With food blogger, Bonnie of Chrysanthemum
Day 2 of the Fancy Food Show 2010 in San Francisco was on Tuesday for me. It was raining way too hard on Monday. This time, I attended the show with fellow food blogger, Bonnie of Chrysanthemum, and we had a blast. And this is the 2nd of 4 posts on the Fancy Food Show 2010.
Republic of Tea Unsweet Tea
One of my favorite tea booths is the Republic of Tea. Not only do they always have a wide assortment of teas to sample, but you have a choice of sampling the tea hot or cold. Their newest line is the Hibiscus Superflower Tea, harvested from South Africa.
Republic of Tea Hibiscus Tea
The Republic of Tea hibiscus tea is not only sweet, rich and bold in flavor but is also rich in Vitamin C and minerals. It’s perfect hot or iced cold. Flavors include Blueberry Hibiscus, Vanilla Apple Hibiscus, Key Lime Hibiscus, and Pineapple Lychee Hisbiscus (my favorite).
Republic of Tea White Teas and Be Well Teas
The Republic of Tea also has a wonder line of delicately flavored white teas (try the persimmon white tea) and a line of Be Well red teas. The Be Well teas are made with rooibos tea, which is high in antioxidants and caffeine-free. Get Gorgeous
Honest Tea Kombucha
My favorite brand of iced tea is Honest Tea. Their tag line is “just a tad sweet”, which it honestly is. I love things that are not too sweet these days since I can’t handle too much sugar.
Honest Tea specializes in lightly sweetened, organic teas that are high in antioxidants. Some of my favorite flavors are Pomegranate Red Tea with Goji Berry and Mango Acai White Tea.
Honest Tea has expanded into carrying healthy kombucha teas. I first reviewed Synergy kombucha tea in March 2007. Kombucha tea is made from fermenting the kombucha mushroom. It has many health benefits including supporting the immune system, improving digestion, and detoxifying the liver. Honest Tea’s kombucha tea is flavored after the fermenting process and has less of a vinegar flavor than other brands.
Zhena’s Gypsy Tea
Zhena’s Gypsy Tea was the first booth we visited in the Natural and Organic aisle. I met Zhena at the Fancy Food Show 2009. This year she was noticeably missing from her booth. It turns out she’s having a baby. So congrats to Zhena! New tea flavors I noticed – Black Forestberry Green Tea, Kiwi Peach Green Tea, and Tropical Garden Green Tea.
Omniherb Tea Class
Surprisingly, Omniherb Tea Class from Korea was my favorite tea at the show. Their light herb tea made of tangerine peel, Danggui herb, and cinnamon, tasted like a snickerdoodle cookie! One of the main ingredients, Danggui, is traditionally used in Chinese medicine to regulate a woman’s monthly cycle. I make Danggui soup every month and can attest that it works in preventing menstrual cramps for those who have cold hands and feet.
Unfortunately, this tea is not yet available in the US because they have to pass the FDA. They did give me a box to take home, but they gave me the wrong flavor! It’s rather confusing actually. The pink box pictured above left is the one that tastes more like tangerine. The orange box, picture above right, is the one that tastes more like cinnamon. I would think pink means cinnamon and orange means tangerine.
Silence Tea
Silence Tea is an all natural iced tea that promotes relaxation, inspired by Chakra philosophy. To prove it, there was a person performing yoga poses at the booth. But the person left the booth before I could take a picture. So you’ll have to use your imagination.
I tasted this lightly flavored tea. 10 minutes later while walking around the food show, I felt totally relaxed and slightly dulled out. I literally wanted to go to sleep. This tea definitely works… maybe a little too well.
Arette Organic Tea Oil
Cooking oil made from tea? Yes, you read that right. We all know the benefits of tea. It promotes cardiovascular health, boost the immune system, and maintains healthy cholesterol levels. This tea oil is cold pressed from the seeds of the Camellia Oleifera, a cousin of the tea plant, Camellia Sinesis. The Arette tea oil is light and sweet in flavor.
See my review of previous year’s teas at the Fancy Food Show 2009 and Fancy Food Show 2007.
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hey Fanny, lvoe reading your blogs!! will have to work on blogging so that I can go the fancy food show too:) Wh ere do you buy all these fancy teas??
Hi Kim,
You can buy teas from Whole Foods, Mollie Stones, or any natural food store. I’ve had good luck trying teas. Most of them have been really good. I’ll write more in the future about teas, which brands are good and what flavors. Also, the Asian grocery stores have some pretty good teas (lychee, rose, chrysanthemum, green, and puerh) that are a lot cheaper. Just pick one that interests you.
I love Republic of Tea and Hones-T. I didn’t know Hones-T made kombucha though, cool! Sounds like a fun time.