headquarters, and blending studio. Her private tea blends were created here, one after the other: Better Than Sex, Berber, Kaapstad. She now has a total of 19 in her collection and introduces a new blend every season. Born and raised in Iran, Nini comes from a tea-loving culture and a long line of tea blenders in her family. Her great grandmother, uncle, and great aunt were all tea blenders. As a child, she spent a lot of time with these relatives observing them as they shared their knowledge of tea and taught her about the nuances of tea blending. She remembers the joy she felt as a child following her great grandmother around the garden picking quince from her trees, peeling them, and drying them in the sun to blend with different kinds of botanicals and teas. Nothing made her happier than to do this and taste the different combinations with her - it was pure magic! That passion for tea has just gotten stronger in her. She now shares her tea blends with the public who visit her at her store in Andes and her online shop at www.taytea.com. Nini also wholesales her teas in bulk to exclusive spas, restaurants, hotels, and teashops nationwide and creates custom blends for clients such as Henri Bendel of New York and their four new department stores.

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Johanna Pick

Johanna was educated in the public schools of Los Angeles. Upon graduation from L.A. High, she entered the University of Southern California. Originally a sociology major, she added a second major when the head of the German department called her attention to the availability of a scholarship for a woman majoring in German. Throughout her four years at U.S.C., Johanna was active in student government, campus publications, and a number of service organizations. She was tapped for both service and academic honoraries, and as she had been in high school, was selected one of the outstanding women in her graduating class. Blessed with a father who loved to eat and a mother who hated to cook, she was able to earn a half dozen food-related Girl Scout merit badges in less than a year. Later in life, she continued honing her culinary skills taking classes with teachers ranging from Wolfgang Puck, Joachim Splichal, and Roy Yamaguchi (before they were famous) to Michelin-starred Chefs Jacques Maximin and Anton Mosimann. An unabashed fan of afternoon tea, to date her favorite is one she savored while traveling aboard a restored, vintage Pullman dining car from Folkstone to London, the final leg of a journey on the Orient Express, that had originated in Venice, Italy.

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James Norwood Pratt

James Norwood Pratt published his first book on tea in 1982 and is widely acknowledged as an instigator and prophet of America's present tea renaissance. With numerous columns, articles and interviews in overseas tea periodicals and books which have been translated into French, German, Czech and Chinese, he is perhaps the world's most widely read author on the subject today. He was made Honorary Director of America's first traditional Chinese tea house, was instrumental in creating APTI (precursor of the current Specialty Tea Institute), has been editor-in-chief of two tea magazines and leads tea tours to China and India. In 2005 he was chosen International Juror in India's first-ever tea competition. His entertaining talks and tea classes reach growing audiences each year and James Norwood Pratt's "New Tea Lover's Treasury", his now classic "bible of tea", remains the most comprehensive compendium on tea in English. Besides his "International Tea Dictionary" for the tea trade, his works in progress include "All About Black Tea: For those who've given tea a thought but not a try." T Ching will preview selected excerpts.

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Regena Rafelson

Regena Rafelson was born and raised in the Columbia River Gorge, witnessed all the memorable weather events: Columbus Day Storm of 1962; floods from 1964 to 2006; the blowing of Mt. St. Helens in 1980; and the first visit of Thomas the Tanker Train. She has summitted most of the Cascade Volcanoes, including 6/7 of Mt. Rainier. Formerly an avid backpacker, and telemark skier, gravity has taken its toll. She is content with hiking the Columbia River Gorge, "You could take a different hike every day for 75 days, all of them uphill at least one way." Fearing that her stepchildren will place her in an assisted care facility in Rockaway, Oregon, Regena has recently switched to tea after a thirty year affair with espresso. She is an English teacher at the high school level. On Tuesdays, tea is served in each class.

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Sam Ritchey

Sam is Tea Sommelier for TeaGschwendner, the world's largest specialty tea retailer. He is a self-described ambassador for tea, sharing his passion one cup at a time with those curious about the most popular drink on the planet. Traveling far and wide in the name of tea, Mr. Ritchey has visited gardens in Nepal, India, and Japan, engaging with dozens of artisanal teamakers along the way. While he brings the insight of these journeys to his tastings and workshops, his true expertise has been built in Chicago during his daily conversations with tea drinkers from every corner of the globe. As he says, sometimes you just have to let the world of tea come to you!

