Posts

Posted on

Wize Monkey x Bucha Brew

Last Friday, I went to the Wize Monkey office for their launch party of their collaboration with Bucha Brew! The launch celebrated the new collaboration product, which is the first coffee leaf kombucha on the market, Bucha Brew with Wize Monkey Mango!

If you’re local to Vancouver, this seasonal flavour will be available at Vancouver beach and park concession stands this summer. I got to go home with a fun swag bag with Wize Monkey samples (all of have either been reviewed or will be reviewed soon!) and a bottle of Bucha Brew. Bayside Lounge was there to offer Wize Monkey coffee leaf tea cocktails – with fresh takes on using tea as a mixed drink ingredient (and while not the same as what was offered at the party, Wize Monkey has some cocktail recipes on their website!).

Thanks to Wize Monkey, Bucha Brew, Piquant Marketing, and Bayside Lounge for having me at the party!

Posted on

T2’s Under The Sea Jade Tea For One

Under The Sea Jade Tea For One by T2
Porcelain & Stainless Steel
$59.00 USD

First Impressions

I first stumbled across T2 online, and then in-person when I was on a trip to New York City last October. Unfortunately, I had found the T2 store on my last day and my luggage was already woefully over stuffed so I couldn’t justify buying anything else. Fast forward a few months and I wound up buying some things off of T2’s website! I picked out the Under The Sea Jade Tea For One set because I love cup & saucer sets, and I’m a sucker for a cute teapot. The Under The Sea Jade Tea For One set came to me with each piece individually wrapped in a lot bubble wrap, in a black box and that was in a shipping carton. There was a lot of packaging material to the point that I felt kind of bad about my order because of all the waste involved. However, with all the packaging material, each piece to this tea for one set arrived intact and perfect. Under The Sea Jade consists of five pieces: tea pot, lid, infuser, cup, and saucer.

I love the design on this tea for one set. I spent a good portion of my undergraduate degree studying invertebrates and the oceans, so I was quite smitten with the artwork when I first saw it on the T2 website. Under The Sea Jade consists of illustrations of jellyfish, coral, anemone, and fish. There is gold detailing throughout the design and it really just pulls it all in together. The teapot has a 300ml capacity while the cup has a 200ml capacity.

Preparation

I hand washed of all the components of the Under The Sea Jade Tea For One set prior to use – using warm water and dish soap. T2 recommends doing a gentle hand wash and the product page states that it is not suitable for the dishwasher or the microwave.

First Use

The first time I used this set, I was steeping Lemon Lily’s Rose Petal Chai. The stainless steel infuser isn’t very large, but neither is the teapot so I didn’t mind that too much. Both the teapot and the teacup get pretty warm when it’s in use, so watch your fingers/hands. The mesh of the stainless steel infuser did a fairly good job of keeping all of the tea leaves together, which I appreciated. The pour from the teapot to the cup was good, there was no dripping. I found that the handle of the teapot is almost too small for my hand to lift comfortably, depending on how I hold it – I usually wear a size small in adult gloves, so if you’ve got larger hands, you might find the teapot to be uncomfortable to use.

The teapot is roomy and is wide so it makes for a nice shape to use both of your hands to cup if you’re looking to warm your hands. I love the saucer – for both the size and the design, it’s just cheery to see the gold fish. I found when I poured the tea from pot to cup, the remaining tea is out of the way of the infuser, so there wasn’t any risk of my tea over steeping. One potential downside, there’s no little tab on the infuser to make it easier on you to remove the infuser if you wanted to after the tea has steeped without potentially burning your fingers on the stainless steel infuser.

Despite the teacup having the capacity for 200ml versus the 300ml of the teapot, I didn’t find myself filling up the cup to the brim, so I found that the teapot holds about two teacups worth of tea, which is nice as its a personal-sized teapot. I found that the teapot sits well into the cup when it’s stacked for display in my cupboards.

Overall Impression

I loved T2’s Under The Sea Jade Tea For One. I love the illustrated design, I think it’s really pretty and love the gold accents. I had no concerns regarding the usage of the teaset, aside from the handle. My hands aren’t the largest, so if I’m feeling like the handle might be a little small, I’m thinking others might have an issue with it as well. That said, it performs its function well, has a beautiful marine-themed design, and was packaged well for shipment. I wish there was something somewhere to say that the bubble wrap was biodegradable though, because there was a lot of plastic bubble wrap involved in getting this teaset safely from T2 to me.

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

Posted on

One Lump or Two? Sweetener Options for Your Tea

There are a lot of different sweetener options out there if you want to add a little something to your tea. But is any of it good for you? A lot of nutrition experts out there refer to refined sugars as being empty calories because it contains calories but no nutritional benefits, which is not what you want. I’m sure most people on the internet these days are no stranger to the phrase obesity epidemic where a lot of people (especially children!) are consuming more calories than they’re expending. It’s the sad reality in relation to eating highly processed foods and foods that contain a lot of sugars/carbohydrates. However, I believe in eating in moderation, and that includes having sweetener in my tea (especially for drinks like a London Fog – yum!).

For those using imperial measurements, 10g = 10mL = 2 teaspoons.

Honey, an animal product produced by honey bees, is a tasty sweetening option. Pure raw honey contains sodium, potassium, iron and more vitamins and minerals – depending on where the honey is harvested from. If you suffer from seasonal allergies, getting locally harvested honey or bee pollen can be a great way to lessen the severity of your seasonal allergies – have a chat with your primary health care provider or allergist!
Per 10g of honey, it contains 8.2g of sugar and 30 calories.

Refined white sugar is an easy store staple to get a hold of. It’s probably the first thing most people think of when they think of sugar and it quite literally contains nothing else besides sugar. White sugar is produced either from sugar beets or sugarcane.
Per 10g of refined white sugar, it contains 10g of sugar and 39 calories.

From left to right: agave syrup, refined white sugar, wildflower honey (local).

Brown sugar, on the other hand, is a mix of sugar with molasses. Because of the addition of molasses, you’re actually getting some extra nutrients with the sweetness. Brown sugar contains sodium, potassium, iron, and magnesium.
Per 10g of brown sugar, it contains 9.8g of sugar and 38 calories.

Agave syrup (or agave nectar) is a sweetener produced from the agave plant – which is also where tequila comes from (fun fact?). It has been marketed heavily as a “healthy and natural” alternative compared to white sugar, despite being a heavily processed sweetener product. Agave syrup is often described as being ~1.5 times sweeter than white sugar, so you need less of it to get the same level of sweetness. However, agave syrup is on par with high fructose corn syrup in terms of healthiness – it may be “better” for diabetics as it has a lower glycemic index (no huge spikes in blood sugar after consuming the product), but it has a high level of fructose, which has been heavily linked to obesity, type-2 diabetes, high triglycerides.
Per 10g of agave syrup, it contains 6.8g of sugar and 31 calories.

Rock sugar is another sweetener that often gets some fame for being “healthier” than refined sugar. Rock sugar can be either refined or unrefined sugar that’s been crystallized into irregular shapes. It can be made with either cane sugar or sugar beets.
Per 10mL of rock sugar, it contains 10g of sugar and 40 calories.

Whatever option you choose, it’ll add some sweetness to your tea. Sweeteners can help brighten up the flavour of your tea, especially if it’s a tea blend. I find that it helps make some ingredients stand out a bit more or helps to temper other ingredients, like the tartness from hibiscus. What’s your favourite sweetener that you like to use?