Showing posts with label tea tastings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tea tastings. Show all posts

Monday, November 12, 2018

3rd Annual RBG Tea Festival

At the beginning of November, I went to the 3rd Annual Tea Festival at the Royal Botanical Gardens. 

Some of the teapot trivia
These teapot trivias led us to the 29 vendors, 10 presentations, 5 tea tasting competitions and 4 tea ceremonies! Once again, I spent my time visiting and sampling teas from the local vendors.

 An exhibit of the classic versus contemporary tea vessels.

Pretty tea china were also presented by Tea and Toasts (top) and Lifestyles for Life (bottom).

The Travelling Tea Room always has such an elegant display.

Samples from beTeas: Choco Spice Rooibos, Milky Oolong, Purple Rain Green Tea, Wuyi Oolong. 

The Tea Stylist (not pictured: my white tea sample)

Sample from one of my favourite tea companies, Monarch Tea Co.: Biscotti Spice Rooibos. 

Samples from Tumeric Teas: Tumeric Latte (my favourite), Warming Ginger, Calming Lemongrass, Cooling Peppermint, Energizing Chai.

Left: Sample of Quince Herbal Tea from Tea-ara
Right: Sample of Lemon Sencha from My Tea Brew.

 Samples from Blue Mountain Tea Company: Coconut Milk Oolong (voted as the favourite oolong at the festival; left) and Nepali Breakfast Organic (right).

Left: Organic Black, Chai and Organic Green Tea Samples from Relaxing Rocco, a new tea company named after the proprietor's cat!
Right: Infusion Organic Tea (I can't recall what I sampled).

I had a nice chat with the delightful Deb from The Sugared Teacup. Her charming tea sampler boxes are being phased out at the end of the year so that Deb can focus on her new business venture--tea postcards and art prints.

An interesting display of teacups by The Art of Tea and Tasseomancy.

Samples from the Sri Lankan Consulate: Ceylon tea brewed at different elevations (high to low).

The set-up for the Chinese tea ceremony demonstration.

Next week, I'll share what I brought home with me!

Monday, November 20, 2017

2nd Annual RBG Tea Festival

The 2nd Annual Royal Botanical Gardens Tea Festival returned earlier this month bigger and better than ever! There were 35 vendors, 13 educational presentations, and 6 demonstrations offered during the 2-day festival. This year, I focused on visiting the vendors whose enthusiasm and passion for tea were truly inspiring.

 Uva Teas Canada offered a commemorative tin to mark the 150-year anniversary of Ceylon tea.
 
The Monarch Tea Co.
The Hamilton-proud owner, Katie, is one of my favourite tea entrepreneurs and delivers excellent presentations. 
Tea samples (bottom): Madeleine Cookie Black Tea (left); Warm Peach Pie Green Tea right)

Booch Kombucha
10 am isn't too early for some  kombucha, right?!?

Blue Mountain Tea Company
Sample: Up and At Them Organic Black Tea

Victoria Road Chai Co.
Sample: Garden in Bloom Chai

Steeped Tea
Steeped Tea is another Hamilton-based company and offered their own Advent tea calendar: 
"24 Steeps 'till Christmas."

The Sugared Teacup
The Sugared Teacup offered beautifully decorated boxes filled with tea things from Tea-ronto businesses. I am soooo tempted to sign up for their subscription boxes...

Teas and Toasts
This was one of the prettiest booths at the festival. 
I loved the tiered trays made of saucers and the charming infuser holder (right).

Zhen Tea
Sample: Guan Hin Yong

Kevin Kong Wellness Centre
Samples: A black tea (top) and a Pu erh from 2007 (bottom).

The festival was sponsored by the Consulate of Sri Lanka.
Their booth gave out free samples of different types of Ceylon teas.

The Travelling Tearoom
How cute are these teapot necklaces?

The Algonquin Tea Company
"100% certified organic, hand-picked, indigenous Canadian herbs and blended herbal teas."
Samples: Awakening Tea (left); Sacred Blend Tea (right).

Left: I'm not a big fan of tumeric teas, but I enjoyed the sweet tumeric latte served by Genuine Tea.
Middle: The Matcha Uji was made from green tea leaves plants that were exposed to Mozart music to foster their growth.
Right: Vanilla matcha from Steeped Tea.

