I’ve recently came back from a trip to Vancouver as well as an Alaskan cruise. I’m originally from Vancouver and I haven’t been back there since I moved to California in 2012, so I was very excited to be back home!
I had 3 days in Vancouver so I had just a short time to see friends and family, load my suitcase with Canadian treats I cannot find in the USA, cram multiple rounds of Tim Hortons and poutine in me, and enjoy the awesome high US dollar shopping.
My first stop – DAVIDsTea! I had a list and the Fall Collection just came out! I miss having a DAVIDsTea location by me as I was able to get 10-20 gram samples of all the teas I wanted to try. I tried Nutty by Nature Mate and Cranberry Orange Muffin herbal in store. They were okay, I liked Cranberry Orange Muffin the most, but not enough for me to purchase. I got Honey Crisp Apple, Peanut Butter Cup, Chocolate Macaron, Coconut Ice, Moment of Zen and Korean Sejak.
I also got and drank all of Midsummer Night’s Dream. I got it as a herbal to drink on the cruise ship. Turned out getting my own herbal tea was good call as the herbal teas on the cruise ship tasted pretty terrible – I’m talking steeping cardboard with peppermint oil.
Being the lotion freak I am, I also got DAVIDsTea’s new tea infused hand creams. Both smell great!
Poutine Break! This is at Belgian Fries. BACON, GRAVY, CHEESE CURDS, MUSHROOMS, PEPPERS, AND FRIES. YES!
My second stop was Vancouver’s China Town! There are 2 tea shops there, focused on Chinese teas!
First stop in China Town – The Chinese Tea Shop!
If you are in Vancouver, I highly recommend you hit up Daniel Lui’s The Chinese Tea Shop. This was my favorite tea shop visit to date! You can purchase online, but being in store is even better to sample the teas and see the huge selection of teas and teaware. Let’s tour around the shop –
3kg pu’er cake! There’s always someone you know that wouldn’t hesitate on buying this huge of a cake…
Whoa, that is made of pu’er!
Yixing pots! I should of bought one or two, I need sheng pots. Next time I will! I was impressed with the range of yixing pots available – there were many gorgeous antique ones but also a selection of $30-$60 tea pots.
I was pretty tempted by this cup. The marbling of the clay is really pretty.
Daniel also has a personal stash of antique yixing pots – for tasting he used a 200 year old yixing pot!
I spent 3 HOURS in the shop sampling teas. Daniel is also extremely passionate and knowledgeable about tea. I learned a lot of the history of the gong fu cha method, tea processing, tea tasting, and yixing pot pairings. Daniel also makes excellent tea!
I also walked out of the shop with a lighter wallet: 1990’s Iron Buddha Traditional Aged Oolong. It was cheap and on clearance (I cannot resist a deal).
Samples of 2003 Red Dayi 7262 Pu’er, 1990’s Zhen Cang Loose Pu’er, 1990’s Dry Date Big Leaf Flavored Loose Pu’er, and 20 years old Premium Traditional Iron Buddha Oolong!
2000 Fu Ding Bai Cha White Tea Brick, 500 grams. An aged white tea, I’ve never seen a white tea aged more than 3 or 4 years. Apparently there was a 30 year version but it sold out. I sampled this one in shop and it was excellent, nothing like any white tea I’ve had. I don’t commonly review unflavored white teas and my white tea collection is pretty light (at the time of writing, I have 12 white teas vs. 97 oolongs) as for personal taste I find them too light, but this aged white packed a punch! We also got 15 infusions! 15 Infusions out of a white tea! Can your white tea do that? I know, I know. I will review the aged white brick sometime on Oolong Owl.
I also purchased this cup.
The tea cup needs to be a video as this tea cup is super bling.
My final stop was Treasure Green Tea Company in Vancouver’s China Town. I went in with a list of teas to look at, but only came out with this unique Everything Wonder Balm made with Camellia Tea Oil. They have a couple beauty items with Camellia Tea Oil and I was curious to see what they were like.
I hate to leave a negative experience, but the staff I encountered weren’t welcoming or knowledgeable of their products or I would of purchased more goodies. The staff couldn’t tell me how old their aged teas were, nor sold sample sizes of any of the teas I wanted.
Anyways, I’ll be back in Vancouver in February! I will most certainly visit all the tea shops again! Stay tuned for my Alaska Tea Haul – yes there is tea in Alaska!
