Water tapped from maple trees might be the next coconut water (though it's a long shot).
Sap on Tap piggybacks on the success of another H2O alternative, coconut water.
The company sources water tapped from maple trees on farms across the Northeast, and heats it to kill off bugs and bacteria. The end product is a clear, slightly sweet liquid that has eight grams of sugar and twice the amount of manganese as a cup of kale, according to the bottle.
Maple syrup practically runs in my blood, being a New Hampshire native. I expected Maple Water to taste like my favorite pancake topping, but the sweetness was much more subtle.
I dug the flavor and finished off a whole bottle while walking the expo floor.
Sap on Tap offers three flavors: Original, Ginger Lime, and Yerba Mate. Each bottle costs $2.99 and can be found at Whole Foods in the New York City area.
The future of maple water is ambiguous, however, as climate change threatens sap production.
Pasta Bow Ties are chips made from layering two uncooked bow-tie noodles and baking them until they puff up with air. They come in flavors like Creamy Ranch and Honey Butter.
I tried the Meatball Parm flavor, which is the most popular flavor, according to Chris Hays, a regional sales manager with Vintage Italia. "Everyone thinks it has meat in it," he said.
I popped a chip into my mouth. It kind of tasted like that iconic gas station food, Combos, which are cylindrical tubes of cracker filled with meat and cheese — or the interpretation of a meatball sub by someone who's never eaten a meatball sub. I'd still eat it.
Biscotti for wine? Don't mind if I do. Wine Sticks are cracker-like treats crafted to pair with specific wines, such as apple sticks that go down well with Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay.
"When you're drinking a glass of wine, didn't you ever think, they need to make a biscotti for this?" said Jane Jaharian in a thick South Carolina accent. She founded her company, The Sweetery, over 30 years ago, and more recently took the brand nationwide.
I tried the Wine Sticks in the company's most popular flavor, chocolate — made with Dutch cocoa, red wine, and a pinch of cinnamon — paired with a Dixie cup of red wine.
They were incredibly tough to bite into, though I might not have stirred the sticks in wine long enough. I did find that the chocolate enhanced, rather than overpowered, the beverage.
I asked Jaharian what the recommended serving size was, and she just laughed.
You can buy them online.
Baby Well, advertised as "water for babies," stopped me in my tracks.
I know what you're thinking. I thought it, too. Babies need special drinking water?
According to Karen Meymaryan, US brand manager for Ararat, they do.
Meymaryan explained that most moms mix their children's formulas and cereals with tap water, which can carry unsafe minerals or pollution. Baby Well takes "low-mineralization water" and packages it in an air-tight pouch housed in a box, fitted with a spout. This way, the water stays as clean as it can until it reaches baby's lips, Meymaryan said.
There is no evidence to suggest babies really need their own water supply, however. The Mayo Clinic says tap and bottled water are both fine to use in formula preparations, and most minerals that occur naturally in water help people meet their recommended dietary intake.
Of course I tried it. The water tasted soft, like it had been drained from a pool of very still spring water. It tasted like water otherwise. A five-liter box retails for $5.99.
I followed my nose to a booth that smelled of bagels coming out of the toaster oven. Instead, I found these munchkin-sized treats stuffed with cream cheese.
Nick and Elyse Oleksak founded Bantam Bagels out of their Brooklyn kitchen three years ago. The former Wall Street workers wanted to reinvent a New York classic. In 2015, the couple pitched their idea on "Shark Tank" and walked away with a $275,000 investment.
Their rendition of the bagel, available in Everything, Classic Poppy, Hot Pretzel, French Toast, and more, is a golf ball-sized pocket of dough filled with cream cheese in a variety of flavors.
"The bagel is so iconic, but it's never been turned on its head," Oleksak told Business Insider.
When I took my first bite, it was instantly recognizable as New Yorker-made: hard on the outside, soft and doughy on the inside. Oleksak credited the city's water supply.
Bantam Bagels has a storefront on Bleeker Street, and you can buy their products online or in select Starbucks. They retail for about $34 for three dozen. You won't want to stop at one.
I stumbled on another hit when I found baker Kimberly Udko's booth. Her company, Bond Bar, makes "deconstructed" confections, like the Peanut Butter Caramel Pretzel bar.
Fire Cider tastes like a combination of apple cider vinegar and Fireball.
Founder and CEO Dana St. Pierre got the idea for Fire Cider after growing up with a "very German grandma" who used to "force feed" the entrepreneur all kinds of all-natural tonics.
Fire Cider combines raw wildflower honey, oranges, lemons, onions, giner, garlic, horseradish, tumeric, and habanero pepper steeped in apple cider for about six weeks. St. Pierre said you can use it as a dressing on a salad, or take a shot of it every day for good health.
The vinegar burned at first, but the honey and fruit flavors then soothed my throat.
You can find Fire Cider online and in 1,600 gourmet and natural food stores nationwide.
Most pâté is made of cooked ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste. As I learned at the Winter Fancy Foods Show, I much prefer the chocolate version.
Sin in a Tin is a chocolate pâté that melts in your mouth. Chef Will Guthrie introduced the dish to the high-end Dallas restaurant market in the 1980s and now sells it in a tin nationwide.
You can serve it on a tray with fruits and dessert crackers, or slice it and plate as a mousse. However, temptation gets the better of some: "Most people eat it out of the tin," Guthrie said.
You can find Sin in a Tin online and in grocers nationwide.
Sriracha Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup tasted exactly how you would think it would: fiery, smoky, and with just enough tomato paste to keep you from guzzling a glass of water.
You can find Sriracha Ketchup on Amazon.
I ended the show with a cup of tea made from mushrooms. In April, Choice Organic Teas launches a line of wellness teas infused with reishi and shiitake mushrooms.
Anne-Marie Phillips, head of sales and marketing at Choice, says people have been drinking mushroom teas to boost their immune system for a long time. But, as many Fancy Food Show attendees informed Phillips, most mushroom teas are "difficult to suck down," she said.
Choice blends the 'shrooms with matcha, turmeric, dandelion, and other herbs that add alleged medicinal benefits and improve taste. Phillips said a faire share of attendees asked if the teas contained a psychedelic variety of mushrooms that gets users high — they do not.