Make it easy to enjoy restorative and mindful tea sessions with my online Winter Rest Kit for Tea Lovers!
Author: Traci Levy
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My Top Tea Experiences of 2024
Instead of posting a list of my top teas for the year–especially since I published something like this not too long ago in my Surprise Teas of 2024 post-I thought I’d share my top tea experiences of 2024.
Before I share the list, I would like to clarify what I didn’t include on it.
I had tea sessions with friends in person and via Zoom that were really fun and, often, deeply meaningful in ways that are hard to share on a list like this. I didn’t include those. They felt too personal.
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Protected: Winter Rest Kit for Tea Lovers
Tea Lovers: Why not make attending one or more of the 2025 tea festivals a priority this year? This post shares 34 (and counting!) tea festival dates and locations in the USA, Canada, and Europe in 2025! As I find information, I’ll highlight which festivals have inclusive/online options, too. I also include a link to the Global Japanese Tea Association’s list of festivals, below. [Last updated 5/1/25.]
What is a Tea Festival?
Tea festivals are wonderful opportunities to connect with all things tea and other tea lovers.
As I wrote in “5 Tips for Attending Tea Festivals“:
Tea festivals are events open to the public (often requiring attendees to purchase tickets) that feature vendors and artisans (sometimes even producers) who sell tea, teaware, accessories, and related merchandise. They also usually sell tea sweets or other food items.
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Tea Infusiast News, No. 24
My monthly newsletter, Tea Infusiast News, is subscriber-only AND free.
In the December 2024 edition, No. 24:
You can’t tell from the table of contents, but this newsletter revealed the giveaway items before they were publicly announced AND they shared a sneak-peek at my early 2025 plans.
My experience at an online tea event underscored the power of communiTEA–the magic that happens when we connect over tea in community.
I’m going to be real, Tea Friends. I have been struggling a bit. I have been scrambling to catch up–and trying get ahead–in my personal and professional life. An upcoming surgery has me discombobulated. Besides the stress of working more to prepare, fear around that event has been an unwelcome and too-constant companion. It has been really hard to process the fear and to allow space for other feelings.
Meditating with others online helps. The practices I have learned as a meditation teacher help–particularly, to be with and breathe through my emotions. The charity tea event I recently held, Story of a Teacup 2024, also provided an unexpectedly wonderful boost.
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Tea Infusiast News, No. 23
My monthly newsletter, Tea Infusiast News, is now subscriber only.
It’s free.
In the November 2024 edition, No. 23:
Tea Infusiast News has engaging tea content, special deals and advance notice for events, tea giveaways, etc. (The link to subscribe is below.)
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Tea with a Buddhist Sister
I was blessed to enjoy a spontaneous session of tea with a Buddhist Sister at a recent mindfulness retreat.
Last weekend, I had a profound experience attending a two-day retreat. Adelphi University, near me, organized a program on its campus with monastics from Blue Cliff Monastery. The monastery “is a mindfulness practice center and monastic training center founded by the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, author, and peace activist…Thich Nhat Hanh.”
The third annual Story of a Teacup Event chariTEA event takes place online on November 17, 2024. Four other tea leavers and I will be having online tea with participants. We will also each share a story about a special piece of teaware from our collections. It’s always a lovely tea-and-empathy-building event. [NOTE: This lovely event has passed. You can read about it here.]
Meet the 2024 tea-loving storytellers!
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I Drink Tea With My Eyes
You may have heard the saying: we eat first with our eyes. I recently had an experience that underscored that I drink tea with my eyes. But, it’s more complicated than “only” noting the appearance. Let me explain…
I grew up drinking malty black tea with milk. I still really enjoy it from time to time—even more so when the weather gets colder.
