Snacks: Hmmm, what's that?! - Taiwanese dessert chocolate candies

Wow, haven't done a snacks post in a long time.  Been eating a little healthier and trying to save money to feed my addition for tea, but this treat I could not pass up trying!

Two of Taiwan's most iconic foods are now little chocolate candies: bubble tea and pineapple cake.

I have a soft spot for the company's strawberry chocolate so am always looking out for their chocolates.  These squares are also very cute (IMO).

So, how were they?

First, I have to say I like the wrappers.

Second, marks for trying to incorporate texture in both pieces.  Adding a "BUBBLE" or tapioca-like pearl into the tea flavoured chocolate and some cookie like texture into the pineapple flavoured chocolate.

But, in terms of taste there was something a little off in the bubble tea one, not quite the tea flavour I was expecting but it is milky.  The pineapple tasted more real but I'm a little put off by the orange colour.  Anyway, I think they are great to try for the novelty of it all or as a gift to bubble tea loving people, but not sure if I'd buy it regularly if I was in the mood for sweets.

Ingredients list for those interested...

Picture Update

I've been taking pictures but have been quite preoccupied to post so here is a picture update of what I've been doing lately and some of the meals I've had recently...

Chrysanthemum honeysuckle tea and pineapple bun (BLB) with half slab of butter at Lucculus Bakery in downtown Markham. ..yum!

Red oolong from Thailand with a cranberry scone at home.  Enjoying the tea subscription from Thetea.pl and must do a dedicated post soon for their tea club!

Homemade gooseberry and sweet potato filled mochi/daifuku...still need practice but love the burst of tartness of the gooseberry.

Tried the Love Me Sweet chocolate cheese tart...pretty good.

Game of Cheese...a fusion pasta restaurant at Commerce Gate in Richmond Hill surprised us.  This spot has changed restaurants so many times that it seemed abnormal to see it so busy and with reserved tables!  Service was very polite.

Chicken and Duck Korean restaurant. ..enjoyed the side dishes (banchans) and the broths were comforting however the duck soup lacked quality duck pieces...mainly bones.

Lunch at home using leftovers. ..love adding pickled turnip and carrots to savoury dishes.

Aged tea....mmm.

Matcha bingsoo from The Cups on Yonge.  Thanks to my friend who came to enjoy this with me one hot afternoon! 

At the North York Centre farmers market held every Thursday. ..bought the sweetest cheddar from Monforte Dairy.

Enjoying a weekday lunch special at Ten Ren's Tea at Times Ave.

Made half decorated hedgehog cookies with some cookie cutters I bought a while ago.

That's it for now.  Hopefully I'll be able to do some more dedicated posts soon.

Dazzling Cafe in Toronto

For months I could only see a glimpse of the distinct pink and white front signage for Dazzling Cafe from afar but never confirmed what it was till recently.  In Taipei, Dazzling Cafe is well known for it's desserts and specifically honey toast.  When they first opened, line ups would be so long that on my last visit to Taiwan, I didn't attempt to go.  But upon realizing they have opened a Toronto location just down the street from where I am, I decided it was time to try this dessert cafe.

The decor is very cute and feminine; typical of some places in Taiwan where girlfriends love to gather for brunch or dessert.  It definitely makes you feel quite "girly" and although I'm past the age of baby doll dresses and reading ViVi magazine, I still love the dining experience of something so cute.

Chairs with bunny ears :)

We had gone for dinner despite knowing the food options were not going to be plenty nor were portions going to be large.  I figured we'd make up the calories with dessert!  :)

Ordered popcorn chicken, came heavily seasoned with five spice powder and pepper, not bad.

I had the bacon and poached egg pasta which looked and tasted good but portions were small for North America.  Very normal for Taiwan though.  You also don't get much in the way of bacon but the egg was poached well.  The pasta wasn't very heavy, if you're used to rich sauces you may not enjoy it as it was more light and pleasant.

My partner had the pork jowl baked rice.  Tasted good as well but very small portions.

