At MICE26, T2 aims to awaken the coffee community on the extraordinary stories, blends, and origins of speciality tea.
As a Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) attendee works their way through the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, senses will be on high alert with the hum of activity, the smell of espresso, and the visual noise of competing stands vying for attention.
With more than 31,000 attendees passing through the doors at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) in MICE25, and another strong showing expected for MICE26, that connection piece between café and consumer has resonated with the broader industry.
This year, for the first time in a decade, T2 will be exhibiting at the show – where it is also a Gold Sponsor. Key to its attendance is the desire to not only strengthen its connections with the café community, but to pique curiosity among the coffee professionals and lovers traipsing the aisles.
“We’re so excited to bring the story of tea – the world’s most-loved beverage after water – to this most iconic of Melbourne coffee events,” says T2 Business Development Manager Nyssa Ehsani.
“Patrons will get to taste something special, learn something surprising, and walk away with a new sense of what tea can be,” she says.
“The decision to take an immersive, sensory-led approach at MICE is very intentional. Most people in hospitality are familiar with serving tea, but the gap between ‘a tea bag in a cup’ and a high-quality, well-brewed tea is huge, and the only way to bridge that gap is through experience.”
When asked about what consumers and attendees can expect at MICE, Nyssa and T2 kept their cards close to their chest. The only way to find out is by visiting the booth.
One teaser Nyssa offered, however, is that immersion in key aspects of tea including origin and craft is at the centre of what they will be bringing.
“Tea isn’t a product you can explain into relevance, it must be felt,” she says.
“Our activation will invite visitors to pause and discover the aromas, flavours, craft and extraordinary quality behind our tea.
“The goal of the activation is simple: give people an embodied experience of quality. No sales pitch, no complexity, just a moment spent with our rare and special teas.”
There are many similarities between the origin of rare and special tea, and some of the world’s best coffees. While the regions in which they are grown may differ, highlighting the craft of the farmers and producers is at the heart of some of the world’s foremost coffee roasters – and it’s the same for T2.
“At T2, origin is foundational to how we think about tea, but the way we approach sourcing differs depending on the role the tea plays in our range,” says Nyssa.
“Tea carries far more of its craft at the point of origin than most people realise. The real expertise sits with the growers and makers – the people deciding how the leaves are picked, withered, rolled, oxidised, fired, and blended.
“Those decisions are what determine whether a tea becomes bright and floral, deep and malty, smoky, grassy, or anything in between.
“The diversity of process in tea is enormous, and most of the magic happens long before the leaf ever gets near a café,” says Nyssa.
“Water temperature, steep times, and leaf quantity matter as brewing method can either elevate or flatten a great tea, but there’s far less pressure on the barista. Their role is to protect what the producer has already crafted and connect the consumer to the story of each tea.
“I sometimes explain it like this: in tea, the barista isn’t trying to transform the ingredient; they’re trying to honour it. If they handle the leaf with a little attention and care, the tea will do the rest. Customers can taste that through the clarity, the aroma, and the character, because it is the result of a chain of expertise that starts on the farm.”
T2 is committed to continuing to improve its sourcing standards and bring the rest of the tea industry with it. Like those involved in coffee sourcing, the tea industry is working hard to improve wages for producers, traceability, and conditions for the communities that rely on the commodity.
“Tea isn’t just a product; it’s an agricultural craft that carries whole communities, landscapes, and traditions behind it. When we talk about origin, we’re not just telling a nice story, we’re making the invisible visible; the people who grew, picked, and crafted the leaf, and the conditions that shape their lives and the tea’s flavour and quality,” says Nyssa.
“High sourcing standards matter for two reasons. First, they protect the people and environments behind the tea. Origin transparency pushes brands to be accountable and to choose partners who respect workers, prioritise safety, and protect biodiversity. You can’t claim to love tea and ignore the conditions it comes from.
“Second, it elevates the experience for customers. When you understand where a tea comes from, the cup suddenly has character, not just a flavour. It deepens appreciation and helps people realise that tea is shaped by place in the same way wine or specialty coffee is.
“For a brand with a platform, educating customers isn’t an optional extra. It’s part of honouring the product and the producers. Over time, that education creates a more informed, curious market. We hope this will raises expectations not only for quality, but for ethics. This is how we see standards across the whole industry lifting.”
With MICE2026 on the horizon, T2’s commitment to engaging with the café and coffee community will be featured alongside its desire to bring more attention to tea origin stories.
Because connection and curiosity are at the heart of what T2 wants to achieve at the show, from the consumer drinking the tea in the café to the origins where the tea was grown, and every link in between.
“If we change minds, spark curiosity, build connections, and leave people wanting more, I will view it as a success. Everything else is just measurement,” says Nyssa.
“A MICE attendee understands flavour, craft, origin, and ritual better than most audiences. Our goal is simply to open a door and show that tea has the same depth, diversity, and potential for creativity as coffee, if you know how to look for it.
“If we can spark curiosity, challenge a few assumptions, that’s a win. From there, conversations about profitability, workflow, or menu development become easy. But the starting point is connection, curiosity, and respect.”
For more information, visit t2tea.com.au
This article appears in the February 2026 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
