Bruce Richardson America's Tea Master

MSN calls Bruce Richardson "A leading expert in America’s tea renaissance for over 20 years;" while the Wall Street Journal considers him "America's Johnny Appleseed of tea."

As a writer, tea blender, and frequent guest speaker at conferences across the country, Bruce spends much of his time educating Americans in the art of infusing tea into a healthy lifestyle.

For 14 years, Bruce and his wife Shelley introduced thousands of Americans to the ritual of tea at their internationally-known Elmwood Inn, located in Perryville, Kentucky. They closed their tearoom in 2004 to develop their wholesale business, Elmwood Inn Fine Teas and its publishing division, Benjamin Press. Their teas and books are now found in shops and tearooms in every state and several foreign countries.

Bruce is the author of a dozen books including The Great Tea Rooms of America and The Great Tea Rooms of Britain. He is co-author of The New Tea Companion, the world's most popular tea reference book. He also writes the Tea and Etiquette book series with manners maven Dorothea Johnson. Bruce's newest book is an expanded and illustrated edition of the classic Book of Tea, long considered a must-read for every student of tea.

Bruce has served on the Advisory Committee for the Specialty Tea Institute of America, the Editorial Board of Fresh Cup magazine, and is the Perfect Cup columnist for TeaTime magazine. He has just been named Tea Master for the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, opening in June 2012. This historic venue will be the iconic image of Boston Harbor for years to come, and Bruce has been tapped to make sure the tea presentation is historically - and tastefully - at its best .