The Midwest Tea Fest a was a whirlwind of fun! It had everything I could have hoped for in my first tea-centric festival, great teas, fun gadgets, big names, and excitement! I can’t thank the coordinators Alex and Nichole enough Here is my review of the festivities, quick and easy.
Getting to the venue was a bit of a challenge. One of the country’s oldest races cut right across the World War 1 museum, so find the entrance was a bit of a laugh for me, I felt like I was climbing a mountain to get to the tall spire and the bashful sphinxes that guarded the museum. I never realized just how out of shape I was until I trudged up that hill! By the time I got to the entrance, it was already 10:15. The festival started at 10 and the line was already almost to the door. With some waiting and a slight hiccup, (I had preordered my tickets, and got the Dragonwell VIP package, and was not found on ‘the list.’ I managed to get in, but now that I think about it, there was all sorts of goodies I was supposed to receive with my ticket… ah well.) I was in! There was such a mass of people, that I had to wait aside for the right moment to enter, lest I be swept away by the throngs of tea-obsessed peoples.
I managed to get inside, and immediately started taking pictures. Queen’s Pantry was the first booth, and was massively swamped the whole time, with good reason too! They were sampling their Birthday cake black tea, which was excellent. Next door was the Shang Tea booth, which was sampling their white and tangerine blossom red. I couldn’t wait to sit in their presentation about aged white tea and unglazed porcelain.
The booth next to Shang was none other than James Norwood Pratt and his wife Valerie! I had to double back from the Harney and Sons booth to say hello to them both. JNP was a little surprised at my enthusiasm, a good majority of the people in attendance were just walking past him. He had a funny laugh and was quite polite. He handed me his business card with both hands and made me promise to keep in touch. NO problem, man! Next to his booth was Pi ceramics, which had great handmade pottery. I ended up getting a lot of her wares! But that is for another post.
Harney was stuck in the corner, and strangely unattended most of the time. Across that way was Tea Market, Bingley’s and Traveling Tea. I loved Bingley’s setup, they were actually my favorite booth! They had a little Yoda and R2D2 watching over the teas and a little glass teapot.
Phoenix Herbal was next, next to Yoki, Anna Marie’s Teas (Which actually had two booths, I got a teacup candle from their second one) and London Tea Room. Yoki was another one of those booths that was always crowded, I was only able to squeeze in for about a minute before being squished out again. But they did have some great looking tea sets and matcha candies. The London tea room had some great teas to sample as well. I really enjoyed their setup as well.
A quick jaunt to the booth just outside of the tasting cafés was Single Origin Teas. I managed to snag a sample or two before heading to the presentations. In the tasting café area as well as the presentation rooms I was able to get a more in depth look at the companies and the teas they were most proud of. It was a breath of fresh air, with a lot less people to wade through. I was able to sit in at Tealet’s tasting of Nepalese teas, which is where I met fellow tea blogger, Amanda, ‘Soggy Enderman’ Wilson! Funny enough, we were right next to each other, and a mutal Instagram friend pointed out our near identical tasting cup pictures! Just when the tea was getting good, the fire alarm went off mid tasting session! We all filed out, and waited to go back in, but not before getting one last taste out of the white tea we were drinking. Luckily, nothing was actually on fire, so it was a short wait out in the humid Kansas City air. Whoever set off the alarm, we will never know. I went to the tasting session promptly after we were allowed to go back inside, hosting by the London tea room. At that time my phone had had enough of all the frenzied photographs I was taking and promptly died. My man and I stopped for an eat to bite as well as to charge my phone. While it was regaining it’s strength, we had a great lunch of period army food, ‘chipped beef’ and ‘trench stew.’ Appetizing, ain’t it?
I had some time to kill before the last presentation, so I wandered about, and ran into Elyse and Ree ‘Tulli’ from Tealet! Shooting the breeze with the fabulous and fascinating ladies at Tealet was so much fun, I would love to work with these strong and motivated people again soon!
