Keeping Cozy at The Tea Lounge

Behind every great cup of tea, is a tea sommelier.

Opening The Tea Lounge this past November, Michelle Pierce Hamilton along with Yixing Tang, (but just call him Tang), have brought the first authentic Tea house to London, and with them hundreds of amazing teas and what seems like a life-time of knowledge.

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Sitting in a quaint home-turned-shop on Piccadilly street, The Tea Lounge offers high-quality, ethically sourced teas from around the world in an traditional sit-down atmosphere.

For Michelle, The Tea Lounge all started with a vision, and after a decade of night classes and persistent hard work, she has made that vision come to life. (She is seriously a bad ass lady – having completed night school for both the holistic nutrition and tea sommelier program on top of a full time job)

It was Michelle's growing interest in health and wellness that led her to discover the world of teas. Kicking off her new love affair with the Tea Sommelier program at George Brown, she has since travelled all over the world visiting different tea gardens and producers, bringing back with her the best, and healthiest tea she could find.

Michelle also started the first Tea Sommelier program here in London, offered through Fanshawe college. It was taking this course that Tang first met Michelle, and well...the rest is history.

THE SCENE

Picture this: soft light eluding from hanging lanterns, hand-carved chairs circling around elegant dining tables, an inviting red Victorian couch centered in the room, exotic artwork and pottery peaking from every corner, and, stealing the show, the enormous wall of tea. Stepping into The Tea Lounge, it is easy to forget you just came from the snowy streets of downtown.

On this particular day, the lounge was visited by a few customers buying tea to go, friends coming to share some warmth and conversation, and another patron happily sipping tea and reading a book. It is a peacefully inviting atmosphere, and as Michelle intended it to be; 'a space where you can escape the busyness of life.'

FUN FACT

No other natural beverages contains more free radical fighting, antioxidants than tea. Period. No matter what type of tea you prefer (camellia sinensis), healthful antioxidants abound in all of them.

FROM LEAF TO CUP

All the teas offered at The Tea Lounge come from Michelle's sister company beTeas. <http://www.beteas.com/> Working directly with farmers, Michelle sources her teas from all over the world. Michelle is constantly networking in the industry and keeping on top of trends and opportunities. beTeas currently carries farm direct teas from India, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Japan, Kenya and sometimes special boutique teas like from Hawaii. Click here to see a list of all some of their feature blends. http://www.beteas.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/tea.pdf

At the Tea Lounge, you can sip your tea with 100% certainty you're getting quality leaf, and that is was sourced sustainably - a rarity in this world. Michelle does not purchase a tea if she does not know exactly what is in it.

TEA TIME

Upon walking in, I was greeted graciously by Tang, who was quick to show us the ropes and share samples of one of his favourite teas. You can enjoy tea here in a myriad of service styles, but I recommend going the traditional route.

Now when selecting tea, do not be daunted by the mass selection of the ‘enormous tea wall’. Just ask Tang! Tang originates from Hunan province China and grew up around tea. He will answer all of your questions and more, and his recommendations do not disappoint.

There are also a variety of healthy snacks offered, curtesy of Bliss Specialty Foods. One item I was drawn too in particular was the vegan choco-coconut donut; the richness of the donut washed down perfectly by some vanilla rooibos tea.

The Tea Lounge will also soon be serving light lunches – soups, salads and vegan cheese boards! Also starting soon are Afternoon Tea on select Sundays, “Chai Night” and “Flight Night”.

Now I know the groundhog said winter would end early, but while it’s still cold grab a book or a friend, and treat yourself to some tea!

To find out more about Michelle, check out this blog where she speaks more about her journey into the Tea realm.

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