Check out my coverage of both Day 1 and Day 3 of the 2011 World Tea Expo.

Day two of the 2011 World Tea Expo was spectacular! A couple presentations, a number of formal tastings, a private tasting and dinner with the Nepali delegation, Thomas Shu’s traditional Taiwanese Hakka Tea Songs and more! All packed into one wonderful day!

As fast as the day went for me, a lot happened this day between 10AM and 5:30PM. So let’s get started!

Day 2

Saturday morning I arrived a bit early for the show. I tend to do this each year. You never know who you’ll end up meeting at the Starbucks at the convention center over breakfast! I had a very nice chat with one of the new girls over at Runa. Runa makes and wholesales the wonderful Guayusa (why-you-suh) product I reviewed a couple flavors for last fall. It’s an exciting tisane I really enjoy. After she had to get to the booth though, I took the chance to chat with a lady sitting behind me. Her name was Sharon Misdea and she’s a cultural anthropologist with a concentration on beverage history! How fascinating is that! My mind is still full of all kinds of questions to ask of her. I hope to do an interview to share with everyone here in a month or so!

After the breakfast chats were over, I headed out to the show floor. With the press badges you get in a bit early so I was able to squeeze through just a tad before the doors opened to everyone.

I was able to make a b-line for my friends over at QTrade Teas & Herbs who co-exhibit with my friends at Kopius Teas at the expo. These are some fantastic people who custom blend for all sorts of brands. If you have a chance to check out Infusions of Tea, it’s a brand run by Ron Eng and Emilie Yanagi of Kopius Teas and they have some very nice, high quality stuff!

Sungarden Teas

Elmwood Inn across the way was next. They’re more ‘local’ to me, being right across the river in Kentucky so I thought I’d say hello. I had a nice conversation, contemplated snagging a couple books including a beautiful copy of their illustrated version of Okakura Kakuzo’s “The Book of Tea,” and headed on down the isle.

Next, I made a stop over at Art of Tea. These guys are really some master blenders. Some of their teas are really inventive. Just after the show I’d requested a blend with Kiwi for kicks, and they blended a new Watermelon Kiwi Black Tea I am hoping to review here soon!

I didn’t spend a lot of time back in the China part of aisle 3. There was some stuff there which looked and smelled nice, but I had the urge to check out the Taiwan Tea Association booth where a lot of activity seemed to be centered. Here I found the venerable Thomas Shu singing some of his renowned Hakka Tea Songs. These were pretty engaging and fun to learn, though I really don’t remember them at the moment (BAD Tea-Guy!). They had a beautiful booth and I took the time to sit in on a presentation on traceability with Taiwanese teas and on a couple cuppings of Taiwanese teas which were both very engaging and fun!

Thomas Shu, Steven Huang and I

From the Taiwan tea booth, I made my way to a nearby booth from CTC Inc, distributors of the Bret brewing device and of Zealong, the New Zealand Oolong tea introduced at last year’s show. I snagged a Brewt unit I’ll be pitting against Adagio Teas’ ingenuiTEA and Teavana’s PerfecTEA Maker II in a couple weeks.

The Taiwan Tea crew and a buyer

The Taiwan Tea crew and I

I also made my way to the booth for Royal Tea of Kenya who had some unworldly spectacular orthodox black, green and white teas. What’s special about this is that Kenya isn’t really known for their quality, primarily their quantity. They’re the single largest producer of black teas in the world. Kenya produces more than China and India and Sri Lanka. It’s unbelievable. What’s great about this is that we’re now seeing some really good quality stuff coming from a region which needs the agricultural income and the exposure. I’m very happy to see this quality increase from Kenyan teas, and  to see much needed attention on a region which could use it.

Royal Tea of Kenya

A stop over to Octavia Tea yielded some new friends as well. Some of their blends were pretty interesting, and I look forward to reviewing some of them soon.

