Matcha Madness: A Recap of World Tea Expo 2025, Part 1
- Neldon Hamblin
- 1 day ago
- 16 min read
Hey friends!
Recently I was able to attend the 2025 World Tea Expo, held in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. This event is always the highlight of the year for me as it means connecting with old friends and expanding my own network of connections in the world of tea, spending a few days talking tea and industry-related topics with other teaheads. This year’s event was also incredibly successful, with a total of 10,984 attendees, leaders, buyers, suppliers, innovators, and industry specialists! As a disclaimer, I was given a press pass to attend and cover this year’s expo by QuestEx and World Tea Expo. I have covered this for the past few years now, and this year was unlike any other. Similarly to last year, I was able to visit every booth at the expo, but I was unable to take photos of every booth or include every booth in this writeup. I also have decided to do something different: this will be a two-part wrap up as I had realized that my original writeup was over 6,500 words long. So, in order to adequately share the experience and to avoid overloading you all in one long post, I broke this up into day one and day two oi the expo. This will hopefully just make it more digestible for you all. I did attend the expo sessions, which were incredibly insightful as always. They had such a great lineup this year for presenters, like the legendary Kevin Gascoyne of Camellia Sinensis, Dan Bolton of Tea Biz, Lauren Luo of JingWei Fu Cha and Pratik Rijal of Nepal Tea Collective.
I hope you enjoy it, friends!
What is the World Tea Expo and When is it Held?
The World Tea Expo is the largest annual gathering of tea industry professionals, industry experts, retailers, educators, and more, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center every March. The expo is a b2b event (“business to business”) so it is industry-exclusive and not open to the general public. This year, it was held March 23rd through the 25th, with the opening night social being held on the 23rd and the expo hall and sessions being the 24th and 25th.
Day Zero: March 24th, 2025
I had gotten into Vegas on Sunday night, but today marked the opening night social, held at the Sahara pool this year. Ana was my official expo buddy this year (as she is such an amazing person- give her a follow if you already aren’t!) and I had met up earlier that day with Megan and Kelsey of Felicity Loft Tea and Cliche Teas, where we had a nice lunch together before heading to the opening night party. Megan ordered the ice cream sandwich and was presented with this behemoth of a creation, hence the great reaction picture. We also explored the strip, walking over to the Bellagio Conservatory to see their spring display and take some photos. It was quite lovely and a great breath of fresh air from the strip- seeing the beautiful flowers and the tea house they had decorated was so great.
The opening social was much more vibrant than last year- it was entertaining and the live DJ was playing some great songs. There were different alcoholic beverage booths offering both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for us to choose from. I will say, the Benjamin Blue Spring Water was actually quite refreshing too and such a nice treat after a hot day on the strip. I managed to make so many great new connections just walking around and chatting, like with Cevin and Shaelynn, two wonderful people who are starting in the world of tea and who were at the expo for their first time. I also ran into Julia (Sugimoto Tea, a good friend of mine) and we walked around chatting business and catching up. In my opinion, the opening night social is a great way for people in the tea industry and the bar and restaurant industry to socialize together. I actually made several great connections on the bar and restaurant side wanting to explore tea- it was just a great networking opportunity and a lovely time overall.
Day One: March 25th, 2025 “Tea Culture Galore”
Day one was phenomenal. Before the expo floor opened, I met up with AJ and ran into Leo of Tea and Whisk, a great local teahouse in Vegas. I had a vendor friend reach out to me early on this year (iteaworld) and I connected them with the expo, but unfortunately they were unable to attend- they graciously gave AJ one of their expo passes, and it was really awesome being able to reconnect after a few years and hang out for the day. We spent time catching up and discussing the upcoming Global Tea Championship awards ceremony, which would be held that night after the expo hall closed.
