Written By Cynthia Annett-Hynes Edibles / Food Events Apr 19, 2011 The Fourth Annual Victoria Tea Festival SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterestphoto: Daniela Cubelic, owner of Silk Road and one of the driving forces behind the Victoria Tea Festival, demonstrates the proper way of making Taiwan Oolong tea Gongfu style. credit: Gary Hynes Green, white, red, black: a rainbow of colour was on display this past weekend at Victoria’s fourth annual Tea Festival. Billed as North America’s largest tea exhibition, it was impressive to see just how many independent tea importers and suppliers are based here in British Columbia, each covering their own specific areas of expertise. Every kind of black, oolong, green, maccha, white, red (rooibos) and herbal tea imaginable was available for tasting, and at various temperatures. Festivalgoers were treated to helpful brewing tips and information on the numerous health benefits of the different varieties by knowledgeable presenters, standing by at each of the forty stalls which filled the ground floor and mezzanine of the Crystal Garden.New to the festival this year was Tula Teas , a woman-owned tea business based in Victoria. This enterprise is still getting off the ground, yet their beautiful display of high-grade teas imported from small, family-owned tea gardens was garnering a fair amount of interest and admiration on Saturday. Vendors came from further afield as well, such as Calgary-based Vastu Chai, whose stall artfully displayed the array of ingredients included in the authentic family masala chai recipe that forms the foundation of their business.The Tea Festival’s well-attended series of presentations included The Ache’s Pride: How Yerba Mate is Saving a Rainforest and Her People, Chinese Tea Ceremony, English Tea Traditions and Blends, Rooibus and Honeybush Teas, Ceylon, the Island of Tea, and Refreshment of the Spirit: Oriental Tea & Wine Drinking Vessels. I managed to squeeze in to the back of the presentation area and catch chef Heidi Fink’s demonstration on Cooking with Tea, where attendees were treated to samples of Chai Honey Butter, Smokey Maple Salad Dressing featuring Silk Road’s Lapsang Souchong tea, and a delicate Jasmine Tea sorbet. Chef Heidi reassured the audience that all the beneficial antioxidants are transferred to foods that feature tea as an ingredient, in addition to the tea imparting a new level of complexity to a dish’s flavour.If you didn’t make it out this year, be sure to mark February 12th and 13th on your calendars for next year. This successful fundraiser for the Camosun College Child Care Services is not to be missed.festivalsFood EventsFood FestivalsteaVancouver IslandVancouver Island eventsVancouver Island Festivals SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Written By: Cynthia Annett-Hynes ... Read More You may also like Food / Recipes October 25, 2021 Sopa Paella Try the iconic Valencian dish as a hearty fall soup brimming with seafood and chorizo. We were going through a heat wave in Victoria when I ... Read More Food / Recipes October 25, 2021 It’s a Pancake Day! That crisp edge in the fall air stirs up a craving for comfort that sometimes only a stack of hot pancakes can deliver. So get your cast-iron pan ... Read More Breads / Food / How to Cook / Recipes July 13, 2021 Rosemary and Feta Potato Loaf A delicious homemade bread is always a welcome treat that can really set the mood for a good day. This is an approachable recipe to bring to holiday ... Read More EAT Magazine News / Food News January 28, 2021 CITY EATS February | March 2021 If you haven’t yet taken advantage of Victoria’s free local delivery program, Downtown Delivers, you have until February 15 to try it ... Read More Food News / Pantry / Review January 28, 2021 Some Like It Hot — A Hot Sauce Tasting Party A Hot Sauce Tasting Party Gillie Easdon gathered 15 local, house-made hot sauces and four brave souls to taste-test them. It was a mid-October, late ... Read More EAT Magazine News / Food News December 7, 2020 EAT’s 2020 Gift Guide EAT’s 2020 Gift Guide. Not just for the holidays! Bolen Books Flavor by Yotam Ottolenghi ($45.00) Cat’s Meow Trivet ($6.95) Book Seat ... Read More Comments are closed.
Food / Recipes October 25, 2021 Sopa Paella Try the iconic Valencian dish as a hearty fall soup brimming with seafood and chorizo. We were going through a heat wave in Victoria when I ... Read More
Food / Recipes October 25, 2021 It’s a Pancake Day! That crisp edge in the fall air stirs up a craving for comfort that sometimes only a stack of hot pancakes can deliver. So get your cast-iron pan ... Read More
Breads / Food / How to Cook / Recipes July 13, 2021 Rosemary and Feta Potato Loaf A delicious homemade bread is always a welcome treat that can really set the mood for a good day. This is an approachable recipe to bring to holiday ... Read More
EAT Magazine News / Food News January 28, 2021 CITY EATS February | March 2021 If you haven’t yet taken advantage of Victoria’s free local delivery program, Downtown Delivers, you have until February 15 to try it ... Read More
Food News / Pantry / Review January 28, 2021 Some Like It Hot — A Hot Sauce Tasting Party A Hot Sauce Tasting Party Gillie Easdon gathered 15 local, house-made hot sauces and four brave souls to taste-test them. It was a mid-October, late ... Read More
EAT Magazine News / Food News December 7, 2020 EAT’s 2020 Gift Guide EAT’s 2020 Gift Guide. Not just for the holidays! Bolen Books Flavor by Yotam Ottolenghi ($45.00) Cat’s Meow Trivet ($6.95) Book Seat ... Read More
Correction / EAT Magazine News May 16, 2022 Correction — May|June 2022 The article on L’Apéro in the May|June issue should have stated Chef Andrea Maiolo staged at The Courtney Room and Zambri’s and that he held the ... Read More
2022 Issues / Drink / EAT Magazine News / Food / Magazine May 6, 2022 May|June 2022 May|June issue on the stands. Read ... Read More
Food / Press Release / Sustainability Dec 16, 2018 A Win For Wild Salmon in British Columbia Transition of 17 salmon farms out of Broughton archipelago a win for wild salmon, reconciliation 10 farms to cease operations by 2022; remaining ... Read More