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Suzette Hammond
Suzette Hammond (“Sooz,” they/she) is the founder of Being Tea – an immersive online tea education space, beloved for its welcoming and interactive structure, supportive accessibility, and unique focus on mental health. An award-winning teacher and tea industry veteran of over 20 years, Sooz radiates enthusiasm for inclusive and compassionate education, and has been honored with a World Tea Award for Best Educator. Prior to creating Being Tea, she previously served as an instructor and curriculum developer for several industry and tea company education programs for over 10 years.
Sooz is also Autistic, non-binary, and 8-years alcohol-free – identities which are woven throughout their approach to education at Being Tea. They're also a certified trauma-informed yoga and meditation teacher, and has been teaching tea meditation for 15 years, bringing together two deeply therapeutic physical studies and philosophical traditions. Being Tea's offerings include a weekly tea class program for community members, guided tea meditation, and a first-of-its-kind annual Teacher Training program (est in 2019) for tea professionals and community facilitators who want to bring student-centered practices into their own work. Sooz lives in Chicago, IL.
6/13, 2:00-2:45pm
Essential Teaware for Better Learning
This refreshingly candid “show & tell” session is for folks ready to explore tea deeply, while avoiding easy mistakes like over-buying or getting things that just don’t work as you need them to. Buyer’s remorse may not be totally avoidable when it comes to just learning about anything new, including tea. But we can definitely go in with a better plan! In this class, we take a look at the most essential teaware that helps you create a functional, accessible, everyday connection to tea – not something that just lives on a shelf. We’ll look at important items to consider buying early on, along with budgeting and planning, plus the most versatile tools that help us to play with greater flexibility.
Suggestions will be rooted in 3 main areas:
1) Building the basic foundational structure we all need to start in tea
2) Improving our ability to brew comparative tastings for ourselves
3) Taking an intentional approach to buying traditional /cultural teaware