This year was unlike any other year I’d been- for the opening ceremony, the expo had Reiko Wake, a Japanese Tea Ambassador and opera singer give a performance of “Sukiyaki” before the ribbon cutting ceremony. While I also got some footage, here is an awesome video from the wonderful Nicole (TeaForMePlease) showing off the ribbon cutting, with this link skipping to Reiko’s performance. The ceremony itself was sponsored by Tea Capital Shizuoka, so it was spectacular seeing the expo showcasing Japanese culture for the attendees. Reiko did a great job and I managed to catch up with her later and take a selfie (which will be in part 2, or is viewable on instagram), which was quite special. She is such a wonderful person and it's clear her passion for tea and sharing her culture is great.
When the expo hall officially opened, the first stop was the Tea Bar to get our commemorative cups. I have to say, of all the years I have attended this, these were my favorite cups so far. The shape is perfect- the taller rim allows you to appreciate the aromas of certain aromatic teas, like Taiwanese oolongs, better, while also allowing for the tea to cool down a bit faster in my experience. Plus, the design was nice- minimalistic and perfect for any gongfu session at home. While on the floor, I ran into Nicole and got a few good pictures with her. I then made my way over to explore the various booths. Because the World Tea Expo side had been more separated from the Bar and Restaurant side of things, this year, the booths felt more spacious and allowed for a bit more room to talk and spend time connecting with vendors than in previous years. I really enjoyed how roomy it felt- and, speaking with some of the vendors present, they enjoyed that feeling, too. In the words of one vendor, it felt like they had more room than other trade shows they had gone to, which allowed them to have more of their staff out and speaking with the attendees rather than being stuck behind the table all day.
I made my way to the Global Tea Expo booth to reconnect with my good friend, JuXian, who had emailed me prior about coming to her booth. I spent a bit of time reconnecting with her and got this beautiful fridge magnet and commemorative cup, as well as learned quite a bit about the difference between tea expos in the US and in China. After her, I made my way straight to the WuyiStar booth. For those that have been following me for a while, you know that I have been one of WuyiStar’s Global Tea Volunteers for a few years now, which I have absolutely loved doing. Well, this year’s expo marked the first ever North American appearance by WuyiStar. I was actually shocked to see it, but they had my picture on their display of the global tea volunteers! Being a long-time fan of theirs, I had to stop by. I spent quite a bit of time at their booth overall and actually ended up holding a live stream on the second day, which I will cover more later. They had brought a special gift for me, which I will also have a reel on later. I tried their DaHongPao, Lapsang Souchong, and Tangerine Gongmei (chenpi gongmei), all of which were phenomenal and some of the best Chinese teas I’ve had at the expo. They also were exhibiting a new product, a canned, pre-brewed DaHongPao, which was so smooth and delicious, tasting like rich chocolate milk. They had some tea facial soaps, with tea leaves in the bars, as well as tea face masks- and of course I picked up some of those, too.
After WuyiStar, I made my way around the expo, tasting some delicious gardenia-scented silver needle from an associate at Glenburn Tea Estate, then to Harney & Sons, who were exhibiting their bottled teas as well as some delicious hot teas. My personal favorite was the strawberry milkshake oolong, a milk oolong with strawberry flavoring- my goodness, was it spectacular. It was so creamy, sweet, and had a lovely vanilla note to it- it is an incredibly indulgent tea in an equally enticing, “kawaii” packaging! After Harney, I ran into Sherolyn “Inde” Sellers, who is quite honestly one of the nicest people in the world of tea. I love chatting with her and it was great catching up- the work she does with Urban Tea Party is impressive and she was promoting her new book, “Teas for Cultured Souls,” which documents the African American experience with the world of tea. According to the listing, “this inaugural volume focuses on the African American experience with tea, tracing its history from the arrival of enslaved individuals on American shores to the secret societies that used tea as a vehicle for activism. Through a blend of research, interviews, and personal narratives, Sellers highlights the healing power of tea and its ability to forge connections within communities. "Tea for Cultured Souls" celebrates the intersection of community, culture, and commerce, showcasing tea as a global economic force that enriches lives and nurtures the soul.” It is a breath of fresh air to see books like hers being published, encouraging and uplifting minority voices to the mainstage- and I especially loved the tagline “steeped in culture, stirred by the soul;” in my opinion, this helps showcase how tea is a “social lubricant” of sorts and can unite us across all cultural backgrounds, creating an inclusive and friendly community.. 3 Leafs Tea was next, where I tasted some of their cold-brewed oolongs, which were very refreshing. I also managed to stop by Kotodo, a booth specializing in tea and coffee canisters from Japan. They graciously gifted me a washi tea tin and have been handcrafting their beautiful wares since 1910!
