Thursday, September 1, 2011

The Art of Tea

On a sunny day, back in June, I joined a group of Certified Tea Sommeliers, Jane Pettigrew, the famous tea expert from U.K., and Dilhan Fernando of Dilmah Tea Estate , plus many others at Toronto's historic St. Lawrence Hall for "The Art of Tea", organized by Carol Mark in memory of her dear friend, Hema Abeygunawardena.

Through tales of her childhood in Sri Lanka, where tea ran deep in its people's lives, Hema would unknowingly ignite a new meaning of tea in her friend, Carol Mark.  Hema recalled how as a little girl on the first day of school, being among strangers was a little scary...until a family member would bring her a cup of tea.  Ah, the comforting smell and taste of tea... of home.  Tea...such a seemingly simple thing...yet it can bring great comfort.

When Hema died of cancer, Carol had promised to help fulfill her friend's wish to help give back to those less fortunate in her home country.  Carol wanted to honour her friend's memory through tea, since tea was such a constant throughout her friend's life, and thus "The Art of Tea" Event was created. All proceeds of the event were donated to the MJF Charitable Foundation.
 
It was a most fun and informative day, starting with a master class for Certified Tea Sommeliers and Tea Sommelier students before the event. 

Feel free to grab a cup of tea and enjoy, as you follow this link to my summary of the day's events (posted on the Tea Guild of Canada's website), http://teaguildofcanada.ca/news/pettigrew-in-toronto/the-art-of-tea