Currently Drinking #1

I posted a tea haul from The Tea Haus a while back, and we've started trying some of the teas. I thought this would be a good way to document our thoughts on which teas we enjoyed and would repurchase.



First up is Angel's Dream. This tea was recommended to me last year by Crystal as it's one of her favourites, and I immediately put it on my list to purchase. This tea is a blend of Sri Lankan, Assam, and Chinese green and black teas; cornflower and mallow petals; and natural maple and wild blackberry flavours. You can really smell the maple and blackberry notes (it also smells a bit like anise to me, but pleasantly so). I first drank this black with no sugar, and it was very aromatic with just a hint of sweetness. Crystal recommended that I try it with milk and honey, which brought out the flavours even more. It tasted like a decadent treat, and I would definitely repurchase this.

Hubby and I both loved the Milk Oolong from David's Tea, so I decided to pick up 200 grams of the Creamy Oolong from the Tea Haus. The website describes this tea as follows: "A premium Oolong from China and the successor of our Milk Oolong. This Oolong has a smooth, creamy flavour almost vanilla like. Remember to make multiple infusions as oolongs tend to improve in flavour and body in latter infusions." This is one of hubby's favourites--he frequently requests this if I ask him what after-dinner tea he would like. I really enjoy it too and would repurchase it.

The last tea we've tried recently is the Se Chung Oolong. The Tea Haus describes this tea as follows: "Se Chung is a speciality Chinese Oolong with a slightly earthy aroma and delicious aromatic taste." One of the reviewers described this as the best tea she's ever drank, so of course I was intrigued. I've only tried it once so far, and it is indeed very nice, but I'm not sure I would repurchase it. I'll try it a few more times before deciding.

Have you tried any delicious teas recently?

Afternoon Tea at the Shangri-La Hotel

Dear blog, can you tell I've missed you? I felt a strange sensation today. I actually had the urge to blog... and by blog, I mean to put up a proper blog post, not just an embedded YouTube video. Since I was meeting my bestie to celebrate our mid-year holiday, I decided to bring my tiny DSLR and nifty fifty lens so I could document our annual tradition with photos instead of video. It felt good, and while I've learned not to make any promises, I may try to start posting more frequently again. There's something nostalgic about still images and the written word... even though we're talking about blogging here and I've really only been away for 6 months or so! Ok, let's get our heads out of the clouds. Here is our afternoon tea adventure at the Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto.










Needless to say, we had an amazing afternoon despite the pouring rain in Toronto today! We got a great table in the Lobby Lounge right in front of the fireplace, the service was excellent, we both enjoyed our tea selection, and the food was incredibly tasty. I normally am not crazy about the cakes and such at afternoon tea (the savoury bites and scones are my favourite) but the sweets at the Shangri-La were excellent. Highly recommend!

Tea Collection and Storage

At long last, here is my current tea collection. :) I don't plan to add to my collection anytime soon as I have way too much even though it all fits in one drawer. In fact, I'm going to try to dwindle it down... similar to what I'm trying to do with my beauty products.



I've listed all my teas below by category and indicated my absolute favourites/staples with an asterisk.

BLACK TEA
- David's Tea Kenyan Tinderet*
- Kapkatet Tea Factory Black Tea (purchased in Kenya)
- David's Tea Nepal Black
- NourishTea The Duke of Earl*
- Tea Emporium Winter Blend (this is really old so I'm going to steep it again before I decide whether to keep it)
- David's Tea Jasmine Black Pearls (this may be bumped up to a favourite... but I want to try it one more time)
- Lupicia Decaf Muscat









GREEN TEA (I'm not a huge fan of green tea right now so I may brew each of these to try before deciding whether to keep them)
- The Octavia Tea Company Emerald Spring
- NourishTea The Sencha Way
- Lupicia Budou Green
- David's Tea Rose Congou Green
- Tea Emporium Ming Dynasty Rose







WHITE TEA
- David's Tea Jasmine Silver Needles (I found this tea when I was decluttering my kitchen... it's the tea I used for my tea ceremony so it is also really old... I'm going to steep it again before I decide whether to keep it)



HERBAL INFUSIONS
- David's Tea Peppermint Amour*
- David's Tea Egyptian Camomile*
- David's Tea Cold 911 (great for when you're feeling under the weather)
- David's Tea Lemon Myrtle* (my new obsession!!!)






OTHER
- Teaopia Earl Grey Rooibos*
- Tisano Chocolate Tea




NOT PICTURED
- Teaopia Flowering Tea
- Various Tea Bags

That's basically it! I didn't have as much tea as I thought but still enough to last me quite a while. I had been neglecting my teas for some time (favouring decaf coffee and espresso), but the whole process of recording this collection video really re-ignited my interest in tea and I've started drinking tea/infusions again almost every day at work and every evening at home. While I won't be adding to my tea collection, I will definitely be replacing my staples as I finish them up. Also, because I'm very caffeine sensitive, I likely will not be replenishing the majority of my caffeinated teas, with the exception of my favourites.

