Steeping Through the Windy City: Chicago Tea Festival 2026 Recap
- Neldon Hamblin
- 5 minutes ago
- 13 min read
Hey friends! Recently, I had the wonderful privilege to attend the wonderful Chicago Tea Festival as a speaker. Last year was my first time at the fest, and honestly, I had an absolute blast exploring, so when I was invited back as a speaker, I immediately said yes.
Friends, I’m not kidding here when I say that this year’s Chicago Tea Festival may well have been the best tea festival I have ever gone to in the US. The organization was absolutely incredible- thank you to all of the amazing volunteers that helped this run smoothly and the hard efforts of the Chicago Tea Festival board for spending countless hours behind the scenes to make sure that this year’s fest was the best it could be. As a caveat, I did not get pictures of every booth, as there were 32 different vendors with their own teas, though I did make it a point to mention as many as I could here without making the recap too bulky.
So, without further ado, let’s get into this year’s festival!
Day 1: Festival Frenzy
I arrived at the Copernicus Center at around 10:15am, or just after the Tea Festival started with general admission. Even 15 minutes in, I could tell that this would be the biggest year for the event yet- there were so many eager tea fans waiting to get their tea-on. I got my commemorative tasting cup and tote bag and began to make my rounds through the festival- my presentation wasn’t until 1:30PM, so I had a good bit of time to explore. I met with Choke, an absolutely amazing tea person and the founder of Arté Tea, as well as Anthony (@anthony.absintheur on instagram), both of whom offered to be assistants in my presentation. Special thanks to Jeff (@itsalwaysteaoclock on instagram) for bringing all of the gorgeous teaware for my session- more on that soon.
The first booth I visited was, of course, YangQingHao and Emmett. Emmett had let me know beforehand that he had sourced some heicha for me, knowing that my presentation was on Chinese heicha. When I got to his booth, he brought out this gorgeous looking brick of Tibetan/Western Sichuanese zangcha (bamboo-woven dark brick) tea from 2014. Not only is it incredibly gorgeous in packaging, but the flavors of this tea are wonderful- perfect for after a heavy meal or as a pick-me-up after tasting dozens of teas in a day. He let me borrow the brick in bamboo packaging for display during my presentation, which was awesome. I sampled some of their aged shengs, then made my way into the main hall of tea booths. I made a few purchases of his stuff, including his 2004 Jinhao Chawang, some XiZhiHao samples, and two gorgeous “double happiness” teacups. After him, I meandered to the wagashi booth, which had some lovely mochi and wagashi to enjoy.
Starting out in the main section, Steep N’ Clay Teas. Tom always has such a beautiful setup for his wares- his tea scoops are stunning and he has a nice selection of premium teas. I sampled some maofeng and their biluochun black, which was deliciously chocolatey and malty. He also has an incredible tianjian heicha ball that has a lovely smokiness to it. After making the rounds at Sugimoto tea and chatting with Julia and Kyohei, I then hit up Annie of Volition Teas. Her MaTouYan oolong was incredible- fired to a slightly lower degree than most horse head rock material, hers had a lovely balance of florals and the classic zhengyan characteristics. I then went to Tea For All’s booth, one of my favorite vendors from New Jersey. Deborah and Michael are both such amazing people and they always find the most interesting and unique teas. Last year, I bought a big bag of their Doke First Flush black tea- this year, I walked away with a big bag of Japanese heicha! They knew I was presenting on heicha, too, and made sure to find me a bag- it’s similar in profile to the nadeshiko rose I reviewed years ago, but also completely different. They use koji for the fermentation! It had a lovely, chocolatey depth to it. They had some gorgeous tea sets, teapots, and nice-priced sheng tuocha from Xiaguan. Their variety at the fest always impresses me.