Finally the time came, the main event was upon us! I had a friend secure us a good seat to listen to James Norwood Pratt’s thoughts on tea. He was a hit, making the easy crowd laugh and describing the intricacies of processing tea. It was a great end to a fabulous event. I had a great time, and I would not hesitate to go again next year. Next stop, Rocky Mountain Tea Fest!
Bonus points for making it through this post: I was on KC TV (channel 41) right before going to the fest! Watch me stumble over my words here.
Meishan Cing Xin High Mountain Spring Oolong Tea from Taiwan Tea Crafts
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Taiwan Tea Crafts
Tea Description:
Our Spring 2015 Cing Xin Oolong crop from Meishan comes from a well-established growing area which was one of the first to grow higher mountain teas in Chiayi County. Meishan sits between Shanlinxi up north, and Alishan further south and was one of the first high mountain tea growing areas to be developed in central Taiwan, well before Shanlinxi and Alishan. This Qing Xin Oolong has the typical green, crisp pastoral notes with hints of mountain flowers that charms the nose. The palate will immediately be pleased by the ample creamy texture and taste that evokes fresh buttered green beans with hints of sweetness.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
There must be something wrong with me. Some kind of chemical/spiritual imbalance, I’m sure. I used to drink oolongs by the gallons. It was pretty much the tea that I drank exclusively, aside from the occasional herbal or puerh. But I think something happened along my tea journey. I think I oolong’d myself out. If that is even possible. But each oolong that I have had lately has bored me, or rubbed me the wrong way. Either it’s the sign of the apocalypse, or my tastes are just changing with the seasons. I hope it’s the latter, I would like to drink down some of my tea stash before the world really ends.
Meishan Cing Xin High Mountain Spring Oolong Tea from Taiwan Tea Crafts is a mouthful to say, never mind type! I am hoping that this is the tea that will spark my interest in the tea that once held my heart. The leaves are tightly rolled, smooth and so fragrant I almost swoon. Almost. The dry leaf smells like milk and honey, jasmine blossoms and lilies. I was lazy, and not wanting to clean one of my gaiwans, or infuses, I just tossed a few pearls of oolong into the bottom of a mug. Leaves that do a lot of expanding perform so well grandpa style.
Watching the leaves unfold in my mug was nothing short of a spectacle. The aroma is promising, all the creamy, floral goodness wafts up to my nose. The deep gold liquor is thick and smooth, and the floral notes are strong with this one. There are short bursts of grassy notes, it’s got all of the flowers, stem and all. Later on in the steeps, the smooth buttery notes came out, sweeter than the steeps before. This is becoming a strong competitor in the campaign to turn me back on road to oolong! Throughout all the steeps, there was always something else to discover. I may be back on the path to oolong!
Citron Potion Oolong Tea from Tealyra
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tealyra
Tea Description:
One of our most popular flavored teas, Citron Potion is a special blend of supreme jasmine scented oolong that has been cured with rare jasmine blossoms, a unique blend of herbs and a combination of refreshing citrus fruits. This organic oolong tea will quickly become a favorite with the pick me up natural orange oil, hint of organic lemon myrtle and the unmistakable rare flavor and aroma of the jasmine flower.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little worried about the tea leaf to ‘other stuff ratio when I opened the package of Citron Potion Oolong from Tealyra. I saw nary a leaf compared to the intense amount of jasmine flowers. The package smelled amazing though, and I made to pick out enough loosely rolled oolong leaves as possible. The style of oolong looked to be a baozhong. Those are among my favorite types of oolong, so I was hopeful about this brew.
Wanting to allow the leaves to do some crazy expansion, I loading 5g of tea into my gravity steeper, and doused it with 190 degree water. To my surprise, I watched the seemingly small amount of tea leaf expand to fill over half of the gravity steeper. The leaves were large and entirely uncut. Huh. Happy to see the expansion of the leaf, I got excited to try the brew. Phew!
