Various Artists

Sil or Evol Ving Ness shared a tea with me that was literally called “Random Milk Oolong”. So I have zero information other than this tea is a milk oolong. It’s a nice milk oolong and I have a couple more servings. It’s light, floral, and milky – read not as rich as Creamy Oolong. Thankfully I think I prefer Creamy Oolong from The Tea Haus, which is good because I know where to get more if I want more when I finish it.

We threw my sister and brother-in-law a (socially distanced) surprise baby shower on Sunday. The downpour of rain came just prior to it starting and essentially just caused everything to get soaked and had to be shifted into the garage. That was a let down slightly but overall it came together and was a fun time.

My sister’s friend hosted and was awesome at planning games and keeping things entertaining. One of her games was a chugging contest where everyone got squeeze bottles of iced tea and whoever finished their bottle first won a trophy. Before we started, I jokingly turned to my sister and was like “I got this…I could drink tea for a living”. Turned out I did have it because I finished well before everyone else and only spilled some on my shirt. Unfortunately my sister’s friend didn’t look my way until another person got called the winner. It was fun nonetheless though and the iced tea wasn’t bad either. It was a sugary peach tea and if I had to guess, I’d say it was Pure Leaf but I don’t really drink enough bottled tea to really know.

I needed caffeine but something diet friendly so I went to Starbucks with the intention of trying a Nitro Cold Brew with Salted Honey Foam (bold move since I don’t drink coffee but whatever). Alas, it was just a small on campus Starbucks that did not carry any nitro cold brew whatsoever so I resorted to a tea. A lot of their options are actually decaf so I went with the Iced Peach Green Tea for a small dose of caffeine. I noticed the calorie count on the iced tea was quite high however so I ordered it unsweetened after I realized that was due to Starbucks adding 4 pumps of cane sugar to their iced tea. That’s just unnecessary.

This tea is plenty sweet and a fair punch of peach. It’s downfall is the base coming through a bit too much and not being of the best quality. However, I have a tendency to blame oversteeping or steeping at too high a temperature since this is a touch bitter. I think Starbucks overloads their iced teas with sugar to compensate for not great brewing. That’s my theory and I am sticking to it.

Yesterday I explored a cafe in London. I got a nutella cream cruffin and a London Fog. It was weird b/c they kept asking me if I had a London Fog before and kept explaining what it was. Anyways, both were delicious. The London Fog had a great vanilla flavor and while at times the bergamot got quite strong, it was nicely balanced by the vanilla.

So I have not been drinking much tea lately but today I am moving back to London and I think once I am there, with my tea kettle in my line of vision constantly, I will get back into it.

With that said, a couple days back I was craving bubble tea. I prefer the alley but my brother, who was having bubble tea with me, is not a fan so we decided to try something new. We went woth a company called Boba Boy for no other reason than I liked their logo.

Upon searching their menu, we discovered watermelon milk tea does in fact exist (my friend has been saying that watermelon milk tea is her favorite but at the dozens of reputable bubble tea places we go to we couldn’t find it). My brother went with the watermelon and I went with strawberry milk tea with mango popping boba and green apple jelly. I may have gotten excited and went a bit overboard with the many options.

Upon arrival of the bubble tea, i saw that bubble boy was owned by Tea Shop 168 and it dawned on me why they had such rare options. Tea Shop 168 is the place all the teens who don’t know better go to. They think they are drinking bubble tea but its basically just gross powder drinks. Boba Boy also does those gross powder drinks it turns out because mine was so bad I think I drank maybe a quarter of my regular sized cup and gave up. It was so, so bad. So won’t be ordering from there again.

Yesterday Toronto got a fancy Tim Hortons right across the street from my office. It has specialty draft drinks and a whole line up of foods including gourmet donuts and timbits and sandivhes. Check it out here: https://www.blogto.com/cafes/tim-hortons-innovation-cafe-toronto/. It also has a giant line up and has since before it even opened. So, as much as I want to try new things, I couldn’t be bothered to wait…until today when I worked late and had an hour to kill before my train and discovered a relatively small line.

I got 20 timbits, a dozen donuts and their draft nitro peach mango ice tea. I was so confused by this drink because in pics it was just “nitro peach mango” and since nitro is usually related to coffee but those flavors seemed weird with coffee, I didnt know if it was coffee or tea.

Upon learning it was tea i got it. It was delicious because it basically tasted like peach mango juice. With that said, it was only filled 3/4 of the way when i got it and it was mostly foam. So it was good but also not worth getting again.

Why?!? Why do bubble tea places always insist on putting passion fruit seeds in passion fruit bubble teas. They’re bitter and completely ruin the experience of the chewy tapioca/jelly by being way too crunchy and hard. Today I ordered from Coco and this is the 3rd bubble tea place to do it. I suppose it’s common practice but I genuinely hate it. It makes the tea undrinkable for me because I hate the addition of the seeds that much.