We each got a milk tea which tasted fine, nothing spectacular though.  We did ask for reduced sugar and ice.  Too bad they didn't have any special set meals where the drink is at a discount.

Dessert...

Hazelnut chocolate honey toast was a mountain of bread, ice cream and whipped cream.  It was good but definitely lacked enough ice cream and had too much whipped cream to really make it an extraordinary dessert.  And I think I was disappointed that the ice cream was vanilla.  They cut the inside of the toast into cubes and the hazelnut choocalate part was a small amount of nutella piped into each cube.  In the end, we had quite a bit of the toast shell left over.  If they made this with even just one more scoop of ice cream it'd be much better.

Service was great which always makes the experience better.  They have a small upper level and I noticed a few high chairs were available for those bringing little ones.  Overall, it is expensive for what you get, but I'd consider coming back again for a bubble tea and/or dessert with friends.


Dazzling Cafe

37 Sheppard Avenue E
Toronto, ON M2N 7K1

T:  647-723-7300

http://dazzlingcafecanada.com/

Reading - Thoughts from a year ago

I had stopped blogging for a while and also stopped reading, but I came across a post about a collection of shorts (almost mini-documentaries) on bookstores in Taiwan.  I love bookstores for some reason.  I haven't read a lot, but walking through a bookstore and just browsing the books gives me some feeling that I might stumble upon something unique or great.  So, after watching a couple of these "mini-docs", it indirectly introduced me to a Taiwanese drama called "Lovestore at the Corner" 巷弄裡的那家書店.  I don't usually watch Taiwanese dramas as they usually are not that great (same kind of story lines, acting is average at best), but this one was intriguing.  It uses poetry and quotes from books to enhance what the characters are feeling or to convey a thought.

The drama I know is not for everyone, but I liked it except the ending (I won't spoil it)...It was just disappointing, it really wasn't a satisfying ending and although it tried to convey one last message, it screwed the feelings you have for the rest of the story.

However, despite the ending, this really got me inspired to read again...but not non-fiction like I have been reading, but fiction and more specifically, literature.  Haruki Murakami is mentioned several times and he's an author I've been meaning to read but did not.  Not until now.

I've come across Murakami several times before and have just never gotten around to reading his books or shorts.  I first came across his book IQ84 in the bookstore at the airport several years ago.  I thought it was so interesting that this Japanese writer had his novels translated to English (as it doesn't happen very often) and is well received.  I thought to myself that upon getting home I'd check it out at the library but never did.  Then years later through one of the bloggers I read, she wrote an amazing post that incorporated an excerpt of one of his stories and then again was intrigued.  In the end, I didn't pick up a book.  Then, the drama references his books and it makes me think.  Something is telling me to pick up a book of his.  If you have ever read The Alchemist then you know what I mean when I started to feel like something in this world is telling me something.

I picked up the Elephant Vanishes from the library, a collection of short stories as I thought that was a good place to start since each story wouldn't take too much time rather than investing a lot of time on a novel I might hate (plus, I didn't want to wait for one of his more popular books).

The stories are very unique and most have kept my attention from beginning to end.  To be honest, some stories just go over my head, but there was one called "Sleeping" that I thought was quite good.  It broached the question of routine, expectations of a wife/mother, and the internal conflict we may feel.  When a female gets married, there may or may not be a change to how much time we spend on ourselves.  But, when a female has a child there is often change...change in that the female gives up her own desires and life for her family - or at least puts it on hold.  For those that have not experienced this, it may sound strange and it's not in every case, but many of the mothers I know give so much of themselves that we forget to take care of ourselves, forget to do the things that we once enjoyed, forget to do the things that make us happy aside from making our family happy.

Don't get me wrong, I love having a child, but your life slowly revolves around their well-being.   To have dinner by 6pm so you can get them to sleep by 8 which means no late nights out, no midnight drives to a Chinese restaurant for food, no going to certain restaurants because it's not kid friendly.  Sure, you can hire a babysitter, but then how many people can you trust?  At what age?  How often?  Now, those that have parents they can leave their children with do not know how lucky they are...to have a night out with your significant other is amazing!

