Free talk and tea tasting on the history of tea, empire and trade, led by Uncomfortable Oxford speakers at Fantastea.
Uncomfortable Oxford are taking over Fantastea on Wednesday 21 October for Spilling the Tea, a talk and tea tasting that does exactly what the title suggests. It's part of the IF Oxford Festival, which is in its 35th year and run by the small charity Oxfordshire Science Festival, with the whole festival running from 16 to 31 October 2026.
The format is simple: while you taste a selection of teas from around the world, speakers from Uncomfortable Oxford unravel the histories of empire, trade, labour and resistance that sit behind the cup. They'll be talking through how tea cultivation and consumption shaped lives, environments and global connections over the centuries, so the tasting works as a bit of a live accompaniment to the history they're tracing. It's a global tea café in the heart of the city, and the session runs from 18:00 to 19:30.
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Uncomfortable Oxford is a social enterprise that aims to spark critical conversations about the past and its legacies in the present. Beyond their festival contributions, they run free walking tours, educational workshops and collaborative events across the city alongside local community organisations and academic institutions, so this fits right into what they do. The session is free, and there's no booking required, though they do take an optional registration of intention to attend if you want to let them know you're coming. That's Spilling the Tea at Fantastea, 36 High Street, OX1 4AN, on Wednesday 21 October, 18:00 to 19:30.
