Tea on Top
The Tea Emporium taps growing taste for the perfect cuppa

By Jane Auster

Thousands of years have steeped tea’s reputation as a soothing, refreshing and still mysterious elixir. Now, with growing evidence of tea’s many health benefi ts, the brew is moving out of the mysterious shadows and into the mainstream, where it is increasingly sharing the potlight with coffee.

Two of tea’s biggest missionaries are Shabnam and Frank Weber, tea masters, partners and coowners of Toronto’s Tea Emporium, which spreads the gospel of the leaf through retail locations, restaurant wholesaling, and education. The partners decided to open their fi rst Tea Emporium in a bustling family-friendly neighbourhood after moving home from Germany and wondering why a tea culture such as Germany’s did not exist in Canada.

“I had spent a number of years in the restaurant industry,” says Frank. “From early on, I grew up with tea and around tea, served loose leaf teas, and had a restaurant in Europe for a few years. Tea shops were common in Europe, but not here.” That was in 2000. A decade and a couple thousand tea tastings later, the Webers’ dedication to all things tea is paying off as tea’s popularity spreads among all age groups, notably women 35 to 55 and young people moving away from their parents’ coffee addiction. According to Statistics Canada, Canadians drink more than 10 billion cups of tea a year, an average of 300 cups per person. In the 12 months ending May 2009, commercial outlets in Canada served more than 354 million cups of hot tea, up six percent from the previous 12-month period. And this doesn’t include iced teas and trendy tea cocktails or the growing number of skin care products made with tea.

Just as consumers drove the java revolution 20 years ago, today they’re raising their cups for better tea. Coffee shops, QSRs, even grocery stores are heeding the call, and savvy restaurateurs are taking the time to brew profi ts from the leaf. It’s all about education, says Shabnam Weber. “For us, the education component was a natural progression. It’s what we do in the store every single day.”

And not just in the store, but in client restaurants, where the Webers show operators how to get the most from their teas. “We come in and do staff training, on whatever menu you’ve decided on, educate staff on the product and get them excited about what’s new,” says Shabnam. Some creative restaurants are even cooking with tea, though a matcha crème brulee has yet to become mainstream fare. The Webers will be happy if more restaurants learn to treat tea with the respect it deserves. “Word is getting out,” says Shabnam. “We’ve seen a difference in restaurants calling us now, instead of our having to sell them on the benefi ts.” And the Tea Emporium recently catered an event for the Attorney General of Ontario.

Tea’s time is now!