Faculty - Bruce Richardson

Bruce Richardson has been active in America's tea renaissance for nearly two decades. He is a tea blender, writer, photographer, and frequent guest speaker at tea conferences across the country. He and his wife Shelley are co-owners of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas and its publishing division, Benjamin Press, located in Perryville, Kentucky.

Bruce spends much of his time educating Americans in the art of tea. He can often be found appearing on television and radio talk shows, or as a guest speaker at professional seminars such as the World Tea Expo. He has served on the Advisory Committee for Specialty Tea Institute (STI) and the Editorial Board of Fresh Cup magazine. He is a frequent contributing writer and photographer for publications such as Tea Time, TEA and Smithsonian magazines.

Bruce visits Great Britain annually researching new tea shops for the latest edition of his Great Tea Rooms of Britain. His other photo-guidebook, The Great Tea Rooms of America is in its fourth edition. Bruce joined Jane Pettigrew (London) in co-authoring The New Tea Companion for The National Trust of England. He teamed up again with Pettigrew and Elizabeth Knight to photograph and produce a three-volume set of travel guides to tea in New York, London and Paris entitled Tea in the City.

He was part of the STI trade mission to Sri Lanka in 2003 and the mission to India in 2004. His photographs of tea workers and tea gardens are featured in a traveling photography exhibit and the accompanying book Looking Deeply into Tea.

Bruce holds two degrees in education. He continues to use his classroom skills by hosting TEA 101, a weekend conference for new tea entrepreneurs that has trained over 200 tea professionals over the last eight years.

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