A couple months back I tried a cafe near my house that does High Tea called My Cup of Tea Dessert. They were fairly priced and had pretty unique food choices. Also, they have a new theme each month that is reflected by their food.

Check out pictures here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt9jNHCAT10/

As for the tea, they had about 26 options of loose leaf to choose from with only 2 options being plain/non-flavored teas and not that many black tea options (which I found surprising). I ended up going with a green rooibos called Lime Cooler. My tea was minty but sweet from the lime and apple. I thought it went nicely with the foods as it was very refreshing.

Nothing about this tea time was over the top amazing. The food wasn’t the best I ever had and the tea was nice but I wasn’t begging to buy more. However, the experience was a lot of fun. I would definitely return again for a new theme to try out their other offerings.

Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2019/03/14/valentines-themed-afternoon-tea-from-my-cup-of-tea-dessert/

My family has been awesome since I have been in school. I have a loan that needs to last 3 years and that means I am usually worried when I spend money. I allow myself to do dinners with friends when I am home but otherwise I try to be mindful of spending. My family helps me out a lot in that regard and even my brother, who is normally super cheap, has been super generous. He says he is repaying me for when I used to cover his ass or buy him meals or snacks. Anyways, where I am going with this is my brother was awesome and bought us bubble tea last night. I have been craving it so I am happy he made the suggestion.

I went with caramel milk tea with coconut jelly and tapioca pearls. It was so good. A bit of a burnt caramel flavor since there was something more than just sweet caramel. Something a little deeper and more rich/dark. It went well with the coconut jelly and tapioca pearls because it balanced their sweetness. I was quite happy.

I am at my sisters place for the weekend and we went out to breakfast at a place called the Copper Kettle. When we walked in, they had their drink features displayed on a chalkboard. These features included a Winter Fog and a Caramel/Hazelnut Fog, which is what I went with.

The fog came to the table with the orange pekoe tea bag still in the mug, sticking out of the frothed milk. That didnt bode well for the drink. I pulled it out.

The fog was actually not bad. Creamy and warming with nutty notes and a distinct caramel sweetness. Would I order it again? Probably not but it was good enough as a breakfast accompaniment.

When I come back to Toronto, a friend and I always like to get bubble tea. It helps that I live in Markham and there is a plaza 5 minutes from my house with 4 different bubble tea shops (Chatime, The Alley, Coco, Tea Shop 168, probably more).

Across the street from there is another plaza with all Asian tea and foods including the recently opened Song Tea which has a cute ball pit and in theory had fun named teas like I’m not single cause I’m ugly…okay I am brulee milk tea and my ex boyfriend has a new rich girlfriend black tea. Except we fought the terrible traffic in the parking lot only to get inside and find a limited menu of like 5 milk teas, some cheese teas, and some fruit “teas”.

My friend got a lemon lime tea which literally was just water poured over lemon and limes. I got HK Milk Tea with brown sugar pearls. It wasnt bad but nothing special either. I think in the future it is best to stick to Chatime…or the alley.

There is a place in downtown Toronto, on King Street by Power St (super close to the DVP ramp on Adelaide that I take home from work every weekday) that sells Banana Cream Pie Eclairs. I think I mentioned them before but if I haven’t the place is called Roselle and they are an amazing bakery. The banana cream pie eclair is my new favorite thing and for those that like the blerg they make an earl grey soft serve that I hear is delicious, especially when you “level up” which means they enject the soft soft with lemon cream and put white chocolate pearls on top. Honestly my relationship with bergamot is iffy at best and I even want to try it (they also have an earl grey cake and earl grey shortbread cookie sandwich).

Anyways, today Waze directed me to Power Street, as opposed to Adelaide and since that never happens I took it as a sign that I should stop at Roselle. I bought up the Banana Cream Pie Eclairs and while the guy boxed them up my attention was drawn to the iced peach black tea on display at the counter, looking so cool and refreshing with the condensation and the full peaches inside. So I got one of those too. At $3.25 for a what’s essentially a cup the size of a red solo cup it was a bit steep but it just looked so good. Tastewise it was nice because despite my tastebuds still being kind of wonky, I got a lot of that fresh peach juiciness. The base was mellow and smooth with a bit of complimentary stone fruit flavors. It was definitely high quality ingredients used but as much as it was nice, I don’t think I would get it again. Just isn’t worth the price.

Got through security and customs in no time (despite getting confused by the new automated customs machines which is sad because I literally work in US immigration and deal with this stuff daily for others) which meant I had two hours to kill before boarding. Thankfully the airport has these cafe areas with plugs for laptops (so I can do some last minute work stuff) and iPads where I can order an iced chai latte with whole milk and a shot of vanilla, pay at a terminal next to me and have my drink delivered with minimal human interaction.

So I’m sipping on my deliciously decadent iced chai latte and working. Well…pretending to work really and mostly texting friends and reviewing my latte here. My spicy. Sweet. Exceptionally creamy latte.

