Tealish
198 Walnut Avenue
416-203-3301

Tucked away down a side street south of Queen West, on a tiny, two-shop strip cleverly marketed as the “shops of Walnut Avenue” sits one of Toronto’s newest tea destinations, Tealish. With over 200 varieties of loose tea and a rather extensive menu of takeout tea options, the shop is reminiscent of the kind of place you’d get your morning cup in Hamburg or Paris, two locales where much of the world’s finest teas go down. Lucky for me it’s about 3 blocks down the street, so no passport required. At this point, like most of us, I have to admit that my morning meal usually consists of a Starbuck’s concoction. I usually save tea for the afternoon. The other morning however I decided to wrestle myself free of the stranglehold the Seattle behemoth has on my sleepy brain and decided to try one of Tealish’s creations.

I’m glad I did. Where your typical chain gang barista reminds me of a morning radio show host, Michael, co-owner and server at Tealish exudes the laid back charm of the self-employed, a big plus right off the top. After perusing the menu, I decide on something simple, an Earl Grey latte. This proved to be a difficult choice since the board at Tealish, touted as Toronto’s only tea-dedicated drink menu, offers over 130 varieties of tea, everything from semi-fermented oolongs to gunpowders, herbal blends, green and black teas from virtually all corners of the globe, South African Rooibos in a myriad of flavours, decaf, flavoured teas, the list was endless.

Still, I settle on Earl Grey and since I’m a self-confessed tea snob I’ll tell you why. (As an aside, “tea snob” sounds bad, but it actually isn’t. Most of the world’s bad tea, the kind you’ll find in a teabag at Loblaws, comes from plantations that are decidedly not Fair Trade certified, so tea snobbery in itself is actually a good thing.) I digress. Why an Earl Grey latte? I’ve had a lot of Earl Grey in my day, most of us have. It’s actually the world’s most popular flavoured tea. And with tea being the world’s most popular beverage after water, rest assured a lot of Earl Grey has been bagged, brewed and bottom’sd up. For me, Earl Grey is my standby when ordering tea in a new restaurant or if I’m offered tea at someone’s house. The reason is simple. Most tea offered in Canada is brutally bad, tepid, flavourless, usually bagged-up dust grade that offers colour and no flavour. If you order an Earl Grey, at the very least, you’ll usually get some flavour by way of the bergamot used to scent it. Bergamot, by the way, is a small hard citrus, they grow them by the tanker load in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

As I wait for my Latte, Michael tells me about his plans to install some seating out front this summer, in my opinion a great idea that will add to the corner, already home to the patio at Noche, and Chippy’s takeout fish and chips. The view will be the parking lot of a 7-11 but we’re in Toronto so you sure as hell can’t have it all.

My latte arrives, I pay my $3.50, almost a full dollar less than I would at Starbucks, and head out the door. The first thing I notice when I raise the cup to my lips is the strong sweet scent of citrus layered with a touch of lavender emanating from the small hole in my takeout cup lid. Unlike Starbucks, where tea-based syrups laced with flavour crystals are used to brew things like chai lattes, Tealish has brewed my latte with real loose tea flavoured with real bergamot oil. Just smelling the latte tells me it’s going to be great. My first sip is a little hot in order to catch all the nuance of the cup so I let it chill a bit. Once it’s cooled I start quaffing it back. It’s good. Right away it has a great full body and astringency, making the inside of my mouth pucker a little like a dry white wine. This is followed by what tastes like a blend of orange, lemon and grapefruit all blended together and compressed. Really, it’s fantastic. So much so that I downed the thing in about 2 minutes. Ah well. The Earl Grey test passed with flying colours so there’s always next time. Maybe I’ll try something a little more exotic.