Elmwood Inn

Fine Teas

Celebrating 18 years

of introducing America to

the art of tea!

EARLY ENROLLMENT DISCOUNT!

Enroll online now and save $100.

Offer expires July 1.

Links to our

Graduates

 Masterclass Tuition includes:

• All classes (Friday at 2:00 until Sunday noon)

   

• 1/2 hour private consultation with Bruce Richardson (to be used within 6 months)

   

• Comprehensive class notebook with all powerpoint handouts

   

• Retail vendor list (developed by Elmwood Inn gift shops over 14 years)

   

• Wholesale catalogs and samples

   

• Copy of The New Tea Companion by Bruce Richardson and Jane Pettigrew

   

• Copy of Owning and Managing a Restaurant

   

• Professional tea tasting set

   

• Friday evening banquet

   

• Saturday tea luncheon at Aspen Hall Tea Room

   

• Six hours of tea tastings and blending information

   

• Class photograph, diploma and press release

Tuition: $1500.  ENROLL BEFORE JULY 1 AND SAVE $100!

Discounts available to multiple family or business attendees. Call for details.

$500 deposit due with registration. We ship your course textbooks immediately. Balance of $900 due by August 1, 2008.

Your deposit is refundable until August 1 (less $100 for books and administrative fees).

Lodging is not included. Very affordable rates, breakfast included, are available with Beaumont Inn.

Call 800.352.3992 or go online at www.beaumontinn.com

Discounts are available to multiple family members or staff from the same business. Call for details.

Enroll online now and save $100.

Early Enrollment Offer Expires July 1

Request an Enrollment Packet by sending Your Name, Address and Phone Number To:

Elmwood Inn Fine Teas
PO Box 100
Perryville, KY 40468

Would you like to speak to someone about course content? Call 800.765.2139, fax 859.332.7940

or e-mail your request to callie@elmwoodinn.com

Return to main Masterclass page

Bruce Richardson Answers a Reporter's Questions about Tea Education.

Why would someone want to attend a tea school?

There was no instruction available for starting a tea business when we began in 1990. Shelley and I were both educators so we became our own teachers.  We learned by talking to anyone who knew anything about tea, traveling to Europe, walking the tradeshows and honing our craft.  We could have saved a great amount of time and money if we had had a seminar to jumpstart us into the tea profession.  I am amazed at the number of people who tell me they are on a journey to begin a tea business but they haven’t thought of investing in a roadmap.

Who are the classes for?

Our classes have evolved over the years from a primary emphasis on opening a tearoom to a broader scope of starting any tea business.  We still have tearoom owners attend but we also have a good number of people interested in tea bars, tea stores, B&B teas, and restaurant tea service. We have one graduate who now teaches a college course in tea and another who started a quarterly tea event for cancer survivors.

What can students expect to learn?

One of our main goals is to challenge our students’ pre-conceived ideas.  We show them that not all tea businesses are Victorian tearooms catering only to ladies with hats.  We give them an overall view of the global tea market.  Since I travel to tea producing countries and tea businesses worldwide as I research future books and articles, I’m able to share my experiences with our students and guide them in upcoming trends.

Our attendees often come with a dream that needs to be either realized - or put away.  Many have never thought about how they will make a profit.  Someone recently told me that they “didn’t care about making a profit, they just wanted to be around tea people.”  That is a noble mission but it won’t encourage your banker to give you a start-up loan. We show our students the steps to making a profitable business.  Sometimes reality sets in during the weekend and they realize their tea dream is only a dream and they are not up to working the hours needed to be a tea professional.

No tea business is any better than the owner’s knowledge of the main ingredient – tea.  We spend hours tasting teas from every family, but we do it in hour-long sessions that tea novices can tolerate.  We give each student a copy of Tea Lover’s Companion before they come so that they have a reference book they can turn to again and again.

Our students learn to market to a large geographic area by getting their story to the media.  One class session is devoted to public relations and advertising.  We want them to realize their customers will come from 50 to 100 miles away, as well as from their local community.

What quality should students look for in choosing a tea school?

There are a number of options these days for budding tea entrepreneurs.  Match the school with your style and plans.  Talk to former attendees.  Study the syllabus.  Call and ask questions about the instructors and their credentials.  You are going to invest thousands of dollars and years of hard work in your future tea vocation.  A good education should be the first investment you make!