The Octavia Tea crew and I

On the side opposite CTC was the ItoEn booth. ItoEn makes more bottled ices teas than anybody. They literally invented the modern game of bottling teas for consumer consumption. It’s a really great story, I hope to transcribe at some point. I’ve become annual friends with Rona Tison, their VP of marketing for North America over the years. She’s pretty fantastic, so if you ever have the chance to say hi, you should do so!

They have some really great new bottled teas out now too. Their Crisp Apple Iced Tea and their Mango Iced Tea taste fantastic! I’m set to receive some samples of ItoEn’s loose leaf teas as well and hope to review some of them soon.

Rona Tison of ItoEn and I

An aisle over and further back was The Tao of Tea (Tao is pronounced like dow.) This company has a single premise. Never compromise quality while protecting our people and resources. I am in love with this group and look forward to reviewing some of their teas.

Tao of Tea has a pretty large amount of shelf-space at a local international food market in my area called Jungle Jims. If you’re ever in the Cincinnati area, you should really check the place out. They have acres and acres of floorspace inside devoted to foods from around the world!

A buddy from Tao of Tea and I

Tao of Tea

I dropped by a booth for Harshita Designs, a wonderful Indian fashion designer who often incorporates tea related aspects into her work. Mr. James Norwood Pratt had his mug emblazoned on a poster celebrating some form of anniversary wearing one of the purveyor’s ties, so I obviously had to have one as well! I snagged a nice red tie with blue circles encompassing a pretty two-leaves-and-a-bud motif. It’s a pretty nice tie actually.

I moved on to the Joyce Chen booth where they had some nice teapots and other paraphernalia.

Harshita Designs

Joyce Chen

My friends over at Eastrise Trading Corp. always have great stuff. They’re the North American distributor for the Chinese brand called Foojoy. I know and like a number of Foojoy blends and am always impressed with their loose tea quality. Above all else though, I really love chatting with these folks. They’re a lot of fun, and I always learn something new.

From Eastrise I moved on to some adventurism! I took a trip to the last aisle and stopped by a neat little booth for a company called Indie Tea. This little brand has some interesting blends. At the show I was a fan of their “Dirty Bird” and “Masquerade” blends. I hope to give them a fair shake with some reviews down the line. India Tea donates a whopping 5% of their sales to charity. We as consumers might not tack that as a lot… but really, it is. It’s 1 of every twenty dollars the company doesn’t get to use for its own growth. CHeck them out if you can.

The Yedi Houseware booth was colorful and fun looking. I dropped by for a gander, but didn’t get to try anything out.

Yedi Housewares

The Yamashiro Busan Company of Japan has a neat product out this year as well. They’ve developed a cold-brew green tea powder which is actually very good. To brew, you take one of their pouches and insert it into a bottled water (after either draining or drinking a bit.) Then you put the cap back on and shake vigorously for a few moments. All the sudden, you have a fine tasting ices green tea in a bottle! FOr those familiar with the crystal light-to-go- packets, this is similar. However, you’re inserting a packet into the bottle, and not dumping a powder in directly. The idea is so new from the company, they don’t have a US facing site in English yet.

I hope to give these a review down the line as well.

To finish my day I headed upstairs to a private tasting of the Nepalese teas for this year. Here I met some wonderful industry luminaries such as Bill Waddington of TeaSource and NPR Tea Time fame. I also met  Martin Kushner and Chandra Bhushan Subba. The presentation given was very nice. They walked us through the history and culture of the relatively young Nepalese tea industry, some production processes and a tasting of some of their latest productions.

To say they had splendid teas would be benign. To be honest, one of their teas was just okay. Several were pretty good and two were downright spectacular. In particular I was impressed by an extra curled black tea produced by Bushan’s factory. For such a young industry, they’ve matured quite a bit in a very short period of time and are offering teas with a remarkable amount of differentiation in palate texture and flavor profiles on top of visual appeal. This is a country to watch!

