So I went to the 5th annual Coffee and Tea Festival (http://www.coffeeandteafestival.com/) earlier today, and I had a pretty good time. It's a relatively small event, and its vendors sell at the consumer level, but also work toward wholesale and larger retail sales.
Overall, there were more small businesses than larger corporate showings, and a common theme among them was "Our website is still under construction." I have to say, though that there's a lot of small companies out there with some very good products, but they're skewed mostly toward tea. A lot of funny things happened during the festival.
A Respectable Student-Retailer
I think the funniest thing about the whole festival was that based on my knowledge about tea and coffee and my interest in their production values, a lot of the vendors didn't know what to make of me. A good portion of them were actually under the impression that I was a potential wholesale buyer, or that I might have had some sort of corporate tie. It was pretty funny, especially when they misinterpreted some of my comments. I have at least two people waiting for an "L- from Queens" to call them. I didn't have the heart to correct them.
"What's heaven like?" "Well, there's a shortage of bags"
My kingdom for a decent plastic bag. There was a ton of stuff to be had at the festival. I'll give a loot summary later in the post, but my god, I had to scavenge for good bags. I was travelling light today, but wish I had brought my messenger bag. Apparently, I was in time to get the goodie bag, but totally and completely missed the plasticky faux canvas bags that were being given out earlier. I was carrying three glass bottles and three jars of preserves, too. I was terrified of them falling out and breaking all over the place. Gargh.
Yeah, you're the chocolate/honey/rugelach/rumcake guys.
I was actually pretty pleased by the non-brewed beverage offerings they had. A lot of the food offerings were actually pretty good. There's one group that does small bundt cakes using some decent grade liquor that in a way that enhances the flavor of their cakes. There was a jam table and a honey table and a hot cocoa table (the last was kind of eh. Their raspberry truffle cocoa was not cocoa-y enough and the raspberry was too bright). I got some good stuff from the first two. Morning toast is going to be great for the rest of the year.
Snooty Afternoon Tea Lecture
So I'm all over the idea that certain venues can and should be kept baby-free, when possible. The concept that it is actually a disservice to others to bring a child somewhere they will not appreciate is one that, in very specific situations, I find to be a fair thing. However, there is a good way and a bad way to express this sentiment.
There was an older, aristocratic woman giving a brief talk this afternoon on Afternoon Tea and Service. I was actually pretty interested in the talk, since there was a lot of history in it, going back to the 18th century and Marie Antoinette and the birth of Afternoon Tea and plating and the difference between High Tea and Afternoon Tea. About midway through, a couple sitting behind me start to have trouble with their child of, 18-24 months--he or she was beginning to get fussy. And I mostly didn't care. The talk was pretty good, about why scones are on top of the triple tiered tray and sandwiches on the second tier, how to add a 4th course and what to add. Surprisingly, the speaker broke the pace of her talk and specifically asked the parents to take the child out with the reasoning that "It might be hard for people to hear over [the crying baby]."
I was pretty appalled by this, as were a few other in the audience. Actually, I ended up leaving a few minutes later in a slight fit of disgust. I dunno, just the way she did it made me annoyed. For someone so proud of her pedigree, (Oh yes, her ancestors were responsible for plunking tea plants down in Ceylon) that seemed pretty impolite.
Oh, That's Cute, You've Come Up with a Terrible Idea.
Aside from the requisite "Why are you here?" that was Verizon and some other investment company, two other large commercial entities made a showing at the festival. Bailey's was demoing a line of creamers with the tagline along the lines of "The flavor of Baileys, but with none of the alcohol." Really, it should be "Adding half of you like about Bailey's in your coffee to your coffee."
Entenmann's is getting into coffee now, did you know? They have the requisite Vanilla and Hazelnut flavors. I tried the Vanilla. It is exactly what you would expect of vanilla coffee distributed by Entenmann's. Make of that what you will.
This idea is so old that it's new!
No. teecino, No it is not. I saw two free pouches of "herbal coffee" in my goodies bag. I knew what they were immediately.
But first, an interlude:
So, did you know tat during wartime, there was a shortage of coffee, and so what people would do is that they would either add chicory root as filler or use it as a substitute for their brew? It had a different flavor, but it was dark and bitter, and worked in a pinch.
Roasted Carob is the first ingredient. Can you guess the other main ingredient?
I'm actually kind of annoyed by this sort of misnaming, like I am with the term "herbal tea." At least this probably won't catch on. Probably.
"Oh, don't do that. It's poisonous"
Fun fact: American Hydrangeas are poisonous if ingested, containing cyanide precursors. On the flip side, the Asian Hydrangea serrata is not, and produces a surprisingly sweet and delicious tisane. In fact, it's important in Japanese culture as a symbolic substitute for Amrita (the Eastern counterpart of Ambrosia/Nectar). I quickly acquired as much of it as I could.
Looting the Dealer's Room
3 Jars Jam- Wild Maine Blueberry, two Cran-Black-Rasp-Strawberry blends
1 tin Harney and Sons Paris blend
1 Can Hydrangea tea
1 pouch Mulberry Tea
3 bottles Montauk Beverage Works Iced tea
1 can Shapna Black Tea
1 bottle Gallberry Honey
Assorted freebies and goodies.
So all in all. Fun. And interesting. And best of all, delicious.
Edits: Oh gosh. It has been a long time since I've blogged.
