I’ve never been a coffee girl. The only time I ever drink the stuff is when I’m on vacation somewhere, preferably spiked with Carolans. As a kid, my Dad made coffee in a little stovetop maker. It was our job to turn off the element once the coffee began to burble and spit, because Dad was usually in the bath (he’s the only person I’ve ever met who takes a bath in the morning in lieu of a shower).
Despite my Dad’s penchant for coffee (the looks he used to get from the baristas when he’d hand over his Big Gulp sized mug!), he also introduced me to green tea. Now I’m starting to admit that without a huge pot of Genmaicha, I can’t make it through the day! I bought a cheap and pretty teapot from Chinatown that must be at least a litre and some days I find myself downing two pots. Things have certainly come full circle from Dad’s mug to this.
Lately my night time tea is Long Beach Sunset, a chamomile and mint blend, made by the Vancouver Island Tea Factory (who weirdly do not have a website) or a classic cup of Stash Peppermint. Not a huge fan of most herbal teas, certainly not liquorice (although for some odd reason I find it really cute when people love liquorice), and nothing that tastes like dessert!
Aside from early mornings working at Starbucks making frothy London Fogs with Joy tea (the seasonal Tazo blend made with green, black and oolong), my favourite tea memories seem to heavily feature Alana! One of our favourite things to do when she visits me in Victoria (and on a regular basis when her and James still lived in the city) is to share a pot of Earl Grey with bennies at Avalon Cafe.
However, when visiting her in Paris, we took tea to the next level, and at what better place than the world famous Ladurée? A mutual friend happened to be in Paris at the same time and, lucky for Mandy, her birthday coincided with her trip. We dressed up in pastel finery and took her for tea and dessert at Ladurée Royale, described on their website as “created in 1862 and decorated with wainscoting and frescos depicting angelic pastry chefs and voluptuous ladies”.
I could go on for pages and pages about the pastries* (Al’s pink, rose petal flavoured choux pastry was actually called Religieuse, due to its similarity to a religious experience, I imagine) but, oh, the tea! I ordered Thé à la Menthe, a ceylon tea that was served in a pot stuffed with fresh mint. Alternating between bites of chocolate and hot sips of tea– heaven! Imagine how thrilled I was months later, back in reality in west coast Canada, when Alana reached into her cupboard and revealed a package of Laduree Thé à la Rose. C’est hyper-cool!
Admittedly, as someone living in a city that fancies itself as “a little taste of England”, I’ve never taken advantage of any of the tea experiences offered in Victoria. There’s Afternoon Tea at the grand Empress Hotel, the Blethering Place tea room in Oak Bay, the James Bay Tea Room and a host of others. A nice post about tea at the Empress by a visitor to Victoria can be read here.
However, with places like Silk Road, Special Teas and Plenty all selling beautiful loose leaf tea, I prefer to sip in the comfort of my own home. My favourite is the locally made Earth’s Herbal, in particular the Energy Tea and the Tea for Sad People, best served in a lovely ceramic mug made by my friend, Renee Sala.
*you might recognize the pastries from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette!