Afternoon Tea at the Park Hyatt

It's that time of the year again! My friend and I celebrate our mid-year holiday every year with a very girly afternoon tea outing. Mid-year is a holiday we made up a number of years ago, which marks the approximate halfway point in the calendar year. The official holiday falls on June 27 but we usually celebrate during the weekend before or after. This year, we celebrated with afternoon tea at the Park Hyatt. Tea time is from 3pm to 5pm in the hotel's Annona restaurant and we had a wonderful time! The service was good, the tea was great, and the food was tasty. I had the Imperial Earl Grey and my friend had the Emperor's Jasmine.



The finger sandwiches and canapés were served to us on little plates - I liked the variety. Some afternoon tea services offer mostly little sandwiches (with different fillings), but this collection of savouries was diverse in presentation and flavour.

Crispy Cone of Shrimp Mousse, Parsley & Matane Emince
Cheddar Watercress Pinwheel on Wholewheat
Albacore Tuna Tartlet with Caper & Green Asparagus
Smoked Salmon Crepe Pinwheel with Cream Cheese & Dill
Chicken Mousse & Mushroom Fingers on Brioche

My friend liked the crispy cone the best. I kinda liked them all the best. :)



Can I just take a moment to comment on how STUNNING my friend looks? She's wearing a dress that she bought specifically for an event (she was a guest at a wedding overseas) and the blue looks fantastic on her. I also love her with straight across bangs - I think this hairstyle suits her perfectly.

The tea pastries were served in a classic afternoon tea three tiered tray.

Top Tier:
Hazelnut Buttercream Layer Cake
Red Velvet Mini Cupcake

Middle Tier:
Baked Cheesecake with Apricot Compote
White Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cream Profiterole
Cherry Clafoutis Tartlette
Confectioner’s Sugar Dusted Mini Madeleine

Bottom Tier:
Orange, Currant, & Cream Scones served with Classic Clotted Cream & Fruit Preserves

I haven't really had much of a sweet tooth lately but these pastries were pretty good all around. The cheesecake in particular was delicious and an interesting addition to the usual lineup of afternoon tea pastries - I'm not even a fan of cheesecake and it was probably my favourite sweet treat besides the scones. I'm a HUGE fan of scones so of course the bottom tier was my favourite. I loved how the scones were miniature and we each got three. I gobbled them all up. We had to ask for more clotted cream.



We sat and chatted until the restaurant was forced to kick us out due to Summerlicious reservations. They did so very politely though. :) We made our way to the lobby where we enjoyed some sweet treats that my friend purchased for us! She ordered some custom marshmallows from Boomf. The marshmallows were adorned with photos of us throughout the years - we do photo projects from time to time, we travel together, and we generally have a jolly good time together so it was fun to re-live some of our memories. What a lovely, pillowy surprise!



Here are the marshmallows! I think they look fabulous. :)



The 'mallows were so cute that I couldn't bear to eat them... but of course we did. They were soft and pillowy and sweet - just as they should be. Thank you to my dear friend for a wonderful afternoon and the sweet surprise!

Afternoon Tea at the Ritz

Nearly every year, at around the same time, my bestie and I go for afternoon tea. We do this to celebrate our (made-up) mid-year holiday, which falls on June 27. We've been to the King Eddy, the Four Seasons (old location on Avenue Road), the Royal York, and the Windsor Arms. This year, we celebrated at The Ritz-Carlton in Toronto, and we had a marathon tea session filled with delicious nibbles and lively chatter.



We were provided with a selection of teas from Tealeaves. I love the Aged Earl Grey that Tammy sent me in my care package so I excitedly chose the Lavender Earl Grey. I wasn't a huge fan of this tea as I didn't taste the lavender or the bergamot. Instead, it tasted a little like chocolate. I checked the tea bag and it was the right one so I dunno... perhaps my taste buds were a little off that day. My friend chose the Monsoon Chai, which smelled really nice!



While I wasn't a huge fan of the modern, dark decor (I prefer a traditional, ornate, bright tea room), I really liked this non-traditional tiered stand. Instead of everything coming out at once, we received our savouries first.



This bacon, spinach, and mushroom quiche tartlet was my favourite savoury treat... which amazed me because I don't really like mushrooms.




Two little sandwiches (cucumber and egg) - I usually love miniature sandwiches, but these were just ok. I thought they were super pretty though. Hubs and I went for afternoon tea at the Ritz in London during our honeymoon in 2009 and the sandwiches were surprisingly plain and boring (not tasty either).



Mmmmm, smoked salmon croissantwich!



I never guessed how much I would like clotted cream until I tried it for the first time years ago at afternoon tea at the King Eddy. Scones, I've always loved thee.



The sweets tray wasn't as pretty, but I'm glad we got two of everything. It drives me crazy when some afternoon tea services only give one of each and we have to split them all. My friend and I have actually asked for duplicates in the past and been given a hard time about it.



I don't remember what this was but likely an apple spice cake...



Cute little berry tart with custard.



Caramel profiterole... think there was a coffee custard inside?



As much as I love chocolate, I don't really like chocolate desserts. This mini piece of cake was gorgeous though!



Chocolate madeleine. :)



Lemon meringue tart! I love lemon desserts.



What I liked most about afternoon tea at the Ritz was that it didn't feel rushed... we were there for 4+ hours! And just in case you're wondering, I'm one of those rare people who can polish off the entire set of afternoon tea snackies in one sitting. I've done it every single time! :)



Outfit! I wore my Target dress with my sky high blue Zara peep toes.