On the weekend I was walking downtown for a friends birthday and made the wrong shoe choice and now I have a giant blister on the bottom of each foot to show for it. So at work today, I decided to not take lunch because tbh I just didn’t want to walk downstairs to the PATH to find something. So, when I got off work, I was craving something sweet and a S’mores Frappuccino came to mind. I figured that would be filling enough to tide me over until dinner but not so filling that I wouldn’t eat dinner. Plus, Starbucks was a drive thru so I could be lazy.

When I got to Starbucks though, they had no marshmallow whatever so no S’mores Frappuccino. Instead I got the Horchata Almond Frappuccino since that was what was being highlighted and I dont know the Starbucks menu well enough to think of something else quickly. They were also highlighting their Shaken Iced Teas and my coworker (the one who bitches at me when I buy Agua Fresca) made a huge stink about how amazing the Shaken Teavana Pineapple Black Tea Infusion was so I thought I would try it. I got it with lemonade because it was offered and I was curious.

I should have known better than to trust that co-worker because this is pretty meh. It is not a bad iced tea per se and its definitely got a distinctive pineapple flavor but either the lemonade, or perhaps Starbucks’ affinity for sweetening everything, makes this just too sweet. I thought a tart lemonade could highlight pineapple which tends to be sweet and tart but instead it is a slightly distracting side note that makes the whole thing seem a bit flat. This is okay in a pinch and tbh probably better without the lemonade but at the end of the day it wasn’t worth the hype my coworker made. The horchata frappuccino is pretty good though for those who want something sweet.

Toronto is a great foodie city if you know where to look and sometimes you luck out and some of the awesome local vendors decide to work together to make something even more awesome. Such was the case when Chocolates x Brandon Olsen decided to work with Kitten and the Bear Jams and Sloane Fine Tea to make jam and tea-infused ganache truffles. Nine truffles comprised of the perfect jam and tea pairings that cost a pretty penny but was certainly fun to try. Check out my review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/07/02/the-jam-tea-collection-from-cxbo-kitten-and-the-bear-sloane-fine-tea-merchants/

While in Toronto, I am surrounded by Bubble Tea places and none are more prevalent than Chatime. Luckily I enjoy their teas…well most of them. And now they are on UberEats so I can enjoy my bubble tea without ever leaving the comfort of my own home. So that is awesome.

During my first order, I decided to try a non-milk bubble tea, the Honey Green Tea. That is when I discovered I didn’t actually like all the teas Chatime had to offer. It was bitter and just not good. Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/05/10/honey-green-tea-from-chatime/

On the other hand, there are some teas that I truly love when I go for my bubble tea fix. My personal favorite is the QQ Honeydew Milk Tea but when I am feeling a little nostalgic, the banana-medicine flavor of the Banana Milk Tea hits the spot. Check out my full review of that tea here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/03/25/banana-milk-tea-from-chatime/

GCTTB

There was some sort of Blood Orange fruit tea in the TTB but the company name had been rubbed away. I think it was something like Zen Tea or Zen Life Tea but it seems unclear. It is an appley tasting fruit tea with a slight tartness. If you use your imagination it could be loosely representative of blood orange but mostly its a generic fruit tea. Nothing bad but nothing special either.

My sister took me to afternoon tea as my channukah present and I honestly have never seen quite so much food as we got at this place. Alas, it was all served by snooty waiters who treated me and my sister like idiots. http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/03/06/victorian-afternoon-tea-at-annvita-tea-room/

Yesterday my tea of the day ended up being a Blueberry Tea from the Keg. Essentially they bring a Brandy Snifter with a shot of Grand Marnier and Amaretto and a small pot of tea with one Lipton teabag. It was really nice and warm and comforting…like a hug in a glass…but it wasn’t blueberry. The other elements took over and more than anything I got a nice citrus/ orange flavor. I don’t know if I would get it again but it made for a nice finish to a tasty meal. Plus, it paired nicely with my tiny Mango Creme Brulee dessert.

A few days back, friends were sniffing teas to see which they wanted to drink and they came across a “Mystery Tea” by DAVIDs. Honestly, I forgot I even had it but everyone was intrigued by how it smelled like bubblegum/candy. So I brewed them each up a cup and left a bit of leaf for me to try it later. Well, now is later and as I sip, I am definitely getting the melon in this tea. Melon and the hint of soap that DAVIDs white teas tend to have. I can certainly see where “bubblegum” comes to mind as the melon has an artificial sweetness usually found in melon flavoring. Its not bad but I just can’t get passed the soapy base. Blech.

So in my latest Butiki order with Sil and Cavocorax, we received a sample labelled “New Taiwanese Black”. Unfortunately, I don’t know what it is actually called and that is really sad because it is quite delicious. It reminds me of Yezi’s Jin Pin – malty and rich. Notes of caramel, vanilla, chocolate, raisin, bread, everything floating around in the cup. Yum! Now to find out its name so I can get MOAR. Much. Much. More!!

Sipping on cold brewed Barley tea and I am all kinds of happy :).