Eventually, I found my way over to Seven Tea House, a favorite of mine that I’ve loved seeing these past few years. This year, they were offering a tasting of several of their teas, including their rather rare millennia jujube bud herbal tea- a herbal tea made from jujube buds from a 1,000-year-old jujube tree. Normally, I am quite skeptical of such claims regarding the ages of trees, but this stuff? It tasted legitimate. It had an intense minerality, similar to the best yancha- the mouthfeel was thick yet the tea itself was light and refreshing, almost tasting like a yellow tea in terms of complexity. Given the flavor profile and the mouthfeel, as well as that intense minerality, I would definitely guess that this is actually an old tree and not some sketchy claim. Their flavored pineapple oolong as well as their simple-syrup teas made by combining their brewed teas with sugar were quite delicious. These would be perfect for any cocktails or mocktails as their flavors were bold yet refreshingly delicious and they would pair perfectly with any stronger alcohol without getting lost.
I made my way to Yunnan ChuanDai Agricultural Technology Co, who had a delicious puerh they were tasting. Their packaging is quite traditional and reminiscent of Chinese herbal cigarette packages, but they also had some high-end gift sets that they claimed are popular in the Chinese market during the holidays. The tea they offered carried a higher price point at about $5-10.00/g, but within reason. The sheng puerh they were brewing was a younger sheng, a 2024 harvest, which they were representing as class 1 and class 2 gaogan bohetang material (“gaogan” meaning “tall pole” or extra tall trees- “薄荷塘一类” and “薄荷塘 三类”), I was skeptical until I tasted it- generally speaking, 1st class bohetang material is incredibly expensive and very rarely makes it outside of China. However, this tea blew me away. It was a deliciously vibrant young sheng and offered a great pick-me-up in terms of caffeine. The fragrance was incredibly rich and floral and the huigan (“Returning sweetness”) was quite prominent, as was the cooling sensation in the throat, another notable characteristic of bohetang material. You could tell they were passionate about their product. Though the awards had not yet been announced, they had mentioned that they were certain it would win in its category as it was premium material- and they were right.
Amazingly enough and much to my surprise, there was a whole booth dedicated to yixing teapots. Yixing Tang Zhaoxia Purple Clay Art Gallery had a whole booth there- they had previously been at the World Tea Expo, but not at any of the ones I have covered. They were teapots made by Master Tang Zhaoxia and her apprentices, as well as a few other skilled artisans, all of which were exquisitely crafted yet functional teapots. It was amazing seeing their display cabinet full of such gorgeous yixing teawares- I especially loved their duanni teapots.
After this, Ana and I went to see Tora Chai, who made us a fresh cup of chai topped with their special chai spice blend. It was quite lovely and one of the nicest, most balanced chai blends I’ve ever had. We then ran into Al-Kbous Tea, a new vendor this year, one trying to break into the Western market. They have a strong presence in the Middle East, especially in countries like Jordan, where their tea and coffee products are synonymous with quality. They had a very unique tasting method- they had a big dispenser full of boiling water that you could use to brew your own tea with. They had a wide variety of their own tea bags next to it, making it so you could sample whatever flavor of tea you wanted. I opted for the mint tea bag and let it steep for about 5 minutes as I like mine strong. It was lovely with zero bitterness whatsoever. They also had their coffee cans on display- they sell Yemeni coffee, which I had never heard of before, so they graciously gifted me a can of their ground coffee to try. They were a fun booth and I hope they break into the US market as their offerings are wide and delicious.
