At the end of January, I went to the Toronto Tea Festival. Canada's largest tea festival has something to offer to all tea enthusiasts and gets bigger and better each year!
T by Daniel's banner epitomizes tea lovers' happy dance over the mind-blowing assortment of teas offered by over 45 vendors. The majority of the companies are based in the Greater Toronto Area, but a few came from across the country.
The Udea Ryu style of Japanese tea ceremony was performed by Austin Wong.
To see the Korean and Chinese tea ceremonies at last year's festival, click here.
Left: Camellia Sinensis (top); Basilur Tea (bottom)
Middle: Tea and All Its Splendour
Right: Boreal Wildcraft Tea (top); Blair Elements (bottom)
Unique tea sets by Secret Teatime (left) and Shu Gallery (right).
How cute are these panda chopsticks stands?
Lionel Richie would approve of this fun mug!
The pretty teaware collections that you can rent from Pekoe and Gray.
I'm totally coveting the Duchess line (by Royal Albert) on the far left.
This charming "teacup tree" by Steeped Tea caught my eye (Hmm...future craft idea?).
Because my time at the festival was limited, I opted to visit the vendors and sample the teas instead of attending the scheduled talks.
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| Pu-Erhs |
I ventured out of my comfort zone and sampled the pu-erhs.
Left: Dragon Elixir by Tea Leaves was my favourite because of its subtle lemon flavour (I've always gravitated towards flavoured teas).
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| Oolong Teas |
Left: Alishan Chin-Shing Oolong by Capital Tea
Top right: 2015 Tie Guan Yin - Classic by Zhen Tea
Middle right: Ginseng Oolong by Genuine Tea was my favourite because of its sweet, creamy taste (one of my tea flavour preferences).
Bottom right: 1991 Aged Wenshang Baozhang by Crimson Teas--this is the oldest tea that I've ever tasted!
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| Chai Teas |
Top: Blue Hour Tea
Bottom: Chaiwala's masala chai was made with soy milk and sweetened with honey.
This delicious chai was one of the Top 10 Teas of the 2016 Tea Taster Choice.
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| Flavoured Black Teas |
Left: Passion Fruit from Teatips Ceylon
Middle: Guavalicious by T by Daniel
Right: Cream of Avalon by the Tea Emporium
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| Matcha Teas |
The genmatcha teas by Momo Tea (left) and Tea Leaves (right) had a roasted rice flavour.
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| Matcha Tea |
Matcha tea made by Wold Tea Podcast.
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| Green and White Teas |
Left: Sencha Ginger Green Tea by Majesteas
Top right: Silver Needle White Tea by Tao Tea Leaf
Bottom right: White Tea Champagne by Tea Sparrow was my favourite.
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| Herbal and Rooibos Teas |
Left: African Queen by Tea Emporium (top); Rose Tea by King's Cafe (bottom)
Middle: Rooibos Tropicana by Tea Emporium (top); Caramel Creme Rooibos by Tea Talk (bottom)
Right: Strawberry Mint by Tea Sparrow
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| Tea-Ara |
Left: The Nobel One is an Earl Grey blend.
Middle: Magic Carpet herbal blend
Right: Turquoise Palace herbal blend
The tea swag that I scored.
Yes, I fell of my tea wagon. There goes my 4-month tea diet!
Technically, I only bought the White Tea Champagne by The Tea Sparrow.
The flavoured tea samples (Guavalicious; Canadian Eh?; Vanilla Coco Loco; Cottage Night; Night in Rio) from T by Daniel were an early Valentine's Day gift from my mom. Hee!
Because I'm a calendar nerd, I couldn't resist getting this tea-themed calendar by Camellia Sinensis, a Montreal-based company. It wasn't until I got home that I realized that the calendar was in French. Whoops!
One of the festival highlights for me was meeting the author, Linda Gaylard (aka the Tea Stylist), who kindly autographed her awesome Tea Book for me.
The Toronto Tea Festival was the perfect conclusion to Hot Tea Month!
I'm joining the following parties this week:
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