Chandra Bhushan and I

Here’s the final installment of this three part recap to the activities and friends from this year’s expo!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Day 3

Ouch! So much ground to cover in a single day! Seven rows and we’ve only finished four! I gues it helps I didn’t attend any educational sessions this year. This would have been a five page set instead! Maybe next year.

First stop when the doors opened? Special Teas! This group has some rather fine offerings. Then, on to Florapharm. A bright logo, good quality product and an interesting name. This German company is housed in the US near my old stomping grounds in Owings Mills, MD. They even had a real live samovar (see last photo)!

Special Teas

Special Teas

Special Teas

Special Teas

Florapharm USA

Florapharm USA's samovar

Next I hit Eco Vita who do supplements and vitamins. Not really my scene. Then was Eastrise Trading Corp. who had the banner for Foojoy, a great chinese company who I had a good rapport with last year. No, on to Rooibos, Ltd. This company obviously specializes in Rooibos related teas.

Further down the isle I hit AOI Tea which specializes in Matcha. I had a little formal ceremony sit down with a great little Japanese woman who whisked the tea up in a little bowl for me to drink. It was extremely good!

Next was Harney & Sons. Last year I was lucky enough to meet both Michael and John Harney at their booth. This year, the booth was considerably smaller and the Harney’s themselves weren’t present. I was a little disappointed.

AOI Matcha

Moving on I had the pleasure of hitting Sugimoto America again. They won an award this year for their greeting cards with a pretty sealed teabag in it based on the occasion. That was kinda neat.

Tavalon Tea was next. Their packaging is some of the more unique I think. Clear plastic that’s UV coated so you can see the tea is nice. What’s great is that unlike other UV plastic tins, these don’t just have a window in the tin to see the tea. The container is the window to see the tea.

Continuing, Stash Tea was the following stop. Most of us know Stash Tea from their tea bags sold in grocery stores and such. However, they have some great loose teas, and the new Chanakara line Cindy Harling showed me is really great, and available loose!

Oh My Gosh! PeLi Teas! The wonderful 2009 Pu’erh they had was equally pleasant in a tea bag as it was loose. Just incredible! Maeda-En was great as usual. With their Green Tea Mochi and their Iced Green Tea. Delicious!

What the heck is up with Sam Ritchey and his hair over at TeaGschwendner! That guys knows how to liven it up something real! A stop off at MarketSpice located in Pike Place in Seattle and a taste of Hojicha Gelee (which I’ll review down the road) at The Green Teaist and we close out the fifth row!

What a hectic run! But we’re only about a third of the way through our day! Will I be able to make it through the seventh row in time for closing? Follow along and we’ll see!

PeLi Teas

PeLi Teas

Maeda En

The Green Teaist

The Green Teaist

There’s a LOT going on here in the sixth row! Plenty to see. Let’s get started!

First stop? The Taiwan Tea Manufacturer’s Association. This is a conglomerated booth area made up of seven or eight Taiwanese tea companies all in one place. They’re almost independent of the expo! Too much to describe here. There’s lots of good stuff!

What’s this!?! Hawiian grown tea! I’ve known about the Hawaii projects for a while now, but it failed to register that anyone was close enough to production. Well, Liam Ball over at Na Liko Tea certainly is! The Hawaiian Oolong was spectacular. This is on top of being a first year production from plants just five years old! They really nailed it!

Tisano was next. They make cacao stuff. In this case their product is made from the outer shells of the cacao beans. This Equadoran product is pretty good actually and tastes like a hot chocolate but not as rich. The company actually helps in the picking and shipping processes for their product and gives some proceeds back to the community and growers from each sale.

Na Liko Tea from Hawaii

Na Liko Tea from Hawaii

Tisano Cacao Tea

Just across the split from Tisano… was Zealong, the New Zealand Oolong people. If you haven’t tried this stuff, seriously give it a go. I did. I’ll have a formal review up soemtime soon. Zealong has some of the best marketing this year I think, and their packaging is simply beautiful! Tulsi Organics across the walkway was another herbal beverages company. There seem to be plenty of these this year.

