Exciting news! I happened to stumble across Teavana last week at the shops underground Holt Renfrew by Bay and Bloor in Toronto, Ontario. The tea store is found throughout the States, and is now located in Canada! Click here for a list of all locations.

 

Teavana offers some great teas, and I’m excited now that I don’t have to wait to take a trip to the United States to update my tea collection with Teavana teas! One of my favourite Pu-ehr teas is from Teavana, called Strawberry Slender Pu-Erh. It’s the perfect blend of earthiness and fruit flavours. I’m also a huge fan of Raspberry Riot Lemon Mate, which has a strong tart and tangy taste, and is great for a caffeine pick me up.

Let me know if you’ve tried any Teavana teas, and some of your favourites!

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Washington, D.C. It was a great city, and I had a fantastic time exploring the city, food and a lot of the museums. And, of course, no trip is complete for me without visiting some tea shops!

My first tea shop visit was at Teaism, a fantastic little restaurant. The website describe it as:  “A collection of Asian-inspired teahouses that infuse the cultures of tea and the ideals of teaism with the informality and casualness of America. A collection of critically acclaimed restaurants that produce simple foods from the cuisines of tea, Bento boxes from Japan, curries from Thailand, and tandoor breads from India.”

Boy, was the place hopping! It was great. I was in a bit of a rush, so I didn’t get to stay around for too long. I tried a salty oat cookie, which was FANTASTIC. (So good that I’ve even tried to replicate the cookie recipe at home). I also had a green mint iced tea, which was delicious (and they offer free refills – awesome!). If you live in D.C. and haven’t checked this place out, I highly recommend it! I can’t vouch for the meals, but I did hear that they are great. There’s a nice selection of loose tea as well.

On my way to Teaism, I spotted Capital Teas. Wow, these fifth generation tea merchants have an amazing selection of loose tea! I was in heaven – and the store smelled AWESOME (as most tea shops do). I picked up some flavoured Yerba Mate, which I haven’t tried yet, so stay tuned for my review!

I also left the store realizing that I had missed out on the Pear au Chocolat blend, so I found the Bethesda location the next day to buy some more tea. This green tea is great! While I didn’t notice much on the chocolate flavour, the blend is still delicious if even for the distinct pear taste.

Overall, a great trip to D.C. and I’m glad to see that loose leaf tea has sprung in popularity in the city!

I stumbled across this neat sheet from “Policy Expert” that looks at the Health Benefits of Coffee vs. Tea. Enjoy! (Click for full size).

I visited David’s Tea yesterday with the sole purpose of picking up some of the much anticipated Birthday Cake flavoured tisane. (Though I did walk away with some Jolly Jellybean as well). Needless to say – I was not disappointed, this is one of the best flavoured rooibos, or any type of tea/tisane for that matter, that I have ever had. David’s Tea was offering samples of Birthday Cake yesterday in the store, and the store smelled like the candles on a cake had just been blown out. It was fabulous. I sampled the tea, and it was delicious, and bought some (well, a lot) to take home. I went home and proceeded to drink 4 cups of it – it’s just that good.

So what’s in it? Rooibos, honeybush, green rooibos, freeze-dried ice cream bits, whey, cocoa, sprinkles natural/artificial flavoring. Boy did they get that flavouring bang on! I’m also a sucker for roobios, honeybush, and green rooibos, so this tea was right up my alley. Yes, it was a tad sweet, but I do enjoy sweet teas – especially in the form of rooibos!  So skip that piece of cake after dinner, and skip right over to this healthy version of the delicious dessert! In the words of David’s Tea: What’s the best thing about birthdays? It could be the presents, or spending time with loved ones, but let’s be honest. It’s all about the cake. With vanilla icing, and lots of sprinkles. And this sweet and festive rooibos blend brings the taste of birthday cake to your cup any day of the year – sprinkles and all. Best of all, not only is it low in calories, it also has all the goodness of rooibos. Talk about having your cake and eating it too.

Research has always shown the weight loss properties of tea. I came across a study where the research shows that if you drink green tea within two hours after eating, it can increase fat breakdown up to 1/3. The polyphenols act to speed up the metabolism.

Here are the nitty gritty science details from the journal that started off these studies, taken from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (April 2010):

Abstract

Objectives:

Drinking green tea is associated with many health benefits, including increased fat oxidation. We tested the hypothesis that epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the main green tea catechin, increases fat oxidation in obese men.

