Rikke Hansen is a Career Change Expert based in London. She helps women who are ready to ditch their unfulfilling jobs by showing them how to identify and create the business or career that is perfectly suited to their unique personality, skills and passions. Isn't that an amazing profession? She also helps people within their jobs grow and change to reach their goals. Rikke helped me sort through a few ideas for my business while she was on holiday in Portland last month. It was a joy to connect with her as she is an inspiring person and avid drinker of tea. We laughed a lot! Rikke clued me in on several tea shops in Portland I didn't even know about -- love it when that happens. Cheers Rikke!
What is your favorite type of tea and how do you take it? Japanese Sencha (a grassy green tea with good umami) – brewed at 80/176 degrees in my beloved turquoise Stump teapot….Aaaaah!
I highly recommend Foxfire Teas in Portland and Postcard Teas in London for their unique selections. In US retail, Rishi does a beautiful Sencha too.
How does tea punctuate your day? I love it first thing in the morning (after having written my morning focus pages and set my business/personal intentions for the day) when my taste buds are still perfectly pure and able to capture subtle nuances (which just doesn’t’ happen later on). This is when I truly get to savor the full tea tasting experience in all its glory!
My tea accompaniment of choice is: A special ‘perfume cup’ designed by the fab Timothy d’Offay from Postcard Teas here in London. Its unique design enables the top of the cup to capture/concentrate as much of the fragrance of the teas as possible. I rarely drink Sencha tea with my food. I prefer Oolong or Genmaicha for that.
Silence… is on when I'm having tea… Though I love and often indulge in music and powerful conversation, I have recently come to appreciate the power of silence for both work and sensualist pursuits.
I first started drinking tea when . . . I developed a severe red wine allergy 6 years ago and needed to find another gourmet passion. Discovering the world of green tea and roasted/floral oolongs has been a luscious and highly rewarding experience (thankfully I have since recovered from my red wine allergy, so now have two competing liquid passions…the joy!).
My dream tea party would include . . . Oscar Wilde, Orla Kiely, Patti Digh, Danielle LaPorte, Pia Jane Bijkerk, Jared Flood, Donna Farhi, Dyana Valentine, Christina Baldwin, Tove Jansson, Randi Pearce, Lisa Cherney, Lisa Sasevich and Flora Bowley. Ilse Crawford would design and decorate the space, Bono would serenade us with his spine-tingling voice and Dovetail Bakery (Portland) would provide the buns (no pun intended!).
When I sip from my teacup, I . . . inhale deeply and loose myself in the moment (who needs Eckhart Tolle…xx).
At first I thought nothing could be more awesome than Rikke's blazer, but then I saw that it matched her macaron. *swooning*
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