Time to take a peek at one of my favorite accessory makers… FORLIFE! Great looking stuff as always! Vibrant colors, unique styles. Good stuff.

On to Naivetea. I really like this brand’s identity. Clean and refined but with a slightly fancy augmentation. Always friendly, the couple who run this company are somehow calming to me. It could be the tea too, but there’s something about this fun pair from California!

Zealong New Zealand Oolong

Tulsi Organics

Naivetea

Next up? Hankook Tea who have some simple but nice packaging, and they’re representing Korean teas which are seriously under-represented in the industry. You go guys! On to Takeya USA! These guys make some really swell tea brewer jugs! Some of these are for chilled teas, and others are for hot teas. Some for large quantities and others for just a cup or two. You should check them out!

Keeping up the pace we have Shang Ri La Tea and Hancha Tea another company I remember from last year who has nice clean package design. A trip to Teas Etc. rounds out the 6th row. I mean what would the expo be without Beth and Newman Johnston!

Time for the final row already!?! The Expo can’t be over yet!?! I mean c’mon!

Takeya

Teas Etc

Teas Etc

Row seven is shorter and has less going on. I did run into Jason O. Walker from Walker Tea Review whom I met last year. If I’d been swifter maybe I’d have caught him before he was closing up. Maybe I could have even been in one of his review videos! That would have been killer!

A stop by the World Tea News booth was empty. All that was left was Torn Ranch.

I did make my way back to the International Tea Importers booth to grab a copy of the New Tea Dictionary and a photo-op with the author Mr. James Norwood Pratt.

Disappointed row 7 didn’t have more going on? Oh, fine! There was this row of new product displays. Maybe you’d like to see those, yeah? Here you go, I’ll leave you with these. I hope you enjoyed my coverage of the expo as much as I did getting to go again.

Me sniffing some Himalayan Tips

QTrade Teas & Herbs

Village Tea Mini Canisters

Tea friends Make a Toast

Tea Friends at Lotus of Siam for Dinner

ITO EN Bench Made of Recycled Tea

More Delicious Tea

David Smith Tea Blender

Thursday is News, History & Culture Day

Welcome to the first news post here on Tea-Guy. Every week you’ll get a healthy dose of interesting news and tidbits or a note about tea history or cultural insights.

1. Fang Tea is having a tasting in New York City this weekend. You should go if you’ll be in the area!
2. According to World Tea News, Science Direct has published a study indicatinga possible link between green tea and weight loss. While I believe all weight loss should be combined with a well balanced diet and exercise, a little green tea couldn’t hurt.
3. Indulge Tea is a new online tea store based in Virginia.
4. The Examiner has an interesting collection of recycling options for tea.

Here are the Winners of this year’s World Tea Championships

Hot Tea Class

Assam: 1st Place, Assam Ditchu by Teas Etc.; 2nd Place, Assam Marangi by TeaGschwendner USA; 3rd Place, Satrupa SFTGFOP1 by Qtrade Teas & Herbs

Black

• General: 1st Place, Zhenghe Golden Monkey (Special) by PeLi Teas; 2nd Place, #510 Golden Monkey (Fujian) by SpecialTeas Inc.; 3rd Place, New Vithanakande Classic by Qtrade Teas & Herbs
• Blended/ Flavored: 1st Place, Pineapple Mango by TeaGschwendner USA; 2nd Place, Pangaea Extra Special by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 3rd Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Lemongrass Black by Rishi Tea

Breakfast Blend: 1st Place, Organic/ Fair Trade China Breakfast by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Smooth Breakfast by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 3rd Place, English Breakfast by TeaGschwendner USA

Ceylon: 1st Place, Ceylon OP1 by Teas Etc.; 2nd Place, New Vithanakande FBOPF Extra Special by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 3rd Place, Ceylon Uva Highlands by TeaGschwendner USA

Chai: 1st Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Masala Chai by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Sewpur Assam (Organic) Masala Chai by Chamong; 3rd Place, Indian Chai by TeaGschwendner USA

