MSN calls Bruce Richardson “A leading tea expert involved in tea’s American renaissance for over two decades.”
Founder, Elmwood Inn Fine Teas
Publisher, Benjamin Press
Contributing Editor, TeaTime magazine
Tea Master, Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum
Bruce Richardson began his artistic career as a music conductor and baritone soloist in his home state of Kentucky. In 1995, the successful musician put down his baton and picked up a cup, channeling his artistic spirit into the way of tea.
Over three decades, he has produced 14 books on tea and presented lectures on tea, history, and art to audiences in the US, UK, Canada, China, and Japan.
Bruce joined London’s Jane Pettigrew in co-authoring the last three editions of their popular reference book, The New Tea Companion. Bruce and Jane teamed again for the 2014 Benjamin Press edition of A Social History of Tea. He also edited and expanded the 2011 Benjamin Press edition of Okakura Kakuzo’s classic Book of Tea.
Bruce’s Perfect Cup column appears in every edition of TeaTime magazine, where he is a contributing editor. He has also been quoted in articles for Slate Magazine, MTV, CNN, The Smithsonian, National Geographic, the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the BBC.
In 2012, Bruce was named Tea Master for the new Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, which rises out of Boston Harbor. In 2023, he designed the official commemorative tea for the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
In 2017, Bruce was commissioned by China’s HPLY Fashion Stores to design a tea line for their summer runway show in Shanghai.
Bruce Richardson has received commissions from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Yale British Art Collection, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, and the Peabody Essex Museum to design specialty tea blends inspired by artwork in their collections. He has also produced custom teas for the National Archives, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Bruce Richardson is a frequent guest speaker at tea and cultural events across the globe, including appearances at the World Tea Expo, the North American Jane Austen Society, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Yamaguchi Prefectural University, UK Tea Academy, and China Global Tea Fairs.
“In the tea-making ritual, we rediscover our humanity, which has become obscured amid a life that is often moving too fast and filled with too much.”
Bruce Richardson, The New York Times, December 20, 2023
Bruce Richardson and Jane Pettigrew are the authors of this tea reference book used by tea professionals worldwide.
For more information about booking Bruce Richardson as a speaker at your event, contact tea@elmwoodinn.com
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