One evening while I was staying with the kids awaiting the birth of youngest grandbaby, we went for ice cream after dinner. Oldest grandbaby has just discovered ice cream cones. It is quite funny watching her try to master the finer art of ice cream cone eating! I'm not a big ice cream fan so the kids stopped at a Second Cup so I could get my cappuccino fix. Cappuccino is currently my favourite morning drink!
Second Cup
Second Cup is gourmet style coffee shop located at 369 Gordon Street in Guelph. There is ample off road parking in the lot beside the corner coffee shop. This was my first visit to a Second Cup so of course I was comparing it to Tim Hortons® and Country Style Donuts (originally only in Ontario, Canada). Country Style grinds the beans fresh for each pot of coffee so you are always assured of a great cup of coffee! Their cappuccino is quite good.
Second Cup offers a wide variety of coffees, teas and specialty drinks. The overall atmosphere was warm and cosy with lots of wood. There smaller wooden tables and wood chairs for enjoying your purchases in the coffee shop. I ordered my cappuccino to go and bought two boxes of flavoured teas.
Second Cup Teas
Like many coffee shops, Second Cup also sells coffees and teas you can take home. On this trip their 20 bag size of selected teas were on sale buy one, get one free. The non-sale price was $5.95 which is a higher price than many other teas but not as expensive as some organic teas. Well that was a deal I couldn't pass up so I chose the cherry flavoured organic green tea while the kids chose the deluxe assortment of teas. The assortment included 4 tea bags each of caffeine-free peppermint herbal tea, vanilla créme black tea, Chai blact tea, caffeine-free orange mango herbal tea and Chinese green tea. I exchanged 5 of my cherry flavoured bags for one each of the other flavours when we got home.
I tried a cup of the cherry flavoured tea later that night. It has a nice cherry smell but just a hint of flavour. It is a pleasant tea for those who enjoy flavoured teas. This tea just has that little bit of difference to make it enjoyable.
Teapots & Tea
Every time I see someone casually pour hot water over a tea bag in a cup I shudder. The only way to get a good cup of tea is to steep it! This is one reason I seldom order tea when out unless I am sure it comes in a small teapot meant for steeping.
I have three teapots but use only two of them on a regular basis. My favourite teapot is a cup and teapot combo. The teapot holds about 2½ cups of tea just perfect for morning tea. The larger pot keeps 8 cups of tea hot. When I make tea, I always warm the teapot first. Then I bring cold, filtered water to a full boil. I empty the warm water from the teapot, add either teabags or filled tea ball then pour the boiling water over and cover the teapot. After steeping 3 to 5 minutes, I pour a cup of steaming tea ready to enjoy.
By far my two favourite teas are Red Rose® (orange pekoe) and Early Grey but I also enjoy Jasmine, green tea and several herbal teas. I also prefer loose tea and a tea ball to using tea bags. I like storing tea bags and loose tea in older mason jars that are no longer approved for canning. These jars keep the tea fresher and prevent any humidity issues.
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