A traveling tea brewer who gives tea to people for free will be parked in front of the Rosenzweig Arts Center on Main Street on Friday, giving away cups of tea and stories for anyone who asks.
Washington native Guisepi Spadafora has been traveling the country for 11 years making tea and giving it to people out of his bus. He calls it a community project meant to foster relationships not based on buying or selling.
“It’s a way to get people into this mindset that we can have interactions, even with strangers, that don’t revolve around money and profit maximization,” he said.
He serves the tea — mostly herbal blends — out of the bus where he not only stays while traveling, but keeps tea cups and other knickknacks he’s collected. He has been driving through the South for the last two-and-a-half months, and just served his 30,000th cup of tea this week in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Spadafora’s bus will be parked outside the arts center from about 11 a.m.-7 p.m. — though Spadafora said he may extend the hours. He plans to go to Starkville Saturday, though he doesn’t know exactly where he’ll be parked yet.
“So often what I do is just I pull up in a downtown area — anywhere where there’s walking traffic — and I make tea,” he said. “A lot of times, it’s just spontaneous, or I just find a good parking spot.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
