This past Friday, I went to Brooklyn’s premier food and beverage trade show, Brooklyn Eats. This annual event is definitely something to keep on your radar, whether you’re in the industry, you’re a retailer looking for new inventory, or, just a food and beverage enthusiast. It’s a ticketed event, but, at just $10, you can check out dozens and dozens of vendors handing out lots of samples of their product. Oh, and of course, they’re all from Brooklyn. Below (in no particular order) are some of my favorite vendors from the event. Some I was already a fan of, some were brand new to me. And, I’d highly recommend checking out their goods.

Brooklyn Sesame is making all-natural halva spreads. They’re totally delicious, rich in flavor, and I really recommend their Roasted Pistachios.

Madecasse is making chocolate, from scratch, from Madagascar. I really liked their Salted Almond, it had a really nice, smooth texture to the chocolate with a salty, almond crunch.

Dutch’s Spirits is producing spirits and bitters through a farm to bottle approach. They had some of their Moonshine there, which was really great paired with lemonade. 

Bruce Cost Ginger Ale is making their sparkling beverages with only whole ginger and pure sugar cane, and none of the fake stuff. I had their original, which was great, and they also offer flavor infused versions.

Organic Gemini served their organic tigernut products, including Horchata and Tigernuts themselves. I wasn’t familiar with this food, known as the earth almond, mainly from the Mediterranean. It has a similar taste to an almond, but a bit sweeter and chewier, and used to also make their Horchata.

Grady’s Cold Brew is making a New Orleans-style coffee concentrate. They also just launched a new product, their Bean Bags, a cold brew DIY kit that you can take on the go, traveling, or just prepare at home.

Kelvin Natural Slush Co. is serving all natural slush. They had their Ginger flavor, which was really nice, and a choice of raspberry or blueberry syrup to go on top.

Steve’s Ice Cream makes natural ice creams, non-dairy ice cream and sorbets. I really like these, and have a soft spot for the Southern Banana Pudding.

Kombrewcha (also the maker of Honest Tea) is making traditionally brewed kombucha, theirs made entirely from agave, and allowing the tiny probiotics to make bubbles and a little alcohol. I had the Lemongrass Lime, which was really nice, light, and refreshing. 

Owl’s Brew is artisanal, fresh-brewed, and ready-to-pour tea “crafted for cocktails”. I had their Pink & Black with tequila, and it was light, refreshing, with a hint of sweetness. 

Red Hook Winery is making wine from New York vineyards. I tried their 2011 Seneca Lake Riesling, which was more of a dry riesling, but still had a really nice, light sweetness.

Dona Chai is Brooklyn’s first and only chai tea concentrate, made is small batches. The chai was really great, lots of flavor with a nice creaminess. 

Green Mustache makes organic fruit and veggie juice smoothies. I had their Strawberry Banana, which I really liked. You get the nice, refreshing sweetness of the fruit, getting your veggie serving at the same time. 

Jack’s Chedbred makes cornbreads from the finest ingredients. I had their Honey and Sea Salt, it was really delicious. They’re dense, yet light with the perfect amount of moisture, and lots of rich corn flavor. 

We Rub You makes all-natural Korean BBQ sauces and marinades. I had their Hot Korean Gochujang Sauce. It was so amazing. I’m a Bibimbap junkie, and this was probably the best sauce that I’ve tried. 

Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur is made with fresh ginger. The product is kind of just that, intense. It has the strong spice and flavor of ginger, but not too overpowering where you can’t enjoy it. Sip as-is, or add some spice to a cocktail. 

Brooklyn Delhi produce all natural achaar (AKA ‘Indian pickle’), a relish made from local vegetables and fruits, chilies, spices and oil. I had their Tomato Achaar, which was incredible. Maybe one of the best dip-like sauces that I’ve had in a while. It’s rich in flavor, has an awesome kick of heat, and, just all around delicious. 

Jack From Brooklyn makes Sorel, a small batch, hibiscus based liqueur with natural spices. This was really nice, something that you can enjoy on it’s own, hot or cold, and they were also serving it paired with a ginger ale, which complimented the flavors really nicely. 

Fatty Sundays makes flavored, chocolate covered pretzels. I tried their Toffee Crunch, which was delicious. The pretzel was nice and crisp, the chocolate was creamy, but not overly sweet, letting the toffee add the extra sweetness and texture. 

Robicelli’s Bakery is making everything from decadent cakes, pies and cupcakes, to cookies, brownies and whoopie pies. I had a couple of their cookies, but I especially loved the New Jersey (sweet corn cookie with freeze dried blueberry powder).

Brewla makes all-natural, craft-brewed ice bars. I tried The Buzz (sweetened espresso). It had a really nice depth of flavor, allowing you to really taste the coffee, and not an artificial flavoring like other bars you may have tried. 

Monsieur Singh makes all-natural Lassis, a yogurt with herbs and spices. I really liked their Mango Lassi Scoop, the flavor was great, it was refreshing, and the perfect combination of the creaminess of ice cream, with the fruitiness of an ice pop or sorbet. 

Cocktail Crate is crafting cocktail mixers. I tried the Sriracha Margarita. I really liked this one. I’m a spicy margarita snob (unapologetically), but you usually think of jalapeño and not sriracha. This had a really nice flavor and that hint of vinegary and heat that sriracha offer. 

Goody’s Granola is making all-natural, soft baked granola. I had their Vanilla Blueberry, which was really great. I loved the soft, chewy texture of the granola, and it had a nice sweet, nuttiness that goes great with the blueberry. 

Tumbador uses the finest ingredients to make chocolate bars, spreads, and other confections. I had their PB&J bar, which was delicious, and then had their Honey Graham Cracker Spread. Holy $h!%. It was really incredible, like a thick, liquid graham in a jar. Luckily, they were also selling the display items, so I was able to snag this very jar you see above. 

People’s Pops makes fresh, local fruit ice pops and shaved ice. I had their Raspberry Basil Pop. It was really delicious, fresh, sweet, and ever so slightly enhanced with some of that basil flavor. 

Cracked Candy is making a healthy, handmade, sugar-free candy made from Xylitol. I tried the Lemon Ice. I really enjoyed this, it was really nice in texture, not too crunchy, not soft, and had a really refreshing crisp flavor with the sweet zest of lemon.

I also want to make note of some of the other vendors that were equally amazing and delicious, but not pictured above:

Liddabit Sweets makes unique confections including their candy bars and caramels. Try their Fig and Ricotta and Beer and Pretzel Caramels. 

Salty Road makes taffy with little pieces of sea salt left inside. Try the Caramel Sea Salt and Salty Caramel Apple. 

Jacques Torres Chocolate makes fresh, authentic, all-natural and handmade artisan chocolates. Try everything, and also their Chocolate Chunk Cookie. 

Brooklyn Cupcake makes cupcakes with unique flavors and quality ingredients. Try their French Toast cupcake. 

Hay Rosie Craft Ice Cream Company makes high quality ice cream. Try the Brickle Brownie Crunch, it’s pretty unreal.