Darjeeling: 1st Place, Jungpana Choice by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 2nd Place, Darjeeling Risheehat 2nd Flush SFTGFOP1 by TeaGschwendner USA; 3rd Place, Darjeeling Lingia 1st Flush SFTGFOP1   TeaGschwendner USA

Dragonwell: 1st Place, Dragon Well Qingming by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Dragon Well Mingqian by Rishi Tea; 3rd Place, Spring Dragonwell by Qtrade Teas & Herbs

Earl Grey: 1st Place, Earl Grey No 69 by TeaGschwendner USA; 2nd Place, Earl Grey Grand by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 3rd Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Earl Grey Supreme by Rishi Tea

Green

• Blended/ Flavored: 1st Place, Sencha Yuzu by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Goji/Blueberry/Pomegranate by Dethlefsen & Balk; 3rd Place, Genmai Cha by Sugimoto USA, Inc (SA Japanese Green Tea)
• Dry-Fired:  1st Place (Tie), Wuyang Chunyu by Qtrade Teas & Herbs and Ilrohyang of Sulloc Premium Tea by Amorepacific Corporation; 3rd Place, Zhejiang Green Needle Tea by PeLi Teas
• Steamed: 1st Place, Yame Hon-Gyokuro by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 2nd Place, GyoKuro by Rishi Tea; 3rd Place, Organic Kukicha by Rishi Tea

Herbal

• 1st Place, Tartary Buckwheat by Puripan Inc.; 2nd Place, Organic/ Wild Schisandra Berry by Rishi Tea; 3rd Place, Mulberry Leaf by Puripan Inc.
• Blended/ Flavored: 1st Place, Organic Cinnamon Plum by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Summer Romance by TeaGschwendner USA; 3rd Place, Organic Unity by Rishi Tea

Jasmine: 1st Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Jasmine Green Tea by Rishi Tea

Keemun: 1st Place, Sechrna by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 2nd Place, Keemun Hao Ya by PeLi Teas; 3rd Place, Keemun Needle by PeLi Teas

Matcha: 1st Place, Matcha Rishi by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Ceremonial Matcha by AIYA America Inc.; 3rd Place, Matcha Supreme by AOI Tea Company

Oolong

• Blended/ Flavored: 1st Place, Lychee Green Oolong by Naivetea; 2nd Place, Plum Oolong by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 3rd Place, Plum Oolong by Rishi Tea
• Dark, Medium Oxidized: 1st Place, Fenghuang Dancong (Super) by PeLi Teas; 2nd Place, Formosa Superior Choice by TeaGschwendner USA; 3rd Place, Fenghuang Dancong (Special) by PeLi Teas
• Green, Lightly Oxidized: 1st Place, Jade Oolong (Golden Leaf Selections) by Barnes & Watson Fine Teas; 2nd Place, Ti Quan Yin (Super) by PeLi Teas; 3rd Place, Jade Oolong by Rishi Tea

Puer: 1st Place, Puer Tea (Special) by PeLi Teas; 2nd Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Puer Classic by Rishi Tea; 3rd Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Ancient Puer Palace by Rishi Tea

Sencha: 1st Place, Sencha Spirit by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 2nd Place, Sencha Superior Rishi Tea; 3rd Place, Organic Sencha by Rishi Tea

Treasure, Flowering: 1st Place, L.T. Grade A Collection by Tea Beyond; 2nd Place, Royal Lily by Fujian Guang Fu Tea Co., Ltd; 3rd Place, China Yin Zhen Flowering by TeaGschwendner USA

White

• Any category: 1st Place, Organic Silver Needle by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Organic Silver Needle by Two Hills Tea Ltd.; 3rd Place, Silver Needle by Fujian Guang Fu Tea Co., Ltd
• Blended/ Flavored: 1st Place, Organic Silver Needle Jasmine by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Organic Silver Needle Osthmanthus by Rishi Tea; 3rd Place, Island Dreams by Qtrade Teas & Herbs
• Yunnan: 1st Place, Dian Hong (Special) by PeLi Teas; 2nd Place, Golden Monkey Organic by Teas Etc.; 3rd Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Yunnan Golden Buds           by Rishi Tea

