It’s that time of year again! Welcome to my unofficial Toronto Tea Festival awards. This is where I recognize some of my favourite vendors from this year’s festival. From best chai to most innovative product, 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 2020 Toronto Tea Festival Awards
*Don’t forget to check out my recap and thoughts for the 2020 Toronto Tea Festival.
Best Tea Display – Soocha Tea
New to the festival this year, Soocha Tea did not disappoint. Her table was dressed with gorgeous tea ware that was priced so well and also some handmade items she’s been crafting lately (ie. coasters). I really appreciate that she not only displayed her teas for sale, but also the spent leaves after steeping for samples. I love taking a closer look at the wet leaves that have opened up. Her Korean tea collection is so special. Attendees would arrive at her booth, set their tasting cup on one of the wood coasters and wait for her to pour some tea. Overall, such an elegant display of tea at this booth!
Best Chai – The Chai Brewing Company
I can never get enough masala chai so I am always excited to see many chai varieties at the festival. There were a handful of different chai related companies this year and my favourite masala chai came from The Chai Brewing Company. They had a few different blends, but their Cutting Chai was the absolute best. They created this one to be similar to an authentic cup of masala chai you would get on the streets of India. It features black tea, ginger, cardamom, fennel, black pepper, lemongrass and rose petals.
Most Innovative Product – Tea Horse’s Wild Rice Tea
A tea that really stood out that weekend was Tea Horse’s Manoomin Cha. It was a unique take on a Japanese green tea – genmaicha. They blended roasted wild rice with green tea and it was incredibly smooth, toasty and just overall a comforting cup of tea. They also have a dark roast which is made with Hojicha. If you would rather a caffeine-free sip, you have the option of just getting roasted wild rice to steep as tisane! Here is some information from their website about the wild rice they use for their teas:
Our authentic, traditionally harvested wild rice, is direct-sourced from Indigenous harvesters from the pristine lakes of Northwestern Ontario and is processed using minimal technology to ensure quality, nutrition, and flavour. Purchasing non-cultivated, natural wild rice supports Indigenous harvesters, preserves Indigenous food sovereignty and the eco-system in which it grows.
Honorary mention: Millennia Tea’s Fresh Leaf Tea
I have connected with Millennia Tea online over the last couple of years and even tried their products before. It was so nice to finally meet Tracy, who is just as sweet in person. They introduced their newest product, Tea Cubes, to festival attendees along with their original flash-frozen tea leaves. Check out their products here.
Best Tea Treats – Daifuku Mochi from Hokusan + Sasaki Fine Pastry
Hokusan was a new vendor this year. They are actually a wholesaler for Japanese teas. Therefore, they had matcha, genmaicha, sencha and more. They also had a section at their booth where they were selling daifuku mochi (made by Sasaki Fine Pastry). You had the option of getting mango, hojicha or matcha mochi. I picked up a mango mochi and a hojicha mochi. They were delightful!
Best Herbal Tea (Tisane) – Health from Transylvanian
Another new vendor this year, Health from Transylvanian focused on a lot of herbal blends. Some were quite unique and included ingredients like basil, marjoram, quince, etc. It’s not often I see these ingredients used for a delicious tea or tisane, so I loved getting to taste the combinations through samples at their booth. They also had some delicious homemade fruit jams to taste!
Best Tea Personality – Nadia & Celia from DAVIDsTEA
Nadia De La Vega and Celia Aceae were representing DAVIDsTEA at this year’s festival. Nadia is the Tea Content & Compliance Manager at DAVIDsTEA and Celia is the Tea Research & Development Specialist. In addition to speaking on Sunday about what it takes to source/develop teas from DAVIDsTEA’s collection, they made their vendor space more interactive. Several times throughout the weekend they hosted tea tastings at their booth with flights of their traditional line. Nadia and Celia did an awesome job at educating attendees more on their pure teas and encouraging them to share their tasting notes as they went through the samples. I really enjoyed this experience as it was more in-depth than just grabbing a sample and carrying on to the next vendor. I hope we can see them back again next year with the same concept!
Best Teaware – Zhen Tea
I always admire (and try my best not to buy too much) teaware from Zhen Tea’s booth. My first ever tea pet came from them and over the years I have purchased some other tea table accessories from them, too. From something as little as tea coasters to yixing teapots, Zhen Tea is a great place to go when you want to dress up your tea table. They present everything beautifully at the festival!
Best New Vendor – Hojicha Co.
I was excited to see Hojicha Co. on the vendor list. I was fully prepared to restock on my hojicha powder, too. Francois and Danielle were very welcoming and even made hojicha shortbread cookies for attendees to snack on while sampling some of their great roasted green teas.
Best Tea Themed Products – Dessert by Deb
In addition to creating organic dessert inspired tea blends, Deb also makes tea themed products like notebooks, bookmarks, tea towels, cards, etc. Her fun set up was decorated with a bunch of these products. I took home one of her notebooks. I was also eyeing this tea and scone notecard! Be sure to check out her website for more awesome tea gifts. I’m sure she will keep creating new things, too!
Honorary mention: Tea with Tracie
When you want to find unique tea gifts, you can always count on Tea with Tracie! The tea socks I picked up at her booth last year were such a hit. Fortunately, she brought them back this year with even more. I picked up a magnetic tea bookmark this time around. Someone gifted her one and she loved it so much she had to find them and share them with her customers!
I hope you enjoyed my Toronto Tea Festival Awards! A shout out to every single one of the vendors from the festival. Thank you to every vendor at the festival this year. I ran in to so many kind, passionate individuals who were eager to fill my sample cup and chat about their tea. See you next year!
View past winners here:
2018 Toronto Tea Festival Awards
2019 Toronto Tea Festival Awards
If you attended the 2020 Toronto Tea Festival, let me know about some of your favourite vendors in the comments below!