Check out my coverage of both Day 1 and Day 2 of the 2011 World Tea Expo.

The World Tea Expo is such a fantastic event that even after only a few times through I can’t imagine not attending every year. I spark wonderful conversations with people, make new friends and contacts and come out knowing more than ever about tea in all its forms. This year really was no different in this respect. From a Tea Anthropologist I met at breakfast on Day 2 to time spent hanging out with my new buddy Ankit Lochan of Lochan Tea (we went to the Hoover Dam) I really had a great time this year.

But, without further ado…

Day 2

I spent some quality time with a few of the larger brands on Sunday. A wonderful but short visit over to the Harney & Sons booth showed Michael Harney’s lighter side and let me reconnect with the brand which first exposed me to loose tea. I always enjoy speaking with the Harney’s. They have great business sense to be sure, and they know their teas but they’re also great to talk with and learn from. You should drop in on their SoHo store if you’re in Manhattan.

Michael Harney & I

Michael Harney's Lighter Side

Moving along, I spent some time with some new friends with World Tea Media, purveyors of the World Tea News (WTN) industry publication and the World Tea and World Tea East expos. George and Kim Jage started the expo some number of years ago and it’s really grown into something wonderful! Dan Bolton, editor of the WTN articles and I had a nice long chat as well. It was a pretty awesome chance to connect with some of the larger names in the industry at the moment.

Some Tea from Rishi Tea

International Tea Importers is one of the larger wholesale groups around and they have some mighty fine product. They had a couple of the more unique items I was able to check out this year. Amongst my favorite activities at the expo are speaking with ITI’s purveyor, Mr. Devan Shah as well as venerable Tea Luminary Mr. James Norwood Pratt (to whom I always wish to bestow the title of Sir.) I hope next year I’ll have the opportunity to share a meal with these gentlemen.

Sir James Norwood Pratt and I

A stop over to Teas Etc yielded a great opportunity to chat up Beth Johnston and new friend Sherri Miller of Moonrise Tea Garden out of Hawaii. I reviewed Sherri’s crop from last year if you care to check it out. I also had a chance to speak with Newman Johnston and am always super excited after talking tea, business and happy things with these folks. There’s so much to go over and one expo isn’t nearly enough time, let alone a short conversation within an expo!

Beth Johnston, Myself and Sherri Miller

Newman Johnston and I

Another group from Hawaii whom I didn’t get the chance to review but did say hi to last year was Naliko Tea Gerden, now known as Tea Hawaii. It seems like Liam Ball of Naliko hooked up with a neat crowd. Tea Hawaii offers some neat products, an interesting brewing method where water is poured over the leaves and sifted into a drinking vessel. They also offer custom made tea cups made of clay which are all unique. The uniqueness is by virtue of a ‘slap’ to the clay as the potter is finishing spinning it which gives the cup its unique ‘wobble.’

Tea Hawaii Brewing to a Vessel

Another stop was made to a standby of mine. You can find Stash Tea products in nearly every grocery store in the United States. They’re a HUGE brand. However, they’re mostly known for their bagged teas. This is mighty unfortunate because their loose tea quality is actually pretty high. I always enjoy good conversation with Stash. I hope to cover more of their loose teas soon.

Stash Tea Products

I did also run into Wendy Weir of Libre Tea whose brewing vessel I reviewed some time ago and pit against other tea mugs in a showdown last year. This was her first World Tea Expo exhibiting. Honorable mention to my friends at Honey Stix whose products I hope to review soon. A shout to my buddies at Eastrise Trading who handle distribution for Foojoy in North America. Another honorable mention for the folks at Nucha, and David over at Gorreana Portuguese Teas.

I was disappointed not to see some of my favorite exhibitors from the past two years. Notable absences included Puripan Tea Garden, TeaGschwendner, PeLi Teas, Tavalon Tea, Village Tea Company, SAFA Himalaya and Catalyst Tea Enhancers. I missed you guys!

That’s pretty much it for Day 3. Feel free to go back and check out Day 1 and Day 2 of my 2011 World Tea Expo coverage.

Eastrise Trading Company

This is the fifth and final entry in a series of posts on Numi Teas’ new Pu-erh Iced Teas.

After the Organic Mango Pu-erh, the Organic Jasmine Pu-erh the Organic Mint Pu-erh and the Organic Earl Grey Pu-erh I reviewed in the past few days, this iced Organic Classic Pu-erh is a continuation in the impressive collection Numi seems to be putting together with these iced pu-erh teas. And that’s no joke at this point. So far, four bottled teas, and four winners by my taste.

Numi Organic Classic Pu-erh

The liquor appears an almost opaque amber-black, but it’s difficult to tell through the bottle the color is so dark.

As with most iced teas the aroma on this one is pretty weak. You’ve got to be right up on it to smell it. The limitation here appears to be physics. Aroma just doesn’t carry as well in a cold climate.

The earthy textures common to pu’erh teas come out here. There’s some gritty earthen natural flavors playing on the palate. Some hints at honey and chocolate in the body.

