{"id":2358,"date":"2018-04-06T11:05:02","date_gmt":"2018-04-06T15:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=2358"},"modified":"2023-01-09T11:29:51","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T16:29:51","slug":"just-her-cup-of-tea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/just-her-cup-of-tea\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Her Cup of Tea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stories about how a single class changed a person\u2019s life can sometimes seem clich\u00e9. Except for Kaitlyn Baklarz \u201914, \u201915M, it actually happened.<\/p>\n

Baklarz says her knowledge of tea didn\u2019t extend beyond \u201cyour standard grocery store teabag\u201d when she arrived at Monmouth for her freshman year. Then she took Professor James Konopack\u2019s First-Year Seminar, Tea Appreciation, which explored the history, art, science, and culture of the ancient beverage. \u201cThe class opened up a whole new world to me,\u201d says Baklarz.<\/p>\n

As a sophomore, she served as Konopack\u2019s teaching assistant for the seminar. Then, she completed an independent study in which she examined the tea industry from a business perspective. For that course, she attended the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, where she learned about processing and cultivation methods; saw tea-related products yet to hit the market; heard the latest research on the health benefits of tea; and networked with growers, buyers, wholesalers, retailers, and distributors from around the world.<\/p>\n

The expo is normally open only to industry professionals, says Baklarz, but Konopack arranged for her to attend as a student researcher. \u201cHe just went out of his way to make sure I had the tools I needed to succeed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

For his part, Konopack says Baklarz \u201ctook her passion for the subject beyond the brick and mortar in ways I never thought a student would. She had the courage to pursue it on a global scale and make connections I didn\u2019t even know were there for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those connections helped Baklarz secure an internship at the Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms in Japan last summer, where, among other things, she worked in the fields with the company\u2019s lead farmer harvesting and processing the crops.<\/p>\n

\u201cTea farming is an art,\u201d says Baklarz. \u201cIt can take only a few days for a bud to appear, open up, and grow into a leaf. Missing the harvest can compromise the tea\u2019s quality, as certain teas may require that only the bud or a certain number of leaves be picked. The timing of the harvest is of utmost importance. So having the opportunity to work directly under a tea farmer\u2014someone who has dedicated his entire life to harvesting and processing tea\u2014was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in the States since August, Baklarz is currently an event marketing specialist for DAVIDsTEA, overseeing community outreach and event planning for 13 stores in New England. \u201cI\u2019m making sure our brand is seen,\u201d says Baklarz. \u201cWe\u2019re a Canadian company, and some people aren\u2019t familiar with us yet.\u201d She\u2019s also still learning everything she can about her favorite beverage\u2014taking classes with the World Tea Academy while working toward becoming a Certified Tea Specialist. Her hope is that certification takes her one step closer to her ultimate goal: working as a tea buyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to visit different regions and buy the tea for the company, meet with the farmers, see where the tea is growing, and develop new tea blends\u2014that\u2019s really my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Tea for You<\/h2>\n

With thousands of tea varieties to choose from, it can be more than a little overwhelming deciding which ones to try. We asked Baklarz to recommend some of her favorites.<\/p>\n

\"DAVIDsTEA\u2019s
DAVIDsTEA\u2019s Vanilla Orchid<\/strong> Made from Huangjin Gui, a premium oolong grown in China\u2019s Fujian province, this aromatic tea features a hint of vanilla. And, it\u2019s \nvegan. <\/div><\/div>
\"Kyoto
Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms\u2019 Kabuse Sencha<\/strong> Sencha, Japan\u2019s most popular tea, is known for its rich, earthy taste and sweet aroma. <\/div><\/div>
\"Harney
Harney & Sons\u2019 Paris<\/strong> A blend of black and oolong teas with added black currant, vanilla, and caramel flavors, this smells as good as it tastes. <\/div><\/div>
\"Ippodo
Ippodo Tea Co. Matcha<\/strong> Matcha, a powder made from grinding green tea leaves, is incredibly popular right now. If drinking it isn\u2019t your cup of tea, there are a multitude of Matcha-flavored products\u2014from KitKats to cheesecakes\u2014you\u2019ll want to sample. <\/div><\/div>
\"Kyoto
Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms\u2019 Kabuse Sencha<\/strong> Sencha, Japan\u2019s most popular tea, is known for its rich, earthy taste and sweet aroma. \n<\/div><\/div>
\"TeaGschwendner\u2019s
TeaGschwendner\u2019s Autumn Spice<\/strong> Another tea whose aroma will have you hooked before the first sip, this blend features black teas from Sri Lanka, China, and India and boasts notes of cinnamon, orange and lemon peel, star anise, anise, and clove. <\/div><\/div><\/div>

 <\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How A freshman seminar led Kaitlyn Baklarz on a career path full of flavor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":2355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-back"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"The Back","issue":"Spring 2018","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2358"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2664,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358\/revisions\/2664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}