Even the food you eat is dictated by your child unless you decide to make 2 separate meals all the time.  I had thoughts that I would feed my child a variety of foods and flavours and textures but you know what...it didn't always work out that way.  She would take one bite and spit it out.  She would look at it and not even want to try it.  You spend an hour making something and she doesn't eat it...then you got to find something else, a back up.  Meal time takes longer than expected.  She eats certain vegetables but if the texture is not right, she doesn't want it.  You decide, fine, don't eat but as a mother you know she'll be hungry later and then what?  Say to a hungry toddler, no, there is nothing you didn't eat dinner?  You serve fruit and then it is bedtime...but then you worry she didn't get enough protein or nutrients...(This is my own experience and maybe just me, but I definitely applaud those parents that have a less stressful experience.)

The list goes on...

But, having a child has rewards that are unquantifiable and I would never give it up. However, at some point you start to realize...I used to do this...or we used to enjoy doing that...or you wonder, what makes you YOU?

Most often when you meet people for the first or second time, people will often ask what you like to do...there would be lots of things I would come up with and I'd be actively doing those things.  But now, I could tell people I still like those things but just don't do them now - other priorities.  When we define ourselves, how is it that we define ourselves?  By what we do as a living?  By what we like to do in our free time?  How about what inspires us?

Anyway, I wrote this about a year ago. 

Life has gotten more challenging and many of my hobbies are still on the back-burner, but it's all about balance.  One thing I'd like to say is this year I've come across some poetry and in various and surprising places, the praise for writings by Marcel Proust.  So, I thought it was high time I published this post just to share something a little more personal.  I'm currently reading another non-fiction book called Flavor as food and science always interest me, but reading fiction and poetry is something I think I need more of these days.

Sasaki Pastry - Second Location

Newly opened in North York!

Sasaki Fine Pastry offers a selection of freshly made daifuku or filled mochi and they were very well made!  YUM!  The original location is in J-Town but I rarely go there so it's great they have opened in my neighbourhood.  Picked up a sakura cream and a houjicha cream mochi and both were billowy soft, had a good ratio of filling to skin and perfect as a small treat with tea.  They're not as QQ or have as much of a chew as some Taiwanese mochi but I think a lot of people prefer this soft texture.

The sakura was more subtle in flavour while the houjicha was much stronger which I liked quite a bit.  The houjicha cream was surrounded by a layer of red bean and worked well.  

I love making mochi myself but when I don't do it often, the uniformity can be a challenge.  It also takes quite a bit of time to make a small batch (cream filled is also finicky) so I'm quite happy that I can get it ready made and in various flavours.  They do cost $2.50 each but considering I haven't had much time these days and I also don't have to wash up, it's worth it!

I was in a rush unfortunately and couldn't stay to take pictures of the interior but the space is small with a few tables; this would definitely be more a take-out place.  They also have some beverages and sell dorayaki.  Service was friendly.

Sasaki Fine Pastry

112-10 Northtown Way
Toronto, ON M2N 7L4

T: (647) 349-2288

Sansotei Ramen in North York

Hello Sansotei!  Welcome to North York!

I'm a fan of Sansotei Ramen and when they opened up shop in North York, a 10 minute walk away, I had to go!  They have two downtown locations, one in Markham and one in Ottawa.  I've been to all except Ottawa but downtown and Markham locations are not always convenient.  The space here is not too bad, several rows of bar height tables and at the back there were regular tables with what looked like cushioned seating along the back wall.

Started with the chicken karaage which was crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside...not really salted though.

Then I had the tonkotsu ramen pictured above which was very good! Pork belly was tender and had just the right amount of meat to fat ratio.  Other toppings were okay; the soft boiled marinated egg was done very well. The tonkotsu broth was very flavourful, rich, and not overly salty...no problem finishing the soup.

