Five on the 2010s

It's the last post of the decade! Instead of doing an annual recap, I decided to look back at Tea in the Valley's memorable moments from 2015-2019 (when I joined Blogland).

2015

2015 Toronto Tea Festival

1) I went to my first tea festival. Over the last 5 years, I've attended 2 Toronto Tea Festivals and 4 Royal Botanical Gardens Tea Festivals. The tea festivals are such a blast and a great opportunity to sample different teas and meet the vendors (many are local small businesses).

 

2016

Twinings Tea Tastings with Stephen Twining

2) I met Stephen Twining from the Twinings UK-based tea company. Twinings has been in the tea business for over 300 years so it was amazing to meet Stephen, a 10th generation Twining.

2017

Afternoon tea with blogging friends

3) I met up with some blogging friends for an elegant afternoon tea at Nicol's Pastry Shop. I've made wonderful friends through blogging. I'm grateful that some of us live within an hour's drive from each other so we can meet up in person!

2018

Outdoor Summer Tea Social

4) I'm so lucky that my co-workers like tea and participate in the tea socials that I organize. Over the years, our tea socials have varied from potlucks to "pop-up" teas to "teas to go".

2019 

A thrifting jackpot: a 10-cup teapot

5) Treasure hunting at thrift stores and garage sales is part of the fun of collecting teawares. After years of searching, I finally found this HUGE teapot, nicknamed "Black Beauty" by my colleagues, that can serve 10 cups of tea. So now I can share more teas with family and friends!

Thank you all for your visits and comments throughout 2019. Looking forward to a new decade of tea!

Happy New Year!

RA Poinsettia Teacup, Candy Cane Green Tea Taste Challenge, and More!

Vintage bone china teacups with Christmas designs are hard to find in my neck of the woods.

So I was beyond thrilled when I found Royal Albert's poinsettia teacup at my local thrift store for only $5!!!

Last week, I organized a "Candy Cane Green Tea Taste Challenge" at the office. We sampled three green tea blends (left to right): 

1) Tease Candy Cane Crush (loose leaf); 

2) Trader Joe's Candy Cane (teabag); 

3) Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane (teabag).

Teas #2 and #3 had the same ingredients, but we noticed a slight difference in taste (note: those photos were shot at home because I forgot to take pics during the actual tasting).

The winner was: Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Green Tea--one of my all-time favourite holiday teas!

I've also been enjoying candy cane black teas:

Top (left to right) Dessert by Deb's Peppermint Mocha Fudge  and Davids Tea's Candy Cane Crush Tea Latte.
Bottom: The Polar Tea Co.'s Candy Cane Crunch was my favourite. It's too bad that the vendor is no longer in business.

I've also been sipping other (non-candy cane) seasonal teas.

Creemore Christmas Herbal Tea by Clearview Tea.

Christmas in July, an orange spice black tea by Coco Tea Co.

(I forgot to photograph Coco Tea Co's other delicious holiday blend: Christmas Cookie Rooibos)

(Orange) Holiday spice black teas by Geek+Tea (top) and Monarch Tea Co (bottom).

Dessert by Deb's holiday teas: Santa's Snickerdoodle black tea (left) and Holiday Cranberry Crumble Rooibos (right).

At a friend's house, I enjoyed these sweet treats with a cup of Chocolate Cauldron, a chocolate orange herbal tea by Geek+Tea.

Days 13-24 of my "drink what you own" tea Advent calendar.

(Yes, I cheated and took out the last 2 days so they can be included in the collage).

Wishing you a joyful and blessed Christmas!

A Very Merry Christmas Tea with Geek+Tea

December 15 was International Tea Day. So it very was fitting that on the 15th, I attended "A Very Merry Christmas Tea" hosted by Geek+Tea--a local business that grows and blends organic and direct-from-farm teas!

I love the unique artwork and names that celebrate sci-fi shows and books, and that the teas were available in 15 gram samplers. I had a lovely chat with the proprietor, Alyson, who encouraged us to try out any of the teas on display.

Sample #1: Shire Organic Green Tea was inspired by Lord of the Rings. It was a nice delicate green tea (I forgot to take a photo. Whoops!).

Sample #2: 221B Organic Black Tea was inspired by Sherlock Holmes' London address. This smoooooth black tea blend had a delicious vanilla and coffee flavour!

