New York Coffee and Tea Festival

I’m thinking about the one in Philly in the fall…

ack, philly has one?! i love that city. now i’m imagining ways to get there…

Nov. 8-9. Website is http://www.coffeeandteafestival.com/philly/

ooh, thank you for the heads up Cheri! now to scheme n’ dream…i’ve been jonesing for philly for a while now anyway.

Note: The Philly show is half an hour’s drive outside the city, at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. I wish they were holding it at the Philadelphia Convention Center, which is in the city proper and right by the fascinating Reading Terminal Market.

Ugh what a bummer. I was sort of toying with the idea of going to the Philly one, but as I don’t drive, I think it would be too much of a hassle. They should totally hold it in the city proper in the future.

Next year you should come:). Maybe Philly will be good too.

Don’t worry. As I said the only good thing is the bag itself and Teas tea bottle of latte.

Thanks :). And I got a nice bag from Yezi, so it really is ok. BTW, Yezi has amazing tea! I wanted to buy it all!

What did you buy? Did you see the guy I think Everlasting . He did gongfu sessions with Taiwanese aged teas. He seemed very knowledgable. He sources tea directly.

I wanted to buy all of Yezi’s teas too haha :) They were so generous to give me three samples.

The guy at Everlasting was adorable. We talked for at least 20 minutes. I agree, he knows his stuff. His Ruby 18 black tea reminded me a lot of Butiki’s Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black. I ended up buying the Aged Bao Zhong, which was made in 1972! So cool! Well, cool to me. And it was quite tasty. I also bought:

Ajiri Tea Rooibos
Kanlo Jasmine Pearls (sachets)
My Zen Tea Rose Pu’erh (my brother actually bought this for me – it’s easily the most expensive tea I own at $28/50g!)
Runa Ginger-Citrus Guayusa
Runa Mint Guayusa
Sahpat Teas Mexican Spice Chocolate Rooibos
Tarlton Citrus Green
Yezi Tea White Peony High Grade Bai Mu Dan
Zenzeu Pina Colada Green
Harney bottled tea – green w. citrus & ginkgo ($1/bottle, plus they gave me an extra bottle, green w. coconut!)
Tarlton Green Tea (for my dad)
HERNÁN Mexican Hot Chocolate Tablillas/Squares (not tea, but delicious!)

My brother got:
Harney bottled tea – lemonade
DavidsTea Blue Lagoon
Everlasting Teas Oriental Beauty

And I did actually do the math. Including festival admission, I personally spent $126. Oy.

Wow Kaylee, that’s great stuff you picked. I also bought Mexican chocolate but powder to make hot chocolate for kids. Everlasting was my last stop so wasn’t thinking anymore;).
Simply Good Tea has monthly club for $ 25. When I asked how much tea they offer he said 8oz. I told him that’s not possible. He said he sources it directly fr China and tea in China is not expensive at all. The samples of tea on display were really good whole leaves, looked fresh to me

I did what I always do and knew I would because I always do it: Go to a convention/event and say “I always spend too much, I’m going to be better this time”… Yeaaahhh.

As a matter of fact, let me go look at my statement to see the damage. I shudder to think…

Checked. $195.87 + another $50 coming out later due to signing up for a tea subscription

I really have to just start bringing cash with me so I can ration myself.

I can’t remember what the name of the stand was but one was rather rude to me… as in, they weren’t seeming grumpy in general due to the stress of the day… I mean there was a group of us tasters and customers there and the attitude was pointed just at me. Clearly they missed out on someone who spends way too much as I was wanting a lot of their stuff.

But, also considering my spending total it probably came out to the best for my wallet.

Rumpus Parable, so did you sign up with Simply Good Tea? or some one else? what else did you splurge on?
yea i remember, it was around 3pm , i came to one stand( should go thru my pics if i remember the company)there was nobody around, they had nice looking sheng. when i asked if i can sample it, she looked very annoyed and told me to come back in a hour. yea…too bad , she lost me as a customer

i found it
http://www.firsdtea.com/#!product/prd1/1033459224/moonlight-pu-erh

I’m on my way out the door so I’ll post my score when I get home, but yep it was with Simply Good and it sounds like we were dealing with that same lady.

She was doing tastings for all of us, answering folks questions, etc. and I was part of the group… and apparently I was evil lol.

I did buy two new and therefor low cost tea cakes from her even though I was getting attitude, trying to put that aside as I really liked them. She’d said they were new in speaking to me and others and when I had purchased them I asked her when exactly they were made… as in, I knew they were “new”, but was looking for whether “new” was “this year” or “last year” sort of specific. She got extra rude with me then and snottily said to me “they’re new, that’s why they’re so cheap”.

