Bubble teas with a twist

A new bubble tea shop, OneZo Tapioca, opened up in town a few months ago and I've been obsessed with trying their different drinks.

This is the Jasmine Macchiato topped with cheese foam*.

*Not made of actual cheese; it was just frothed cream.

My favourite: the Brown Sugar Dirty Oolong Latte

My least favourite: the Totaro Rice Milk Tea 

(purple = taro)

From the Yukiguni Izakay Japanese cuisine and bar: 

Messy Tea with Tapioca

Have you tried bubble tea?

A 10-cup teapot

At long last, I have found an item that's been on my wish list for YEARS: a teapot that can serve 10 cups of tea!

My heart almost stopped when I spotted this giant teapot at a church sale. It was in terrific condition!

Exhibit A of my lousy bargaining skills.

Me: How much is that teapot?

Church lady: Five dollars...what do you want to pay for it?

Me: [hands over a $5 bill].

Left: The 10-cup teapot by London Pottery (Designed in England, but made in China).

Right: The 6-cup Brown Betty teapot by Price & Kensington (Made in England?).

The tea cozies sold at stores are usually for small or medium teapots. So I was thrilled when I found handmade 10-15 cup tea cozies at a local artisan boutique.

I love how the pattern features the different types of teas. It matches my coasters.

This tea cozy is sooooooo pretty!

 A closer view of the yellow teawares and purple flowers

I can't wait to use my 10-cup teapot and tea cozy at our next office tea social!

A Mad Hatter Tea Party at Work

Last week, we had a special tea social at the office.

My inspiration for the Mad Hatter theme came from these super cute Alice in Wonderland napkins, paper plates...

...and "teacups and saucers"!

(Note on function: the cups filled with hot tea were hard to hold so these cups are more suited for iced tea.)

The "Drink Me" teapot served Fireside Cider green tea by the Mad Hatter Tea Co.

We also enjoyed hot and iced versions of Davids Tea's Flamingo Fresca--a fruity white tea with strawberry, passion fruit, and little flamingo sprinkles. 

The delicious foods brought in by my co-workers.

My co-workers' creativity was impressive: The March Hare Fare (aka veggies); the Mad Hatter and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum's bowtie pasta salad.

One of my co-workers baked this amazing teacup cake (chocolate peanut butter. YUM!). Unfortunately, the handle broke off during transit. But teacups break all the time, right?

"It's always tea time." - Mad Hatter

Tea gifts from Japan

A friend visited Japan a while ago and thoughtfully gave me some really cool Japanese teas!

Genmaicha, Sencha and Hojicha teas from the Tokyo Disney Resort.

The matcha treats didn't last long!

I'm intrigued by these herbal teas: Corn tea...

...and adzuki beans tea.

I'll have to find some Japanese sweets to enjoy with these interesting teas.

A pop-up tea with macarons

Happy Victoria Day to my Canadian friends!

I love this charming British-themed melamine tray which I found at a local store a few weeks ago.

At our most recent pop-up tea at work, I served the ginger papaya and peach chai tea.

One of my colleague generously shared this box of Ladurée macarons that her sister brought back from France! Last year, Ladurée opened up a store in Toronto. I hope to visit its Tea Salon one day.

We also enjoyed lemon cranberry loaf and banana bread. Gotta love leftovers from a meeting!

Our next tea social will be held the last week of May. I can't wait!

Ginger, Papaya and Peach Chai

Chai tea is one of my favourite teas so I'm always on the lookout for interesting blends.

Victoria Road Chai Co.'s Ginger, Papaya and Peach Chai drew my attention because of its exotic ingredients: black tea, papaya pieces, peach pieces, ginger, blackberry leaves, calendula petals, sunflower petals, natural flavours.

The tea smelled sooooo good and tasted delicious. The papaya and peach were the dominant flavours so it tasted more like a fruity black tea than a chai to me. But I still enjoyed it!

I couldn't resist getting more of these cute teapot cookies from my local bakery. The blue and white polkadot motif reminded me of...

...Royal Albert's polka blue pattern!

Pottery and cookies

Last weekend, I went to the Hamilton Potters Guild Spring Pottery Show. As always, there was a myriad of teapots and mugs to admire.

These colourful mugs scream "SPRING!"

I resisted the temptation to buy more teabag holders.

(Last year, I purchased these purple teabag holders).

This teapot is the cat's meow.

If I ever hit the jackpot, I'll buy this $90+ teapot with the cute little feet.

The only teapots that my wallet could afford. 

My local bakery made these adorable cookies for Mother's Day. They're almost too pretty to eat!