Sample #3: Snow Maple Organic White Tea was inspired by Game of Thrones. I really enjoyed the light sweet flavour.

Sample #4: One Apple a Day Keeps the Dark Lord Away was inspired by Harry Potter. It was a very tasty apple chai blend.

Samples #2-4 came home with me, as well as some additional teas.

 Days 1-12 of my customized Tea Advent Calendar.

We're more than halfway to Christmas!

One of my tabletop trees is decorated with teabags that were too pretty to throw away.

2019 Tea-Themed Christmas Tree

Did you know that the first Saturday of December is National Christmas Tree Day in Canada?

My tea-themed Christmas went up a few weeks ago.

Left: My brother gave me this cute teapot with the striped handle and spout last Christmas.

Right: The Hallmark Keepsake Tea Time! Nutcracker set was a post-Christmas sales purchase (I'm currently stalking at Hallmark: the "Chimney Sweep" teapot and Mrs. Potts and Chip.)

The following photos feature the new additions to the tree this year.

A green matcha tea frappucino ornament from Michaels.

I hemmed and hawed over buying this Hallmark teacup ornament for regular price. But I hadn't seen it at other Hallmark stores and it was the last one left so it went home with me!

I normally don't invite skunks into my home, but this purple-coat wearing, teacup-holding little fellow made me smile.

Here's the sparkly teapot broach that I purchased at the RBG Tea Festival!

My mom gave me these elegant pink and gold tea ornaments from The Tea Room in Streetsville. The teacup is the size of a demitasse. Can you spot the gold forks and spoons?

Also from my mom: this adorable bunny in a pink teacup! (This will also be part of my Easter decor.)

This is my favourite new ornament: an embroidered teapot from HomeSense.

My tea-themed ornaments bring me joy during the festive season.

Do you have any tea-themed ornaments or Christmas decor?

4th Annual RBG Tea Festival

In early November, I went to the Annual RBG Tea Festival. This is the fourth year that the tea festival has been held at the beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington.

I arrived promptly at opening time and made a beeline for Dessert by Deb's charming booth. I had a great chat with Deb (her past business was a tea subscription box called The Sugared Teacup). The dessert teas all smelled sooooo good! 

I also had a nice chat with Katie (not pictured), who owns one of my favorite local tea companies: Monarch Tea Co

Top: Tea with Tracie

Bottom: 3 Teas

 The lovely Linda from The Travelling Tea Room

Relaxing Rocco: This is the first tea business (to my knowledge) that is named after the owner's cat!

Samples from Teas and Toasts

Samples from Blair Elements (left) and Blue Mountain Tea Co (right).

Sencha green tea and matcha samples from Momo Tea.

Infusions Organic Tea

The "Addicted to the Pot" sign made me smile.

Samples from Tumeric Teas

My favourite was the Bliss Organic Cocoa Lattle Blend.

The matcha hot chocolate from Plan De Vida was a big hit and sold out quickly.

The Consulate General of Sri Lanka was giving out free samples of their Ceylon Teas. It was interesting to see and taste the differences in teas from varied elevations.

I purchased this sparkly teapot broach from Teas and Toasts.

My tea haul from Blue Mountain Tea Co, Dessert by Deb, and the Monarch Tea Co.

My tea empties from the November sipdowns.
Whoops, I did it again! I brought home more teas than I finished!

Today is Cyber Monday. If you're looking for new or unique teas, please consider ordering online from these tea companies. Many of them are currently offering special promos. This is not a sponsored post. I just like to support local Canadian tea businesses--they work so hard to share their love and bring us high-quality tea!

Ladurée Boutique and Tea Salon

Back in September, I visited the Ladurée Bouique and Tea Salon in Yorkdale Mall for the first time!

This Parisian-style tea room opened its first Toronto located in 2017.

Ladurée is world renowned for its French macarons. At the the tea salon, you can enjoy breakfast, lunch, desserts, and of course, the Ladurée Afternoon Tea Experience!

Seating is limited so reservations are a must! 

(We went on a weekday morning when it wasn't busy yet.)

I ordered the Mélange Ladurée Special--a delicious sweet fruity black tea.

We didn't have time for the Afternoon Tea Experience, so we enjoyed the macarons (Chocolate Earl Grey, Maple, and Marie Antoinette) with our tea.

Ladurée also has a Tea Salon in Vancouver and will be opening its second Toronto location in the downtown Financial District.