The Marvellous Tea Dance Company, Birds Yard, Kirkgate, Leeds
January 5, 2013 at 5:08 pm | Posted in Cafes, Reviews | Leave a commentTags: cafe, Leeds, Marvellous Tea Dance Company, Tea
Score: 8/10
This place is great fun, why did I never know about it before? The Marvellous Tea Dance Company combine a tea room and some crafty shops on Kirkgate. It’s all mis-matched china and tea cosies.
Sandwiches are brill, coming with salad and homemade coleslaw (red cabbage in winter). The tea is fairtrade, and comes in teapots. There is a selection of good-looking cakes and the promise of an afternoon tea. The only fault I can speak of on our visit was that the toaster was only half working, leading to the record for the slowest ever making of two toasted tea-cakes. That aside, what a top spot. Two sarnies, two tea-cakes, three teas and one coffee came to £20. Great value, top cafe. In fact, possibly giving Pickles & Potter a run for its money as best Leeds cafe.
Imperial Teas of Lincoln, 47 Steep Hill, Lincoln, LN2 1LU
November 18, 2012 at 5:56 pm | Posted in Tea | Leave a commentTags: Imperial Teas of Lincoln, Lincoln, Tea, tea leaves, tea tasting
Imperial Teas of Lincoln are the Norman House about two-thirds of the way up Steep Hill, so a good place for a break. In the Autumn sunshine the shop looks very fine from the outside but it is only when you get inside that you realise what a very fine place it is. The walls are lined with tubs tea and coffee and there are some very nice accessories as well. We had time to browse and then time to buy tea and coffee beans. I am now the proud owner of a couple of different types of Ceylon, which I’m much looking forward to, and the DC has some very fine coffee beans. And we didn’t event touch the Assam or any of the other huge range. The staff were really excellent, all in all one of the best tea-leaf shops I’ve been in for ages. If I lived in Lincoln, I would be in here all the time! There is also a tea-tasting area underneath the main shop, which I didn’t have time to try, but looked like you get a full tea ceremony.
East India Tea
June 23, 2012 at 4:53 pm | Posted in Tea | Leave a commentTags: assam, Ceylon, East India Company, Tea
The East India Tea has a shop on Conduit Street in London, which I visited after getting a flyer from a stall they ran at a market. I’m not sure I’m totally convinced by the range of tea on offer and the shop is so upmarket that any real enthusiasm for tea, I think, gets a little lost. However, tea has been sampled.
Assam Milk Tea has smallish leaves and a strength rating of 4 on the packet. A good cuppa, and something of an everyday tea.
I was particularly looking forward to the Sarnia Estate Ceylon tea. This is rated as strength 3, which seems a wild underestimate to me – or perhaps I simply make my tea too strong. The leaves expand on brewing, unfurling, and the liquid is a real dark brown. This had a nice character, which got a little overpowered by the builders nature that came through very clearly.
And finally, the Hollyrood Estate Dimbula broken orange pekoe tea. This has a strength rating of 5 and small leaves that look like they mean business. They do. This will make tea your spoon stand up in your cup with no encouragement whatsoever. It may not be big on character and gentle flavours, but it will kick you into the morning, no bother. This tea is the sort that probably gets into a fight with your tea caddy if left alone for too long.
Lok Cha Tea House, K. S. Low Gallery, Hong Kong Park
March 31, 2012 at 10:14 am | Posted in Restaurants, Reviews, Tea | Leave a commentTags: Hong Kong, Lok Cha Tea House, Tea, Tea ware museum, vegetarian restaurant
Score: 9.5/10
This is simply the best place in Hong Kong for either tea or veggie dim sum, or even better, both together. And, better and better, the Lok Cha Tea House is right next to the tea-ware museum so some research can be followed with some practical tea drinking. And then afterwards, you can walk off your meal in Hong Kong Park.
The restaurant is lovely and calm, with light coloured painted walls, beautiful wooden screens and dark coloured chairs and tables. Service was excellent throughout. The tea menu is something to behold, ranging from teas at 30 to 40 HK$ through to tea cakes that cost thousands and have to be ordered in advance. And the tea ceremony is quite something. You get the chance to look at and smell the leaves before your tea is made by your waiter. Hot water is used to rinse and heat your teapot, and then to clean the tea leaves before the teapot is filled with water and any bubbles are skimmed off the surface – the excess water goes into a tray under the tea pot. The tea is then decanted into a jug – to stop it over-brewing and then you’re free to drink up. Between three we had a white rose (had to be, Yorkshire to the fore) white tea, an oolong tea and a black tea. The DC of course does not do tea, what a waste.
