Just to name a few, some of their customers include: former First Lady Imelda Marcos, KC Concepcion, Richard Gutierrez, model Brent Javier, Pinoy Big Brother housemate Kian, and Rachel Alejandro. It is hard to identify the commonalities among them. But to tell you, this time it is not about showbiz or politics, it is about how they found out the goodness of “tea.”
Tea & Therapy is a special tea shop, offering over a hundred variety of tea from all over the world. The shop tries to bring out all the benefits of tea that they offer to their customers.
I was lucky to visit personally the one-of-a-kind tea shop at Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City. And fortunately, I met the Chef, at the same time branch manager, of the specialty shop and interviewed her how to maximize the benefits of tea.
Chef Gabby Mcintosh, the branch manager of Tea & Therapy, looked so enlivened as she explained all about their tea-restaurant.
“Most of our teas are herbal teas, and we have fruit-based teas and flower-based teas. We also have green tea, and teas from roots and barks,” she said while picking out some of the teas displayed in their shop.
Center for Culinary Arts graduate Chef Gabby said that usually, when customers enter their tea shop and restaurant, they don’t just sit. They have the freedom to roam around and pick the tea that best suits them.
“Customers we have usually like tea with health benefits. And most of the teas with health benefits are oxidized or mapait [bitter], which means na-ferment ng konti,” she said. “Yung ibang variety of tea, sa sobrang pait, you still have to wash it,” she added.
All the varieties of teas displayed all over the store were labeled with the name and its benefits. The teas were placed in clear jars, the customers will choose what they want, and the Tea & Therpay will do the process of making the tea.
According to Chef Gabby, boiling the tea is not the right way. Most people boil the tea leaves, which is a wrong process of making tea.
Here’s how to make tea a Tea & Therapy way:
1) Bring water to a boil. Usually a tea can just have a 150 ml of
liquid.
2) Remove water from heat then add tea leaves (there are some
varieties of teas that are not in leaf form, the same process
applies). A teaspoon will do for a 150 ml water. Depending
upon the benefit you want, you may combine two or more
variety of teas.
3) Wait until the tea extracts blend.
4) Optional: You may add Osmanthus, an herbal Asian flower,
used to enhance the flavor of black or green tea
Among their best seller is their slimmer line of tea. They have anti-cholesterol teas, diuretic teas, and laxative teas.
But “different people have different needs” as Chef Gabby said while opening the jar of lavender tea. It is the reason why their tea shop offers a wide variety of tea, where in some of them came from France and Vietnam.
Their prices range from P195 to P450 for 50 grams tea. Some of their cheapest tea are Peppermint, Everlasting, Oriental Rose, and Lemon Grass. Among their expensive teas are French Lavender and Rosemary.
The benefits of their teas range from: Refreshers, Detoxifiers, Fortifiers, Healers, Slimmers, Calmers, Rejuvenators, and Energizers.
Here is a short list of some tea recipes and their health benefits:
REFRESHERS
▪ Blossoming Belly - good for vomiting in small children, dysentery and diarrhea in infants
▪ Blueberry Burst - good for urinary tract health, memory function, improves eyesight, lowers blood cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease
DETOXIFIERS
▪ Smooth Passage - purifies the blood, kidneys, liver, lungs, colon and deepest cells. Protects skin from premature aging, helps reduce freckles and improves hormonal balance.
FORTIFIERS
▪ German Lemon Incense - aids in digestion, improves blood circulation, and the invigorates blood
▪ Dragon Phoenix Pearls - High in Vitamin C and amino acid. The leaves, infused with jasmine, have a calming effect and prevent sore throat.
▪ Peppermint - a refreshing light aroma tea. Improves eyesight, helps cure fever and flu.
HEALERS
▪ Red Plum - helps eliminate toxins, clears freckles
▪ Wild Lingzhi Mushroom - helps prevent cancer, protects liver, regulates blood sugar, prevents insomnia, has anti-aging effect
SLIMMERS
▪ Everlasting - good for high blood, cholesterol, uric acid, gallbladder disorders, effective fat reducer, anti-intoxication
CALMERS
▪ French Lavender - it has antiseptic and analgesic properties which ease the pain of burns and promote rapid healing.
▪ Rosemary - it lifts spirits and counters depression. It assists in managing and overcoming stress related disorders and nervous exhaustion.
REJUVENATORS
▪ French Pink Rose - this new generation beautifying tea protects facial complexion, inhibits the formation of wrinkles and freckles.
▪ Sweet Chrysanthemum - Helps cure sore throat, prevents diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.
ENERGIZERS
▪ American Ginseng - helps prevent infection, reduces toxins, and improves physical condition
The Tea & Therapy shop now operates for almost two tears and has welcomed numbers of prominent people including celebrities and politicians.
Chef Gabby, also a graduate of Entrepreneurship at Miriam College, said that “tea is now becoming a trend here in the Philippines.”
Indeed it is.
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