New York City gears up for another great show this year—the 3rd Annual Coffee & Tea Festival. This international extravaganza is being held on Saturday and Sunday, April 12th and 13th, 2008 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18 Street, New York, NY. “The two day festival will be a celebration of everything related to coffee and tea,” said Lynda Calimano, Event Producer. “It is quite a unique show in that it is open to the public and the trade”, she added. The international lineup of exhibitors is sure to delight all that attend. The event will showcase local and national coffee and tea companies who will provide samples to attendees and will include two days of programming on various topics related to coffee and tea. Sweet treats will also be available to sample and to purchase.

In addition to being at tremendous exhibitor and sponsorship opportunity, and a delightful way for visitors to spend the day, the 3rd Annual Coffee & Tea Festival: NYC will help raise funds and awareness for Cup for Education, the official charity of the event. Cup for Education helps the poor and rural coffee communities of Central and Latin America build schools within their communities and provide the basic tools needed to educate the future generations of coffee farmers.

Goodie bags are being prepared for attendees and will be filled with samples to enjoy at home. For tickets and more information about the special programming, visit www.coffeeandteafestival.com.

TAFU NY
Founded over 150 years ago, TAFU Corporation is a premium Japanese tea specialty store headquartered in Osaka, Japan.

At their very first overseas flagship shop, TAFU New York, they offer a wide array of Japanese green teas of authentic flavor and quality that are reminiscent of those from simpler times.

TAFU has combined generations of tea cultivation experience and brewing expertise to produce green tea delicacies of unparalleled quality. We believe that there is an art to creating the perfect brew of traditional Japanese tea and we have transformed the art form into a science over the course of 150 years of our history. www.tafuny.com

Show Exclusive Offer:
TAFU’s tea master will freshly roast hojicha to order for you right at the TAFU booth!

TAFU’s original Hojicha Roaster called Houroku, unglazed and beautiful Shigaraki Yaki pottery, allows turning green tea into house-made Hojicha in a few minutes.

Exclusively sold at the Coffee and Tea Festival, this freshly roasted houjicha is regularly not available at their our retail shop. Enjoy freshly roasted aroma that will pleasantly permeate.

Embrace the advent of Spring with TAFU’s Sakura Tea Truffles
Cherry blossoms, or Sakura, have deep significance in Japanese culture and are a traditional motif in art, literature and cuisine. The ephemeral blossoms only last for about 2 weeks before fluttering to the ground, recalling the vibrancy and impermanence of life.

Celebrating the Sakura season, TAFU New York is introducing limited edition sweets. Sakura Tea Truffles will be available at the Coffee & Tea Festival while supplies last.

Tavalon Tea
Tavalon Tea is a New York City-based tea company specializing in premium loose-leaf teas. Founded by young entrepreneurial tea enthusiasts, Tavalon aims to make tea more accessible to consumers by departing from the traditional image of tea.

To keep the quality high, Tavalon Tea imports the finest teas from around the world. When blending, Tavalon uses only whole loose-leaf tea unlike tea found in typical tea bags, a bottom-of-the-barrel grade of tea called “dust.” Tavalon is a business based on a deep passion and appreciation for loose-leaf tea, and dedicated to becoming a leading tea purveyor through new innovations in both process and product.

Moreover, Tavalon provides ecommerce services through its official website (www.tavalon.com), selling a wide variety of tea and stylish tea accessories (tea pots, infusers, cups) to heighten and complement the loose-leaf tea drinking experience.

For more information about Tavalon and their products, visit their tea lounge at the Coffee and Tea Festival or go to www.tavalon.com.

Jalima Coffee
Jalima delivers exceptional high altitude 100% Arabica coffees from Chiapas and Veracruz, Mexico. Their coffee is hand picked, organically grown and roasted in a very delicate and artisanal fashion. Jalima Coffee is a very mission-driven company that has partnered with various organizations to help support important ecological and social projects, among them The El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve located in Chiapas, Mexico. This 300,000 acre reserve is considered the most pristine and diverse natural areas remaining in Mexico with varied and complex vegetation types including the two most threatened--the rain forest and the cloud forest. A portion of the sales price of Jalima Certified Organic Coffee, grown in the area surrounding the reserve, is donated to the El Triunfo Conservation Fund.

Jalima Coffee was selected by Rachel Ray as part of her holiday gift guide, 2006. Jalima Coffee and Marcela Zuchovicki were featured on the Food Network’s hit show Unwrapped in an episode titled Caffeinated.
Marcela Zuchovicki will host an international coffee cupping and tasting program on Sunday with coffee provided by Jalima Coffee and Gillies Coffee. (www.jalimacoffee.com www.gilliescoffee.com)

Show Charity:

Cup For Education
The Cup for Education mission is to help poor rural coffee communities of Central and Latin America build schools within their communities, and assist in providing them with teachers and the basic tools needed to educate the future generations of coffee farmers. Cup for Education: P.O. Box 320208, Brooklyn, NY 11232-0005. www.CupForEducation.org

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Biscottea
Biscottea is a unique range of delicious buttery shortbread baked with organic teas, designed especially for tea drinkers.