I then made my rounds to Roots and Rituals, a Korean tea vendor based in the US. I had seen they would be here and I messaged them beforehand- they are one of only 3 vendors I have EVER seen carry Cheung Tae Jeong (chong tae jeong/ddeokcha), a rare heicha-like tea from Korea. So, needless to say, I bought a bag…or two… of their delicious coins. They had been steeping that tea for 2 hours in their thermoses before the show, meaning that the coins had been brewing for about 4hrs by the time I tasted it. It was incredible- like a rich, warm graham cracker with notes of barley, sugarcane, and toasted nuts. Their booth was delicious and I definitely made sure to send people their way to taste that cheong tae jeon. Next up was Herbs and Kettles, where I stopped by to say hi to Poorvi and Abe. After them, I made my way to the Chicago Tea House booth, which always has such a fun display of different teas. From matcha to mate and more, they had everything related to the world of tea- herbals/flavored blends, pure-leaf teas, and gorgeous teaware, they truly do a great job with their show booths. I then stopped by Harney and Sons to say hello to Mike, a good friend of mine, and snag a pic. Their blends are actually ones I constantly have on hand- some of my favorites being their Hot Cinnamon Sunset and Paris (vanilla and caramel black with notes of lemony bergamot). Mike Harney is such a great guy and it’s always a pleasure sitting and chatting with him- I’ve known him since my first World Tea Expo and I always have to stop and chat with him! Nepal Tea Collective was another favorite booth- as was Cultivate Taste, who had a wildly impressive selection of tea available, from goishicha to 3 different heicha! I also admittedly loved Katharine Anne Confectioner’s drinking chocolate- such a tasty, decadent treat!
Choke and I then made our way to the front of the fest to meet Anthony and explore a bit more before my class. Tao TeaWare was there, and Dart is genuinely one of the coolest people out there. His teaware is all gorgeous and I had to walk away with a thin yet beautifully lacquered cup. After exploring the delicious Polish pastries from Delightful Pastries, we made our way to the second floor for my class.
Presentation Time: Bricks, Baskets, and Bings
Thanks to Jeff, my teaware was already up there and ready for me, just packed away in a suitcase. Choke and Anthony helped me unpack and set up and I got connected to the TV for my slideshow. My class had sold out a month-and-a-half in advance, which was absolutely mind-boggling to me, and even during my presentation, there were people lining up outside the door asking how much it would cost to get into my session or trying to listen in. According to one volunteer, there were even individuals holding their ears to the door trying to hear me through it! Now, out of respect for attendees, I did not film nor livestream my presentation as they had spent an extra amount to attend my class on top of festival admission, so there is no recording of my presentation available. However, I will provide my handy heicha flavorwheel and showcase the questionnaire attendees were able to take home as part of your experience, though in a separate post.
During the session, we learned about the wonderful history of heicha and tasted 4 different teas, each serving as examples of some of the most common forms of heicha- brick production, basket production, and cake production, starting with a 2020 fuzhuan heicha from Shaanxi, sold by Oriental Leaf (Ji Yu Dao), a 2012 TeZhi huazhuan heicha from Anhua, 1990 An Cha from Qimen, and finally a 2015 shou puerh from Bulang, available from Brew and Blossom teas.
I was blown away by the reception of these teas- Americans are starting to wake up to the delicious flavors and benefits of heicha, which makes my heicha-heart happy. The audience was amazing and asked such great, in-depth questions, and I was truly grateful to have Camiyah helping pour the tea with Anthony and Choke- without those three, the session would not have been nearly as successful as it was. People loved the deeper, fruity and honey-forward flavors of the fu cha and the smokier notes of the huazhuan, which was produced over a traditional qixing zao. Seeing shocked faces as they sipped their cups made everything so amazing and I’m glad that I was able to introduce many to this fun, funky category of teas. I especially loved hearing them comparing their tasting notes to their neighbors and chatting with the other tables about the teas- it truly was an amazing experience. I even heard from several vendors afterwards that they were getting several people coming to their booths asking for heicha, like with Steep N Clay, asking for fuzhuan heicha and other bricks. That alone made me happy- I also know for a fact that Emmett sold his Tibetan tea brick immediately after I brought it back down to him- someone from my class wanted it that badly!
After my class, we went back downstairs to explore the booths a bit more, then waited for the vendor afterparty, which I had kindly been invited to attend by Agnieszka. The afterparty was a wonderful experience and really allowed me to connect more with the vendors and other speakers- being able to chat with them without the hustle-and-bustle of the showfloor really made for some great connections and a fun night.
