06/10/2026
I was in tea heaven at The Caffè Culture Show on Tuesday 29 September, quite literally wearing my influencer hat. My page ‘Great British Tea Party’, all about afternoon tea and British culture, now has over 327,000 followers.
The bigger picture of sustainability, female entrepreneurship, heritage, design and innovation, excited me the most.
At Ceylon Tea Market, created by Lara De Zoysa, I met the founders behind Owl and Monkey Tea, Rosyth Estate House and Monkey Tail. I was struck by the growing visibility of female plantation owners, producers and traders reshaping Sri Lanka’s tea story. Speciality teas with natural flavours, botanicals and healing ingredients, showcasing remarkable blending craftsmanship alongside sustainable farming.
And then there was matcha. I met Koshi Hagimura, President of 萩村製茶|Hagimura Seicha, who personally prepared me a cup from their single leaf estate in the Suzuka Mountains. Vivid green, beautifully fragrant and rounded. Having it prepared for me personally was a genuinely humbling experience.
My first tea revelation was Triola, with its ingenious tea bag free, plastic free, cigar shaped tea. My second was Broo Pot by REEDesigned, created by Sarah Reed, a beautifully engineered brewer that works without electricity or batteries.
I also discovered Bestir Ltd ’s advanced coffee engineering, The Widcombe Estate 500 year farming heritage, Icelandic Glacial water, Vida Ingredients gut health products, Gérard Bakery female start up and Zeit Fur Brot , the fabulous German bakery.
And there was a strong connection to what I am exploring through Bio-Wired AI app: how we map systems, connect ideas and identify where technology, design and sustainability can create better outcomes. A reminder that the most interesting innovations often happen where different worlds connect.
Hat by the very talented Matthew Eluwande