Top left: Afternoon Blend Black Tea by The Tea Stylist who wrote the award-winning Tea Book (one of my faves!).
Top right: Cinnamon Dream by Teas and Toasts.
Bottom: Samples from Chayo Tea (left) and Bon Tea Place (right).

 Tea Postcards!

Tea Butler Canada (available at the RBG)
Christmas herbal teas samples

I brought home these 2 fun tea shirts by Tea Life Brand.

I also stocked up on my favourite tea-infused lip balm by Bare English & Co.

I exercised GREAT restraint and only purchased 3 teas: 
1) Madeline Cookie; 
2) Ginger, Papaya and Peach Chai (I was intrigued by the exotic combo);
3) Garden in Bloom Chai sampler

Another wonderful tea festival in the books!


I'm joining the following parties this week:

Monday, September 12, 2016

Terrific Tasting Tea

Wayyyy back at the beginning of this year, I attended a "Tea 101" event at my local public library.

This free tea tasting event was offered by Lesley, the lovely owner of 3 Teas, a Canadian company that sells only ethically produced Terrific Tasting Tea. We sampled 5 classic teas, starting with the light teas and progressing to the dark teas.

Tea #1: Organic Pai Mu Tan White Tea

Tea #2: Organic Chummee Green Tea (slight vegetal taste)

Tea #3: Formosa Oolong (slight fruity taste)

Tea #4: Yorkshire Harrogate Black Tea
This smooth tea's name was inspired by Downton Abbey. The Dowager would approve of its rich taste!

Tea #5: Peppermint Ginger Green Tea is an exclusive blend by 3 Teas.
This last tea turned out to be my favourite of the bunch! Who knew that peppermint and ginger would taste so good together?!?

The Tea Tasters at the 2016 Toronto Tea Festival also voted the peppermint ginger green tea as one of the Top 10 Teas so I wasn't the only one impressed by its refreshing flavour!


One of my favourite fall events is here: The Enchanting Rose's Tea Cup and Mug Exchange
All are welcome to join!


I'm joining the following parties this week:

Monday, March 7, 2016

Twinings Tea Tasting with Stephen Twining

When I heard that Stephen Twining--a 10th generation Twining who has worked in the family business for over 30 years--was coming to town to introduce their new line of premium teas, I HAD TO BE THERE!

The pretty Easter-themed tea display. 
Twinings' classic and new tea products appeal to both the British royalty and modern tea drinkers across the globe. You can read about the London-based tea company's 300-year-old history here.

According to Stephen, their new Discovery Collection gives tea drinkers the "best of both worlds"--large tea leaves in silky pyramid-shaped bags.

The new teas that are available in Canada are (left to right): Exotic Mango and Ginger Green Tea; Golden Tipped English Breakfast; Berry Blush Infusion; Budding Meadow Camomile; Medley of Mint; London Strand Earl Grey. Of course, I tried all three of the available tea samples!

Sample #1: Exotic Mango & Ginger Green Tea
This was a very nice light tea with a "full, plump flavour of mango" and a subtle hint of ginger.

Sample #2: Berry Blush Infusion
This fruit infusion was a mix of "jammy berry flavours": blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry. It would also make a great iced tea in warmer weather.

Sample #3: Golden Tipped English Breakfast
This strong black tea from the Assam region in northeast India will definitely get you moving in the morning!

As the Director of Public Relations for Twinings Tea, Stephen still gets "a great buzz" introducing new teas that bring pleasure to people's lives. Even though the Twining family is regarded as royalty in the tea world, Stephen was humble and affable, chatting with attendees and and graciously granting requests for photos and autographs.

In addition to meeting Stephen, I also had the fun opportunity to watch his interview with local cable TV personality, Steve Ruddick. Click on the above video to view the 7-minute interview which covered topics such as: quality control of Twinings tea in over 100 countries; differences in countries' tea preferences; how to brew the perfect cup of tea; when to add milk and/or sugar; loose leaf vs. bagged teas. 

I have a penchant for unique tea flavours so a box of Exotic Mango and Ginger Green Tea signed by Stephen came home with me. I love the new packaging's pretty design and drawer-style box!

I also couldn't resist getting a signed tin of the classic Earl Grey Tea.
 
I'm beyond grateful that I was able to participate in this memorable Twinings Tea experience!

What is your favourite Twinings tea?


I'm joining the following parties this week: