World Tea Media

After our talk thread excitement about the 2012 World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, I contacted World Tea Media to see if I could attend the conference for free as a student. The staff graciously said of course and even offered volunteer opportunities, which would have been great had I not been in and out of town so much.
I had returned from Japan 4 days before the exhibition began on June 1^st. I eagerly entered the Convention Center and got in the registration line with my form to get my student badge. It was so neat hearing people in line chat about what they do. I got my badge and felt very special, tapping it to enter the exhibition hall. I found out that my badge carried my contact information so I could tap it at different booths to get signed up for information at specific vendors. Awesome!
As one of the few non-​vendors/​distributors/​retailers at the conference, I made sure to tell exhibitors I was a student so I did not take up their time if they were trying to gain new business connections. That stopped no one; everyone I spoke with was awesome. I made sure to stop by several Japanese vendors, mostly from the Shizuoka Prefecture, and discuss my recent travels and tea experiences.
I did target my favorite vendors though. I kicked it off with Rishi Tea, learning that they have packets of matcha and powdered genmaicha! Rishi told me its full line is on
and is typically cheaper than on their web site. I also made sure to stop by Octavia Tea. I first learned about them in Nebraska and have bought their Vanilla Coconut tea off
. The reps let me smell whatever and sample teas, then gave me a 20% off coupon for a future web site purchase!
I also had a blast at the Harney & Sons exhibit. One rep in particular was a real character. I sampled cold teas and limited edition teas for the Diamond Jubilee and one called Love Life. The reps introduced me to their Japanese tea distributor who had just flown in.
My favorite and most exciting stop was at ito en, Platinum sponsor. I shared my ito en love with the rep, showing her a picture of me in front of ito en vending machines in Kyoto. She let me sample new blends that introduce people to tea, including a peach-​tea cold drink. I did not realize ito en sold loose leaf teas or matcha. She gave me a 20% off coupon too!
Two other purveyors caught my eye. I visited the Art of Tea and sniffed my way into happiness with the green pear. The Teas Etc. exhibit was really cool — tons of teas to smell but the 2 teas I liked happened to be their samples of the day: coconut almond green and meyer lemon black. They also gave me a tea travel mug that has a mesh insert for leaves, which usually comes in gift packages and can be custom labeled. I felt pretty special!
In the end, I went home floored after 3 hours of tea sniffing, sampling, and schmoozing and took all of the free tea-​related publications provided by the Expo. I immediately went online and purchased a crazy amount of tea. I highly recommend the coconut almond green (smells and tastes like amaretto) from Teas Etc. available at
. I also got Art of Tea’s green pear, ito en’s yuzu sencha and matcha tins, and Harney & Sons Love Life (green with strawberry, vanilla, coconut, and puffed rice). My tea cabinet has now overflowed into the pantry and I may be addicted. What an awesome event!