Presenting Sponsor
Silk Road Tea Co.
Silk Road is a Victoria based company renowned for premium quality organic teas. Silk Road was created in 1992, by two Tea Masters who follow ancient tea blending principles that began with the earliest monks and herbalists. Select botanicals from around the world are carefully cured and prepared to yield a superb tea experience. Only the finest, freshest organic ingredients and 100% natural flavourings are used. Silk Road is located in Victoria's Historic Chinatown District, where you'll discover tantalizing teas, exquisite teaware, fascinating tea workshops and delightful tea tastings. Silk Road Teas can also be found at restaurants, cafes, retailers, and through mail order.
1624 Government St.
(250) 704-2688 [store]
(250) 388-6815 [wholesale and mail order dept.]
www.silkroadtea.com
silkroad@silkroadtea.com [general inquiries and mail order]
wholesale@silkroadtea.com [wholesale inquiries]
Event Sponsors
JagaSilk
JagaSilk is a small business importer based out of Victoria, BC, Canada. We believe in quality, integrity and ethical business in what we do. We hope that our name will become synonymous with the very finest maccha available in North America.
JagaSilk imports its maccha strictly from Uji, Kyoto, Japan, where the green tea tree is grown at its best. Uji is to tea, what Champagne, France, is to sparkling wine. It is the birthplace of the tea ceremony and the cultural capital of Japan. We import our whisks from Takayama in Nara, famous for the quality of their handcrafted bamboo whisks. Our bowls are hand-made Japanese pottery.
We make sure to never let our stock sit in the warehouse too long, encouraging you to buy less and only use what you think you can go through. We in turn have our maccha stone ground for us the moment we order from Kyoto, and flown in by plane. Less waste makes for a sustainable planet.
Our attention to quality is with our maccha every step of the way. We provide you with the most up to date knowledge we have on maccha via our website, extensive research on maccha's optimal preparation, and we are always happy to answer any questions you may have.
Planet Organic
Our Planet Revolves Around People
Planet Organic Market is proud to be Canada's largest natural food retailer. You'll find seven Planet Organic locations across this fine country, from coast to coast.
At Planet Organic we want to provide food shoppers with a satisfying, healthy alternative. We've created a place that is pleasant to be in, where the staff is knowledgeable and friendly, and where you can find delicious and healthy food choices. Food that not only tastes great, but is good for you, and good for the earth.
Serious Coffee
Serious Coffee at the Tea Festival????
While most people know us for our fresh, outstandingly superior coffee, we also carry an equally outstanding line of coffee alternatives. From our famous Chai lattes to our long-enjoyed bagged teas, our products extend beyond great coffee.
Serious Coffee is a locally-owned and operated business. All of our stores are owned by local folks, most of whom work right in the store. They choose Serious Coffee because they enjoy interacting with people and they believe in our products. They are a big part of Serious Coffee's success.
One of the advantages to this type of situation is that we hear what our customers are saying. And you've told us you always enjoy coming into our stores for a fresh Brioche or other baked goodies, but you don't drink coffee and want something else to linger over. We've listened and have been on a worldwide quest and found what you're looking for! Now in addition to our steamers, bagged teas and Chai lattes, we have Maccha teas, loose teas and the amazing Blossoming teas. What better place to showcase them than at the Victoria Tea Festival?
That, my friends, is why we'll be there and we hope to see you there too!
Vancity
Vancity is Canada's largest credit union. Formed in 1946 today we have $12.3 billion in assets, more than 381,000 members and 57 branches throughout Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Victoria. Vancity and its subsidiary companies are guided by a commitment to corporate social responsibility, and to improve the quality of life in the communities where we live and work.
The Butchart Gardens
Benvenuto, Italian for 'welcome', is the name the Butcharts used for their original estate, now a National Historic Site of Canada, and still owned by family descendants. The Butchart Gardens offers 22ha (55 acres) of wonderful floral display located in Greater Victoria on Vancouver Island. You will find spectacular views as you stroll along meandering paths and expansive lawns. In 1904, Jennie Butchart began to beautify a worked-out quarry site left behind from her husband's pioneering efforts in the manufacture of Portland cement at nearby Tod Inlet. Her venture remains a family commitment to horticulture and hospitality spanning over 100 years.
Victoria Conference Centre
In the heart of downtown Victoria, British Columbia, by the spectacular Inner Harbour is the Victoria Conference Centre; a bright, modern and technically advanced meeting place that is most inviting. Here, you can defy convention within the environs of an historic city and one of the world's top travel destinations. It's business, in the most pleasurable surroundings possible.
Times Colonist
The Times Colonist is the oldest daily newspaper in Western Canada. The TC used to be two different papers, The British Colonist, founded in gold rush days in 1858, and the Victoria Daily Times, which started in 1884. Amor de Cosmos was a Nova Scotian who changed his name from Bill Smith when he came out west. He started the Colonist as a weekly, selling just 200 copies of the first issue. Senator William Templeman, a newspaperman from Ontario, owned the Times for most of its first 30 years. Both men were politicians, too. De Cosmos was the second premier of B.C. from 1872-74 and Templeman was in the cabinet of prime minister Sir Wilfred Laurier almost a century ago. Victoria has seen more than 20 other daily and weekly newspapers come and go, but the afternoon Times and morning Colonist outlasted them all. Until 1951, we were located downtown- the Times where Eaton Centre on Douglas Street is now and the Colonist at the back of McDonald's. The two newspapers merged in 1980.
The Ocean 98.5 98.5 The OCEAN plays Victoria's Lite Rock. We play the most music in Victoria with the best variety of artists. The OCEAN blends hot new stars like Howie Day, Anna Nalick, Daniel Powter and Kelly Clarkson; with a Brighter Mix of Today's Lite Rock from Faith Hill, Maroon 5, John Mayer, Shania Twain and Cheryl Crow. The OCEAN plays all your favourites like Phil Collins, The Eagles, Celine Dion, Fleetwood Mac, Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Elton John.
Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA) Victoria is known as the "City of Gardens" and during the spring it's obvious why! New growth is creeping forth from the ground in sprigs of delicate green, blossoms are starting to bud and life is unfurling all around us - while much of the rest of the country is covered in ice and snow. Downtown Victoria's many new districts are blossoming and revitalizing the downtown as surely as spring is revitalizing the earth. This year our province celebrates its 150th Anniversary. Victoria is built on the site of the original Fort Victoria, and welcomes all downtown to the heart of the excitement.
100.3 The Q!
The Zone 91.3
