While we were enduring the last of the "hot dog days" of summer in Las Vegas, guests at the Rocky Mountain Tea Festival were enjoying beautifully cool mornings and warm summer days in Boulder, CO.  The tea festival was held at the Dushanbe Teahouse.  It was built by over 40 artisans in Boulder's sister city of Tajakistan and is truly a work of old-world craftsmanship.  My husband, Jack and I, attended several tea classes including: "The Taste of Enlightenment: The Cultural and Healing Benefits of Green Tea" with Ken Cohen, "Herbal Teas for Health and Joy" with Brigitte Mars, and just for fun "Tea Leaf Reading" with Morwyn. 

The Taste of Enlgihtmentment class addressed clinical trial and medical research regarding the health benefits of green tea dating back thousands of years in Asian countries and more recently research in European countries and America. 

Brigitte Mars created an herbal tea called "Seven Herbs for Seven Chakras" tea with wild herbs indigeneous to the Rocky Mountain region.  She suggested steeping fresh herbs for a longer period of time and doubling or tripling the amount of fresh herbs used per cup of water.  Brigitte also encouraged tea drinkers to have the mindset of giving back to the earth by emptying their steeped herbs in their garden, harvesting during a full moon, and use the flowers which are the "sex organ" of a plant and increase libido.  So, it's never too late to plant herbs on your window sill, patio pots, or garden and enjoy the fresh taste and other benefits of herbal tea.


The "Tea Leaf Reading" class was a lot of fun!  At first I wasn't quite sure what images appeared in my cup, but without much imagination a fish and quail appeared (see photo).  The fish has many meanings including an invitation to a meal, leading a charmed life, and good fortune and success... yeah!  The bird symbol has many meanings depending on the type of bird and whether it is in flight, sitting in a nest, etc.  The quail wasn't listed, but in Indian symbols it means family.  I'm not sure you're supposed to mix diciplines of interpretation, but gosh... I wasn't sure exactly how to interpret the tea leaves after I arrived home.








We stayed at the Briar Rose Bed & Breakfast which is located directly across the street from Naropa University.  In addition to beautifully restored wooden floors, warm cozy rooms, and very pleasant innkeepers, they had a MARVELOUS selection of high quality teas!  It is a ecologically "green" inn and one of the owners is a Zen Monk.  The Briar Rose hosted an afternoon tea and we met some of the other guests staying at the inn.  In the photo is Drupti Chanhan is an attorney for the school district in Raleigh, NC and Bill Hunsicker is a trumpet player from Reno, NV.