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Dan Robertson

Dan Robertson is the founder and owner of The Tea House (www.theteahouse.com) in Naperville, Illinois. Born in New Haven, CT and raised in the Midwest, he also lived in Atlanta, GA and is a graduate of the College of Wooster, Ohio. Before venturing into the world of tea Dan owned FRAMEWORK Video & Sound, a video production company specializing in documentary and educational programming. Although traveling to the orient previously, involved in the freight industry, it was his career as a filmmaker that took him to China in 1994 to produce a documentary on tea. With two years of preparatory work he traveled across China for a month filming tea gardens, factories, teahouses, hospitals, universities, museums and historical sites interviewing tea experts in all areas. He returned again in 1995 for another month collecting more footage. As an unexpected result, he began his own tea business, drawing upon the resources he had developed during filming. Since then he returns to China nearly every year either to meet with suppliers, discover new teas, study and research. Since 1996 he has been organizing and leading the acclaimed China Tea Tour, where tea lovers from around the world get first hand experience in tea making, history, culture and business. As an importer, wholesaler, blender and retailer of fine teas and accessories, he is involved with many levels of the tea industry. Known for his informal and engaging style, Dan shares is passion for tea, lecturing around the country for business, educational and private groups. His recently released DVD The Art of Chinese Tea — The Tea Ceremony, is a demonstration and tutorial on the gongfu style of tea making.

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Paul Rosenberg

Bio coming soon.

 

Milton Schiffenbauer, Ph.D.

Dr. Milton Schiffenbauer is a microbiologist and assistant chairman of the Department of Biology at Pace University's Dyson College of Arts & Science in New York City. Dr. Schiffenbauer's current research focus has been looking at the antiviral, antibacterial and antimicrobial properties of white tea.

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Scot Johnston

Bio coming soon.

 

Shea Shelton & Jay Zhao

Shea and Jay met as students at Tulane University. Shea, a public health major, and Jay, a business major, devised a business model that integrates social good with the products they sell. Shea loves tea and has been drinking tea for years. Jay is from Fujian, one of China’s richest tea provinces. Living through Hurricane Katrina gave Shea and others in New Orleans a deep concern for the future of New Orleans, given its fragile environmental condition. Shea and Jay believe business should and can do good. Both currently live in New Orleans, where they founded their company, Pureland, LLC. These young social entrepreneurs are just starting their venture of great tea and great tea culture. With its tea, Pureland aims to bring health to the body and the planet by committing a large portion of their tea sales to the restoration of the New Orleans wetlands.

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Phyll Sheng

Phyll is a tea and wine enthusiast who enjoys drinking and discussing the them. He mostly brews his tea using the Chinese gongfu method. Phyll maintains a blog on tea and wine (mainly). He also co-moderates a lively wine discussion forum called Winexiles, in which passionate members come from all walks of life and professions. He writes independently out of personal enjoyment, and he owes much of his knowledge to many people he has met and will meet in the future. Phyll resides in Los Angeles.

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Joseph Simrany

Mr. Simrany is president of the Tea Association of the USA, Inc., the Tea Council of the USA, Inc. and the Specialty Tea Institute (STI). In this capacity, Mr. Simrany tracks trends, disseminates information, and represents the interests of the wholesale and retail tea industry on a broad spectrum of issues. As president of the Council, he leads the industry's educational and public relations' efforts relative to communicating the many attributes of tea to consumers. Joe Simrany first came to the tea industry in February of 1991 after 25 years in the biscuit industry, most recently as vice president of marketing for Sunshine Biscuits, Inc. At Sunshine, he was instrumental in evolving the company from a manufacturing driven strategy to a consumer driven strategy. In addition to significantly strengthening the companies' share and profit positions, he spearheaded the effort to expand and update the companies' product lines. Prior to his time at Sunshine, Mr. Simrany was a product group director at Nabisco Brands, Inc. where he was employed for nearly 20 years in a marketing and sales capacity.

