Restaurant Review: The Tea Girl

THE TEA GIRL 11322 119th Street ~ theteagirl.com Instagram: @theteagirl ~ Twitter: @TheTeaGirlYEG

I'm about to say something that might be surprising: I prefer tea over coffee. I'm well aware that most people are crazy for coffee and I enjoy coffee as well. But tea is truly my jam. I drink a cup of tea each morning and keep a rather extensive collection of teas on hand at all times. As such, I was very interested to learn about The Tea Girl, voted #1 Best Tea Shop 2018 by VUE Weekly. They used to have an actual cafe located in Westmount but unfortunately closed up shop in 2018. However, the business continues on in online form, where you can still acquire all of the tea that you could ever want. As the only local tea blender in Edmonton, this is a great company for any tea lover (such as myself) who wants to support a local business. Yes, The Tea Girl is entirely online. However, if you live in the Edmonton area your order can be picked up at Rogue Wave Coffee in Prince Rupert. This means that you won't have to worry about shipping costs, which is a huge advantage. There are also many other cafes and shops around the city that sell the tea. On the other hand, this also means that anyone anywhere can order this tea and have it shipped to their house. An online business certainly has its advantages. I hopped on the website and marveled at the truly extensive collection of teas available. They've got almost everything; black, oolong, green, white, pu-erh, matcha, and herbal. (No specific section for rooibos, which I found interesting.) Plus they sell all sorts of tea accessories as well, should you need them. The website is easy to navigate and I cruised through all of the types and flavours (at least around 170 different ones or more) and tried to narrow down my selection to a few different ones that I wanted to try. Once my order was complete I checked out and waited a few days until my order was ready for pickup. Orders are delivered to Rogue Wave Coffee twice a week. The whole process was quite simple.

I ended up with three tins of tea that I was very excited to start sampling! I appreciated that the steeping instructions for each individual tea were printed right on the label and were very clear and simple. River Valley Chai (Edmonton is home to the largest stretch of connected urban parkland in North America. This tea blend celebrates the YEG river valley with warming spices of cinnamon, cardamom & ginger root on base of golden tippy orange pekoe Assam tea from Gingia tea estate.) ~ $12.50 for a 50g tin.

I was most excited about this tea because I love the way that it celebrates Edmonton and truly feels like a special chai just for us. I had to taste our hometown chai! The best way to brew chai tea is to simmer it in a pot with milk. This infuses the flavours in the most magical way. However, I am often lazy and simply steep my chai the old fashioned black tea way. I still add milk and a bit of sugar to create a bit more of the correct chai experience. I enjoyed this tea very much and was pleased with the warm spiciness. The flavour is very cardamom-forward, which I loved. (There are full-sized cardamom pods in this blend which is awesome.) A wonderful chai that tastes comforting and exotic. The Tea Girl also makes a Rocky Mountain Chai that I'm excited to try in the future! Serenity Now! 2021 (Frank Costanza should have tried this calming blend of citrus, orange and vanilla to gain serenity instead of shouting about it all the time. Large pieces of orange and herbaceous lemongrass blended with rooibos and soothing vanilla.) ~ $10.50 for a 50g tin.

This herbal tea was a must because who doesn't need serenity in 2021?! I think we all do. This tea felt necessary. The great thing about herbal teas is that they don't contain caffeine so they're drinkable at any time of day. (I am personally quite sensitive to caffeine in the evening and it impedes my ability to sleep properly.) I found this blend to be so lovely and almost surprising with its flavour profile. The way that the warm vanilla flavour and aroma comes through is so beautiful. It plays effortlessly with the light orange notes and transports you away to a calmer, happier place. Tea Girl Breakfast (The Tea Girl’s own breakfast blend of Indonesian black tea from Santosa estate, Indian Assam Tea from Nahorhabi estate, Ceylon tea from Kenilworth in Sri Lanka, orthodox tea from Kenya and golden tipped tea from Yunnan China.) ~ $11.00 for a 50g tin.

Lastly, this black tea was a must because it's the one named after The Tea Girl. If you're doing a self-titled tea, I'm going to assume that it's "the one." And you can't go wrong with a classic breakfast blend! Steeped strong, a black tea like this packs a big caffeine hit just like coffee does. If you need a morning "go juice," this is the tea for you. The combination of leaves in this blend are expertly chosen. I made mine with milk and sugar and it was perfect. The Tea Girl also offers lots of blends that are playful and fun, so if you're looking for something more exciting and sweet, they've got you. They also carry a very mature selection of premium teas if you happen to be more of a connoisseur. I was personally pleased to see Gyokuro Shizuoka on the green tea menu. (I'm no expert, but I do believe this to be one of the best green teas available.) I wish that they still had a cafe open. Going into a shop and marveling at the tea selection and getting to smell different types is such a lovely part of the experience. However, I really enjoyed the teas that I got from The Tea Girl and look forward to trying others. It's nice to have our very own Tea Sommelier in the city and I would certainly prefer to support this business instead of buying some crappy box of tea at the grocery store. Happy steeping!