All posts tagged with: Tea

There are many great ways to enjoy an afternoon with friends. One special way to enjoy a wonderful cup of hot tea, or even better by making it into an affair with a complete afternoon tea service. Shaktea is doing just that. Shaktea is serving up a delightful selection of teas and snacks in their quaint teahouse located on Vancouver’s Main Street.

The tea selection is abundant, but not overwhelming. There are the classics, like everyone’s favourite Earl Grey, which is the world’s first known scented tea, to the lesser known Rooibos tea blends like Vanilla Honeybush. From herbal infusion to classic black’s, green’s and white’s, the friendly staff will help with finding the right tea for you.

But the tea extravaganza is just beginning. The lunch and afternoon tea menus are packed with treats infusing the wonderful teas too! The croquet Monsieur, a black forest ham and melted emmanthal sandwich has an organic Lapsand Souchond dressing. And for dessert, relax with Cream Earl Grey shortbread cookies and French Earl Grey drinking chocolate.

Shaktea also offers an afternoon tea service, served in a traditional tier-style, but with an Asian influence of Tofu wraps and Tsai Lo Mei (Hong Kong style vegetarian pork and chicken wrapped in endive).

Shaktea is located at 3702 Main Street in Vancouver, and is open daily from 11:00am – 6:30pm.

Food Quality: ★★★★

Originality: ★★★★

Customer Service: ★★★★★

Atmosphere: ★★★

Beverage Selection: ★★★★★

Price / Value: ★★★★

Overall: ★★★★

Inspired by Edwina Low from Glowbal Group’s Coast Restaurant, High Tea infuses a classic British tea with wonderful hints of orange, lemon and almond, creating a wonderful taste that lingers on the palette. It takes just a tiny bit of pre-planning, but it’s sooooo worth it!

• 1 ½ oz Earl Grey Infused Vodka
• ¼ oz Cointreau
• ¼ oz Amaretto
• Lemon Wedges
• Dash Bitters

To create the Earl Grey infused vodka, place four Earl Grey tea bags in a sterilized pint jar. Fill the pint jar with premium vodka. Allow the vodka to steep the tea for two hours. Once the tea has steeped, remove the tea bags. The tea infused vodka can remain refigerated for up to one week in a sealed container.

Fill a cocktail shaker half full of ice. Pour in tea infused vodka, cointreau, amaretto, a dash of bitters and the juice from a wedge of lime. Shake until the outside of the container begins to frost. Pour into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Vancouver is often referred to as a being a coffee drinking city. It’s not hard to understand why; there’s a coffee shop on almost every block of downtown Vancouver. But in addition to our addiction to coffee, is our lust for premium, high quality teas. Allow me to introduce you to the Urban Tea Merchant.

Previously located in Park Royal Mall, the Urban Tea Merchant signature store can be found in downtown Vancouver at 1070 West Georgia Street. The retail shop is an experience all on it’s own. Whether you’re an experienced tea drinker, or enjoy a good cup of tea on a cold, rainy afternoon with friends, the knowledgable staff help guide you though the dozens of premium varietals of teas.

They carry traditional black tea, along with white and green teas. Some of the teas they carry are very rare or are only available as a limited feature. There are also the traditional favourites like Earl Grey, along with special variations of the classics.

Throughout the retail shop are tea accessories, gift box sets, and other tea-related items.

The tea salon, located just off the retail shop, serves up a Vancouver-inspired tea service, including afternoon tea and other tasty treats. New on the menu for this fall are a three unique tea-infused cocktails and mimosa’s.

The Urban Tea Merchant is the exclusive distributor of TWG Tea in Canada.

From sipping tea in a formal dining room, to taking a tour of the historic and notable landmarks on a horse-drawn carriage, Victoria, B.C., is the best place to experience a taste of British heritage on the Pacific coast.

Victoria is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It’s like stepping into a wonderful blend of Victorian heritage and modern culture. From the landmark Empress Hotel and the Provincial Legislature, to the Royal Victoria Museum and the inner-harbour, there is so much to see and do.

Year round there are beautiful flowers that fill the gardens, amazing restaurants to tempt the palette, and a fantastic array of contemporary art on display. You could easily spend a weekend in Victoria and never run out of things to do.

