This past Sunday I was very excited to once again attend the Coffee & Tea Festival NYC. The day started with tweetup that turned into a tea party for three. We shared great conversation and delicious matcha cake. Next up was the informative lecture From Garden to Cup: Tea 101
presented by Yoon Hee Kim. After that it was time to wander the aisles of vendor booths. There was lots of great teas to try. Every year I promise myself that I’m not going to buy anything and yet again, I caved in and indulged in a few teas that I thought were unique.
It was quite crowded so I had a hard time taking pictures but I’ve included a few in this post. I noticed a heavy lean towards promoting the health benefits of tea, especially in terms of antioxidant levels. It’s all a bunch of hooey if you ask me but that is what sells right now.The highlight of the day was having the opportunity for a semi-private class on deconstructing the Korean tea ceremony with Yoon Hee Kim. I learned a lot and tried some amazing teas, included red ginseng matcha (wow!) and Amber Gold oolong.
If you are able to get to NYC, this annual event is a must see. I think that next year they will need to move to a larger venue, especially considering that tickets for this year sold out. There will definitely be lots of reviews to come of the goodies that I found. If you click on the pictures it should open up a larger version. The organizers have just announced that they will be holding another festival in Atlantic City on November 3rd and 4th. Being a New Jersey native, I am super excited for all of my tea friends to come visit the garden state.
Our tweetup tea party setup
Coffee and tea together? Sac le bleu!
Tea infused chocolate makes me happy
Capital Tea’s very festive booth
Tavalon’s booth is always crowded
Lots of folks seemed interested in the teas that Tea Classics and Hancha Teas had to offer
Runa was repping the guayusa
Yoon Hee Kim making red ginseng matcha
I have a terrible habit of closing my eyes in ever picture taken of me
Let’s try that again, eyes not closed this time 🙂
sounds like a great time! Sad I had to miss it. I waited too long to get tix and then they were sold out. It turned out ok since my kids were sick all weekend and I probably would have had to stay home anyway. But next time! Perhaps a NY spring tea tweetup party is in order!
It definitely was. You should apply for a media pass next year! They will do those even if tix are sold out. I definitely think a spring tweetup is needed 🙂