Steeping the People

Guisepi in his converted bus on a street in Eureka, CA. PHOTO/JACKIE SNOW

Guisepi Spadafora of Freeteaparty.org infuses community cup by cup

By Serena Renner

A man’s voice sounded from inside the short white school bus. “Free tea!” the voice declared to the outside world passing by. Guisepi sat perched on a cooler, tending a kettle of tea. He looked so comfortable in his makeshift kitchen of storage tubs and wooden shelves that you could actually believe he had spent the last four years trekking up and down the West Coast serving free tea.

It was a warm night in Eureka, California when I met Guisepi. The streets were teeming with people for the monthly Arts Alive! event. I almost kept walking, eager to check out the next gallery, until I peeked inside the bus and was offered my first cup.

“What kind of tea would you like?” Guisepi asked graciously. I was taken aback that a perfect stranger was not only serving me free tea but also giving me a choice. I asked what kind was already on the stove, to which he replied “green.”

“Green sounds perfect,” I responded, still unsure about what kind of bus I had stepped into.

Guisepi has served over 5,200 cups of tea in the past four years. PHOTO/JACKIE SNOW

Guisepi was a tall man in his late twenties. He could have passed as a waiter taking custom orders in his brown slacks and navy button-up shirt and vest if it weren’t for the long dark hair, mustache and glinting salmon handkerchief that suggested a more gypsy-like existence.

But Guisepi’s not your typical van dweller either. He does video editing, carpentry and other odd jobs to deck out his tea bus “Special Edna” and pay for his time on the road. He’s well spoken, animated and works hard to gain sponsorship from a variety of organic tea companies. Mostly, he’s just a generous host who enjoys mixing a hodgepodge of people and witnessing the result.

The tea parties started in 2005 on the streets of Hollywood Boulevard, where Guisepi would serve food and tea off the tailgate of his truck. What began as a defense against the loneliness associated with being on the road, he realized, was also a way to break down barriers of race and social class, uniting people of all colors and creeds in dialogue around steamy pots of tea.

He noticed community forming between a mish-mash of cultures right there on the pavement, and people left more energized and inspired to create positive change of their own.

These experiences motivated Guisepi to invest in a school bus and dedicate his life to hosting tea parties in every city he visits. He’s served over 5,200 cups out of his four-wheeled tea house to date from San Francisco’s Tenderloin District to Reggae on the River, and he can’t wait for the day Edna is ready to voyage cross country.

The bus’s brewing station surrounded by donated materials. PHOTO/JACKIE SNOW

It’s not an accident that tea has played the central role in all these interactions, Guisepi says. Many cultures from England to China already incorporate free tea parties into their daily lives to slow down, take a break and connect with people on a common level.

“That’s why tea came to me in that fashion,” Guisepi said. “Tea just is that. I’m only helping bring tea culture to North America.”

On this particular night, a group of high school kids, a dreadlocked man and his girlfriend, four women in their early twenties, an old bearded man playing a bongo drum and a Hispanic cook who hardly spoke any English all shared opinions and inspiration.  The bearded man even laid out plans for his idea of serving tofu burgers out of a van.

A fellow tea drinker appearing out of the steam. PHOTO/JACKIE SNOW

As the group was dispersing for the night, Guisepi pulled out a paper bag full of misprinted tea from Traditional Medicinals. He encouraged every one to take a bag or two — but only if they promised to share it with a stranger.

I took two and I keep them in my purse at all times as a constant reminder to be open to new experiences, to spark conversation with people I don’t know and to treat every situation as an opportunity to host a free tea party of my own.

You can find Guisepi and Edna every Tuesday in the Arcata plaza, at the next Arts Alive! event in Eureka or in a city near you (check Free Tea Party’s blog for exact dates and locations).

A man’s voice sounded from inside the short white school bus. “Free tea!” the voice declared to the outside world passing by. Guisepi sat perched on a cooler, tending a kettle of tea. He looked so comfortable in his makeshift kitchen of storage tubs and wooden shelves that you could actually believe he had ...