Time for Tea

I am not a coffee drinker. I can’t stand the smell of freshly brewed coffee, especially first thing in the morning. I don’t like anything coffee flavoured, OK, I do like Coffee Crisp. When I say I don’t drink coffee people assume that it’s because of the caffeine and then they start to ramble on about how tea has way more caffeine than coffee. As soon as I tell them I don’t like either the taste or the smell, they immediately clam up.
I’m a tea drinker. I take it strong, hot and with a decent amount of skim milk in it. I enjoy different varieties of tea, but not herbal ones. Green tea is fine from time to time and I have to be in the mood for Earl Grey.
Say Tea has something to make any and all tea drinkers happy. Most of the tea they sell (their own brand) is loose leaf, but they do offer some bagged tea. Most recently they have been offering ‘Tea to Go’, which just means you can buy a single cup of tea to enjoy during or after your visit.
I try to visit their Bloor Street West location at least 3-4 times a year to stock up. On my most recent visit their front window was decorated in a Teddy Bear’s Picnic theme with two huge stuffed bears sitting at a picnic table “having tea”.
Of course, any store that sells tea usually sells tea accessories/accompaniments and Say Tea has a great selection of these. Amongst the tea pots, tea cups, mugs, tea strainers, miniature tea sets and tea cosies you will also find preserves, gourmet cookies, fancy sugar cubes, chocolate covered caramels, greeting cards from Warm Fuzz Cards, and teddy bears. They also had a few items I'd never seen before. Check out the Bodum cosies and cup wraps by Honeysuckle Cottage Sales (and their travel tags).
I like that you are able to buy sample packages so you can try a few teas out without having to invest a lot of money and then find out you don’t like them. Say Tea has their own brand of bagged tea in sample packs - 5 bags for $1.50 or you can get 10 bags of Taylors of Harrogate tea for $3.50. They also carry boxes of bagged tea by Barry’s and T of H’s Yorkshire Gold (my fave!) They also have a lovely selection of Rooibos teas you should try.
Oh yeah, as I was paying for my purchase I noticed they are now selling coffee. Let's hope it doesn't take over.
located at 2362 Bloor St W and 2496 Yonge St