Spill The Tea: Unveiling The Mysteries Of Blended, Flavored, And Herbal Teas

By William Dietz

Spill The Tea aims to provide readers with the most vital information about the flavored tea industry. It distills 15 years of career knowledge by systematically answering top questions about flavored and blended tea, providing a complete view behind the blending room door

• Language: English
• Publisher: William Dietz
• Release date: Jul 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781738958818

Book preview

Spill The Tea: Unveiling The Mysteries Of Blended, Flavored, And Herbal Teas

© 2023 by William Dietz

PO Box 294

St-Eugène, ON, K0B 1P0

Canada

Copyright #1201727—Canadian Intellectual Property Office

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author, except as permitted by Canadian copyright law.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter. It is sold with the understanding that the author is not engaged in rendering professional services. While the author has used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional when appropriate. The author shall not be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, personal, or other damages.

Book cover and illustrations by Jen Ashfield

Edited by R5 Website Management

First edition

Paperback ISBN 978-1-7389588-0-1

Electronic book ISBN 978-1-7389588-1-8

Preface

This is gross, I thought, as I finished my first sip of the warm, murky beverage. I was fifteen years old and going through a phase where I started to notice my body’s reaction to different foods and beverages. Though I was not a full-blown health nut, it looked as if I was headed down that path. I had stopped consuming most sugary drinks and was not fond of taking prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Instead of taking any medicine to relieve my sore throat, at her suggestion, I raided my mother’s tea drawer.

Finding the relief I needed, I religiously returned to the tea drawer. I began to enjoy the ritual of preparing tea and quickly fell in love with the flavors. Craving knowledge about this magic elixir, I turned to the internet for a deep dive into the world of tea. My parents had always raised my brother and me to be curious about the world around us. They would go out of their way to provide opportunities to support any interests that caught our attention, no matter how uncommon. Books on tea started to arrive at our door one by one, and I devoured them with a never-ending appetite.

Tea quickly began consuming most of my extracurricular time. One of my favorite resources to quench my thirst for knowledge was online blogs. I followed several and, seeing the passionate community online, was inspired to create my own: Sir William of the Leaf.

One day my parents suggested a trip to Las Vegas so that I could attend a course on tea. They had found educational courses offered by the Specialty Tea Institute (STI). We packed up the car and went off to Vegas. It was a win-win situation for our family: my parents got a two day vacation from their teenagers, and I got a tea class.

Over two days of classes, I was surrounded by tea shop owners, product developers, sales representatives for multinational tea companies, and many others in the tea industry. I do not know if this is what solidified my lifelong career path, but it certainly helped me realize I could make a living as a tea professional.

I built strong connections with the cohort of students moving through the STI courses, and I learned about their various businesses and paths into the professional world of tea. They made a living in tea and loved doing it. That is what I wanted for myself.

At seventeen years old, I was the youngest STI graduate to move through all three levels offered. I started digging to see what path would best position me for a lifelong career in tea. I would have loved a degree in tea, but that was not, and still is not, a track offered by any university in the United States.

One conversation about my future stands out to me. After a tea class, I candidly asked Richard Guzauskas, an instructor for the STI at the time, what he thought would be the best path to enter the tea industry.

The world doesn’t need more tea geeks, he said. It needs more people who understand the business of tea. He was not downplaying the importance of tea knowledge but rather highlighting that adjacent skills are necessary to make a lucrative career in tea. I owe my deepest gratitude to Richard, who is now my mentor.

I ended up studying marketing and entrepreneurship at Anderson University in Indiana. By sheer coincidence, I met another tea-obsessed student, Chris Bourgea, who operated a small tea business from his dorm room. We quickly connected and I shadowed him for a year to learn about his company. I purchased his tea business following my first year and embarked on my own entrepreneurial journey.

The connections did not stop there. An out-of-the-blue invitation led me to meet Kevin and Skye Huff, an entrepreneurial couple who planned to start a coffee business. Their plan was to expand on my