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Maria Uspenski

Maria Uspenski's love of tea was fostered at an early age by her Russian family. Later, as an undergraduate student in Paris, France, she was introduced to many more varieties than the traditional black teas of her childhood. During stints as a ballet dancer and athlete, Maria began to discover the health benefits of tea. Fast forward to 2010. Maria is now the Founder and CEO of The Tea Spot, educating the public as well as her two daughters on ways to enjoy tea to enhance a healthy lifestyle. Her message is simple and powerful - tea in its freshest form renders exceptional flavor, unmatched health benefits, and is eco-friendly. A certified woman-owned and operated business, The Tea Spot produces innovative and patented products to modernize the loose-leaf tea experience. The award-winning Steepware® line promotes the ease of loose tea preparation. The Tea Spot’s line of microblended loose teas includes organic and Fair-Trade Certified™ estate teas as well as handcrafted signature blends. The company is committed to clean, sustainable, and fair manufacturing standards. Maria’s inspiration to start The Tea Spot grew out of her passion to foster wellness for cancer survivors through full-leaf tea. She had the entrepreneurial skills necessary to put her plans into action. Her 20 years in management, marketing, and product research and design came from her work with IBM, Control Data Corporation, and EcoSoftware, a computer systems engineering firm that she founded and operated. Under Maria’s leadership, EcoSoftware sustained a consistent 30 percent annual growth rate during its eight-year existence. Lockheed Martin named it their “Supplier of the Year” in 1999. Maria sold the firm in 2000. An MIT mechanical engineer, she is listed on three U.S. patents - one for her work with IBM and two for The Tea Spot’s line of Steepware™. Her engineering and business expertise now make it easier for us all to steep up the perfect cup of loose-leaf tea. Based in Boulder, Colorado, The Tea Spot’s culture of social entrepreneurship incorporates a culture of giving as it grows - ten percent of every sale is donated in-kind to cancer and community wellness programs.

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Diane Walden

Diane Walden has been a life-long entrepreneur. After over a decade in the wholesale industry with customers including Wal-Mart and K-Mart, she and her husband became interested in specialty tea in 2004 and, in the summer of 2008, opened their specialty tea concept, California Tea & Coffee Brewery, in Temecula, California, the second tea-centric company Diane has co-founded. Her husband, Vern, is the inventor of a patent-pending, one-minute brewing technology for loose leaf teas and tisanes used in the store on a daily basis, which has already received interest from well-known companies and publications in the specialty tea and coffee industry. Diane may be reached at 951-693-5727 or 951-506-1433.

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Brendan Waye

Born a Newfoundlander and raised in the high arctic among the Inuit, Brendan was slurping sweet milky tea from the time he was old enough to hold a cup. Through his travels as a rock and ice climber, Brendan had the good fortune to see tea taken by many other cultures around the globe. On a climbing excursion in Pakistan in the mid-90s, he discovered authentic chai and was so mesmerized by the beverage that he started to brew his own version of chai after returning to Edmonton. This chai-brewing operation now goes under the moniker, The Chai Company. Then, on a trip to Prague in 1997, Brendan stumbled into a teahouse that blew his mind – a bohemian, eclectic lounge offering hundreds and hundreds of tea varieties for sipping or to buy. The seed was now firmly planted, and on a hot May morning in 1999 on a dusty street in Edmonton, Brendan opened his first teahouse and called it "Steeps – the Urban Teahouse". It was Canada’s first true sipping lounge for the masses. With his late brother, Paul, he went on to open five more stores in Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. At the same time, The Chai Company was growing and expanding and satisfying the palates of chai latte lovers all over western Canada. After more than a decade immersed in the tea business in Canada, Brendan has now completed all the levels of the Specialty Tea Institute's (STI) Level 3 professional tea series and is now one of Canada’s few designated Certified Tea Specialists. Today, you will find Brendan through his informative website (theteaguy.com) and helping other people find a good home in the world of tea.

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John Weisburger, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Weisburger was a commissioned officer in the US Public Health Service, assigned to a research program at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD. He was concerned with the mode of action of chemical carcinogens in general, and arylamines in particular. Some of these chemicals were important occupational carcinogens, and in more recent years it was discovered that they occurred in the environment of every consumer of cooked meats, since the cooking process generates heterocyclic amines. Between 1961 and 1972, Dr. Weisburger was also concerned with effective means to test for environmental carcinogens, as Head of the NCI Carcinogen Bioassay Program. With the discovery at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories that carcinogens could be mutagens, he organized national programs to develop rapid in vitro bioassay systems to test for carcinogenicity. Dr. Weisburger later left NCI to become Director of Research at the American Health Foundation. Dr. Weisburger is known for his research on the mechanisms of chronic disease causation, as a sound basis for prevention. The main theme of the research deals with disease prevention, the definitive approach to disease control. In particular, the research involves studies of the association between specific lifestyles anywhere in the world, and the locally prevailing chronic diseases, the area of geographic pathology. A number of chronic diseases stem from inappropriate oxidation reactions and the formation of reactive radicals. These can be prevented by ensuring the presence of antioxidants, such as are provided by vegetables, fruits and the beverage tea. Dr. Weisburger states that regular exercise is also a part of a healthy lifestyle. Based on sound research as described above, people anywhere in the world need to be provided with guidelines as to healthy lifestyles as a means of health promotion. This is important in view of the high cost of medical care to the individuals concerned, their families, their insurance carriers and their governments.

