17 South Tce, Fremantle
Phone: (08) 9433 4559
It’s No Secret
Fremantle’s South Terrace is often referred to as the cappuccino strip, but I’ve got a secret to tell you – tea’s making a comeback and it’s coming in the form of the Merchant Tea and Coffee House.
Thanks to David Briffa general manager of The Merchant Tea and Coffee Company Franchise, on any given day tea lovers can enjoy more than 20 different varieties of the piping hot or cold infusion. Me, well I like mine any which way so after a busy day at the office my colleague and I decided to drop by to relax and unwind and find out what was on offer – trust me we weren’t disappointed.
The Merchant Tea and Coffee house is a WA based franchise, which has been running since 1993. Currently there are nine franchises operating in WA with a tenth one on the cards due to open in Armadale as Menu Magazine goes to print.
According to David, The Merchant Tea and Coffee Houses are the main tea merchants in WA sourcing their teas from various regions all over the world including Sri Lanka, Taiwan and India.
“Tea is the second most consumed beverage after water however Australians still love their coffee,” David said.
“The general consensus is people tend to enjoy their morning coffee but choose to drink tea in the afternoon.” And I’d tend to agree with that knowing that I certainly appreciate my coffee in the morning and camomile in the afternoon/evening.
To get our tea-ride rolling David started us on his favourite the Japanese Quince. This smooth tea has a sharp and sweet flavour of quince but is balanced out nicely by the delicate base of green tea – just lovely.
During our visit David told us tea was a very theatrical tradition and with the brewing of our next tea the Buddha’s Eyes it was clearly visible there was definitely something performing for us live on stage. The only way I can describe what happened next is this. A hand rolled white tea (which looks like a gumnut) was popped into a glass of hot water and left for eight minutes to steep (term used to breathe – brewing process). Once brewed a beautiful green and rose coloured flower filled the jar, leaving us and other patrons cooing with delight, the verdict -light and delicate with a classic green taste.
The third tea we sampled was of the iced variety and one I’d go back to enjoy on a sunny afternoon. The Tropical Fruit Sunset is an irresistible fruit and spice melange containing hibiscus flowers, papaya, and a blend of fruit rinds, cinnamon pieces and safflowers. It certainly lived up to its name as I started to imagine myself relaxing by the pool in a Five Star Resort somewhere in the Bahamas.
So we’ve worked out The Merchant Tea and Coffee House does tea well but there’s another thing they’re hiding – The Merchant’s light meal options. A perfect way to keep our hunger pains at bay, with all meals made in-house and nothing over $15 they are great for a quick lunch, meeting or catch up.
I tried the Bacon and Pumpkin Quiche with a garden salad and Mushroom Risotto Bake.
The chunky pumpkin quiche with spinach and spring onion was delightful and a nice dish to enjoy with the girls during morning brunch. Next was the goat’s cheese, mushroom risotto bake, crumbed in polenta. This light meal was definitely a favourite of mine and being a risotto connoisseur, it met my standards with no problems at all.
Colourful, substantial and also served with a side salad it hit the sides nicely.
For desert we had the Petit Fours, chocolate mousse with macadamia nuts and lemon meringues washing it down with what else but Masala chai. Having never tried this before and not being a soy drinker I was pleasantly surprised. Let’s just say I could definitely get used to sipping this by the fire on a cold winters night.
The Merchant Tea and Coffee Company stock a wide range of teas and as a consumer we’ve been lead down the convenience path with teabags but after trying tea the real way I know I won’t be “Lipton Jingling” ever again.
Ooops there’s one more secret, The Merchant is also looking to introduce high teas in the coming months and being a fan of this regal get-together, I’ll be sure to pop by to relax and unwind again soon.