The steeped leaf is quite fleshing and light. Tasting the tea, I can easily recognize the bouquet of floral notes that the oolong lays out for me. Roses, peony, and lilies. They are complimented by the sweetness of the orange oil, which probably takes the cake for the topmost note in this tea. I am having a had time finding the jasmine flower essence in this tea. Perhaps the flowers are just a carrier for the orange flavoring. Either way, I am pretty happy with how this tea came out.
I tried this tea two ways, brewed hot, and cold brewed in a large jug. Both methods produce a silky mouthfeel and really great and strong oolong-y flavors and citrus. This is going to be a great summer tea to get me through the dog days of summer! That is, if it ever gets warm again, it’s been so cold and rainy in the Mile High City lately! I’m wearing gloves to type this review, my fingers are freezing. This tea makes me wistful for summer, one day it will come, right? Right??
Iron Buddha Oolong Tea from Oollo Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Oollo Tea
Tea Description:
A present from the loving Bodhisattva of Compassion. Tightly rolled, the full leaves unfurl to emit pleasant stone fruit and wild honey notes with a hint of roasted nuts.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As these last few days as a tea reviewer have been winding down, I’ve had the opportunity to try some really fabulous teas! This Iron Buddha Oolong Tea from Oollo Tea certainly belongs with that fabulous group. It’s absolutely lovely!
I brewed this in my new gaiwan which has gotten quite a workout this past week or so. My much utilized gaiwan broke so I needed to replace it and since I didn’t want to wait around for a new easy gaiwan to arrive, I decided to – for the meantime – use one of the smaller gaiwans that I happened to have on my tea shelf but have never used. I have to admit that the thin porcelain China does get very hot and it’s more difficult to pour so I’ll be glad when my new gaiwan arrives.
It takes three infusions to fill my little teacup (my old gaiwan filled it with two infusions), so this first cup is the combination of the first three infusions after a 15 second rinse.
The above description pretty much nails this tea – it’s sweet with notes of honey, nutty and toasty with a very pleasant peach-like flavor. It’s very smooth with a silky mouthfeel. Such a delicious drink – it disappeared almost instantly.
My second cup was even sweeter because the peach notes began to emerge. Still honeyed, nutty and toasty, these flavors merged with the peach notes to create a flavor medley that tasted a bit like a peach dessert.
With my third cup, I started to notice flavors waning so I decided to stop there – but I still got 9 amazing infusions out of this tea! Delicious!
Mi Lan Dan Cong Oolong from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Dan Cong is the champagne of oolong tea: ripe with intense fruit and sweetness. The first time people taste this tea they are astonished by the arresting honey and floral notes – all completely natural. The tender leaves are thoroughly fermented and baked to produce a rich liquor bursting with peach, lychee, honey and orchid flavours. Grown on a plantation on the lower slopes of Wu Dong Mountain, Chao Zhou, this high-grade Chinese tea can be enjoyed through multiple infusions.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I so adore this Mi Lan Dan Cong Oolong from Canton Tea Co.! It has a delightful honeyed flavor with notes of flower and lychee fruit.
The description above suggests notes of peach and yes, I definitely do taste peach but I also find myself tasting plum-y notes too. Like hints of sweet and sour from a ripe plum. I taste distinct floral notes – orchid! – and I love the way the orchid melds with the fruit notes and the sweet, honey taste.
The flavors all come together so smoothly – seamlessly. It’s sweet with the contrasting sour notes. It’s nicely round with very little astringency and no bitterness. Just very, very beautiful to sip.
Later infusions offered even smoother flavors – the sharpness of the Lychee notes have softened somewhat now and melded with the other fruit flavors, creating a sort of unique fruit taste that’s a little Lychee, a little peach and a little plum. I’m picking up on fewer sour notes now, just a hint here and there.
But the cup is still delightfully sweet and honey-esque.
I’d recommend this tea to any tea lover looking for an exceptional tea experience! This tea delivers!