This tea has some medium astringency in the tail and does cause some light dryness of the palate. This particular tea is not as subtle as the rest.

Fans of Pu-erh or CTC style (fine grain) black teas might enjoy this iced beverage. Because of its more subtle nature when iced, those who don’t typically enjoy Pu-erh as much might still want to give this one a try.

This is the fourth in a series of posts on Numi Teas’ new Pu-erh Iced Teas.

After the Organic Mango Pu-erh, the Organic Jasmine Pu-erh and the Organic Mint Pu-erh I reviewed in the past few days, this iced Organic Earl Grey Pu-erh is a continuation in the impressive collection Numi seems to be putting together with these iced pu-erh teas. And that’s no joke at this point. So far, four bottled teas, and four winners by my taste.

Numi Organic Earl Grey Pu-erh

The cloudy liquor is definitely reassuring in the bottle. It’s a very deep copper bronze with just a bit of sedimentation. As mentioned in prior reviews, this should be expected with natural or organic bottled teas. Pretty much all teas of this nature suggest shaking the bottle profusely before drinking.

This particular iced pu-erh stands above the others Numi provided me. As soon as I opened the bottle the aroma was clearly discernible. It was actually so pleasing I just let it sit for a few moments to soak it in before drinking.

The liquor of this tea is very smooth. I’d actually put it’s texture along the lines of a milk tea. Creamy and rich. The flavor is full of bergamot (the orangish fruit which gives Earl Grey its flavor.) I did note some grittiness from the pu-erh, but not as much as I’d expected.  The pu-erh seems overpowered by the oil of bergamot. This is the only reason I didn’t give the flavor a 4 out of 5.

This tea has some light astringency in the tail, however, due to the creamy texture it doesn’t seem to dry the palate, just the tip of the tongue.

Fans of Pu-erh or floral or milk teas might enjoy this iced beverage. Because of its more subtle nature when iced, those who don’t typically enjoy Pu-erh as much might still want to give this one a try.

This is the third in a series of posts on Numi Teas’ new Pu-erh Iced Teas.

After the Organic Mango Pu-erh and the Organic Jasmine Pu-erh I reviewed over the weekend, this iced Organic Mint Pu-erh is a continuation in the impressive collection Numi seems to be putting together with these iced pu-erh teas.

Numi Organic Mint Pu-erh

The cloudy liquor is reassuring in the bottle. It’s a deep copper bronze with notable sedimentation. As mentioned in prior reviews, this should be expected with natural or organic bottled teas. Almost all teas of this nature suggest shaking the bottle profusely before drinking.

While most iced teas aren’t very aromatic, mint has a way of making its presence known. As soon as I opened the bottle I could smell the mint. However, as though it had been waiting to escape, the aroma dissipated quickly. After that the bottle needed to be very close to my nose for me to smell anything here.

On the palate this tea is clearly mint. More spearmint than peppermint though, which was refreshing. I was expecting more earthy tones from the pu-erh which I didn’t find. No gritty textures or mossy aftertaste either. The flavor sits nice and light on the palate. While some minty-ness does continue through the finish, there’s not so much to be overwhelming.

This tea has little to no astringency. It doesn’t dry the tongue or mouth and actually seems to whet the palate instead.

Fans of Pu-erh or floral or mint teas might enjoy this iced beverage. Because of its more subtle nature when iced, those who don’t typically enjoy Pu-erh as much might still want to give this one a try.

This is the second in a series of posts on Numi Teas’ new Pu-erh Iced Teas.

After the Mango Pu-erh I reviewed the other day, this iced Jasmine Pu-erh is equally impressive. Using full organic jasmine flower petals when brewing this tea makes this one of the more well rounded jasmines out there, let alone one which is iced.

The liquor is slightly cloudy in the bottle. This is the mark of a good natural tea and indicates the use of actual ingredients and not flavorings or extracts. The coloring for this tea appears a milky golden yellow.

Iced teas don’t have the same aromatic properties as hot teas. The cool liquid doesn’t effuse the scents we expect nearly as strong. The result? You have to be right next to the bottle to smell the jasmine aroma and its floral tones.

I’ve had some iced Jasmine teas which fall flat, and I’ve had some which are remarkably refreshing. This Jasmine Pu-erh bests all of those for me. Jasmine seems to provide a typically tart or puckery finish when iced. It seems softened by either the small 10g sample of sugar in the bottle or by the smoothness of the green pu-erh used to brew this tea. On the palate the jasmine plays nicely with a hint of something lightly fruity in the finish.

Numi Jasmine Pu-erh

This tea isn’t very astringent. Unlike some ices teas it doesn’t dry the palate or lack nuance. Pu’erh itself is notably smooth when high quality, and this seems to translate well when iced.

Fans of Pu-erh or floral teas and Jasmine teas in particular might enjoy this iced beverage. Because of its more subtle nature when iced, those who don’t typically enjoy Pu-erh as much might still want to give this one a try.