STEVEN SMITH at his tea salon, Steven Smith Teamaker, in Portland, Ore.
Thomas Twining. Thomas Lipton. The Bigelows. And Steven Smith?
Hardly a household name, Mr. Smith is one of the biggest players in modern tea history, holding a key role in what’s been a renaissance in the U.S., with tea sales soaring to about $7 billion this past year from less than $1 billion in 1990. He’s responsible for many of the original blends for two top-shelf brands: Stash, now owned by the Japanese company Yamamotoyama; and Tazo, which Starbucks bought in 1999. His own company, Steven Smith Teamaker, sells small-batch teas in restaurants and stores like Williams-Sonoma, Zabar’s and even Eddie Bauer.
Quality leaves are essential to good tea, but so too are the expertise and imagination of the person creating the blends, said tea-expert James Norwood Pratt, author of the definitive “Tea Dictionary.” “In no generation in the past 5,000 years have we had more than a few people like Steven Smith. He makes astonishingly good blends,” Mr. Pratt said.
Here’s Tiffany: Retail Renegade, Photographer and Tea Maven. Tiffany will graciously serve you a flight of tea or may be found with a cap on packing boxes.
Q: Best cup of tea you’ve ever had?
A: Milk Tea in the mountain tea houses of Nepal, Chai bought on Indian railway platforms, hot Apple Tea in even hotter Eastern Turkey, High Tea in London (served with champagne!), Darjeeling Tea with Steve, Kim and our boys in Darjeeling, and Red Bush Tea in South Africa.
Q: Worst cup of tea?
A: Yak tea (also called Tibetean tea) in Nepal. Absolutely vile. Black tea, yak butter and salt – an acquired taste I never acquired. (more…)
The following post is part of TriplePundit’s coverage of the 2011 Net Impact Conference in Portland, Oregon. To read the rest of our coverage, click here.
By Ingrid Velmonte
I just returned to DC from Portland, OR, where I attended the2011 Net Impact Conference. It was my first visit to the Pacific Northwest, and I was enchanted by the city right away. Everywhere I happened to eat had delicious food, public transportation was easy to use and my hotel had recycling bins in the guest rooms, as well as complimentary Stumptown coffee in the lobby. One of the cool things about the conference was its focus on the host city, from having Congressman Earl Blumenauer welcome everyone on Friday morning to offering tours of local businesses, to design-thinking workshops geared toward addressing Portland-based companies’ and nonprofits’ sustainability challenges.
A very interesting conference panel featured an important industry in the Pacific Northwest region: beverages. “Coffee, Tea, Wine & Beer: Sustainability in the Pacific Northwest Beverage Industry” had key representatives of each drink choice:
Meet Amy: Connecter of all the dots, pillar of strength and organization, future CEO of Smith Teamaker
Q: What was your happiest time drinking tea?
A:With my granny while watching Gone With The Wind. 2 bags of Lipton in a tiny china teacup with 2 teaspoons of sugar and a quarter cup of milk….fond memories with my matrilineal elder…and sore teeth.
Q: Which famous figures in history would you most like to have tea with?
A: Nadia Comaneci so she could show me how she does this amazing move on the uneven parallel bars. Even if it was performed in the year I was born! (more…)
Hello all friends of Smith Teamaker! I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working part-time at Smith since last Christmas, and just last week I had a work-time revelation. I used to not be a big hibiscus fan. I liked the idea, but the actuality was often too astringent for my tastes. Then I met Big Hibiscus. The deeply crimson flowers themselves are beautiful, both to the eye and the nose, and the blend is at once rich and light, floral and fruity, with the slightest touch of the aromatic. I love it.
We’ve had a lovely spell of much needed 83-91 degree days here in Portland, and this kind-of weather brings margaritas to my mind. So there I was, sitting on the line while we were running BH, and it hit me: these flavors would be GREAT in a margarita! On the way home that night I stopped and picked up a bottle of tequila and some lemons and limes along with my dinner sundries. After a little tinkering, I came up with a recipe I’m pretty excited about, and I thought I’d share it here in hopes that some of you would enjoy it as much as me. The resulting cocktail is unique and delicious, as well as being the most beautiful shade of crimson I’m calling it an Indian Summer in hopes that our beautiful weather will stick around for a while before the rains return. Keep your fingers crossed for us. Best, Elizabeth
Indian Summer
6 tea bags Smith Teamaker Big Hibiscus tea
hot water
5 lemons
5 limes
simple syrup (I’ll explain)*
kosher salt
tequila (I like a silver as opposed to gold tequila for this drink)
A: After A long day of painting, or before painting to put me in the right mindset.
Q: Which famous figures in history would you most like to have tea with?
A: I would like to talk painting over a cup of tea with John Singer Sargent, or Maybe Paul Cezanne.
Q: Which famous living person would you least like to have tea with?
A: Probably Lady Gaga (more…)
Meet Jill: Accounts and the fastest box folder this side of the Mississippi
Q: What was your happiest time drinking tea?
A: When Steve brought home tastings of his newly formulated Honeybush tea. I had recently been to South Africa and when I returned, brought him a package of loose Honeybush tea (I think it cost about 2 Rand which was probably .50 cents US at the time) from a grocery in LadyBrand. He told me that was the best leaf Honeybush he had tasted so far. Unfortunately, the packaging was lost and I had only brought one back for him so we weren’t able to use the particular brand. While I was in Africa, Honeybush and Rooibos were common like Lipton and Red Rose are here. (more…)
![[CREATING]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/RV-AF421_CREATI_DV_20111223012203.jpg)
Corey Arnold for The Wall Street Journal
By Ingrid Velmonte
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