Edible Tea Treats

Tea Aura Inc.
647-388-2816

Straying from a tried and true recipe can conjure up new tastes that might sound slightly questionable on paper, but the results can turn out to be pleasantly surprising. For Susan Ho, the owner of Tea Aura Inc., fiddling with a conventional shortbread cookie recipe by adding tea flavours sparked the first of many ideas she wants to undertake for her start-up business. Tired of the 9-5 office scene, she began envisioning life outside of the cubicle, "When I began thinking about a career change, my initial goal was to open a tea café. However, to be sure I wanted to take the route of becoming my own boss and a business owner, I decided to test the waters with my tea flavoured shortbread."

She invited me to the Toronto Food Business Incubator (TFBI) for a day to see her in action. During the interview, she was in the midst of producing a large batch of shortbread for a client. Through networking and researching, she found herself at the TFBI, a non-profit group that nurtures the development of micro-food related ventures in the city of Toronto. When I arrived at the facility, trays upon trays of the tea leaf shaped cookies greeted me, along with a subtle buttery aroma that filled the air.

Through positive reviews via family and friends as well as many recipe testing and development sessions, she has narrowed down the different shortbread varieties Tea Aura Inc. offers. All her products are made with finely ground loose leaf teas smattered into the cookie dough, with everything prepared and packaged by hand. Currently on her tea infused shortbread rotation are the following flavours: Earl Grey; Rooibos Chai; Matcha Green Tea; Chocolate Mint; and Lavender Currant, which is her best seller. Each bag contains 18 cookies, and is priced at $6.99. She expects to develop more flavours in time for the Christmas holidays, which is the ultimate shortbread season!

I asked Susan whether she still sees the tea café as part of Tea Aura Inc.'s future, which she answered with a resounding yes. She envisions that the café will hold innovative tea-flavoured foods of both a sweet and savoury mixture. However, she would like to see the cookies flourish first by increasing their availability in retail shops in Toronto and eventually across the country.

To pick up a worthy accompaniment to a cup of tea, Tea Aura Inc.'s shortbread can be purchased at the TFBI booth in the north market of St. Lawrence Market (92 Front Street East) on Saturdays and at Culinarium (705 Mount Pleasant Road).

Photos 3 and 4 from Tea Aura Inc. used with permission.