Baked with organic and all-natural ingredients, Biscottea combines the richness of a traditional Scottish shortbread recipe with the healthy attributes from the teas which are baked into each Biscottea square. Biscottea is available in a number of world tea styles, each representing a different tea pairing experience, including: Earl Grey with Organic Darjeeling Tea, Blueberry with Organic White Tea, Mint Tea with Organic Peppermint & Spearmint Leaves, Chai with Organic Chai Spices, and African HoneybushTea. www.biscottea.net

Cardew Design
The work of Paul Cardew, artist and founder of the company, was first shown in the USA in 1992 at the New York Gift Show and his designs had an instant appeal to the North American marketplace.

During the 90’s Paul Cardew designed for a number of famous brands under license- Portmeirion, Royal Doulton, Lilliput Lane, Harmony Kingdom—to name but a few. But his greatest claim was an association with The Walt Disney Company, with over one hundred designs perfected during a six year period, launching Paul on to the world’s stage. Roy Disney selected Paul Cardew as one of only a few artists worldwide to design special products for Disney’s Millennium reproduction of the Fantasia cartoon.

In 1999 Cardew Design North America Inc. was formed to expand and increase business primarily in the US and Canada. Since then, Paul’s designs have now sold in over 50 countries, delighting people all over the world.

Today Paul Cardew continues to create even more interesting designs appealing to the ever changing tastes of the discerning consumer. Cardew Design manufactures the world’s most unique ceramic accessories for both tea and coffee consumption. All items are designed in England by Paul Cardew. Please visit their new website, www.cardewdesign.com, to review their entire line.

Chilly’s Soap Shoppe
Delivering an excellent line of personal care products, Chilly’s Soap Shoppe offers something for everyone. The Primal Elements line is quite unique--handmade vegetable glycerin soaps that come in a variety designs, colors, and fragrances—including coffee and green tea. Among the many soaps Chilly’s Soap Shoppe offers, you’ll enjoy:

• Green Tea - A blend of green and chamomile tea. Actual green tea extracts in the soap add antioxidant properties.
• Cafe au Lait - Rich, creamy coffee aroma blended with real coffee grinds to remove cooking odors from the chef's hands.
• Raspberry Mocha - Relax with a "cup" of coffee in your tub. A hint of raspberry swirls through this mocha fragrance bar.
• Tea Flowers - A sophisticated blend of sparkling citrus and fresh tea flowers.

Vegetable glycerin is a humectant that moisturizes the skin—the soaps are made with only the highest quality ingredients for a rich feel and a luxurious lather that rinses cleanly away. All of the handmade vegetable glycerin soaps are as fragrant as they are beautiful and the designs and fragrances last throughout the soap bars. Chilly’s Soap Shoppe offers soap-by-the-inch, making it easy for everyone to sample new scents.
(www.stores.ebay.com/gmgiftgalleryandsoapshoppe)

Chassom
Chassom a tea based company, created by Diane Yamamoto Skowron, came from a marriage of her passions for culture, travel, art, healing, out reach to the world, and her life long love for tea. The company's mission is to explore and share the many ways and worlds of tea one cup at a time. The name, Chassom, is a word created by Diane. The word combines the Japanese word for tea, "cha", and part of the English word blossom, to bring forth a "tea blossom". Chassom firmly believes and promotes the health properties of tea for the body, mind, and spirit, while celebrating the elegance and beauty of tea, offers to design custom created ceremonies which allow people to celebrate their lives, as well as share with others the simple pleasures that tea brings to people's lives.

Chassom's storefront is expected to open by the summer of 2008 at 1005 E. Green Street, Pasadena, CA 91106. Monthly newsletter can be read at http://chassom.typepad.com/chassom

Guayaki Yerba Mate
The uplifting and nourishing choice of health-minded individuals, rainforest grown yerba mate boasts 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids and abundant antioxidants. Yerba mate is also known for its adaptogen-like qualities, which include reducing the effects of occasional stress.

Of the six commonly used stimulants in the world, yerba mate, coffee, tea, kola nut, cocoa and guarana, yerba mate, with naturally occurring caffeine, triumphs as the most balanced, delivering both energy and nutrition.

Guayakí’s market-driven-restoration business model directly links our customer’s purchases to our partner farming communities in the South American Atlantic Rainforests. Guayakí’s partners sustainably harvest organic yerba mate in the rainforest, generating a renewable income stream which enables these communities to improve their lives and restore their lands. Learn more at: www.guayaki.com

Harrisons & Crosfield
English tea merchants offering premium English teas in whole leaf pyramid silken sachets, tagged tea bags, organic teas in English-style round tea bags and iced teas, specially blended for clarity, in teabags and loose tea for retail and foodservice. www.harrisonsandcrosfield.com

Harshita Designs
Harshita Lohia, is a Textile Designer. She completed her BFA in Textile Design from Moore College of Art and Design and MS in Textile Design, Digital Printing from Philadelphia University.

