House of Tea
1015 Yonge Street
416-922-1266

Marisha Golla, owner of House of Tea, knows her stuff when it comes to the steeped beverage so many people love. She’ll tell her customers green tea only needs a minute and a half to steep, and that it shouldn’t be brewed in boiling water (let it cool down for a minute or two). She’ll inform them of what type of tea would be good for fighting a cold (sage), and will kindly warn them not to drink caffeinated blends after 6 pm if staying awake all night isn’t their thing.

Continue reading A Full House of Tea »

Niche Coffee & Tea Company
1364 Danforth Avenue (plus one other location)
416-466-2547
Cost of tea and dessert for two with all taxes and tip: $10

I hate to admit it, but I’m a Starbucks regular. There’s something to be said about the chain’s consistency, their generally friendly service and the convenience of never being more than a block or two away from one. And really, up to this point, I’ve never found an ideal alternative that’s close by. But a few trips to the independently-owned Niche Coffee & Tea Company has me gradually changing my loyalties. And because I enjoy a good cuppa tea just as much as an Americano (and it’s minus the jitters), I was thrilled to taste Niche’s Earl Grey - many cuts above the new-age, guru-approved Tazo crap they serve at the ‘Bucks.

Continue reading Tea Done Right »

EPIC Restaurant, Fairmont Royal York Hotel
100 Front Street West
416-860-6949
Afternoon tea service for two with all taxes and tip: $50

While I generally have a reputation with almost everyone who knows me as being a loudmouth tchoula (Spanish slang for “ballsy broad”), I’ve also got a bit of a fussy girlie side that occasionally requires doses of pink, bouquets of flowers and formal dainty things like afternoon tea.

I hadn’t been to tea at the Fairmont Royal York in almost a decade, back when it was in a little open tearoom in the west end of the hotel just outside the magnificent ballroom. The space was light and pretty, designed to evoke a Victorian garden, with trellises of flowers, a high ceiling and a little railing around the space that I always wished was a picket fence.

Continue reading Tea for Three X Three at the Fairmont Royal York »

La Tea Da
2305 Queen Street East
416-686-5787
Afternoon tea for two, all taxes and tip: $35

Have you ever glanced at people’s food as you walked by a restaurant window? Has your glance ever turned into a gaze? Has your gaze turned into a stare as you stopped walking in order to scrutinize the diners’ meals? And did you then press yourself against the restaurant window until your face was transformed into a grotesque mask of hunger and desperation? Did the management of the restaurant have to go outside and confront you? Did a fierce physical contest ensue?

No? Well, nothing like that has happened to me, not lately anyway, and not in front of La Tea Da, a tea room on Queen Street East. That would be most uncouth. No, after one quick look at its charming exterior, I was inside its equally charming interior and seated with my family for a genteel afternoon tea. And it was the gentility of a tea room I sought- a soothing, linen draped sanctuary from the coarseness of everyday life.

Continue reading A Tea Room with a View »

Yes, I’m a tea snob. But I come by it honestly. My family has been in the tea business for 30 years and as such I’ve had the pleasure of sampling countless hundreds of teas from just about every corner of the planet. Gunpowders from China, wiry leafed black teas from Sri Lanka, organic Fair Trade teas from Guatemala, you name it, it’s been down my gullet. As such, there are a few facts about tracking down the world’s finest teas that I can share:

1. It typically involves at least 40 hours of travel to the word’s most far-flung quarters.
2. It frequently involves the accompaniment of armed guards.
3. It almost always involves at least one near death experience either at the hands of bandits, seated on the scantily-padded seats of a hand-me-down down bus, or as the result of eating something you wish to God you hadn’t.

Continue reading Confessions of a Tea Snob »

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.

Continue reading A Visit with the Earl of Grey at Tealish »