New York Coffee and Tea Festival

So sorry you won’t be there. I’m not sure if I would be able to come to t-drunk. Depends on how long I’ll stay at festival. But I’ll try to take pics and post it here.

I forgot it was this weekend but I still hope to make it at least one of the days.

i so want people to post about it, with pics if possible! jealous and wish i could be there. (:

Any other steepsterites attending?

I’ll be there on Sunday. I got stuck with an extra ticket actually. If anyone is interested, it’s $10.

I’ll be there both days and would love to stop by Tea Drunk if anyone else is interested

I went to the festival today. I had the VIP ticket that allowed you to go in at 10, but with the train schedules, I got there around 9. I ended up going to a bagel store near the event for a cup of tea and went over at 9:45. The line was already around the corner, but once the doors opened, things moved quickly and part of the line were already there waiting for the 11 regular opening.

I got the “goody bag” when I entered which had a variety of items, many of which I didn’t really want. Probably my favorite thing in the bag was the black/green tetley blend – mainly because I’ve been trying to get my mom to drink more green tea but she prefers black. Maybe she’ll like this.

I hadn’t signed up for any of the special presentations, so I just wandered around the aisles. My first stop was Ajiri Tea which had the most beautiful, crafted boxes. I tried some of their black tea with lemon and ended up buying a box. It will make a great gift with the beautiful packaging.

I next wandered to Waterfall tea that had some cute Easter packaging. I got a small tin of Blood Orange and Aprhodite’s Delight for Easter gifts. At this point, I had mainly been attracted by the packaging. Oops.

I found myself across from the Red Rose booth and started talking to the nice guy there. I tried some of their Creme Caramel which I loved, but I’m a softie for almost any caramel tea.

I went to the Andrews & Dunham booth and talked to the man there. I ended up with their Chinese new year tea, but I think once again I was attracted to the adorable packaging.

I was sort of on a mission to find some nice flavored green teas. I got two at MissTea (pear and many berry), and another at Tarlton (citrus).

I tried some Coconut Green iced tea from TSalon and was surprised how much I like it since I’m not a huge fan of coconut. I tried a number of iced teas at the show, but a lot of them were prepared with some sweetener and I don’t like any sweetener in iced tea.

My last purchase of the day was ZenZeu Champangne Blanc which also has raspberry flavoring in it. I tried one of their iced teas with agave which I didn’t love, but this tea looked nice and I thought it would be good when I made some iced tea with it without any flavoring.

When I left at a little after 11, the line was so long that it went around over 2 full city blocks. They were letting people in 30 at a time, so it looked like there could be a fairly long wait for people at the end of the line, but maybe it moved quickly. It also looked like it would be a big crowd.

I just got home and I was there at 10 am
I’m so tired but I felt like a kid at candy store. It’s just blew my mind. G-d knows I don’t need more tea but I still got some. One of the most remarkable was Joseph Wesley. His teas are unbelievable. He was there himself. Such a nice man. We talked a lot and I sampled all his teas. I bought 4 tins. He gave me a very good discount and I didn’t even asked for it;)
Next stop was A&D Damn Fine tea. Damage: 3 tins. Because of the show they were $15 each except Chinese New Year. I got Tiger Assam, Red Tail Hawk and Spring( Keemun)it’s a brand new. Very nice guys, we talked a lot, sampled everything.

Next stop was a surprise. I didn’t hear anything abt this company, wasn’t going to buy anything fr them. They carry only Taiwanese teas. It’s name Health&Tea. I think they located in PA. Damage: Honey Black tea and Ruby Black tea. reasonable priced. Very nice people, sampled everything. I have a soft spot for black teas.
Next stop The Meaning of Tea. Damage: Golden Monkey and Rejuvenation( for one of those days, has raspberry leaf) very nice people, lots of sampling
Next stop: Harney. I got their new 30 yrs celebrating excellence tin. Normally I drink only loose leaf but it was only $5. Also I got their signature mug for $3
Lots of sampling of chocolate, cheese, cakes, nuts
I didn’t go for coffee sampling long lines rude ppl. I noticed that tea ppl are much nicer;-)
That’s all my purchases which is a lot. But I’m very happy
I was roaming from one stand to another, tea ceremonies, sampling etc
Visited Yezi but didn’t buy anything. I was exhausted. They have beautiful teaware.
I took lots of pics and upload them later

Man, I’m spent! I stayed for almost five and a half hours…

I attended three of the lectures: Taiwanese tea, Harney & Sons, and Ethiopian coffee ceremony. They were all interesting and informative and the first and third gave out tasty samples and snacks. I had gone to the Harney & Sons lecture last year, but I learned many new things this time. One of the grandsons gave the talk.

As for my haul~ (not counting the goodie bag)
- Red Rose. I got a cup of Lemon Chiffon to go – it smelled very good. I took a couple more samples. They were also giving away nice little tins to put tea bags in.
- My Zen Tea. Bought an ounce of one of their chrysanthemum teas. I ran into The Snooty Tea Person there! We talked a bit about pu-erh :3
- Harney & Sons. Never really had their teas before so I thought I’d buy Paris for starters.
- Yezi. Love these guys!! I was excited to have seen they were going to be there. I got some Wen Shan Pouchong and also met Tea Pet, who works for them! It was so awesome to be there.

I had tons of fun this year. But I’m so tired (´～`)

I think I bought All The Things. haha