The next booth for day one was the Dream of Japan booth, also known as the Japanese Green Tea Company. These guys were awesome. They sell Japanese tea, coffee, and knives, and the sencha-flavored tea crackers they sell are absolutely delicious. You’ll hear more about them later, but I also sampled their Japanese coffee- I have long heard rumors about how delicious Japanese coffee can be, so seeing their unique pour-over machine brewing the coffee grounds, I knew I had to give it a shot. I drank mine black and it was amazing- floral, fruity, and sweet, with only a minor hint of acidic bitterness, I could genuinely keep drinking that one as a black coffee! Their knives were gorgeous as well- pricier, but with Japanese chef knives, you get what you pay for- and they looked to be extremely high-quality knives.
The next booth was one of my favorites, by far. I stopped by ORTea’s booth- Juan Xie is such a cool person and I am glad to be one of her friends. She had messaged me on WeChat before the expo inviting me to her booth and mentioning a special tea quiz at their booth, where I could win prizes for completing it. This turned out to be one of my favorite moments I’ve ever experienced at a tea expo before. In essence, we were given a piece of paper with boxes (shown below) and ORTea was sampling 6 different teas. We were told what the tea types were, but we were NOT told which tea was which. We had to taste it, number the boxes, and hand the quiz back to the staff at the booth for our results. Well, much to my excitement, Juan said that I was the very first person to have scored 100%, guessing all 6 categories correctly! On the second day of the expo, she mentioned that in total, only 3 people had gotten a perfect score, and that I was the first. The other two were Ana and another individual at the expo. So, out of the thousands of attendees, I was the first to score a perfect score on their tea quiz. This was so, so amazing and the entire team at ORTea was super excited for Ana and I. This was incredibly exciting and honestly having a blind tasting like that was such a great experience that I’ll remember for a long, long time.
After them, I found myself at the Ikkyu booth, which was being staffed by both Ikkyu representatives and Nōka Imports, who work to import Japanese teas to the US and who are bringing the delicious matchas and other teas from Ikkyu to the states. Harrison Saunders, the US Distribution Manager, was so much fun- turns out we have a tea-friend in common and we got chatting about that. He broke out their “special stash” of matchas that I ended up doing a special, impromptu livestream at, where we tasted the matcha together and discussed the notes. It was awesome- he had mentioned that they actually hadn’t tasted that one before so we would be discovering the flavor profile together. They also served up some of their delicious senchas, but the real highlight to me was what they served as a palate cleanser- a sakura honey tea that tasted so delicious I had to get a bag. It tasted like I was eating a cherry-blossom candy, it was that incredibly flavorful and sweet. It was a great way to clear our tongues out for the next round of gyokuro and sencha. Next up was Harada Imports, who had delicious matchas and matcha-related drinks for us to try, as well as some tasty Japanese sweets from Hokusai. I went with their Chestnut youkan (“羊羹”), or wagashi (sweet) made from agar and sugar as well as a flavoring. This one is specifically called “Hizakuri Yokan Kitasan” and is made with red bean paste, chopped chestnuts, and agar, with the packaging inspired by one of the main characters in the Edo-novel Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige. It was a nice, slightly sweet treat with great nutty notes that paired well with their matcha. It was awesome learning about the novel from their booth and hearing about the thought that went into each step of the packaging.
Next on the floor was Cheng Tea, a Chinese tea company dedicated to bringing top-tier, award-winning tea to the public. I met Larry Yu and began chatting with him for a bit. The CEO and founder of Cheng Tea, Bowen Shao, was handling the tea tastings, and as her English was rusty and my Chinese is…elementary at best, Larry facilitated a tasting and acted as a translator for me. I mentioned that yancha is my true speciality and he delivered, with some delicious MaTouYan rou gui being brought out for tasting by Bowen. This tea is one of the most famous and most exclusive yancha on the market, coming from the Zhengyan region (core production area for yancha), and it was incredible. The tea itself had a delicious spiciness and an incredible, long-lasting fragrant depth to it that I was blown away. Now, Larry is also such a fun guy and I’m glad I was able to connect with him- his passion lies in history and sharing China’s rich cultural heritage with the world, something that I resonate with as an anthropology major and Chinese tea specialist, and that passion really shows through his booth. On the back wall of his booth is a large display showing off the MoShiKou Historical and Cultural District (“模式口历史文化街区”), an ancient pathway in Beijing with a rich cultural legacy. Larry actually offers tea tours in China, where he takes individuals around the historic tea cultural sites in Beijing and around their shops.
