Wednesday, March 2, 2011

6th Annual Coffee & Tea Festival



In the lobby at 7 W. 34th Street, which was packed with people 30 minutes before the 11:00 am opening.



First stop on the way into the space was Tavalon Tea, which looked inviting. The tea and its presentation is top notch, just one little problem for me--many of the teas contain sunflower, which I found to be on the bitter side and didn't like. I really tried to like several of their blends, but that sunflower got in the way.



Harney & Sons tea company, where I sampled several teas and chose the Orange and Raspberry teas, partly because I liked the flavor and partly because I loved the tins they came in.



The lady in white is Kim of Tea Classics/Hancha Tea. She spent an insane amount of time helping me find the right tea, which turned out to be a Cassia tisane. It's a combination of strong and bold, which I was looking for in a hot drink. I've actually seen this in several cafes, now that I've become more interested in tea and recognize names.



Finally, this had to be my favorite table of the whole show: Red Bee Honey. A pure, artisinal honey, they offered about a dozen different (and delicious) honey flavors, including orange blossom, apple blossom, raspberry, sweet gallberry, clover, and many more. Seeing the honey in wine glasses was a lot of fun, we could smell them and compare their colors without messing up fingers. I came home with three bottles, and Red Bee will be one definite reason to attend again next year.

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