Midwest Tea Festival 2016

I sure hope one is in the works!

I have a fresh batch of stickers. Swing by LP’s booth, introduce yourself and snag one! :)

We should absolutely do this!

I’m in!

I think we should set up a time for a Steepster group photo.

Good idea. Setting a time in advance is probably the only way to get it done. :)

Count me in on the meet up and photo! :)

I would love to meet some of you all!

We should designate a time for the picture so it’s planned :)
I can also put a paper on my booth about it as well considering minds will be all over the place and it can be easy to forget.

I know people have lives and what not, but I think an after party would be quite awesome since we will all be in the same area.

By after party… I mean, a Steepster dinner. I just know I won’t be in the area for quite awhile again and I’m sure it’d be enjoyable to eat with the people that we always talk about drinking with. Something like 5:30 to 6:30pm

I wish you were closer to me that would be great to meet some people from here.

I’ll look into tea fest near Charlotte, Pittsburgh, and DC. I think that would be the closest places to you. I just realized how large VA is because I was seeing how far you are from where I was born (Norfolk) and that’s quite the distance… in fact, it’s one end to the other!

If you know where Blacksburg is I am about 15 miles from there. It is a big state. I am originally a North Carolina transplant so Charlotte would be a good venue as well.

Have to keep you in mind for next year! I kind of steered clear of contacting California companies since it’s not exactly in your neighborhood, but you would certainly be welcome! :) Other than the San Francisco and Los Angeles festivals, I bet there’s one in Las Vegas again next year as they had a great turnout this year.

I will (unless my phone explodes between now and then, always a possibility) be live tweeting/instagraming while I am there :) plus I will blog about it too, so I will make sure anyone who misses out gets to feel like they are there.

I’m hoping for a new Facebook profile picture from this event :p

1pm sounds great to me. I also want to see how many people can touch my beenghole at the same time, so there’s another photo after this one :)

Bringing your mom to a tea festival for Mother’s Day sounds like a great idea to me. I’m stopping off in St. Louis to pick up mine so we can spend the weekend together drinking tea and eating the second best BBQ in Missouri.

I’ll try to say hi! I just made the drive… 12 hours! This might be the only one I attend as well. The community made this one happen for me as well :)

What is the name of the second best BBQ in Missouri? (and where is the first?) I totally used to be a vegetarian for 7 years, and then I ended up at my favorite BBQ place. A rack of ribs later…and I was no longer a vegetarian.

It will be great to meet many new people :)

Best and second best bbq… Short Sorceress is intimating that St Louis has the best if I’m reading correctly… Them’s fighting words in some circles! :) “Best” is a huge point of debate in these parts, even within just KC. Some say Jack Stack, some argue for Oklahoma Joe’s or KC Masterpiece… Arthur Bryant’s, Gate’s, and LC’s have been around town forever, just like Jack Stack. We have no shortage of bbq joints in town and, in my mind, most all of the well known ones have something to recommend them. There are hole in the wall local neighborhood places and the bigger ones that aren’t national chains but hav core than one location in town.

Personally, I Iove the beans and the burnt ends at Jack Stack, the fries at Joe’s, the heaping mountains of sliced beef at Arthur Bryant’s, the sauce at LC’s when I want something a little more spicy than sweet… I keep KC Masterpiece sauce in the fridge for home cooking. It’s a wide world of tasty around here. :)

Burnt ends is a must while you’re here. The best thing to know is that BBQ here is like Star Wars and Star Trek; you either prefer one to the other, enjoy both, or neither. Since I grew up here for 12 years, BBQ was a daily thing so I grew to lower end stuff like Zarda where they will give you the scraps of everyone else’s meat :)
Jack Stack and KC Masterpeice (who was bought out) are my two higher end favorites

I’m excited to see everyone as well! We’re making the 10 hour trek bright and early tomorrow morning. (And will also definitely be getting some BBQ)

I was indeed alluding to the superiority of St. Louis BBQ, but I’m a bit biased since that’s where I grew up. For me, St. Louis Style Maull’s BBQ sauce has been a lifelong favorite and the words KC Masterpiece are considered blasphemy in our house. That is how deep the rivalry goes in the KC vs STL debate so I think Nicole and I will have to agree to disagree on which style sauce is superior.

I will say that Jack Stack has excellent burnt ends and the jumbo fried mushrooms with horseradish sauce are amazing. I keep meaning to branch out a little when I pass through town every year, there are some great mom and pop places I’ve tried over the years, but the food at Jack Stack is solid and has always been my first choice.

That is my understanding at this point. As for dinner, you all are welcome to join in the venue restaurant or it sounded like maybe LP has another thought for Steepster peeps. :)

Dinner there is fine. I will have my kettle and everything for anyone who wants to share a pot with everyone over dinner.

I’ll make it for the photo and tea session, but I’m not sure about dinner. I have a 5 hour drive on Saturday and another 6 or 7 on Sunday, so I’m hoping to get on the road immediately after the festival.

We’re sticking around till Monday morning, so I’m up for whatever the group decides.

Count me in the numbers because I want to sip at some :)
If you go with the 2003 TGY, I really want it steeped out quite a bit and see if my prior tasting was correct because it was unbelievable and I suspect my tastebuds were altered or I was just really happy and it tasted like it did; like an aged brandy…

How roasted the the TGY, and the Dong Dings for that matter? It will determine if I go clay or porcelain. I’ve only once had an aged TGY have that brandy note, it was amazing, usually I find they are plummy so this excited me!

TGY was not reroasted which I am thankful for. I am realllllly picky about my roasted/aged oolongs. The 2012/2013 Dong Ding, just look at it :) I wouldn’t call either roasted at all

Good to know! Wouldn’t want to bring the roasted pot to an unroasted tea party!

I will probably be able to spare time for a photo but probably not for a tea session. :) Sounds like fun, though!

Awww we will have to find a way to get you at least a cup! Maybe I can get Ben to find you and make sure you get a cup delivered to you

The cafe session Mr. AQ2T and I signed up for should be over by 12:15, so count us in :)

I’m in. My session’s not until later. Looking forward to meeting/seeing everyone!

I am going to try to be there for the photo and the session, but please put me down as a maybe. I am doing a long ride in the morning and not sure how long it will take.