After that fun experience, I went to Shen Xian Tea’s booth, who are one of my favorite companies to talk with. Their oolongs are high-quality and their nitro-brewed oolong is always a fun treat. It’s fascinating what their nitro brewing machine does to the tea, it makes it almost sweeter. It’s a fun thing to try and I’d seriously recommend tasting it if you ever get the chance. I then hit up the Japanese food and beverage section for some delicious ramen, takoyaki, and sushi- but the real highlight of this section was the Kweichow Moutai booth. I have long wanted to experience real BaiJiu, nicknamed “Chinese Fire Water,” and had actually even talked with Juan about it at the opening night party. Well, as luck would have it, I stumbled across the Kweichow Moutai booth. Kweichow Moutai is about 106 proof or around 53%ABV and is a clear liquor distilled from sorghum. According to them, Moutai is produced with wheat harvested only during the Dragon Boat Festival and mixed with organic sorghum, then fermented and distilled for over 7 cycles, taking an entire year to complete! They then age it for 3 years or more! Additionally, each bottle is a mixture of over 200 different base liquors from different years and different fragrances to create that signature Moutai taste. It had notes of soy, miso, yeast, dried dates, and a sort of five-spice sweetness that lingered. It went down smooth but it was strong- I ended up taking a few shots of that and finishing off my friends’ shots as well. The best way I could describe it would be akin to a Chinese moonshine, as moonshine generally ranges from 40-80% ABV.
Global Tea Championship: A night of Fanfare and Awards
After the expo hall had closed, the Global Tea Championship was held. Lasting approximately an hour and being hosted by Mike Harney of Harney & Sons and Ravi Pillai of DAVIDsTea, this was a great event showcasing the results of the annual championship. The standouts of the night were Japanese Green Tea Company (“DreamOfJapan”) and Lumbini Tea Valley, who were awarded several awards throughout the night. It was so much fun watching the representatives of the Japanese Green Tea Company come up each time their name was called for an award; just as they would sit down, their name would be called again. The emotions were high and it was so much fun celebrating with them- even Ravi jokingly said that it shouldn't be a surprise to us as to who the next winner would be, before announcing Japanese Tea Company yet again. In total, Japanese Green Tea Company received 5 awards, including best matcha, best ground leaf profile, best cup character, and best ceremonial matcha, as well as the grand prize category for the overall best matcha. Lumbini Tea Valley won 9 awards, including the grand prize of the entire competition for the best overall tea with their Silver Feathers tea. Other winners included favorites of mine like Brook37 Teas (“Superior Leaf” for their moonlight oolong), Seven Teahouse (“Superior Leaf” for their golden spring shou puerh), The Great Mississippi Tea Company (“Superior Liquor” for their black orchid), Zouji and Yunnan Tea Company (“Superior Liquor” for their shou puerh tuochas), iteaworld (“best long oxidized oolong” for their mi lan xiang dancong), and Chuandai Agricultural Technology (“best puerh tea sheng” for their bohetang). For the full list of winners, check out the official World Tea News announcement here.
As always. Here is the obligatory day 1 haul from the expo floor. I always do most of my purchases on the second day, but I did get a few things for myself for this first day. Lots of great promotional material, too, like the book on the MoShiKou, and promotional items like the washi tea tin from Kotodo.
Come back next week for part two, which will cover day 2 of the World Tea Expo and include more photos with friends, tea, and my overall final thoughts on the expo. Cheers, friends! I hope you enjoy!
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