Tea Fest PDX 2026

Tea Fest PDX 2026 was held on June 27th at the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon. 

This was the festival's 10th anniversary and the second year since it's move to late June from mid-July. The weather was very on-brand for the Pacific Northwest with a relatively sunny start to the day, shifting to rain and even a brief thunderstorm in the afternoon.  Most of the outdoor spaces were covered so the festival was able to carry on without interruption.

Something I really appreciate that seems to be unique to outdoor/indoor festivals like Tea Fest PDX are the musical performances. This year's musical lineup was wonderful!

Heart Strings Mandarin Music Trio

Kayageum performed by Doyeon Lim

The festival program was filled with a wide variety of workshops, lectures, and tasting sessions, two of which I had the pleasure of attending.

Unusual and Rare Teas from Our Tea Explorations with Charles, Laurie, and Anais Dawson (Whatcom Tea)

It's always a treat to sit in on a tasting session with the Dawsons because I'm almost guaranteed to encounter something completely new.  For this session we enjoyed several unique teas from their extensive collection, learning about their provenance and how they were made.  The final tea was a bit of a wildcard; a teabag tea that tastes refreshingly like a loose leaf tea.

Left to Right: Anais Dawson, Laurie Dawson, Charles Dawson

Wuyi Hongcha from Tongmuan, Fujian Province (Chaliland)

Rosa roxburghii (Chestnut Rose) Stuffed Black Tea from Guixhou Province (iTeaworld)

2002 Huangpian Baozhong (wild harvest)

1990 Liu Bao (Three Cranes)

1980 Liu An from Anhui Province

Crown Melon flavored Oolong

Tea in Literature and Afternoon Tea with Marilyn Miller

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea prepared by Thistlewell Tea Room (formerly Sweet Peas Tea Room) accompanied by a reading of excerpts from the works of Earlene Grey, Nigel Slater, Patti Callahan, Rosamunde Pilcher, Lisa See, Julia Kelly, and Ethel Romig Fuller by Marilyn Miller.

Thanks to the volunteers, presenters, and vendors for making this festival possible!  I'm looking forward to Tea Fest PDX 2027!

Eugene Tea Festival 2026

A well-timed visit with family in Oregon gave me the opportunity to attend the Eugene Tea Festival for the first time.  The festival is in its fourth year, kicking off in 2023 and preceded by virtual tea tastings and local events.  This year's festival took place on on May 31st at the Farmer's Market Pavilion in Eugene, Oregon's downtown arts district.  The Pavilion and the adjoining plaza were lined with booths for tea, artisan, and food vendors.

The tea festival is free to attend, though donations are welcome and come with a tasting cup to enjoy all the tea samples available at the vendor booths.  

At a table inside the Pavilion, Josh Brock (The Empty Tea Cup) and Laurie Dawson (Whatcom Tea) prepared tea throughout the day, providing a welcoming space to decompress and meet new tea friends.

The vendor booths had an impressive range of teas and tisanes from around the world, as well as handcrafted teaware, art, and decor.

Thanks to everyone who worked to bring this festival to the local community.  It was a wonderful event!

The next Eugene Tea Festival will take place on May 30, 2027.

Cascadia Tea Festival 2026

The Cascadia Spring Tea Festival was held on April 11, 2026 in Everett, Washington. This was the volunteer-run community tea event's 5th year!

The festival returned to beautiful Forest Park in Everett, Washington.  Vendor were located in Floral Hall and a dedicated tea tasting space was a short walk away in Lions Hall.  My day began with vendor booth exploration and catching up with tea friends.

Lions Hall Tea Tastings

Lions Hall was lined with tea tasting tables as well as a crafting area for young people (and the young at heart).

Ward and Barbara Everson presented a tasting of shou puerh lightly infused with different flowers.  The dried flowers are placed in a strainer so some of their aroma and flavor is introduced when the brewed tea is poured through the filter into the cha hai (fairness pitcher.)  This results in lighter floral notes than if they were steeped allowing the flavor of the tea to come through.  

Dark Depths (Crimson Lotus) poured over lavender

Diarmuid Fahy & Sam Culwell were brewing intriguing teas from their collection.

Li Shan

Li Shan 30-Year Aged Roasted Oolong

Thanks to the volunteers and vendors for making this tea festival happen!  

Tea Review: Premium Spring Sencha Green Tea (Hachimanjyu Yakushima Tea)

Premium Spring Sencha Green Tea
Hachimanjyu Yakushima Tea (Yabukita & Asatsuyu)
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Kagoshima Prefecture
Product Description:

The Yabukita is an Asamushi tea, or lightly steamed. This results a leaf that is kept more intact than longer steaming, and therefore results in a clearer, liquid that extracts more slowly from the leaf for multiple steepings. This type of steaming is usually reserved for higher quality leaf.

Meanwhile the Asatsuyu leaf, known for its strong umami flavor, is steamed chumushi, or regular steaming. This adds a delicious umami flavor and aroma to the tea.

Temperature: 140° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 1 minute

The dry leaves have a deep aroma of macadamia nuts with a hint of sweet grass.

The liquor is pale jade green with a rich and savory aroma of nuts and edamame.  The taste is savory with umami and nutty with edamame notes and a long, green, nutty finish.

For the purpose of this review, I followed the recommended brewing instructions, steeping the tea for 1 minute in 140° F water and the results were excellent.  The first infusion was filled with umami followed by spring green notes at the front of the second infusion, with a darker liquor color and thicker broth.  The long finish was particularly refreshing.

This tea was purchased by me.

Tea Review: Yumesuruga Sencha (Charaku)

Yumesuruga Sencha

Charaku
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture, Honyama
Product Description:

Infuses to a light green liquor with a slightly grassy aroma. Nice mouthfeel and a light amami (sweetness) that stays through a few infusions. It also has a very light shibumi (astringency) finish, so is a well-balanced tea with fresh notes across the spectrum.

The Honyama region of Shizuoka is in the northern part of the prefecture, containing the Abe River and the it's branches of the Ashikubo and Warashina Rivers, and near the foothills of Mount Fuji. Suruga was the old provincial name of current Shizuoka, and the Yumesuruga varietal can be translated as "Dream Suruga". The aroma of tea is everywhere in Suruga, and must have been for some time as poem of Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) recounts, "Suruga road / Even the mikan (orange) blossoms / Smell of tea bushes".

Temperature: 176° F

Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 45 seconds-1.5 minutes

The dry leaf aroma is nutty and marine green.

The liquor is pale green with a savory aroma of nuts and edamame.  The taste is savory and sweet with light edamame notes and a sweet green grassy finish.

This sencha was delicious with savory umami notes followed by a sweet green finish throughout three infusions.  The aroma and liquor color deepened by the third infusion.  

This tea was purchased by me.

Tea Shout-Out: White Rabbit Espresso

The Tea Shout-Out highlights restaurants and other businesses who go the extra mile to serve good quality tea.

This shout-out goes to White Rabbit Espresso located on Highway 101 in Newport, Oregon.  They offer a selection of teas from Smith Teamaker as well as Matcha Lattes, Masala Chai, Newport Fog, a Tea & Tonic cocktail.  They also sell most of the teas they serve.  I warmed up on a rainy visit with a pot of Lord Bergamot black tea.