The Afterfest:
After the party, we decided to do our traditional Chicago deep-dish dinner. Jeff, Julia, Kyohei Sugimoto, Anthony, Jake, Choke, the Roots and Rituals team (Tsering, Jessica, and Sayori) and I all met at Spuntino’s Pizza, a small hole-in-the-wall joint near O’Hare that has the best stuffed pizza in all of Chicago. We discovered them by accident last year and honestly? For their pricing, they are genuinely the best pizza place out there. We enjoyed a SMOG on thin crust for a group appetizer and the stuffed pepperoni pizza. I enjoyed my RC cola, and very graciously Sugimoto paid for the meal. It was an incredible night of friends, fun, and laughter, and one I’m very grateful for.
Jeff and I then made our way to his hotel room before it was time for me to make my way back into the city for my hotel. We continued our annual Midnight Tea Party and drank through some absolutely killer burma-borderlands puerh from Tao Of Tea- that stuff had some of the strongest hitting qi I have ever experienced. Shown above is a before and after photo of me drinking the tea- it legitimately hit both Jeff and I hard. Funnily enough, he was saying he never really noticed qi in tea as I was saying I had started to feel the qi behind my eyes- lo and behold, 2 cups later, Jeff and I were both laughing and relaxed as can be. At one point, we were both kind of sitting there, staring at each other, sipping the tea, debating whether to make a different tea or not, and just…spacing out while drinking tea. It was an incredible experience.
And now for the obligatory haul photo: I managed to get 2 bags of the Cheong Tae Jeon (which had fully sold out in a few hours at their booth- one of which is a birthday present to the amazing Andrea @booksbitesnbevvies), 2 antique/antique-style double happiness teacups from Emmett, a bag of 2004 Jinhao Chawang, a bag of their 2015 Tibetan heicha, a bag of citrus red oolong, a 2021 XZH ripe, a XZH ripe puerh macaron, a gorgeous thin-walled cup from TaoTeaware, Japanese heicha from Tea for All, and some unique yellow tea from Herbs and Kettles to split with the wonderful Kevin (@greenteaandgoodvibes). I also treated myself to a bottle of Shede baijiu- I love the taste of a nice Sichuanese strong aroma baijiu (濃香, nóngxiāng) and unfortunately due to Utah’s lovely liquor laws, I can’t find it anywhere. Shede and Kweichou Moutai happen to be my two favorite brands, so, seeing a commemorative Shede Year of the Horse bottle for a decent price, I had to snag it up!
Day 2: The End of the Fest and Exploring the City
I started the second day with a late-start to the festival, getting there at about 1PM (hey, after a late night with friends, I needed that beauty sleep), immediately greeted by the sounds of the Japanese taiko drumming performance, which was incredible. I then made my way to PurCraft Tea to try their teas. They had a lovely smokey liubao that was quite interesting, produced by the Blang ethnic minority. I then made it to JingSi tea, tasting their wonderful black teas- some of the nicest bagged black teas I have ever experienced. They had a lavender ruby 18, a rose black tea, and a standard Taiwanese hongcha- all of which were wonderful in quality and flavor. Kiara Naturals was next- I particularly enjoyed their Windy City chai blend and their BlueMoon magic, made with butterfly pea flowers for a stunning bluish-green color.
After saying any final goodbyes or making final purchases, we ventured into the city, with Anthony being our amazing guide and chauffeur. We made our way to Living Water Teahouse, a quaint spot in Little Italy with delicious teas. I got the shou puerh gelato affogato and a DaHongPao milk tea, which were delicious. The shou gelato was decent, though the shou flavor didn’t really shine through as much- the “affogato” portion of it is where the tea flavor really came through, with brewed shou poured over the gelato. They ran out of paper cups, too, so they served it to me in a cute gaiwan- something I was not opposed to. I especially loved the milk tea and how much it tasted like a nice, high-roast DaHongPao without being lost in the milk and sweetener- it was lovely. They had a cool robotic arm that made matcha, too, to save their employee’s arms from constantly stirring matcha bowls. Choke also got a milk tea and a taro pastry and Anthony ordered the self-service gongfucha with a loquat flower and white tea (枇杷花白茶) disc for the tea. After finishing our tasty treats, we decided some food was in order. So, we ventured on to Chinatown for some dim sum at MingHin Cuisine.
