Coffee / Tea
 

Are you allowed to bring coffee or tea in your luggage when you enter the US?

Yes, provided it is commercially packaged and you declare it on your customs form...I've never had a problem bringing it in, and only once or twice have they asked to look at it...

I'm not sure what this question has to do with New York. You might want to ask in the Travel Safety and Security forum where customs questions are usually posed.

In the meantime, like the previous poster, I too have purchased coffee and tea (typically from France and the U.K.) and brought it back with no problem. You need to remember three things:

1. These items are subject to duty;

2. On your customs declaration form where it says in question 11 "I am bringing with me a. fruits, plants, food, or insects?" be sure to check off "yes." An inspector, if he or she wishes, can seize something even if otherwise allowed, if you did not declare it when you were supposed to. Specially trained dogs can sometimes be seen sniffing baggage for food products.

3. Some food items are prohibited by laws enforced by Homeland Security and its agencies (e.g. CBP, ICE) and others are enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. So, for example, Cuban cigars would be under the jurisdiction of DHS while unpasteurized French cheese would fall under USDA. In some cases, even the Food and Drug Administration can examine a substance.

From the CBP website:
I have found the USDA to be very helpful in the past when I called them before a trip to ask if I could bring back certain items.

Bring me back some Jackson's Earl Gray. :)

Edited to add:

Bringing Food into the U.S.

Yes you can take tea or coffee or any eatable...

Back in '02, on my way back from Germany, they were walking around with one of these dogs. He identified my backpack and I started freaking out... I thought it was some kind of drug dog or something and I was trying to think of why he might be sniffing my bag :eek:. The handler told me that they sniff for agricultural stuff and asked if I had anything. I told him I did not, forgetting the pressed edelweiss I had. Pretty incredible that they can identify the smell of 1 small flower.