Methods:

Ten healthy overweight/obese males (body mass index 31.3±0.8 kg/m²) were studied in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover trial. Study supplements were low EGCG (300 mg), high EGCG (600 mg), caffeine (200 mg), EGCG/caffeine (300 mg/200 mg) or placebo and were taken orally for 3 days. At the third day of supplementation, O₂ consumption and CO₂ production was measured by indirect calorimetry to assess energy expenditure and fat oxidation over 4 h each after overnight fasting and after a standardized test meal.

Results:

Energy expenditure was not affected by any supplementation, neither after overnight fasting nor after the test meal. During the first 2 h after overnight fasting, fat oxidation increased by 7.7 (not significant, NS), 15.2 (NS), 26.3 (P<0.05 vs placebo) and 35.4% (P<0.01 vs placebo and low EGCG), for low EGCG, high EGCG, caffeine and EGCG/caffeine, respectively. During the first 2 h after the meal, the mean increase in fat oxidation was 33.3 (P<0.05 vs placebo), 20.2 (NS), 34.5 (P<0.05 vs placebo) and 49.4% (P<0.05 vs placebo) for low EGCG, high EGCG, caffeine and EGCG/caffeine, respectively.

Conclusions:

Low EGCG increases postprandial fat oxidation in obese men and this to the same extent as 200 mg caffeine, whereas high EGCG does not exert this effect. Fasting fat oxidation is increased only by caffeine (with or without EGCG). There is no synergism of low EGCG and 200 mg caffeine. Energy expenditure is not affected by EGCG.

Lately, I’ve come across a few sites where artists actually use tea in their work!

I found really neat paintings from Portland Studios, see them here.

eHow even has a page on how to paint with tea! Check it out here.

Though I’ve always known about the art of tea, taking it to the next level and using it directly in painting is a very cool idea!

More *tea art* to follow.

 

After discovering that Toronto will be getting pandas at the Toronto zoo, I also learned about an entrepreneur in China using panda feces to make tea. Yeah, that’s right. The Telegraph, in an article titled Secret to world’s most expensive tea – Panda droppings, describes how the Chinese entrepreneur An Yanshi believes that panda dung will be the key ingredient in the world’s most expensive tea. “The former calligraphy teacher has purchased 11 tonnes of faeces from a panda breeding centre to fertilise a tea crop in the mountains of Sichuan province in southwestern China, home to the black and white bears. An says he will harvest the first batch of tea leaves this spring and it will be the world’s most expensive tea” at almost 220,000 yuan ($35,000) for 500 grams (18 ounces).” Read more about this here.

So, apparently, panda dung has a lot of nutrition – making for better tea than chemical fertilizers. 70% of the bamboo consumed by pandas is excreted.

Is it just me, or does this idea sound CRAZY?! Best of luck to An Yanshi – I do hope he creates a wonderful tea. But at the cost of $35,000 for 500 grams, it better be a miracle tea!

In other news, don’t forget tomorrow is Valentine’s Day!!! Get out to your favourite tea store and pick up something special for your loved ones!

One of my new obsessions is the Food Network. Yes, this is quite recent for me. I recently picked up the Jan/Feb edition of the Food Network magazine, and to my luck I found a tea calendar inside! A calendar is included for January and February. The January edition is a month of coffee, and February is a month of tea! Throughout, there are fun recipes to try during the month – including special recipes for Valentine’s Day, the Superbowl, and the Oscars.

One recipe, which is housed on the Food Network website, is for cupcakes with Earl Grey Icing. Click here to check out the recipe and see if it will help you overcome the winter blues. What could possibly go wrong with tea and baked goods!? Enjoy!

I visited a new teashop (well, new for me anyways), last week called Tealish. The shop is located on Queen St W in Toronto, and is really great! The tea smells delicious, and the staff is really helpful. The tea list and prices are offered in a menu style, which adds to the affect of the store. I picked up some Fairy Dust Rooibos and T.L.C. Tea Loves Coffee (black tea). Both are very flavourful and delicious. The yogurt granules in the black tea stand out quite nice against the back drop of the coffee bits. Sweetie Pie Rooibos is also quite delicious, and tastes like a hot cup of amaretto!

If you ever find yourself out on Queen St W, definitely check out Tealish. Or visit them online for some virtual shopping. Tealish offers a great selection of teas, so see for yourself!

Trying to get your Christmas or holiday shopping done early this year? Check out the 12 teas of Christmas package from 52 Teas. For $29.99 you get a sampler kit of a variety of teas. Click here for details!

Happy shopping!