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Robert Wemischner

Pastry chef and culinary educator, Robert Wemischner has always been intrigued by the flavor potential of ingredients, from turmeric to tea and from cumin to coffee. Author of four books, most recently, "The Dessert Architect", Wemischner began his career to great media acclaim in the food business in the early 70’s as the owner of a pioneering gourmet-to-go shop in Beverly Hills. He then went on to open a similar operation in Baltimore and in the early 90’s returned to Los Angeles and began teaching the pastry and culinary arts in earnest. Drawing upon his exposure to classical cooking at a young age during informal apprenticeships to chefs in France, he has been imparting his knowledge to a diverse audience of students as a teacher of baking and pastry for the past 16 years at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. He has also vigorously pursued freelance food writing and has been a valued and regular contributor to "Sante", "Food Arts", "Angeleno", "Pastry Art and Design", and "Robb Report" magazines, among others, writing on a wide variety of food and food business-related subjects. He is also the author of "The Vivid Flavors Cookbook", a groundbreaking book about fusion cuisine, "Gourmet to Go" on the business of specialty food retailing, and "Cooking with Tea", an exploration of the culinary potential of the leaf. Over the past 25 years, Robert has presented on baking, pastry, and other food-related topics to professional organizations, including the International Association of Food Professionals, Retailers Bakery Association, and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, and continues to consult and present to food service professionals and media for companies such as Lipton Tea/Unilever and independent operations including start-ups in the baking, food service, and restaurant fields. He has also been guest chef on board Silversea Cruise lines to Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand, where he presented on tea, cooking with tea, and tea and food pairings and also escorted tours to tea manufacturing plants as part of the shore excursion programs. Most recently, he was the guest chef aboard Crystal Cruise lines' luxury trip through the Baltic; on board he lectured on desserts and cooking with tea and worked side by side with the ship's chefs to create a menu of his signature desserts with appropriate beverage pairings. He will be presenting on cooking with tea at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas in June.

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Tiffany Williams

Tiffany grew up in Southern California, drinking herbal, black, and chai tea. Herbal teas kept her immune system strong. Black and chai teas helped her stay awake during her math lectures at Claremont McKenna College, where she earned a degree in Economics/Mathematics. During her junior year, Tiffany participated in a Japanese tea ceremony. A delegation of Japanese college students toured the world, performing a Japanese tea ceremony to promote peace. After graduation, Tiffany accepted a position as an English Conversation teacher in Tokyo, Japan. She spent one year in Japan, teaching English, drinking tea, and seeing historical sites. Japan exposed her to loose-leaf tea, Japanese tea, and English tea time. Returning to the U.S. a few years ago, Tiffany found it difficult to find loose-leaf tea. She decided to start Boutique Teas. Boutique Teas will offer a selection of unique loose-leaf teas rarely found in the U.S.

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Jason Witt

A resident of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Jason Witt is an expert on the spirituality of tea (with a Western perspective). An aficionado of tea-themed music from all eras, as well as 80s and 90s rock, Jason is a good listener, eats a low-calorie diet, and has overcome a lot of addictions, including to wine and women. An advocate of living a simple life without many possessions, Jason has no desire to own a car again or buy his own house (so he's also green). Needless to say, Jason drinks a lot of tea.

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Adam Yusko

Adam is an academic studying mathematics and currently applying to graduate schools. He got interested in tea because he was drinking an excessive amount of coffee, and found in tea a hobby outside of mathematics on which he could spend his excess energy. Adam is the author of The Sip Tip - a tea blog focusing on Chinese and, more recently, Japanese teas - and an avid collector of Hagi Yaki.

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Zach Hodgson

Born and raised in Southern California, Zach Hodgson is proud to be part of the T Ching family, working from his new home in Seattle, Washington where he currently makes his living as a freelance photographer and graphic designer. You can find some of his work on his personal web site at www.ZachHodgson.com. His love for tea goes back several years and his affection for photography goes back even further. He received his first camera, a 110 Instamatic, as a gift from his parents when he was only a small child. He received formal training in both the graphic and photographic arts in college, where his professors were quick to point out his natural talent for composition. In 2007, Zach received a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design, and left college with a life-long love for learning and new experiences. He finds himself most often enjoying P.G. Tips black tea, Yerba Mate, and Sencha and Genmaicha green teas as well as an occasional masala chai, often out of one of his mother's hand-thrown mugs.

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