Wenzhuo Liu
Nicole Wilson is the pioneer of the first generation of tea internet influencer. As early as 2008, she began creating tea blogs, and with the updating of social media, she also became a tea influencer in line with the times. After winning multiple awards, in 2022, Nicole accepted an invitation from publishers to collaborate and release her own tea book, “The Tea Recipe Book,” sharing her exclusive recipes and replicating innovative tea recipes that are popular and of interest to readers. In recent years, Nicole has started to enter the tea education industry, providing targeted tea classes and more.
Nicole has developed a habit of drinking tea since childhood, and during her college years, she began to taste a wider variety of tea products. In New Jersey, USA during the millennium, there were not many tea related books and materials available for people to consult. Nicole’s online “Drinking Response” tea reviews, in response to demand, have seen an increasing number of readings and positive feedback. She then started writing tea blogs, sharing tea tasting experiences and tea food recipes, and tea merchants could provide tea samples or implant advertisements. Nicole jokingly referred to herself as the first generation of tea internet influencer. With the update and replacement of social media, she followed in her footsteps and switched to multiple social platforms. Not only did she receive praise from readers, but she also successfully entered the tea media industry.
The professional tea exhibition “World Tea Expo” in the United States, Nicole was awarded the Best Blog and Best Social Media in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and won the “World Tea Master Cup” in 2019. In recent years, she has also been hired as a special social media reporter by exhibitions, responsible for creating articles to share news and new trends at exhibitions. Nicole is also active in tea festivals across North America, such as the Toronto Tea Festival in Canada, the Chicago Tea Festival in the United States. She has observed that more and more young people are joining the ranks of tea drinkers, and the trend is towards younger and more innovative tea products.
The Tea Recipe Book, a collaboration between Nicole and Callisto Media publisher, has be released in 2022, targeting both novice tea drinkers and the general public. Nicole mainly has shared her tea drink and tea snacks recipe in the book, including 50 types of hot tea and ice tea from tea latte to bubble milk tea. It includes Nicole’s exclusive secret recipes, as well as replicating innovative tea recipes that are popular and of interest to readers. For example, Nicole replicated bubble milk tea from scratch and faced the challenge of using a microwave to make bubbles. Another example, there is a dedicated chapter in the book that focuses on tea cocktails and mocktails, Earl Grey Tea Tonic, Sencha Gin Sour, and more. In theory, cocktails made with tea and wine can also include fruit that matches the taste, such as black tea and red wine cocktails, white tea Gongmei white wine cocktails, and adding berries or peaches are all good choices. Nicole’s book also recommends herself created recipes for making tea desserts, among which her favorite is Matcha Lemon Sugar Cookies.
In recent years, Nicole’s identity has been expanded to include a tea educator. She has started preparing and building platforms to enter the tea education industry, providing intermediate and junior courses for tea enthusiasts. More and more people enjoy drinking tea and learning tea knowledge, and with the trend of online teaching becoming popular, Nicole has launched tea courses targeted at customer groups, such as popular courses introducing basic tea knowledge, green tea tasting courses for the tea season, and advanced tea courses that include more content. The microwave oven tea bag brewing method developed in the United States, and the complex tea drinking methods sometimes intimidate Americans. In response to this psychology, Nicole suggested adding loose tea to the cup and brewing it with hot water. In order to avoid eating tea leaves, people can use their teeth as a filter when drinking. She jokingly called this method “Grandpa Style”. Nicole, based on her own experience, realized that learning tea is a long road, and extensive reading accumulation, as well as practical tea tasting, are all important.