We didn't have dessert but picked up a bar of chocolate.  It was an organic and vegan dark salted caramel chocolate bar.  Made in Vancouver by Fitzys Chocolate.  Three square pieces for $4.50, it was a bit expensive but I wanted to try it out...not bad, very smooth, but I'm not sure I'd buy it again.  I guess taste wise it wasn't that special, but if you're vegan, this would be a good option.  But strange that a pork based broth ramen place offers vegan chocolate though...maybe for those that require a dairy free diet?

Anyway, I'm sure if you're going to Sansotei it's not for the chocolate but for the ramen and it is very good!

Sansotei Ramen

13 Byng Avenue

North York, ON, M2N 5R7

T: 416-901-1160

http://www.sansotei.com/

Mabu Generation

Mabu Generation, a Taiwanese bubbletea restaurant and bar (yes bar) at First Markham Place has been open for a few months now.  I believe they are the same owners as Mabu Station at Yonge and Finch who have decided to expand and include alcohol on their menu of drinks and more food options.  This definitely sounded intriguing and with the modern design, I wanted to try it out even though I'm not drinking right now.

Besides offering Taiwanese food like Mabu Station, they also offer a number of Japanese dishes and hot pot for one.  Their dessert selection also is a bit different and includes a variety of matcha items.  However, this next generation is also more expensive than Mabu Station.

I was disappointed.  Well actually, the service was quite good but the food...ahhhh, needs much improvement!

Unfortunately the place is dim because of the hipster lighting so the pictures didn't turn out very good.  My meal was a Grilled Chicken Donburi (or House Special Don) but looked nothing like the photo in the menu.  The chicken tasted good but there just wasn't enough meat or seasoning for the rice; the presentation was quite poor, like someone just slopped it together.

Braised Taiwanese beef noodle...poorly done as well.  Meat was not tender and the noodles were too soft and the soup was not up to par.  Given that Taiwanese beef noodle is almost like the national dish, I would have expected at least average but sadly it wasn't.

My friend ordered the curry pork cutlet and she said it was okay but very salty.  Nothing to rave about.  Nor was the mini hot pot another friend had ordered.

I also had the mochi waffle with ice cream pictured above.  This was better than my meal.  The waffle was entirely mochi, a good size and tasted okay, soft and chewy.  Part of me expected a wheat based waffle stuffed with mochi filling though...I guess I've been seeing too many pics from cafes in Taiwan that make a mochi waffle but the mochi is a filling inside so you still get a nice crisp exterior and a chewy centre.  

As I said, decor was really nice (too many people to take a picture of the inside, sorry) and I think for an evening with friends it would be an okay place to chat with friends over tea and dessert.  I say this because our experience with service was good so could be worth giving them a try if you're in the area.  But for lunch or dinner I would pass, there are much better places.

Wall mural of the popular tourist and day trip town Jiufen.

Mabu Generation

Unit #23-26, 3235 Hwy 7 E.  (First Markham Place)

Markham, ON L3R 3P3

T: 905-604-8358

http://mabugeneration.com/english

Hello March: I'm Dreaming of...

The wonders of technology!

I did not draw or paint the above picture.  Rather I took a picture on my camera and with a free app converted it to the above sketch/watercolour.  Absolutely love this app.  Of course hand sketching or hand painting would be even better but I really don't have those talents, nor can I spend time cultivating them

...maybe in a decade or two :)

So what does this have to do with March?

Well, my thoughts for March began with this rare picture I took.  Most of my pictures are up close of food or tea.  But there were a few times recently where I would have to stop my tea session and do something else and while at a distance I began to admire my tea setting from afar. 

I love every piece there.

As I drink more tea, a good tea drinking experience is one of the things I'm after...the tea, teaware, and your surrounding setup are important.  Doesn't mean I don't just drink tea as a beverage because there are days where a mug of tea is great.  But every tea lover has their own philosophy on tea drinking and I think I'm still developing mine.  Before I focused on only the tea, then I started to really think about my teaware. I love acquiring teaware but if I just had these pieces I would still be happy.  Even a simple five dollar gaiwan is fine if that's all I had, but teaware is a luxury I've come to appreciate and will save for pieces I adore.

