TAC Tea Sommelier® Professional

(Tea & Herbal Association of Canada)

Tea & Etiquette® Consultant

(Dorothea Johnson and Bruce Richardson USA)

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My first memory about tea was the mug of my mom teaching piano to one of her students.

She used also to offer tea to my dad whom had his own ritual to enjoy it: in a coffee cup, with sugar. I do not know if it was a sort of kindness to my mom instead of saying "no thanks, I do not like tea". Today, that I am 49, he still continues to have this ritual: for my dad, tea is in a coffee cup. For my mum, instead, tea was in a full pot.

Everyone has his own ritual.

I started drinking tea when I was a child during breakfast because I did not like milk. I loved tea with saltines, and I still love it. Sometimes my grandmother invited me to join her for some "afternoon tea" at one of her friends' place in the neighborhood. That moments were so funny, the old lady used to serve tea in a very delicate and colorful english-style tea set with her trembling hands. This kid's memory about old friends enjoying tea and eating cookies while talking about their lives, shopping, problems, husbands, grandkids is alive in my mind, such as the (rare) moments in which they stopped their cheat-chatting to ask me something to let me feel part of the conversation. I remember my grandmother was so happy to take me there and I was so happy as well to see her cheerful. Furthermore, to be honest, after a while I started to enjoy this moment too. Every tea-moment around my life had a particular ritual.

I was a very energetic child always dancing, never tired, with the love for cutting paper, drawing and painting. I always had, and I still have, plenty of colors, markers, brushes, pencils and paper in my room, to spend my free time in a relaxing way creating art.

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The moment I embraced tea as active part of my day and life was while studying for my exams at the University.  I went through many many books and I was always accompanied by two friends and a cup of tea. These two friends helped me out to take student's life easier and happier. Tea helped me to remember things and concepts, to remain concentrate and not to stand up from the chair. My hands around the hot cup surrounded me in a safety ball of concentration where I could study well and undisturbed. I studied many many books for my exams and the majority of them embraced tea too: I do not remember one of my books without some pages crinkled in brown color because of some tea that was spilled on the book while I was reading it.

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In 2005 I got married with an Italian Army Officer and my life changed in favor of his carrier. I became a Military Wife, putting my inner dreams aside, always alone, always deployed, always asked to change life, town, friends, jobs...

But Tea and Arts were always with me.  

I started my life as a mom and wife, I changed many places and houses but I never gave up my passions.

When I was exhausted by the hurries of life I knew where to take refuge: a cup of tea, to relax, to take the time I needed to restore and feel calm, some colours to put on a blank paper. 

I love the Peanuts gang, La Settimana Enigmistica, playing card games, making puzzles, Hitchcock movies, The Beatles and classical music for piano especially Chopin and Schumann.

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For me Tea has two meanings:

One of a daily moment of calmness.  

One of sharing time and thoughts with friends that linger for days after.

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