A Taste of India Tea at the Urban Tea Merchant

Afternoon Tea is an art and should be an extraordinary experience one that you will cherish. Vancouver has some wonderful places for you to indulge in an Afternoon Tea experience. Each of the places is unique in what they offer along with the type of service and selection of sandwiches, pastries and desserts. I am on a journey around the city to find these extraordinary places.

Here is the thirteenth of many places that I have visited recently. The Urban Tea Merchant is located downtown Vancouver.

I enjoyed the splendour of the Petit Afternoon Tea ‘A Taste of India’ service, in celebration of Vancouver’s 125th Anniversary and the official ‘year of India in Canada’ the Urban Tea Merchant is partnering with the Indian Summer Festival.

I sat down with Proprietor, Tom James to talk about tea and savour the delicious offerings in this afternoon tea service. I asked Tom how they got involved with the Indian Summer Festival and how this unique tea experience came to reality. The Urban Tea Merchant wanted to create a feeling of the festival and be part of the community, the organizers of the Indian Tea Festival approached them and asked how they could partner in a tea loving experience. In addition to the Afternoon Tea Experience the store is being decorated all India for the summer.

I asked Tom which teas they will be featuring from India for this festival and they are:

1)    Maharajah

2)    Royal Darjeeling

3)    Tiger Hill (Nilgiri)

Mango Sorbet

To begin I was served a goblet with a mango sorbet that was so refreshing for the palate. Then the 3 tiered tray arrived for me, filled with all sorts of goodies.

3-tiered tray

I ate my way through the bottom plate of finger sandwiches from the tea-infused curried egg salad to the watercress & cucumber to the smoky tea-infused chicken cone. Then I savoured the delicious currant scone with Devonshire crème and jelly. I then ended on top plate for an outstanding chai-infused pastry crème cone and their TWG Tea macaron & Chevron strawberry.

This special tea service is $25 per person throughout the summer until August 15th, note that it is offered for only $19 per person if you go between 12noon – 2pm Mon-Fri.

The Urban Tea Merchant

1070 West Georgia, Vancouver

For reservations, please call 604-692-0071

Stay tuned to my next Afternoon Tea experience in and around Vancouver.

By: Richard Wolak

Leave a Reply