So now comes the surrounding setup.  I don't have a special room or table...this is just the dining table.  The bamboo tea tray is useful but I've been considering using a tea cloth (chabu) to change things up.  Besides this, many people will also have some sort of greenery to enhance the atmosphere.  I'm really, really bad with plants so I never thought of it or never aquired vases because they would be empty if I did.  But the mandarin oranges on the table was a pop of colour, an element of freshness that I liked.  

So, with signs of Spring often showing up in March, in March: I'm Dreaming of... 

Something green to add to my tea space.

Kim's Nature is a place I recently was told about and plan to visit since they look like they have a great selection of plants, particularly succulents and bonsai.

I'm not capable of owning a bonsai, but for those that are looking for some inspiration and for some really lovely pics, here is a new kind of bonsai, aqua bonsai.

For more inspiration, I've found it through various Instagram pics

...@a.light.thing...all are great but here are some recent ones I like: this one dated march first and one feb twenty-third.  She sometimes matches a quote or poem to her picture which I love.

...@pekoeandimp for the consistently lovely setup

...simple outdoor tea setups like here.

There are so many more and propably people I don't know about but thought I'd highlight a few.

Making my own chabu/tea cloth.

I have a hobby of making little coin purses and have acquired a bit of fabric.  Most are small pieces of fabric that are actually too small for this project, but I have a couple that might work.  I'm not certain if this will be doable but that's what this series is about isn't it :)  

Bitterleaf Teas' Raw and Ripe Puer Gift Pack

A little while back I made the decision to start drinking more puer tea so this post is an update.  Bitterleaf Teas was the brand I decided to start with for several reasons...the first being I wanted more than half of what they were selling!  Their teas sounded great and their teawares were so beautiful.  If you check out their website or Instagram, almost every photo gives off a feeling of serene calm, beauty, and quality.  I have to admit, I can be swayed by pretty things (lol!). But, I also like to read reviews and there were also many positive online reviews.  What I also liked was how well they described the teas and steeping suggestions which makes it a little easier for someone new.  Prices also seemed reasonable - I'll have to buy and taste more teas from different sources to really made a judgement though.

Thus, I ordered a number of teas from Bitterleaf Teas and one of the items was a gift pack containing a raw (sheng) and a ripe (shou) puer.  These teas were a great introduction to puer for newbies like me and thought I'd share my experience.

First up was the ripe puer, Black Beauty 2009 Meng Hai Imperial Ripe Puer.  I'm still getting familiar with the different areas/mountains as each area produces certain characteristics but I have to admit it's been slow learning for me right now.  If you're new like me, Teadb is a good resource and here is a link to some info about Menghai County.

I'm not exactly new to ripe (shou) puer but am new to quality ripe puer so this was an easy one for me.  For those that have not tasted ripe puer before this one would still be nice to drink but would be unlike the usual teas available in the North American market.

Brewed using 1g per 30ml as suggested.  

Boiling water.

Rinse: quick.

1st steep: 3 secs.

Subsequent steeps: +3 secs and then +5 secs.

First off, this is very fast brewing!  I'm used to brewing at 45 secs to 1+ minutes for other teas so it took some getting used to.  The colour of the tea soup is very nice deep red. The tea was earthy, malty sweet, and smooth; very refined.  My personal experience is each infusion wasn't too different except the first was lighter than the 2nd and 3rd as expected, but my palate is not as sensitive as more experienced drinkers.  By the 3rd steep my tongue was tingling!

3rd steep, beautiful deep red tea soup

I brewed this for my mom but at a much higher ratio of leaf to water, just extended the steeping time and it still was very good.  Even oversteeping doesn't yield a bitter cup which she again was surprised at as she was for sure thinking it would be bitter.

Definitely recommend this ripe puer for easy brewing and the smooth refined taste.  Very drinkable!

Now onto Hummingbird 2013 Meng Hai Old Arbor Leaf Sheng Puer.

Love the initial smell of the leaves...they are so fragrant and sweet, I couldn't wait to get started on the brewing!

