Tea for you and me

Join me on my epic quest to find the best tea ever


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My new top five

I have to admit I’ve been a bit slack with updating my top five cafes, but a few days ago I have updated the list to show my current top five places to drink rooibos tea.

Teashop by the canal

Tea and cake at The teashop by the canal

For a long time, my top five has displayed as:

  1. The teashop by the canal
  2. Delicious…
  3. Ladurée
  4. The Ritz
  5. Sweet Tooth Cupcakery

This list is out of date for two reasons. Firstly, it was made before I started drinking rooibos tea, and secondly, two of the cafes have now closed. Sadly, Sweet Tooth Cupcakery and Delicious… are no more.

One of the reasons I haven’t updated the list before now is that it’s so hard to choose. Especially when my favourite places change depending on what I’m looking for from my tea. Do I want somewhere convenient? Somewhere that’s good to write? Somewhere that’s good for meeting friends? I also don’t travel as much as I used to and tend to revisit the same places more often than before.

My new top five are:

  1. Nibsy’s
  2. Siblings Home
  3. Picnic
  4. Reefside Kiosk
  5. North Tea Power

Here’s a little explainer as to why they made the top five (please imagine the kind of chirpy music that you get with a music video countdown).

Nibsy's tea

Pot of rooibos tea and the marvellous chocolate brownie in Nibsy’s.

Nibsy’s It’s got rooibos tea in a pot and excellent cake with very friendly staff, as well as a mix of normal tables and chairs and low tables and armchairs. It also has a toilet, which can be crucial if you’re drinking lots of tea.

Siblings Home Loose leaf rooibos in a pot, good food and a lovely environment. And a toilet. I especially like that it’s got lots of plants.

Picnic Rooibos tea in a cup (but it always comes with a little caramelised biscuit). Great soup with generous amounts of bread, brunch at the weekends, salads and cake.

Reefside Kiosk The photos in my review don’t do the views from the pier justice. It was very calming and a cup of hot tea when we’d been walking was just what was needed. Plus it sells ice cream.

North Tea Power The only place I’ve ever been to that sells tea latte. Genius.

Don’t forget, if you have any other suggestions of places to try, let me know and I’ll add them to the wish list.

 

 


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Intrigue in Waterstones

I think this is the first time I've seen a poster with the words 'See you there' and thought, 'Yes, you will'.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen a poster with the words ‘See you there’ and thought, ‘Yes, you will’.

There are two branches of Waterstones in Reading, one in the Oracle shopping centre and one on Broad Street. The one in the Oracle used to have a Costa Coffee inside it, but, in line with Waterstones’ policy of not renewing external coffee company contracts and instead putting in their own cafes, this has now closed.

While I’m sad to see the lovely and super friendly Costa coffee staff go (they’ve gone to the Debenhams a few metres away), I am intrigued by the thought of a new cafe. Waterstones branded cafes are called Cafe W and I’ve never been in one. Not ever.

When I went in yesterday there was a white hoarding around the area where the Costa used to be and a smell of fresh paint. Tomorrow, there should be a whole new cafe there. I’m not sure what it’ll be like, but I’m going to go and find out. And then, dear reader, I’ll post about it on here so you can know too.


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Shiny new stuff

There’s some lovely new stuff on the blog!

Firstly, each review should now have a little link next to the address saying (View on map) and when you click on this magical link it will open a new window showing where the new tea temple is on the tea-tastic map page. I know it’s important to you all to find tea, so I hope this helps.

The second shiny new thing is a whole new page (I know, I know, I spoil you all rotten) called ‘Wish list’. Lots of people recommend places to me and I can’t get to them all fast enough to put a review on the blog in a timely fashion. This will have all the places that I want to investigate, along with a note about where I found them. There’s only two at the moment but I’ve got a backlog so there will be more soon.

Anything else you’d like to see? Let me know.