Tea grannies, tea time, tea parties…forget everything you ever thought you knew about tea because Vancouver is in the midst of a tea revolution. Just stroll on over to Steam Tea House on East Hastings and see for yourself. With his tea bar tucked into the entrance of hipster haven Donald’s Market, owner Nolan Cockburn is turning any old school notions you might have about tea on their heads.
For one, there are no doilies, wing-back chairs or finger sandwiches in sight. Sold from a counter, this tea is meant to be brought home for steeping, given to a friend in its eco-chic brown paper packaging or sipped in $1 cups to go on a Saturday stroll around the Hastings Sunrise neighborhood.
But before you head off with your goodies, Nolan, or one of his neon-haired prodigies, will tell you about the blend you’ve chosen from the wall of 65. “One of the things I enjoy about my job is seeing people’s eyes light up when they smell the tea. It’s pretty epic. And seeing people’s palates grow over time, from really fruity teas to Chinese Oolong or Assam Indian black teas,” says Nolan.
Those palates are also growing accustomed to drinking fresh tea: Nolan prides himself on using in-season leaves blended in micro batches every two weeks. Brought in from Asia and Africa, the teas are blended with flower petals, roots, fruit and other exotic ingredients in recipes created by Nolan (sometimes in partnership with local blender, The Teaguy). There’s a Limoncello rooibos, which blends lemon myrtle and vanilla, a smooth-as-silk pear rooibos and a Cream Earl Grey with bergamot and vanilla (the shop fave).