I haven't had sheng puer in a long time and the first time I didn't really have much guidance or knew what to do.  This time after reading more blogs and reviews on steeping and since a guide is provided with the tea, my tea session went pretty well.

The tea was pressed into mini cakes which made it easy to brew as well, about 8-9g per mini cake.  I brewed this following their instructions:

1g to 20ml water
Boiling water
Rinse: 10 secs
1st steep: 7 secs
2nd steep: 10 secs
Subsequent steeps: + 5 secs

1st steep:  Really lovely!  Light apricot colour tea soup.  Floral, mildly sweet taste.
2nd and 3rd steep: The bitterness hits but there is an underlying sweetness.  
4th steep:  The bitterness starts to mellow down and the sweetness is rising.
5th steep:  Sweet notes of apricot or maybe raisin, it's thicker and the huigan is stronger.  Really nice!  Slightly more drying in the mouth though.

Paired with sugar cookies at about steep 6.

6th steep: Similar to the 5th.
7th steep: Grassy and sweet.

Unfortunately I had to stop here.  The aroma of the wet leaves was very sweet like raisins so I'm sure it could have given more.  Loved this raw puer as it changed several times in taste and feeling!  The bitterness was also not too strong that someone new to raw puer could still enjoy this tea.

Pretty nice looking leaves

If you're new to puer this would be a good starter pack. They also sell each individually and the Hummingbird is offered in mini cakes or a full sized cake.  There are a few other starter packs I've seen and also sets that have been curated to give you a sense of what different mountains/regions taste like.  Thinking about getting those too.  Especially good since there is so much out there that it's hard to decide what to get.

So far this has been a great beginning!

Dyeing Tea Towels with Natural Dyes

I've been in the need of new tea towels, especially to wipe up all the tea and water I sometimes spill as I brew tea.  Then just before Christmas I came across "flour sack towels" which were inexpensive lint free cotton towels and my mind started thinking...thinking of numerous DIY projects I could do!  The reason being is these are almost always white, a blank canvas pretty much.  I love white towels but sometimes having various colours or a print is also nice.

Interestingly enough someone on Instagram that LIKED one of my photos posted a picture of some lovely coloured towels dyed with various colours made from food...and a wonderful looking mauve made from avocado skins and seed!  Yes, mauve from avocado. She got the idea from the moneycrashers site which referenced another site, pioneer thinking.  

Anyway, I started reading more and started to think about using tea but of course the avocados were stuck in my head and I knew I had to experiment.... So, does the above towel look mauve?  

NO.  FAIL.  

More peach I would say but that is the colour I got when I used avocados...(sad face!).  Peach is still nice but not really the colour I was going for and in some lighting could look like a grimey towel unfortunately.  Not sure if the avocado has to be a certain ripeness or a certain varietal, but I should have known that the liquid just didn't look right. 

Back to colour experimentation.

I got my initial set of towels from Walmart, 5 for $7.  They are quite thin like muslin but actually soak up quite a bit of liquid and was great for wiping down a table.  Then I got a thicker set from Amazon, Aunt Martha's brand.  They cost quite a bit more per towel but are thicker which I think will be better for printing on...another bunch of experiments I'm planning.  Wish me luck!!

Kiu Japanese Restaurant

Kiu Japanese Restaurant is a newish sushi and ramen restaurant located in the downtown Markham complex.  We went on a Friday for lunch and it was busy but they have quite a bit of seating so we got a table easily.

The restaurant offers sushi (not too extensive), raw oysters, small appetizers, and ramen from Ramen Isshin (located on College St.).  I've been to Ramen Isshin and it was good so we thought it'll be good to try their uptown location since we're uptown more than downtown.  

I had the Kotteri Rich Shoyu Ramen and made it into a combo with karaage for an added $3.  Not too bad, broth was flavourful and rich...just what I was looking for.  The egg was done nicely and the noodles were good, could be chewier but still enjoyed it.  The pork slices were very thin, too thin if you're paying $11 a bowl.  We got two large pieces of karaage but they weren't seasoned enough, good crunch though.