And then the dim sum, all fab. The best thing was a yellow tofu and veggie curry, but we also had barbecue vegetable steamed buns, tomato and mushroom dumplings, steamed Korean cabbage rolls filled with mushrooms, bean curd rolls and stuffed peppers. And for pudding we had a red bean cake (a bit like a solid block of milk pudding), a coconut bun stuffed with peanut (excellent) and the highlight, a sweet that looks worryingly like eyeballs but is actually jasmine balls stuffed with black sesame paste. These were one of the best things we ate, tasting surprisingly of chocolate. The bill was 487HK$.
All in all excellent, I could eat and drink three meals a day here forever. This is definitely a must-visit place in Hong Kong. Great, super, smashing, tea heaven….
Leaf Tea Boutique, Wellington Street, Hong Kong
February 11, 2012 at 4:28 pm | Posted in Tea | Leave a commentTags: Assam Sapphire, Hong Kong, Tea
The Leaf Tea Boutique, possibly the only tea shop in the world where you get to the shop using an escalator, is a top tea spot. The doorway leads to a small shop with the tea stored on shelves behind the counter. You choose from a menu and then your chosen tea leaves are shown to you and weighed out. Free tastings available, and very helpful staff. Top shop.
Currently drinking Assam Sapphire, golden, smooth and citrusy. Brilliant!
Yumchaa, 9-11 Tottenham Street, London W1T
January 7, 2012 at 1:47 pm | Posted in Cafes, Reviews | Leave a commentTags: London, Tea, Yumchaa
Score: 7.5/10
Yumchaa have a large new cafe, virtually empty when we visited just before Christmas. The space is huge, with lots of tables of the mis-matched and slightly distressed variety augmented by a couple of sofas. There is a glass ceiling towards the back (very like Mildred’s) that makes the place seem a bit more airy and open. Nice bit of jazz on the stereo. We wandered past the market stall full of packets of loose leaf tea, and then arrived at the counter. The selection is small but well-formed, with sandwiches, cake, tea and coffee.
Two humus bagels with salad were excellent. One berry tea – loose leaf, in a pot, with a strainer was excellent, colourful and with bags of taste. One decaf latte was latte was good. And one slice of apple and apricot cake was a total doorstep studded with large bits of fruit. This came to £11.45. All very good, will definitely be back – this is a very good central London cuppa venue.
Other points to note are the free wi-fi and the spotless loo. Wonder if they hire the place out, it would be excellent for a party!
Comins Tea House
December 10, 2011 at 2:23 pm | Posted in Tea | Leave a commentTags: Comins Tea House, Tea, tea leaves
On wandering through a Tea and Coffee festival I came across a Comins Tea House stall. Couldn’t resist a couple of their pouches of tea leaves. At the moment am drinking their assam, which is quickly becoming a favourite – its strong and orange in clour and very rounded in taste, smooth and mellow, manages to be a great cuppa without feeling your spoon will stand up in it. Very good with porridge. The leaves are big and a mix of dark and light colours. And the tea is from a single estate. It’s not Fairtrade but otherwise very good indeed. A hit…
Victoria and Albert Museum Cafe, London
December 3, 2011 at 6:03 pm | Posted in Cafes, Reviews | Leave a commentTags: cafe, London, Tea, Vicoria and Albert Museum
Score: 8/10
What a find, easily the best Museum cafe in London is at the V&A.
Well spaced out, numerous serving points, loads of tables. The cafe ranges over four rooms, three are original museum rooms with lovely tiling and decor. It is in actual fact, much like a salon.
Cake is high quality, big portions and lots of choice. Tea is from quality looking leaf tea put into muslin filters in the teapots. One chocolate cake, one almond cake (fab), one juice and one tea came to £12.70 so this is not cheap – but it is a fabulous spot for tea, cakes and gossip. Hurrah!
Thehuset, Kungstorget 10, Gothenberg
October 29, 2011 at 10:30 am | Posted in Tea | Leave a commentTags: Gothenberg, Sweden, Tea
A small tea and coffee shop, selling tea pots and paraphernalia and tea leaves and coffee beans. Seems to be where the women leave their chaps at the door and go in to buy their tea.
I wandered out with 100g of Assam Golden Tippy and 100g of Ceylon Highgrown, for 108 SEK. I couldn’t describe either as refined, but they pack a punch and have a deep golden colour, the Assam in particular works better left to its devices in the teapot rather than being constrained in a filter.
Watling Coffee House, 11 Watling Street Corbridge
September 18, 2011 at 7:51 pm | Posted in Cafes, Reviews | Leave a commentTags: Corbridge, Tea
Score:8.5/10
All the key ingredients of a good place for a cuppa are in place here. This is a coffee shop in easy walking distance of the Roman remains. It serves Suki tea, which is all very fairtrade, you can get a toasted sandwich and if you have coffee you can get free refills. And there are newspapers to read. Two toasties, an apple juice and an elderflower cordial set us back £13.05. Excellent cafe.
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