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Portland Teacation #3: Tea Fest PDX

The Saturday of the Portland half of our trip was spent at Tea Fest PDX, and we were there all day, from 9 am to 6 pm. I had only been to one tea festival prior to this one, which was the San Francisco International Tea Festival 2018. Compared to that one, I liked this venue much better (the SF one was super crowded and didn’t allow in/out priveledges, which I had major issue with); this took place at the Forestry Center in Washington Park and there were two different vendor areas, and a building/gazebo for the events. They also had some food options available and there was some seating around. My feet still got thrashed, but there were way more rest areas than SF had. (I have heard that the SF Tea Festival for 2019 moved venues and took care of the issues I had from attending in 2018, so I’m glad for that!) On the downside, unlike the SF Tea Fetival the freebie bag only had a sampler cup in it, but not a bunch of free tea samples. Of course, I have plenty of tea at home and getting to sample from 51 different vendor booths, I wasn’t all that bothered by this (and I actually made it home with my Tea Fest PDX sampler cup… someone stole mine at the SF Tea Festival!)

My memory isn’t as great now, but I will try to recall some of the booths/events that left an impression on me.

Events:

A Discussion of Pu’erh – A free event that Todd and I attended. I recall enjoying it at the time (pu-erh is one of the teas I don’t drink very often and was happy to learn more about) but don’t recall much about it now…

Tea Blending and Tasting Demo – This was a paid event Todd and I attended. The owner of T Project gave a talk about how she does her custom blend small batch teas, and we got to sample three different teas during the event. She also provided a free take-home sample.

Tea, Tourism, and Social Change – A free event that Todd and I attended, and the one of the three events we went to during the Tea Fest that left the biggest impression on me. The owner of Nepal Tea gave a really good talk about how his family started growing tea in Nepal and turning it into a business, how he uses his tea business to help make social improvements in his country, and how he “winged” a tea tour of his farms for tourists where they get hands-on experience working alongside his staff to harvest the tea plants and see all the steps in a very personal way, and how the model worked so well he’s continued to do it as a way of educating about tea and also bridging cultures. Free samples of Nepalese teas were provided during the talk. It was excellent, and I ended up naming my cat “Chiya” when I learned the Nepalese word for tea from this presentation and thought it sounded like a cute name!

Vendors:

Jasmine Pearl Tea – I really enjoyed the Black Wolf flavored pu-erh sample at this booth, which is why it ended up on my shopping list when I visited their flagship shop the next day! It had lovely cocoa and tangy berry notes, reminding me of a fruity dark chocolate from South America.

Minto Island Tea/Oregon Tea Traders/US League of Tea Growers – These were booths of US grown tea (Minto Island is grown outside of Salem, Oregon!) I not only enjoyed what I sampled (Minto Island had a nice iced green, and the Oregon Tea Traders/US League of Tea Growers had a black and oolong on sample from a farm in Mississippi, as I recall), but all the great information these booths provided to me, as this is a topic I’ve been considering covering in a library panel at some point.

Prana Chai – Really amazing sticky chai (there are both honey and agave versions!) from an Australian company. I really enjoyed the mint one, which included peppermint leaf in the sticky chai mix.

Tao of Tea – Probably the most interesting booth visually, as they created a “carnival” look with little minigames you could play (moving different objects with chopsticks, spinning a lottery wheel to “win” free teabag samplers, etc.) They had clay cups to sample their chai from and after drinking you smashed the cup while “making a wish” which was oddly satisfying. I drank up all the freebie teabags they had (a hibiscus herbal blend and a green tea blend) last summer making iced tea before my house move!

PDX Tea – The booth on the vendor floor run by the organizers of the event, where I got to sample a steeping of pu-erh that — if my memory recalls — may have come out in the 1990s. It was a fun experience (despite how crowded this booth was!)

Esteemed Tea Collective – I remember visiting them at the SF Tea Festival, but what struck me is that they remembered me and how big my tea collection was, hahaha! I ended up buying an ounce of Honey Black Oolong after sampling it at their booth, it had such a sweet and smooth taste!

Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co. – I was excited to see a yaupon vendor because I had yet to ever try it! I recall Todd really loved their Florida Chai, but I really loved the Lavender Coconut blend.

Qi Fine Teas – This booth had one of my favorite green teas that I sampled at the festival; they prepared it iced and it was so smooth and refreshing! Looking at their website, I believe the tea was “Cold Beauty Cold Brewed Green Tea from 90-100 Year Old Wild Tea Trees.”

Japanese Green Tea Co. – This tea just barely edged out the Chinese green I sampled at Qi Fine Teas as my favorite of the festival (and definitely my favorite sampled sencha!) It was called Issaku and had a more natural sweetness to it because they grow the tea with sugar beets. I’m pretty sure both Todd and I ended up going home with a canister of it.

Ringtons Tea – I have actually never seen this British bagged tea company before; I really loved the Berry & Elderflower herbal.

Modern Steep – This booth had a tea very similar to a past Bird & Blend tea that I really loved (the B&B one had rooibos, cocoa shells, lavender, and coconut). Since B&B pulls their blends and you never know when (or if) they will reappear, I quickly grabbed their Coconut Lavender Rooibos. The main difference to the B&B blend is it is a rooibos/honeybush blend and instead of cocoa shells it has cinnamon, but I’m hoping it’ll quench that thirst.

SAKU Tea – This company makes powdered latte blends and they were all amazing! I remember enjoying all the flavors I tried at their booth, but particularly liked the Golden Chai (a golden milk mix) and the Ruby Cocoa, a beetroot/cocoa with spices.

Astoria Tea Co. – This booth had the most unique herbal offerings, as they had a lot of Russian herbs I had never heard of or tasted before. I believe I had Russian Chaga and Russian Ivan Chai (made of a fermented willow plant) and the Ivan Chai had such an interesting flavor. I enjoyed it, but fail to try to describe it… I wish I’d picked some up now!

Kinglet Tea – This company made their own bottles of chai concentrates, made to be mixed with one part milk and had iced, and they were very good!

Aesthete Tea – I sampled their Love Potion black tea at their booth, a blend of Assam black tea, rose, caraway, and fennel. I loved the flavor combination but went home with a bag of the herbal version, La Vie en Rose, which replaced the black tea with tulsi.

There were tons of vendors (51 different vendor booths!) so I only noted a few of the ones that left a notable impression/stuck out in my mind. It was a great tea festival and I would love to attend again!