Vendors are a huge part of the Toronto Tea Festival, so I wanted to make sure I properly acknowledge some of my favourites that I checked out this year. Similar to last year, I’m highlighting 9 with my unofficial Toronto Tea Festival Awards. From best tea display to best new vendor, these awards and winners were created and selected by myself based on my experiences from the weekend. Of course, there were many more awesome vendors at the festival and I encourage you to check out the full list here.
And the winners are…. *drum roll*
The Cup of Life’s 2019 Toronto Tea Festival Awards
*Don’t forget to check out my recap and thoughts of the 2019 Toronto Tea Festival.
Best Tea Display – Zhen Tea
Leave it to Zhen Tea to set the bar high for booth decor, yet again. They were back at their usual spot this year and had all of their teas displayed in glass jars again. I like that they always made it visible what tea they were sampling when you walked by with their “now brewing” sign. What really caught my attention was the area where they were preparing and serving the tea. The serving station was decorated with pebbles, air plants and other greenery. They even had the teapets they sold fit the scene perfectly. To top it all off, string of fairy lights were added for an extra touch. They served attendee’s tasting cups on wood coasters they made with their logo on it. An outstanding booth display isn’t overcompensating for their tea quality either. Zhen Tea has it all!
Best Chai – Trudy Ann’s Chai & Spices
There were quite a few chai vendors at this year’s festival. I made a point to visit each one so I could try their masala chai. They were all great, but Trudy Ann’s Chai won me over because it was the spiciest of them all. They have a variety of chai, but their more traditional one was the one for me. It consists of organic Assam tea, organic cinnamon, organic cardamom, organic cloves, organic ginger, and organic pepper.
Most Innovative Product – JusTea’s Purple Leaf Tea
JusTea focuses on Kenyan teas and at the tea festival they had a self serving purple leaf tea bar set up. I’m a fan of purple leaf tea and have tried it a few times before trying what JusTea offers. Their purple tea blends featured chocolate, jasmine, mint and tropical fruit flavours. JusTea’s purple leaf teas are hand-picked by small-scale farmers. My personal favourite was the Purple Mint. I also have to mention that the service at the booth was wonderful. Every time I popped by, they were eager to get my sample cup full, speak about their teas, and assist with any questions.
Best Tea Treats – The Shortbread Company
I have to start by saying I’m not usually a shortbread fan. The Shortbread Company featured two different flavours that weekend – lime and lemon. I can’t pick a favourite from the two, they were both incredible, and the perfect item to pair with a warm cup of tea. What I love about these cookies, besides being melt in your mouth delicious, was that they had a dollop of icing on each cookie which provided an extra punch of flavour. Their cookies got me thinking that I should give shortbread more of a chance.
Best Herbal Tea (Tisane) – NaturalBliss Infusion
These glasses filled with fruit caught my attention from afar. NaturalBliss’ products are herbal infusions with edible tropical fruit. Each teabag filled with herbs comes with a packet of mixed dried fruit to add to your glass when steeping the herbal tea. Some fruits you might find are golden berry, mango, papaya, kiwi, pineapple, apple, and strawberry. The idea is to drink the herb and fruit infusion and also eat the fruit. It contributes to your daily recommended fruit servings.
Best Tea Personality – Momo Tea
This booth is usually the first one I head to as it’s right at the entrance which is perfect because Momo (the founder) and her wonderful smile is so welcoming! She’s always so excited to see every attendee that comes to her booth and eagerly offers them a variety of tea samples at once. Momo Tea is an online based tea shop specializing in Japanese teas. One of my favourite steeps from her is the Momo Sencha (she has some lovely matcha as well!).
Best Teaware – Secret Teatime
Secret Teatime’s collection is entirely handmade. This means each piece is unique, in addition to being absolutely stunning. There always seems to be a crowd around their booth, and with good reason. If I didn’t already have too many chawans (matcha bowls), I probably would have got another from them. If you love their teaware, you can also take a class from them to learn how to make your own!
Best New Vendor – Denong Tea
All the way from California came Denong Tea, a tea company with 20 years in the puerh tea trade. I got some tea samples to take home, that I have yet to try, but was really impressed with the samples I did try at the festival. I enjoyed that during the weekend they even did comparison tastings at their booth. In addition to sharing their premium teas, Jeffrey McIntosh of Denong Tea gave a presentation during the weekend about the journey into puerh tea. They were also the festival’s Diamond Sponsor.
The More Than Just Tea Award – Tea with Tracie
Tea with Tracie was sampling some of their delightful blends, but what caught my attention initially was the fun tea products they had for sale, too. If you’ve been following my blog for a while now then you know I love tea themed items of any kind. Tea with Tracie was selling “tea please” teacup pins and, my favourite, “if you can read this, please bring me tea” socks. I think they sold out rather quickly, too. Products like these are the perfect addition to the festival!
I hope you enjoyed my Toronto Tea Festival Awards! A shout out to every single one of the vendors from the festival. Every vendor there was so passionate about tea. Thank you for sharing your love for the beverage with me and all the other attendees that weekend. I hope you all (and more!) return next year.
If you attended the 2019 Toronto Tea Festival, let me know about some of your favourite vendors in the comments below!