For years I have been collecting and drinking teas from around the world. I started loving tea many years ago, while living in North Carolina. In the winters during my years at boarding school, I would curl up on the sofa at my host family's home in front of the fireplace, with their cats, and sip exotic teas, wondering how so much flavor could come from one simple tea bag. I never thought my love for tea would carry on well beyond those years, but over time, tea bags turned into loose teas and then to the occasional seasonal picking of my own herb garden and drying to make blends for myself. Living in a small apartment in New York City, I have found growing roses, lavender, violets, lemongrass, lilac and other flowering herbs to be difficult, so I have resorted back to tea shops who blend teas to my specifications. I have been to many tea stores in New York, in and out of the city. I have been to tea stores in other parts of the world as well; all unique, all offering something wonderful inside of a can or two of loose teas, all with pleasant owners and delightful little quirks, but never have I had an experience as wonderful as the one I had at Carytown Teas.

This weekend, while in Richmond for Thanksgiving with my cousin and our families, I was introduced to Patricia Adams, the lovely proprietor of this wonderful little store on the back of a street across from CVS and UKrops in Carytown. Though the store doesn't look like much from the outside - or on the inside for that matter - it is far from a disappointment. In fact, in all of my years of tea drinking and collecting, I have never met a tea as good as those Patricia blends herself.

Patricia moved to NYC when she was 21 years old. She worked for Allianz Banque for a few years and lived in the east village. In the 80s she fulfilled her dream of going to FIT to study fashion design in America. She went back and forth to France for many years and somehow, found her way to Richmond, VA to open her tea-house in a time-line which remains unclear.

As she talks about her teas she beams with pride. "Oh, you must try this one" she says with one of the softest and most beautiful French accents I have ever heard. Patricia seduces you into each blend with the rolls of her Rs and the elongated OOOs and OHs. As she reminisces about Rooibos you begin to wonder what mythical creature came up with such a word to describe some of the most beautiful herbal teas you've ever known - and then you realize it isn't mythical at all, but the word Rooibos spoken with a delicate French accent just begs you to ask for 3 ounces of this and 2 ounces of that. Before you know it, you're at Black Tea, then Green, then White and finally Tisane - I'll have the Ice Wine blend from Calgary, the Green Lemongrass Mate for a little immune boost, the Hot Cinnamon Spice because I want my apartment to smell like that on a cold Saturday afternoon in NYC just after the snow falls, and the rare and wonderful Organic Emerald Lily Green which can only be made twice a year - in the beginning of spring and winter when the Emerald Lily is in bloom in the Jingmai Mangjing tea village. Yes, I could stay for hours to taste and talk about teas with Patricia, and she would take the time to tell me everything I'd like to know, but the hours in the day would not allow it and I had other errands to run before a house full of people arrived for a lavish Turkey dinner the next day. So, with all of my teas lined up on the counter in their little golden 2, 3 and 4 ounce bags, we rang them up - along with a few 4 ounce red tea canisters which fit into my red accented decor in my NYC apartment - and as if I were drunk, without hesitation, I merrily handed over my credit card to finalize the transaction. Patricia then took the time to bag everything up in a beautiful brown paper bag with dark green tissue paper, for my plane trip home, handed me her card and offered to ship anything I needed to New York any time I needed it.

Without warning, my love affair with tea has now entered a new phase. It is my hope that Patricia and her little tea-house will be right where they are for years to come. Her blends are magnificent. She doesn't use flavored oils or impure blends. Her teas are organic, chemical and oil free and just as they warm the palate upon the first sip, the clean fresh bouquets linger like a fine wine after you drink it all in.

Go there in person or order on line - and if you are in NYC - forget all of those amateur tea places; call Patricia, tell her what you want, and trust her to make you the perfect blend - sight unseen. I certainly will.

S~

Richmond, VA (Aug. 12, 2010) For the second year in a row Richmond’s CaryTown Teas has been selected as one of the nation’s best tea blenders. In this year’s completion, competing against the nation’s largest commercial tea producers, CaryTown Teas LLC’s Tummy Tonic won second place at the 2010 North American Tea Championship in the Unflavored Herbal Blends category of the Hot Tea Class.

To choose the recipient of this award, the North American Tea Championship judging panel of professional cuppers assessed each submission through blind organoleptic analysis of the following characteristics: dry leaf; brewed color; brewed aroma; brewed flavor; brewed mouth-feel; brewed harmony. The ratings of each characteristic were then used to calculate an overall numerical value on a 100-point scale, and winners were determined by rank.

In recognition of its excellent evaluation, World Tea Media presents the Second Place North American Tea Champion Award to CaryTown Teas LLC for its Tummy Tonic blend.

About the North American Tea Championship

North American Tea Championship is produced by SFG Group, LLC dba World Tea Media, which also produces World Tea Expo and World Tea News. Until 2010, the Championship was called the World Tea Championship and it was held in-conjunction with the Expo. Today, it is an independent event, judged by professional cuppers, that evaluates premium teas from around the world sold in North America. For more information, visit www.worldteaexpo.com/tcwinners.

Complete Award List

Carytown Teas

PRESS RELEASE - North American Tea Championship

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Aug. 10, 2010)—From cinnamon and cardamom to mint, ginger and rose, the North American Tea Championship Hot Tea Class / Spring Tea competitors showcased an assortment of pleasing flavors for discriminating judges. The Championship, which took place July 27 – 28 in Las Vegas, Nev., evaluated premium spring teas in 15 different categories. More than 200 teas entered the Championship, the only independent and professionally judged tea competition in North America, to distinguish the highest quality and best tasting teas commercially available in the marketplace. Many of the teas originated from China, India, Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka. A complete list of first, second and third place winners is available at www.worldteaexpo.com/tcwinners.

Kim Jage, executive vice president of World Tea Media, producers of the North American Tea Championship, said, “This is the first year we separated the competition from the World Tea Expo and opened it up to all companies in North America that sell tea. As a result, while there were many well-known and respected tea companies that took first place, there were also many pleasant surprises. We saw less familiar and up-and-coming tea retailers stand out with premium teas, winning first, second and third place honors.”

The 217 tea submissions were evaluated blind and through organoleptic analysis of the following characteristics: dry leaf, brewed color, brewed aroma, brewed flavor, brewed mouth-feel, and brewed harmony. An overall numerical value on a 100-point scale was then calculated based on the ratings of each characteristic above. Winners were determined by rank. Jage said, “We thank our first-rate judges for their dedication to quality tea. Collectively, they brought more than a century worth of tea tasting experience to the Championship.”

Judges of the North American Tea Championship included:

• David De Candia, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
• Eliot Jordan, Peet's Coffee & Tea
• Jane Pettigrew, internationally renowned tea expert
• Mike Spillane, G.S. Haly Company
• David Walker, Walker Tea

Cupping Coordinators included:

• Suzette Hammond, Peet's Coffee & Tea
• Aaron Vick, G.S. Haly Company

The North American Tea Championship is made up of two classes: Hot Tea and Iced Tea. Each class consists of its own categories and judging panel. The Hot Tea Class is evaluated twice a year: July for spring teas and February for fall teas. The Iced Tea Class is evaluated once a year in May. Winners of the Tea Championship are announced after each respective evaluation. An invitation-only Awards Celebration is held annually at the World Tea Expo, the premier event for the industry, to honor all winners. The next evaluation will be held February 2011 for fall teas. Entries will be accepted in January. To inquire about entering the competition, e-mail keith@teachampionship.com.