My god, the dim sum was incredible. We ordered the 蝦餃 (har gow, shrimp dumplings), (韭菜虾饺) shrimp dumplings with green chive, 蘿蔔糕 (pan-fried turnip cake), 叉燒包 (BBQ pork bun), 鸡包仔 (scallop and chicken bun), 流沙包 (salted egg yolk paste bun), and of course, being the massive fan of duck I am, I had to get the (北京烤鸭) Peking duck. I opted for the skin and meat to be served separately (they fry the meat up like a stir-fry with cucumber and other veggies), which was divine. They also serve their duck with 割包 (gua bao/lotus leaf buns) and duck sauce, making for a deliciously crispy, juicy “duck taco” of sorts.
After filling our bellies with delicious dim sum, we had to stop by the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge on Broadway- a world-class Jazz lounge renowned for their live music, historic atmosphere, and connection to Al Capone’s Chicago Outfit and mafia history. It’s a cash-only bar and the cover that night was only $10. It had started to rain while we were exploring Chinatown and the rain had continued- so this meant the perfect atmospheric night for relaxing with a drink and live jazz music from incredibly talented musicians. The act performing that night was Soul Message- a trio of drums, organ, and sax- and my goodness, they were amazing. I’m a jazz trombonist and love Chicago jazz history, so seeing it in person at such a historic, small venue with Choke and Anthony was just spectacular. It very much felt like a genuine speakeasy and the rainy atmosphere was perfect for jazz and friends. It was the greatest way to end the night and honestly the perfect way to wrap up what was one of the best weekends of my life.
Ultimate Thoughts:
Honestly, the Chicago Tea Festival is poised to become the largest tea festival in the United States, and it certainly shows. Attendance this year was massive- last year, it was around 1,200 attendees. This year, it was definitely more- I’m not sure how much more, but it was noticeably busier. I heard from multiple vendors that they had sold out of their inventory entirely on Saturday or were expected to sell out by noon on Sunday- which they did achieve- meaning that for many a vendor, they did double their entire sales at last year’s festival in just one day. Even teas that are higher-end and commanding higher prices quickly sold out- Emmett sold a large number of his factory 1 yixing teapots and his higher-end puerh cakes, Roots and Rituals totally sold their inventory by Saturday night and ended up taking orders from patrons to be fulfilled when they got back from the festival, and even companies like Sugimoto were left with but a handful of products come Sunday morning, which also quickly sold.
This means that the festival has attracted the right audience- people who are enthusiastic about tea and want to try it for themselves and who are also willing to pay for it- and honestly? It’s quickly become my favorite tea festival to attend. The sense of community is strong and the volunteers are all such wonderful people, spending their time and putting in countless hours before and after the festival to make it the best it possibly can be. Additionally, it’s an incredible value for the price- general admission is only $24.00 online and includes a complimentary tote bag and tea cup, and even at the door that price is only $29.00 for access on both days. You can purchase VIP admission for $89.00 in advance or $94.00 at the door (if any VIP tickets are still available), which includes early access to the festival at 9AM, an hour before general admission. VIP also includes access to a special tasting session with Dan Robertson and access to their VIP lounge upstairs, where treats and drinks are available for VIP patrons. This also includes a complimentary continental breakfast and a premium canvas tote bag filled with various tea goodies.
Despite being a relatively younger festival, only in its third year in-person, the Chicago Tea fest has quietly made a name for itself in the industry- creating a space that is known for being an incredibly polished, well-organized and bustling event, one that’s sure to make a major splash and continue to grow each year. With the decline or disappearance of other specialty tea festivals in the US, like the World Tea Expo, the Chicago Tea Fest is in a great position to become the ultimate destination tea festival in the US. I genuinely can’t wait for next year’s festival!
Group Gallery: Photos of Friends and more Fun