I’d been seriously considering dealing with her and coming back for maybe some more of other teas on my loop around that I do after I check out everywhere… and at that point there was no way in heck.

i checked my total: $166 (its not only tea, but chocolate, Mexican hot chocolate and teaware)Oy

Okay, am back and also had some hilarious home adventure. Turns out we actually talked to two different people. My encounter was at MyZenTea.

Now for my haul list! :D

Simply Good Tea subscription
LibreTea 140z bottle
Infuze Tea – Golden Monkey
The Meaning of Tea – Makaibari Darjeeling
My Zen Tea – Pu-Erh Black Tea (That’s all that’s on the wrapping)
Yezi Tea Co – DragonWell Master Grade Long Jing
Health & Tea – Garden Green
Joseph Wesley – #7 lapsang souchong, #6 bai lin congfu, #5 keemun congfu (plus samples of #7 and #1 darjeeling were given to me)
Capital Tea – Cherry Bomb Rose Organic
Waterfall Tea Co – Bianca Chamomile
Fashionista Tea – Fashionista Blend sample size
Harney&Sons – Hot Cinnamon Spice

I have 2 glass bottles of a smaller size than the LibreTea one but theirs is much nicer and larger, so I grabbed. Used it for an outing today already and am very pleased with it.

Wow, that’s awesome picks Rumpus Parable. When I asked your lady fr My Zen Tea about the cake you bought( I’m pretty sure it’s the same) she said its young pressed autumn’13. It was nice. It may age very well. Yea that lady had an attitude as well. At least she didn’t say come back in one hour. Ha-ha. It’s not dry cleaning service that the tea not ready

Haha, indeed!

Thanks for the input, that helps some!

I’d luckily woken late and then it took 2 hours to get there from Inwood via public trans so I got there late enough that there was no line but I still had plenty of time to go through the whole thing and then to double-back to a few stands. I was there for the end of the main crowd and it was hectic for me, but then it dwindled off. At the end it was so relaxed with sometimes only me or one or two other people testing and talking with sellers.

I need to start just buying the one day pass to events. I always buy two and then do everything I wanna do the first day lol. This convention was cheap enough in tickets, though, that it wasn’t any big deal.

But yeah, it got amazingly crowded by what a few sellers said to me. I’m glad I missed the peak time and only caught the end of the real crowd. Phwoo!

I think if I go next year, I’ll definitely go later, because that sounds great. I could do without the gift bag. You totally have the right idea (even if it was by chance!)

Here’s a post, with pictures, about the festival: http://hapatite.com/nyc-coffee-tea-festival-2014/

I think my damage was around $200. Since I stayed with a friend and got free tickets & discounted transportation, I figure that it’s justifiable (about the cost of hotel, right?!)

I got:
YEZI
Da Yu Ling Oolong, Jin Xuan Oolong (Milk Oolong), Long Jing High Grade (Dragonwell) Green.
Shared w/ friend: , Tie Guan Yin High Grade (Goddess of Mercy) Oolong, Wen Shan Pouchong Oolong, Gao Shan (High Mountain) Black, and Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Pearl) Green.

Ajiri:
Black Tea with Ginger, Whole Bean Coffee

Jeni’s Tea: Buddha’s Palm. Shared w/ Friend: Bao Zhong, Gao Shang

Sahpat: Toasted Black Almond. Shared w/ Friend: Fruity Sangria

Chai Diaries: Passionfruit Oolong, Kashmiri Green Chai, and Chocolate Kisses. I was given some teas to sample, including Blood Orange, Assam, Darjeeling Second Flush, Dragonwell, Jasmine Green, and Masala Chai.

Joseph Wesley: Samples of Dian Hong Congfu, Bai Lin Congfu, and Lapsang Souchong

DFT: Chinese New Year Yunnan Gold Tips tin, Caravan, I’m sure the Mount Gray my friend picked up will be shared with me.

Fashionista Tea: All teas to sample

RUNA: Ginger Citrus, Mint, Cinnamon to sample

Chai Mookie: Original Chai (Swapped w/ friend for Fruity Sangria from Sahpat)

Zenzeu: Pina Colada, Chai Wedding, Champagne Blanc

& of course some random samples that were included in the goodie bag (tetley, red rose, salada, Art of Tea, Celestial Seasonings), etc. Those mostly will go to my lil’ sis.