2014 Resolutions

Good afternoon fellow tea fans!

I haven’t been all too active these past few months due to being busy with my university studies. I thought it would be fitting for my first blog post of the year to be one about my resolutions that I intend to have for 2014. First off, I will present my list of 2013 tea-solutions and then my list for 2014.

2013 Resolutions

1. Read books on tea: So, with this resolution, I have been reading some books on tea this past year. I have learned quite a few new things on the subject of tea. 
   
2. Try out wulong tea: So I ventured and tried something new.I like Wulong/ oolong teas. I haven had quite the experience with this tea. I think it’s now safe to say that I am in a phase of adoring everything thing oolong.
3. Try out Pu er teas:I tried this tea and wasn’t the biggest fan of it. I don’t mind the flavored pu ers from David’s Tea, it’s the straight ones that I just cannot stand.
4. Visit Tealish: This was the only resolution that I was unable to complete. Maybe I’ll have better luck checking out this place this year.
5. Have a Tea Journal: So I made a tea journal, so I can keep a record of the teas that that I have consumed. I found this experience very fun and will continue this the is year.
6. Attend the Toronto Tea Festival: This tea festival was extremely fun and enriching. I sadly won’t be able to attend the 2014 tea festival due to being out of town for my studies. I promise to go to the one in 2015.
7. Try baking with tea: So this past year, I have baked with tea and used tea in cocktails. I will continue to do this in 2014.
8. Go on tea-ventures: This past year, I have had many fun experiences going on tea-ventures. It really deepens my appreciation for many different cafes and tea companies. I wish to continue pursing these tea-ventures. I want to incorporate tea-ventures into any vacations I go on this year.

2014 resolutions:

Last year, I made some resolutions that concerned tea, or rather tea-solutions. This year, I thought that I would include tea in my resolutions, but also I have some others that are just resolutions. 2014 for me is a big year and therefore I have some big changes that I want to make.

1. Go herbal with my tea: This year I want to continue consuming all my delicious teas, but I would love to drink more herbal and caffeine-free teas. I have a sensitive stomach, and therefore sometimes I cannot drink regular tea. If I embrace herbal teas, I can drink tea no matter what.
2. Blog more: I haven’t been the most active on my blog recently, and I would love to fix that. Life can get busy, but I feel that I should at least be able to have 1 blog post a month. I will for sure try to have more, but depending on the time, 1 blog post a month would be a sufficient goal to have.
3. Read more: even though I’m in school right now, I’d love to designate myself some reading time so that I can read more books this year. I feel that every school year, I lose the passion for reading. I feel like if I forced myself to devote a bit of time every day to read, then I could fall in love with it even when I’m busy.
4. Go local with tea: even though I like the big name companies like David’s Tea and Kusmi tea ( just to name a few), I am trying to also appreciate local flavour. I have started this already, so I would just like to continue appreciating the local variety.
5. Baking with tea: just like last year, I want to continue finding ways of incorporating tea into my recipes.
6. Continue with tea-ventures: this goes hand in hand with my search for local tea companies .
7. Lose weight and be more healthy: I know this is a generic resolution made by countless people, but this year is very important for me. I will be getting married, and therefore I want to strive to be more healthy by eating good and losing some weight in a healthy manner. With this weight loss, I also strive to reduce my stress with being more healthy.

 

Best of luck towards your resolutions!

Calla

My Summerlicious Tapas Day pt. 2

Good evening!!! 

As promised, here is the second instalment of my Summerlicious Tapas Day. Last post, I covered the lunch place and now I will move onto the dinner. For dinner me and my friend changed our minds several times, and we finally settled on Bloke and 4th. To start off, here is some basic info of the place: 

Address: 401 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1K1

Phone:(416) 477-1490

Hours:

 

Sunday	Closed
Monday	Closed
Tuesday	10:00 pm – 3:00 am
Wednesday	Closed
Thursday	6:00 pm – 3:00 am
Friday	6:00 pm – 3:00 am
Saturday	6:00 pm – 3:00 am

 

I remember that I looked up tapas all thanks to my lovely sister, who had told me of her recent outing with a friend at a tapas place. She had a blast, so I decided that I needed to know what tapas eas all about. It seems like the new-ish and hip thing to do. Bloke and 4th was cool becuase not only was it a restaurant, but it turned into a louge/ nightclub later on in the evening. Sadly, my friend and I had an early reservation, so we didn’t get to exeperience that. I would for sure go back to this place just to check out the nightlife. Nestled in the entertainment district on King St. West, I think it is in a great location. 