She works with a wide variety of silks, georgette, chiffon, cotton etc. She uses surface design printing techniques and block prints and screen prints on fabrics with pigment and acid dyes. She makes high end, one-of-a kind clothing and sells to high-end boutiques in the country.
She participates in private trunk shows, alumnae shows, and group exhibitions with other artists. She is participating in a couple of shows this year with her new line of tea textiles. For more information, please visit her website at www.harshitadesigns.com

She makes high-end silk blouses, scarves, jackets, pillows, bedspreads, pashmina shawls and bags. For more information, please call (267) 235-4013

Mighty Leaf Tea
Mighty Leaf Tea’s whole leaf artisan blends seduce and entice the senses. Full tealeaves, spices, blossoms and chunks of fruit too big for ordinary tea bags fill our award-winning biodegradable Tea Pouches, stitched with unbleached cotton. Served at four and five star restaurants and hotels worldwide, Mighty Leaf teas are an invitation to retreat and indulgence. www.mightyleaf.com

Power Pops/Genesis Juice
A revolution in weight loss…eat candy & lose weight! Suppress your appetite and get a burst of energy with Power Pops. Developed by a master herbalist, Power Pops burn fat and taste great. Try the new coffee flavor. Power Pops are all natural and have been seen on Extra TV. (www.power-pops.com/moms)

GENESIS—a delicious blend of whole fruit red grape and pomegranate extracts in apple and aloe vera juice infused with a proprietary blend of powerful healing herbs. It is a miraculous, restorative drink that must be tried to be believed. (www.symmetrygenesis.com)

Real Coffee Corp.
Real Coffee Corp. is a "Micro-Roaster” of fine fresh roasted coffees.

They roast to order to ensure freshness! The beans are packaged while they are still warm & sealed twice to guarantee great quality. Only top grade specialty coffees are used and then carefully roasted in small batches. The blends are hand crafted and represent some of the finest coffees available on the market today. Life is too short to drink ordinary coffee–so, isn't it time to get Real! www.realcoffeecorp.com

Rossi
Fine social stationery (produced with 100% cotton paper) different types of greeting cards, gift-tags, art reproduction cards, journals, address books, photo albums, decorated and perfumed papers are at the heart of Rossi’s production. Available to you via APB Importers. 914-320-0382.

Special discounts through this festival on any orders. Code: Cafe08.

Sympatea
Sympatea USA is the North American distributor of Sympatea™ SpoonTea™. Based in New Jersey and established in 2004, Sympatea focuses on marketing their exclusive and revolutionary SpoonTea product as well as other unique high quality gourmet food products.

With Sympatea SpoonTea squeezing the tea bag is over, you can finally put an end to those dripping messy tea bags, and best of all you don’t need a spoon to stir your tea! It’s Simply Practical. Customers love the taste, the look, and the convenience of Sympatea SpoonTea. Other great features of SpoonTea include a shelf life of 3 years from date of manufacturing; individually wrapped SpoonTea will protect the tea from moisture and accidental spills compared with a teabag paper wrapper. SpoonTea can be used in restaurants, hotels, catering, schools, corporate cafeteria’s, country clubs, airlines, cruise lines, hospitals, senior care, bed & breakfast, supermarkets, gourmet café’s, tea houses, deli’s, casinos, food distributors, camps, and so much more.

Sympatea SpoonTea is a practical and easy to use product, brought to you in 24 and 50 piece packages offered in 5 different flavors; Black tea, Green tea, Earl Grey tea, Rosehip tea, and Mixed Herbal tea. Sympatea Tea Spoons will be presented at this years Coffee and Tea festival by TeaSPOONusa.com. TeaSPOONusa.com is owned by Lumen Distribution. www.sympatea.com

Tay Tea
Founded by tea connoisseur Nini Ordoubadi in 2003, TAY is a New York-based company specializing in exclusive hand-blended artisanal teas. All ingredients are 100% natural and wild-crafted. TAY’s signature teas enhance any lifestyle and invite one to embark on the timeless ritual of drinking tea.

Nini's skills as a tea blender are natural and learned at a young age from a great grandmother who specialized in creating exquisite tea blends for her family. As an avid entertainer and a gourmet cook with a sophisticated pallet, Nini's winning blends (with unforgettable names like “Better Than Sex”) are an extension of her personality and style.

In her talk Tea Blending: An Elusive Art, Nini will share with you not only the vital how to’s of tea blending but the more nuanced, and subtle meanderings that this ancient art form takes. The talk will take on Saturday at 3PM. www.taytea.com

Theresa Kasun, Artist
Theresa Kasun was awarded a Masters Degree from the New York Academy of Art, and received her Bachelors degree from the Kansas City Art Institute. Kasun, who creates rich still life paintings in an old world style, has a proven track record with some of the strongest gift items in the market. Her images are fresh yet familiar, with appeal for both traditional and contemporary products. Theresa's portfolio includes a range of food and wine related images.

Theresa's designs have consistently ranked among the top performers with several manufacturers, including tempered glass counter protectors for CounterArt and oven mitts, kitchen towels and floor mats for KayDee Designs. These products are currently available at several retail outlets including Bed, Bath & Beyond and Linens & Things. www.theresakasun.com

GOODIE BAG SPONSOR: TAVALON TEA

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