Nothing says spring like an afternoon in the garden and afternoon tea with a group of friends. Sure, there are lots of places in Vancouver to get a good, quick cup of tea, there aren’t a lot of places that serve traditional afternoon tea. New this year at VanDusen Gardens is Afternoon Tea.

“It seemed a natural thing to do here,” said Truffles owner Nin Rai. “I can’t imagine a more beautiful setting in which to unwind over a cup of tea. The stress just melts away here.”

Truffles Afternoon Tea includes a three-tiered tray of both sweet and savoury goodies, plus an extensive collection of organic and private label teas. It’s a great value too – just $28 for two people, or $50 for four.

The first tier has a selection of daily sandwiches and fresh-baked sweet or savoury scones. The middle tier has coconut macaroons, shortbread cookies and a croissant for two, and the top tier features jewel-toned French macaroons and petit-fours. The service includes house-made strawberry jam and VanDusen’s very own un-pasteurized organic honey.

The tea selection is pretty special too. The signature tea to try is VanDusen’s very own private label black tea, blended by The Secret Garden Tea Company in honour of the visit of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall in 2010. Other teas include Earl Grey with rose, chocolate mint Roiboos, Masala Chai and Darjeeling.

Afternoon Tea is served every day at Truffles in VanDusen Gardens from 11am – closing. They are located in the new Visitors Centre at VanDusen Botanical Garden (5151 Oak Street, Vancouver).

The Jetside Bar located inside the Fairmont Hotel at Vancouver International Airport is now serving up traditional afternoon English tea service. Either before a trip, laying over, or arriving home, the floor-to-ceiling windows, over-stuffed chairs and large fireplaces are a great way to relax for an afternoon.

The signature handpicked loose-leaf Fairmont tea blends are the highlight of the tea service. There are nine distinctive blends to choose from:

• Fairmont Vancouver Airport “Jetsetter”
• Genmaicha Akaike
• Japan Sencha Fukujyu
• Cascade Peppermint
• Egyptian Chamomile
• Fairmont Breakfast
• Earl Grey
• Berry Berry
• Safari Masala Chai

After selecting your afternoon tea, served with a tea-timer so you know exactly when your tea is brewed to perfection. The first course is a fruit cleanser; a selection of fresh berries served in chilled Fairmont Berry Berry tea.

The main course includes four traditional tea sandwiches, fresh baked cranberry-lemon scones with Devonshire clotted cream and raspberry preserves, and four pastries.

To finish the tea service, there are four tea-infused cocktails to choose from – Tea Lani, Serenity Now, Sea Island Iced Tea and Beefy Tea. Each cocktail is $12.The English afternoon tea service is $36 per person and is available from 2:00-4:30pm.

Traditional English tea scones are simple to make and are delicious for breakfast with some homemade preserves and a cup of hot English Breakfast or Earl Grey tea.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 2 beaten eggs
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup dried currants

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.

In a different medium bowl, combine eggs, whipping cream and currants. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and kneed dough 10 – 12 times. Pat or roll the dough into a 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Brush wedges with milk and then sprinkle with additional sugar.

Place wedges 1 inch apart on un-greased baking sheet.

Bake at 400′ for 14 – 17 minutes or until golden. Remove from baking sheet and place on wire rack. Serve warm.

Alright folks, many of you have china tucked away in your china cabinets, storage closets, basements and attics – it’s time to bring them out and have a traditional English High Tea. It’s simple to do and a lot of fun. Besides, why not put your china to good use – after all, it was meant to be used, not stored away forever.

An easy English high tea would include cucumber, egg salad or salmon salad sandwich cut into four pieces, tea and biscuits.

To make a perfect pot of tea, pour cold water into a kettle and let it come to a hard boil. While the kettle is boiling, pour hot water into your tea pot. When the kettle is comes to the hard boil, dump the hot water from the tea pot, put in your fresh tea, and add the freshly boiled water. Cover and let steep for four minutes. When it’s done steeping, remove the tea and discard.

Depending on what kind of tea you are serving you can add sugar, honey, lemon, milk or cream.

When attending a tea party, remember standard etiquette says only the Tea Mother can serve and pour tea from the pot, unless the he / she grants you permission.

Now, go find your china and enjoy it!