By Stephenie Overman
Samantha Hammer Mitchell, Penton’s Event Director/World Tea Brand Leader, handed out awards to five new tea and tea-related products at the World Tea Expo, Thursday, June 16 in Las Vegas.
This year’s winners are:
Penton's Samantha Hammer Mitchell presenting award to ESPRO
Brewing Gear: ESPRO’s Glass ESPRO Press P5
Open Class: The Tea House Times’ new #DrinkTea Campaign
Tea As an Ingredient: Changsha Wufeng Tea Co., Ltd. Old Tree White Tea
Innovation: Boreal Wildcraft Tea Company’s The Wall™ tea cup
Tea Ware Accessories: FORLIFE Dew Teapot with Basket Infuser
Bob Krul, founder of Boreal Wildcraft Tea Company, Winnipeg, Manitoba, accepted the award for The Wall tea cup, which allows the tea drinker to infuse tea, herbs and berries simply in a single cup.
Samantha Hammer Mitchell presenting New Product Award to Masa Fujii, founder of FORLIFE
“I hope we’ve contributed to enjoying tea. That’s the only reason we’re doing it,” Krul said.
Zhou Xiao Dong, chief manager and senior tea taster, Changsha Wufeng Tea Co., Hunan, China, shared that his company’s winning Old Tree White Tea is a pure, natural, chemical-free tea that comes from trees that are hundreds of years old.
Ceramic designer Masa Fujii, founder of FORLIFE, Compton, Calif., said of his winning satin-finished Dew Teapot: “We wanted to design something modern but classic.”
Fujii said the tea pot fulfills three key goal: it has a spout that is nearly drip-less, a lid that stays on while pouring and a basket infuser large enough for any type of tea.
The Glass ESPRO Press P5 has a patent-pending safety lock to secure the glass inside the steel cage, and a patented double micro-filter.
The #DrinkTea Campaign was created by Gail Gastelu, publisher of The Tea House Times, in cooperation with the Tea Council of the USA and Tea Association of Canada.
