World Tea Academyhas awarded the Brian Keating Gratitude Scholarship to Elsa Carette. “I was sohonored, touched and thrilled to receive the scholarship,” Carette said.
World Tea Academy Director Lisa Boalt Richardson said there were many strong scholarship submissions, which made narrowing the evaluation process down to one winner extremely challenging. “Donna Fellman had narrowed it down to four submissions and I chose Elsa,” said Boalt Richardson. “Her submission showed such passion for the tea industry, which she has already worked in, and we loved her vision and goals for what she wants to do in the future and how she would like to give back.”
Carette, who currently works for Brooklyn, New York-based Bushwick Tea in sales and training, hasfive years of tea industry experience, along with four World Tea Academycourses under her belt and feels additional tea education will support herprofessional goals.
Her introduction to the tea industry came about when shetook a job at a tea shop in New York City’s East Village while also working asa theater actress. “That was the beginning of the passion that I wanted to makea career [in the tea industry],” said Carette. “I feel like I found in tea allof the things that I’d been looking for in theater. I feel like tea is allabout community, story-telling, connecting to culture, connecting to people andsharing.”
Carette’s passion for tea inspired her to intern for threemonths on a tea farm in Japan called Obubu Cha En, where she worked on the farm,conducted tea tours for visitors and learned more about the tea plant and Japanesetea. She went on to work for tea wholesaler Haelssen & Lyon inits New York office before being transferred to its Hamburg, Germany office forone year.
By the time she moved to Europe, she had also taken WorldTea Academy’s Core.01,Core.02, Core.03, and Core.04 courses, which cover Essentials of CamelliaSinensis, Tea Enhancements and Grading Systems, and Terroirs. “The coursematerial is so thorough, in-depth and extensive,” said Carette. “I think partof what’s really exciting about tea is that it can be a lifelong journey oflearning more and more. I’ve always felt this thirst for more tea knowledge.”
She frequently referenced course materials and notes she hadwritten and longed to take more World Tea Academy courses, so she applied forthe Brian Keating Gratitude Scholarship.
She noted that despite the prevalence of tea consumptionworldwide as the most widely consumed beverage after water, “[Oftentimes] whatpeople are consuming is really low-quality tea, the production of which doesn’tafford farmers a livable wage.”
She added that many consumers are either uninformed ormisinformed about tea and unable to discern between low and high-quality teas.“As soon as you start to learn more about the history and the artistry of thepeople who have made it; and when you’re looking at higher quality, beautifulteas that exist, then suddenly you realize why it’s so important to keepcelebrating this craft.” She feels there is a crucial need for more teaeducation for industry professionals and customers alike.
“The spreading of tea knowledge falls upon all of us who work in the tea industry — to take in as much knowledge as we can and to then share it as generously as it has been shared with us,” said Carette. “It’s a responsibility that falls on all of us in order to ensure the longevity of these high quality, beautiful premium teas.” She likens such teas to works of art.
Carette intends to open a tea school in Europe to educate teaand hospitality professionals, as well as those who simply love or are curiousabout tea, its origins, varietals and preparation.
“This scholarship felt like the perfect way to become asqualified as I possibly can be on an educational level,” said Carette, whoconsiders the World Tea Academy tobe the best tea education currently offered, describing the program aswell-researched, well-thought-out, and well-taught. “It’s the training that Iwish every tea professional out there could gain.”
Carette intends to use her scholarship to obtain the new Tea Aroma Expert Certification.
She also plans to organize a tea festival in Paris to create more opportunities for tea lovers to connect.
Born in Angers, France in the Maine-et-Loire valley andraised in New York, Carette currently divides her time between New York andFrance.