This is me as a little girl. I’ve always loved nice things to eat and drink – especially jam on toast! In those days, tea wasn’t my thing like it is now! But people were. I have always been a real extrovert – I love people! So, one of the things I love most about running my own business, Lahloo Tea, is meeting really interesting people.
With all the things we get involved in with Lahloo Tea throughout the year, we meet some wonderful people and make really great friends. It also means I get to do what I love most – talk about (and I can talk for England) truly fabulous tea! We even meet interesting folk on the 5th floor of our hub – this window cleaner recently dropped in for a cuppa. Real tea for real people!
At food festivals like Abergavenny, Dartmouth and The Real Food Festival the highlight for me is meeting gourmet-loving foodies, fellow food and drink producers, chefs and restaurateurs and retail buyers. And with a simple cup of tea, I can open their eyes up to this gourmet epiphany that is just waiting to be unearthed.
Not only is it great fun meeting people, it’s also fun to taste wonderful things (and take home swapsies)! My fav’s have been Orchard Pig, Pieminister, Rude Health, Yeo Valley and Hobbs House and Trethowan’s Dairy Gorwydd Caerphilly!
I’ve also enjoyed (and look forward to working with) other passionate producers to create something really unique. Working with the Willy Wonka-like Damian Allsop to create our sensational tea chocolates was so much fun – not to mention tasty! And we love our bite-sized shortbread treats from Hart’s Bakery.
But one of the most interesting parts is meeting those people who take the plunge and choose to help me challenge people’s views on serving loose leaf tea. They’ve chosen to upgrade their tea offering by serving and/or retailing Lahloo Tea. Not only do I get to meet brilliantly talented chefs, like The Walnut Tree’s Shaun Hill (he is a great character and a real advocate of Lahloo Tea), The Seahorse and Rockfish Grill chef-owner Mitch Tonks and Gordon Ramsey’s Best Restaurant winners 2011 Jonray and Pete Sanchez, I also meet inspirational, fun entrepreneurs like James Layfield and Steve Pette at Central Working.
Thank you so much to all of you who have helped me spread the word that Lahloo Tea really is real tea for real people ♥! Long may we continue!
What’s that you’ve got on your head?
I have no idea. A huge plate?