36 Tib Street, Manchester, M4 1LA   (View on map)

LB suggested this place as somewhere to meet up as she’d heard about it and thought it would go well on the blog. She was right. North Tea Power is tucked away in the Northern Quarter but has a very good selection of loose leaf tea and – and this is the bit that makes it so great – have adapted their coffee machine to take tea. This sounds mad, but I am telling you now that black tea latte is the future.

We started with loose tea though, as the coffee-styled tea was a bit too much for us at 11am on a Sunday morning. I had Earl Grey Blue and LB had White Hairy Monkey, which is a white tea. LB had not tried white tea before but declared it was good. Both were fragrant and tasted of the tea rather than the pot – perhaps this is because they were served in glass cafetieres?A croissant was the food of choice for LB, but I went for a slice of the ‘Lumberjack’ cake. This was a date and apple cake topped with coconut that I would certainly have again. Filling and moreish.

After the tea and food we went back to the counter and ordered a black tea latte each. We could have had a tea mocha, a tea cappucino or a tea americano. I just wasn’t brave enough to try the tea mocha. It seemed very wrong at the time, but now I wonder if it would have had the combined comfort of a chocolate biscuit and a cup of tea.

My first mouthful of tea latte was strange and confusing. My brain said ‘coffee’ and my mouth said ‘tea’ and it took a few sips to reconcile my senses to the shock of a smooth frothy drink that didn’t have the bitter kick of coffee, but instead had the reassuring soothing quality of a cup of tea when it’s most needed. LB announced that she had found her new perfect drink.

I will be going here again the next time I’m in Manchester and this time I will try the tea mocha. If you want to have a strong cup of tea but need the frothy milk that goes with a good coffee, North Tea Power is the place to go. A brilliant retreat on a rainy Sunday morning.

Teapot? Yes, but one of those glass cafetieres rather than a traditional teapot.
Leaf tea? Yes, with the choice of having it made into a drink or buying a bag full to take home.
Milk jug? Big retro style milk bottle.
Price? £2 for the Earl Grey Blue, £2.20 for the White Hairy Monkey, £2.60 for the Lumberjack cake, £1.20 (I think) for croissant and jam. £2.20 for the tea latte.
Cake? Yes, and biscuits, sandwiches, tray bakes etc.
Go again? Yes.