Author: Michelle

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Tea Experience: Laurence & Chico Cafe

Laurence & Chico Cafe
Vancouver, BC
Rabbit’s Foot High Tea – $49 each

I visited Laurence & Chico Cafe with a small group of friends, and a toddler, just last month. This cafe is full of fun and whimsy, which is also a reflection of the style of Laurence & Chico – a women’s fashion and accessories brand created by Laurence Li and Chico Wang. The location is on Bute Street, a traffic-calmed area right off of Robson Street as the road is taken up by cafe tables and chairs, and is very bicycle-friendly. Laurence & Chico is also conveniently located directly across from Breka Bakery & Cafe, which is open 24/7 (in case you’re ever in the need for baked goods at 3am).

The Cafe portion is in two parts – one is the sit-down area, which Laurence & Chico refer to as their Afternoon Tea Salon Room, with fabulously fluffy and fringed chairs with glass-topped tables that are held up by tentacles. The chairs are stuck in place, as far as I could tell, so individuals with mobility issues may have issues getting into the chairs or being comfortable around the tables. There were some stand-alone stools. Unfortunately for my tiny toddler friend, there were no high chairs available which did not make for a very child-friendly experience.  The other part was a glass-topped bar with stools, and à la carte baked goods case for those who wanted to order something to go – appropriately referred to as their To-Go section. Their to-go cup and boxes were pink and stylized accordingly with their brand.

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DavidsTea’s Traditional Tea Discovery Kit

Traditional Tea Discovery Kit by DavidsTea
Black Tea, Green Tea, Oolong Tea, and White Tea / Straight
$35.00 for 110g

First Impressions

This is the Traditional Tea Discovery Kit, which was released as part of the Origins Collection from DavidsTea (there is also a Green Tea Discovery Kit and Black Tea Discovery Kit). The Traditional Discovery Kit consists of 6 teas that each come in a cute metal tin: 24g of Organic Zen Pearls (white tea), 12g of Organic Mao Jian Jade (green tea), 24g of Organic Gyokuro Yamashiro (green tea), 22g of Guangzhou Milk Oolong (oolong tea), 16g of Orange Pekoe (black tea), and 12g of Organic Nepal Black (black tea). I’ve linked previously written reviews to the teas that I have tried previously, and I will be showcasing the Organic Zen Pearls and Organic Gyokuro Yamashiro in this review.

From left to right: Organic Zen Pearls, Organic Gyokuro Yamashiro

Organic Zen Pearls has a beautiful jasmine aroma, and the tea comes in cute pea-sized pearls. There is a nice differing range of colours of the leaves from a dark olive to a light cream. Zen Pearls are rolled white teas from Fujian Province, China – scented with jasmine flowers. Gyokuro Yamashiro has these shiny dark green leaves, that have a slightly salty, umami notes. Gyokuro Yamashiro consists of organic steamed green tea from Kagoshima, Japan.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Zen Pearls in 90°C (195°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. My initial steep was for 3 minutes.

DavidsTea recommends steeping Gyokuro Yamashiro in 80°C (175°F) water for 1 to 2 minutes. My initial steep was for 1 minute.

First Taste

Zen Pearls steeps to a light orange colour. There’s a light jasmine aroma to this tea, which is nice and sweet. I found that this tea has a smooth mouthfeel. There’s light jasmine floral flavouring throughout, with no astringency or bitterness. I found it to put me in a very zen mood since I find it very relaxing to have a jasmine tea.

From left to right: Organic Zen Pearls, Organic Gyokuro Yamashiro

Gyokuro Yamashiro steeps to a yellow. There are obvious umami notes from the aroma that comes off from the tea. I found that there is a full mouthfeel from this tea – it’s smooth and has a light sweetness. There is a nice savoury quality from this tea, which I think comes from the umami notes.

A Second Cup?

For each resteep, I kept to the same temperature of water as the initial steep, and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep.

From left to right: Organic Zen Pearls, Organic Gyokuro Yamashiro

For Zen Pearls, I did 5 resteeps. I found that the jasmine flavouring stayed fairly consistent and it was nice to watch the leaves unfurl further with each steep.

For Gyokuro Yamashiro, I did 3 resteeps. I found that umami quality got a bit lighter with each resteep, becoming more sweet.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Traditional Tea Discovery Kit. I really love the presentation of this tea kit, and the adorable printed tea tins. For the new-to-me teas, I really enjoyed the flavours and I think that DavidsTea did a great job of putting together an assortment of quality traditional teas to allow people to sample a variety of teas. The only thing that would have made it better is if they had included Butterfly Jasmine in it.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Ahista Tea’s Om

Om by Ahista Tea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$14.99 for 100g

Ahista Tea has provided me with Om for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

I recently tried Om, which came in portioned tea sachets. The aroma of the dry leaf is primarily lavender with hints of lemongrass and chamomile. It smells really inviting and and floral, which is pleasant and makes me think a lot of summer. The idea of the name Om make me think it’s a spa day tea, which is helped along with the soothing aroma of the chamomile.

Om consists of chamomile, lemongrass, rose petals, lavender, and lemon verbena. Surprisingly, I don’t really smell the rose petals – which I often find to be a heavily fragrant ingredient.

Preparation

Ahista Tea recommends steeping Om in 90-100°C (194-212°F) water for 5 minutes. I opted to steep in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Om steeps to a light orange. It has a strong floral aroma to it. On first taste, I find that it is quite floral. It’s a bit strong on initial taste. I find that I can taste the lemongrass in Om, but the lavender and rose are the strongest flavours in this blend. I found it a bit too perfumey for me, the floral notes come off strong – which is great if you’re a fan of that!

I wound up cutting this with some lemonade (a 1:1 ratio of steeped Om with lemonade that was sweetened with honey) and found that it helped temper the floral notes a lot and made it quite pleasant.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Om once, and found that it didn’t do that great being resteeped. It is an herbal infusion, so I’m not surprised at all.

My Overall Impression

I liked Ahista Tea’s Om. I found it to be too floral for my tastes when I tried it straight – I found it to be very strong with the lavender and rose flavours. However, it does take nicely to being mixed with lemonade, which made for it to be a great iced lemonade blend, which made me really appreciate the floral notes in this flowery blend.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.