Iced Tea Class

READY TO DRINK (RTD)

• Best Packaging: 1st Place, KimBees Lemon-Raspberry Gourmet by KimBees Gourmet Sweet Tea
• Black, Flavored: 1st Place, MarketSpice Signature Blend by MarketSpice; 2nd Place, Pomegranate Splash by MarketSpice; 3rd Place, TEAS’ TEA Naturally Sweet-Citrus Black by ITO EN
• Black, Unflavored: 1st Place, Anteadote Organic Black Teaby Adagio Teas; 2nd Place, Just Tea – Black (Manufactured by ITO EN), by Wegmans
• Green, Flavored: 1st Place, Jasmine Green Tea by ITO EN; 2nd Place, Just Tea – Green Jasmine (Manufactured by ITO EN), by Wegmans
• Green, Sweetened: 1st Place, Tazo Organic Iced Green by Tazo Tea; 2nd Place, KimBees Lemon-Raspberry Gourmet by KimBees Gourmet Sweet Tea; 3rd Place, KimBees Almond Gourmet Sweet by KimBees Gourmet Sweet Tea
• Green, Unflavored: 1st Place, Oi Ocha Dark by ITO EN; 2nd Place, Just Tea – Green (Manufactured by ITO EN) by Wegmans; 3rd Place, La Crème 100% Organic Unsweetened Green Tea by La Crème Coffee & Tea
• Oolong, Unflavored: 1st Place, Oolong Shot    by Ito En; 2nd Place, Just Tea – Oolong (Manufactured by ITO EN) by Wegmans; 3rd Place, Anteadote Organic Oolong Tea by Adagio Teas

FREESTYLE

• Tea: 1st Place, Iron Buddha and the Flower by Barnes & Watson Fine Teas; 2nd Place, Black Tea Pre-Mix by AIYA America Inc.
• Best Presentation: 1st Place, Tea in a Jar – Aloe Vera by Puripan Inc.
• Herbal: 1st Place, Tea In A Jar – Aloe Vera by Puripan Inc.; 2nd Place, Rosa de Jamaica by Qtrade Teas & Herbs; 3rd Place, Tea In A Jar – Ginger by Puripan Inc.
• Herbal, Flavored: 1st Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Tropical Crimson by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Organic Berry White Iced Tea by Sungarden Specialty Tea; 3rd Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Blueberry Red by Rishi Tea

FOODSERVICE

• Best Value: 1st Place, Walters Bay Black Iced Tea by Walters Bay Bogawantalawa Estates
• Black, Flavored:1st Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Summer Lemon by Rishi Tea; 2nd Place, Passion Fruit Jasmine Art of Tea; 3rd Place, Porganic Maple Caramel Iced Tea byShangri La Tea Company
• Black, Unflavored: 1st Place, Natural Organic Black Iced Tea by Shangri La Tea Company; 2nd Place, 100% Nilgiri Ice Tea Blend by International Tea Importers; 3rd Place, Walters Bay Black Iced Tea by Walters Bay Bogawantalawa Estates
• Green, Flavored: 1st Place (Tie), Organic Ambrosia Green Iced Tea by Shangri La Tea Company and Organic Serene Green Citrus Iced Tea by Sungarden Specialty Tea; 2nd Place, Organic/ Fair Trade Citron Green by Rishi Tea; 3rd Place, Walters Bay Mint Green Iced Tea by Walters Bay Bogawantalawa Estates
• Green, Unflavored: 1st Place, Natural Organic Green Iced Tea by Shangri La Tea Company; 2nd Place, Liquid Jade by Art of Tea, LLC; 3rd Place, Walters Bay Green Iced Tea by Walters Bay Bogawantalawa Estates

Help a good cause: CharityWater.org