The annual visit to the Taipei Tea and Coffee Expo is over and was a great success. It was also a huge contrast to the one in Nantou the previous month. Flash, glamour and marketing budgets usually make the Taipei show a very different experience from the Nantou show and this year was no different.
This year's show was very well attended and our friends who had booths were happy with their earnings. During the busiest time period of mid afternoon it was shoulder to shoulder crowds inching their way past very busy booths, bags of tea in hand. It was a pleasure to see, and it was also wonderful to see many younger people appreciating the higher quality teas as well. Apparently 'Threads' of all things is the app that young Taiwanese consumers use to learn about tea. (We joined yesterday and will have a Chinese language presence on there over the next couple of months.)
The theme of 'styling' high quality tea was also a rather hilarious trend. From handsome bar-style tea mixers from Kaoshiung, to scantily clad tea 'ambassadors' from Taipei there was a marked increase in that style of marketing. Whether it works or not we will have to see, but the age of the people in the tea section was still much higher of those in the coffee section...
Our friends at the show seemed very excited at the prospect of our wood and stone shop potenialy opening over the next couple of weeks. The idea of having visiting tea masters show up in Hualien for tastings/classes is something that everyone will enjoy. It was also fun to price out some of the equipment we will be using at the new shop.
The teas we bought at the show include:
- 2025 Winter Shanlinxi
- A CY Chen Charcoal Roast
- Two Su San Pian Teas
- A gorgeous and unique high mountain Tieguanyin
- Finally, a #21 cultivar that we can buy in large amounts
- And a couple more for the shop
One of the biggest differences between the Nantou and Taipei shows is the quality of the booths. Nantou is the place for bargains, while Taipei is the place to find the best of the best stuff for the highest prices. Both are useful and fun, but they are very, very different show.
If you love tea and make it to Taiwan, we would highly recommend you try to visit at least one of these shows if you can!
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