I also have to mention the tea, if you order green tea they serve houjicha tea (roasted green tea) which was enjoyable.  They refilled my cup without asking which was good because I think I drank the first cup pretty fast!

Side order of takoyaki...yum!

Black Sesame Tan Tan Noodles...this wasn't that spicy and does taste like dan dan noodles you get at Chinese restaurants.

Kiu is spacious and clean and lots of natural light. Too many people to take a photo of the tables though. The service was good, no complaints.  

We also found out there is underground parking so it makes this a good choice for winter months.  Overall, the experience was good.  Not the best ramen in the city, but I'd come back to try their sushi and other ramen bowls.

Kiu Japanese Restaurant

169 Enterprise Blvd, 2nd floor

Markham, ON L6G 0E7

T:905-513-6368

http://www.ki-u.com/

Latea Era - Cheese Crown...Ummmm what is that?

I haven't done a restaurant post in a long time since I've been busy these last few months and also been focusing on tea, so sticking with the tea theme, here is a new tea shop/house.

Latea Era - "The new era of tea" is their slogan.

I'm not too sure about that, but they are trying to do something a little different.

So what is a "cheese crown"?  It's their specialty cream cheese topped tea drinks which means a salty liquid cream cheese mix sits on top of tea.  It may sound gross, but it wasn't too bad and if you are a sweet and salty combo type person, this may appeal to you.

I didn't think I'd get the best tea here so opted for something pretty, the cheese crown rose oolong.  I had it hot but they do make it cold as well.  It did look pretty and the cheese did stay at the top for a very long time.  Overall I think it's like drinking a tea and your dessert at the same time, but the tea flavour isn't as strong as I'd hoped.  If you like the sea salt cream topping at other teashops, you may like this.

I'm not sure how the salty topping of tea really started but it may have been the coffee and dessert chain 85°C in Taiwan in 2008.  Maybe the trend dates back further but the chain offered coffee with a sea salt cream topping and when I had it in Taiwan in 2009, it was not bad - it was quite unique.  I believe tea followed after the success of coffee.

However, if you want to consider who initially added salt to tea, traditional Tibetan butter tea is made with brick tea (puer or black), (yak) butter and salt so this may be the first creation of tea with salt.

Anyway, for a few years now in Toronto, there are a number of locations offering this salted cream topping: Gong Cha, Share Tea, Chatime.  Latea Era also offers a salty cream topping but they go one step further and making a salty cream cheese topping.  I'm not sure of how many other places offer a cream cheese topping in Toronto but I have heard Happy Lemon does; I have yet to go.



The only thing is I don't know where this tea house comes from, how it originated, who started it, is it in other countries?  It just seemed to pop up and their website states it's their first North America location. In the last six months there has been numerous tea places that have popped up in Toronto; very exciting!

They brew their teas on the spot which can slow the line down but does ensure freshly brewed tea and their tea bags are on display.  If you want a regular bubble tea they do offer that, some fruit teas, and matcha options.  Their regular milk tea is brewed with an espresso machine and I also ordered one to go with tapioca.  Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of their basic milk tea as I found the tea not as smooth.  There was a bit of char taste to it too which could be the type of tea or the espresso machine extracting unwanted flavours from the tea.  Half sugar is a little less sweet than half sugar requests at other tea shops.  The tapioca was also not the best but I did go early afternoon on a Wed so that could be why.

At the back

This place has lots of seating so great for groups, studying and when you just want to sit in a nice space instead of getting take-out.  Cafe music playing in the background makes for a more modern ambience.  Service was also polite and friendly.

Would I go back?

Yes, to try their matcha options, but based on the drinks I did try...it's probably not my cup of tea.  Maybe their matcha will be the drink that keeps me coming back.

Lots of cream cheese topping at the end.

Latea Era

3300 Midland Avenue, Unit 37
Scarborough, ON M1V 4A1

T: 647-349-6888

www.latea.ca

• Phone numberusiness website