Steep Stories

Tag: World Tea Expo

  • The Flow of Tea and Time

    I should probably get around to talking about World Tea Expo 2019, huh? To be truthful, my delay in doing so wasn’t related to my usual brand of procrastination, but rather some trauma. Stuff I’ve had difficulty processing and— unfortunately— it’s inextricably linked to my World Tea Expo jaunt this year. Some have advised that…

  • A Rare Tea Tasting with Kevin Gascoyne

    As some of you have seen—via my social media—in June, I was at World Tea Expo. For those who don’t follow me on those platforms . . . I don’t blame you. But that’s beside the point. In the middle of June, I trekked down to Las Vegas for my fifth World Tea Expo. (Oh…

  • Tangents at World Tea Expo 2018

    This year, I went to World Tea Expo in Las Vegas with a mission. To hustle.

  • Cooked “Puerh” from Laos

    LaosTea—a wholesaler of heicha from Laos—had a booth at World Tea Expo again this last summer. And I didn’t visit it once. In my mind, I kept saying, Eh, I’ve already tried everything they have to offer. What I should’ve been thinking was, I really need to solidify some of my vendor networking contacts! Hindsight…

  • Cups, Crossroads, and the Way of World Tea Expo

    It was the last day of World Tea Expo, and I seemed to have lost my “Way”. That’s how I felt that morning—kinda lost. Rousting out of bed was difficult, as per usual. But today was particularly hard. Last days of anything usually are. To kick the tiredness to the curb, I went from zero-to-“wake-the-hell-up”…

  • The Power of the Pitch at World Tea Expo

    World Tea Expo, 2016, Day 2 . . . started early. Really early. Okay, maybe not that early, but it felt early. Sleep was a rare commodity that week, thus far. I immediately hit the Teas Etc. booth and grabbed an oolong to refuel. If I was going to spend the morning attending core panels,…

  • The Return of the Fellowship to World Tea Expo

    Returning to World Tea Expo this year felt like a scene right out of Return of the King. You know the one—where all four battle-weary Hobbits came back. Everything was the same . . . but they weren’t. That’s how the first day of Expo felt to me. This was the first one to be…

  • Tea-Fueled Las Vegas Tourism

    I needed a vacation. And I needed it as soon as possible. That was probably why—when I planned it—I decided to leave for Las Vegas four days earlier than I really needed to. The original intent was to go down just for the days of World Tea Expo. Well, I decided to tack on a few…

  • Cheating at Tea-Totaling

    Cheating at Tea-Totaling – The Tea-Totaler Trilogy, Part 1 In December of last year, I gave up drinking. The reason? A missing hubcap. I hit a curb while driving a wee bit sauced. No idea where said hubcap went. My theory’s Narnia. My poor car was the impetus for what (originally) began as a year-long…

  • Pocket Oolongs and After-Parties

    Pocket Oolongs and After-Parties – World Tea Expo, Day 3 I tried to sleep in. Really, I did. But the anticipation of the last day of World Tea Expo activities loomed at the forefront of my brain. By 8AM, I gave up and rousted from my cousin’s couch (where I’d been sleeping for two days…