British taster Kevin Gascoyne was weaned on tea and has been buying it in Asia since 1989.  Since 1993 every Spring has found him up in the Himalayas, obsessively sourcing the finest seasonal leaves of the region.  Over the years his passion for the black teas of India has spread to the plantations of many other countries. In Canada he co-owns, runs and shop-keeps the award winning Camellia Sinensis teahouses and Tea Schools of Montréal and Québec City. He and his fellow tasters travel to the tea gardens of Asia every year to source their internationally renowned catalogue of rare and collectibles. www.camellia-sinensis.com. He is also a founding partner of the Tea Studio project in Nilgiri, India.  Kevin, having written for publications all over the World, still pops up in various publications and has co-authored a couple of prize-winning tea books including ‘Tea, History, Terroirs, Varieties’ voted World’s Best Tea Book 2014 by the industry at the World Tea Awards and now published in 6 languages. He is also a founding partner of Tea Journey magazine.

Kept busy with a wide range of blogs, workshops, conferences, seminars, research, field consulting and other tea shenanigans in North America, Africa, Europe and Asia he is also a director of the Canadian Tea and Herbal Association and recently launched the Tea Masters Cup Canada competition. His colleagues claim that Kevin’s daily tea consumption compares to the flow of some small rivers.