Like in my previous post, I have a picture of the menu, just in case you guys wanted to check out what was offered for the prix fixe. For the dinner, everything on the menu cost 35$, which was completely worth it, in my opinion. 

Amuse Bouche
Strawberry gazpacho * compressed cucumbers * fresh basil * lemon lime crème

First off, at Bloke and 4th, my friend and I got an amuse bouche, which is a small-bite hors d’oeuvre that is served right before the meal. So already, we are getting more than just a three course meal here. So the amuse bouche was a Strawberry gazpacho that was served in a shot glass. I had never tried a gazpacho before, so it was awesome that I got to try it out. I really liked the cool flavour of the strawberry that was complimented with the fresh basil on top. 

Local AAA steak tartare * gherkins * shallots *crispy capers * horseradish mustard * chives * tempura bits * truffle dressed frisee * Yukon potato chips

The Appetizer: So for the app, I was really torn between the romaine salad with jalapeno caesar dressing and the tartare. In the end, as you can judge from the picture, the tartare won me over that night. But it was quite the close call. Either way, I think that I would have been impressed either way. Just the presentation alone was simply beautiful. The tartare and chips were served on this wood slab. On the tartare itself, I rather enjoyed it. The flavours were just so great,  and varied. I loved the crunch of the capers along with the gherkins. Those gherkins also had a kind of crunch and play to flavour that was sweet and dilly at the same time. The horseradish mustard complimented the tartare itself as well. And did I mention the chips?

Honestly, I love some homemade chips now and then, and these guys were surely worth the calories I spend eating them. They were crispy, soft and crunchy all in the same bite. They weren’t that usual gross oily mess that you would get with store-bought chips. No, these were the real-deal awesome goodness.

Taking a break from the scrumptious food that I had devoured, I though I could also share my awesome mojito that I ordered. I was hesitant at first to order a mix drink becuase I usually don’t like the ones that restaurants make. They usually use some cheap mix and it ends up tasting artifical. Not the case here, this was a classic homemade one that was really great. I could have ordered more than one if not for the steep price (12$). I like that I also got such a massive amount of mint, which for sure constributed to the complete and harmonious flavour of the mojito. Now back to the main course…. and of course dessert afterwards.

Fish tacos * beer tempura battered tilapia * avocado & apple relish * lime spiked red cabbage * smoked sour cream * hot sauce

The dinner: Fish tacos * beer tempura battered tilapia * avocado & apple relish * lime spiked red cabbage * smoked sour cream * hot sauce

So just to put it out there, I am not your usual fish-gal. I am not a fish eater, more of the fish are firends, not food. But I thought, hey it’s summerlicious and the whole point of this event is to try something new. And my other reason for choosing this dish was that I didn’t want to have chicken twice in one day. So fish tacos it was. Again, this dish was served on a wooden slab, which automatically gave this dish tons of points.

Now onto the tacos, I was quite impressed with them, honestly and truthfully. I loved the crispy-ness of the beer tempura that surrounded the talapia. Perhaps that is why I liked the fish so much, becuase of it’s deep-fried goodness on the outside. I also just loved how it was a smaller portion of food, beucase that is the whole idea with tapas, having small sharing meals.

Bloke & 4th churros * cinnamon sugar dust * bourbon caramel sauce * chocolate sauce

The dessert: Bloke & 4th churros * cinnamon sugar dust * bourbon caramel sauce * chocolate sauce

So, if you spent the day with me, then you know that this was the most anticipated dish of the day for myself. Bascially the whole day I kept telling my friend how excited I was to try the churros. The fact that I had hyped them up so much could have been messy if the churros turned out bad. I am so glad that that wasn’t the case with these guys. They were literally a little slice of heaven, especially with the chocolate dipping sauce. I love such a light dessert could have such a great impact taste-wise. Overall, I would have to say that the churros placed as the number one meal of the day, thus placing Bloke and 4th as my preffered summerlicious restaurant.

Overall, for the restaurant, I much preferred Bloke and 4th. And this is not just based soley on the churros, though they played an important part in this choice. Soem other factors included the other dishes, the wonderful and attentive staff, and the general ambiance of the place. It was a really sulty, yet social area where you could unwind after a busy day or even a busy week, So it was the perfect place to grab some food and a drink and hang out with a good friend. If I had to choose to return to a place, it would be Bloke and 4th. 

I do hope you enjoy both summerlicious posts, and let me know what you think of these places. Have a wonderful evening, 

Calla