ICHA TEA — Restaurant in Toronto

One of my favourite cafes to visit.

Reasons: Clean washroom: the washroom may be a mess sometimes but it's clean and smells clean! Whenever I need a washroom I can trust, this is my go-to spot in the area.

Plenty of seating space: at the back of the cafe, they have bar-style seating for their tea experiences, as well as a variety of 2-8 person wooden tables. At the front of the cafe there's more high seating near the order counter.

Great ambient space: you can get a lot of work or studying done thanks to their free wifi.

Drink Variety: you can order both bubble tea and pots of traditional tea.

For the bubble tea/hand crafted drinks, a top favourite - and for good reason - is the matcha strawberry latte. I usually order this with oat milk, 50-75% sugar, and tapioca pearls. Ice is fixed. They use Marukyumen Matcha which is currently very popular because of its light, grassy flavour. The strawberry seems to be mashed or blended strawberry syrup and offers a wonderful sweetness.

For the traditional tea experience, you have an option for a single cup, tea bar, and tea set with a selection of different types of tea (oolong, black, white, green, pu erh). The tea bar is a beautiful pot of brewed tea served with one tea cup.

My favourite is the tea set which offers the greatest value. It's probably meant to be shared, but it comes in handy when you intend to stay for hours! You get a large pitcher jug of hot water, 2 tea cups, and a matching tea pot for you to steep your tea. They always serve it in beautiful unique pots. My last visit had a pumpkin themed pot and cups! The hot water has unlimited refills; I've been able to successfully complete a whole pitcher but I ended up feeling pretty full and buzzed by that time, so the refills are realistic with multiple people. You could also get additional tea cups at an extra charge.

Tea flavour: they put extra care when it comes to brewing and quality and you can taste it in the tea because it's always just right. Never burnt and bitter.

They sell tins of tea and individual samplers. I've tried their tangerine Pu erh; it was my first time trying any pu erh. It was earthy and I wasn't sure how to brew it at all LOL but it was good! I also bought the citron white tea a while ago, but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

They also sell desserts to pair with the tea. They'll serve the tea bar/set and desserts to your table if you're dining in.

I highly recommend others visit! But please leave a spot for...

I’ve been getting my tea from here since they used canisters/tins for all their loose leaf tea products. Unfortunately they seem to have discontinued selling the snowy rose jasmine loose leaf tea for a long while now. Thankfully it is not discontinued on their menu though.

This location is small and can get crowded on weekends but depending on the order they can be pretty quick with their service. If you want to dine in I suggest going early, going on a weekday, or visiting the other location on queen and ossington as it has a bigger seating capacity compared to this one. Otherwise a 5-15min wait depending on order and queue.

My favourite things about Icha Tea so far have to be their seasonal drink rotations, tea tasting events, and loose leaf. I highly recommend trying various types of teas. Not just the matcha (the tearista’s poor wrists!!). I’m loving their seasonal rotation as I get to try different teas, not just as traditionally, but paired with other flavours like coffee, juice, and soda. They also offer 5gram options for most of their loose leaf if you want to try in the comfort of your own home.

Their desserts are quite nice paired with tea bar options. My fav are the rose jasmine pudding and osmanthus rice wine cheesecake.

Apart from tea and tea snacks they also carry items (in store) made by local creators such as candles, jewellery, plants, pottery, art and more.

Side note: I’ve noticed they have ice level options now! Since when did that happen? I’m guessing the matcha craze, increase of customers, and demands had a play in that? Not complaining, I prefer less ice and not watered down tea…

Overall a great place to introduce yourself to traditional Chinese teas or hang out...

Here is a very honest review about this tea place. The atmosphere is pretty nice.

The location isn’t great but the inside’s pretty big. It’s a little hidden but it’s not the bar’s fault i guess. I think it helps stand this place out.

Next, the drinks. I tried 3 of the drinks. Mango Jasmine Cheese foam tea, mango jasmine tea, and the brown sugar ginger milk tea. The Jasmine tea was actually alright considering the next drinks Im gonna talk about. It’s nice and refreshing. The ginger milk tea is a little disappointing. I was excited considering the reviews but there was A LOT of ginger instead of tasting the milk tea! I was extremely confused! The balls were nice at least… The cheese foam is just straight nasty! Maybe some people like it, but the watery consistency was not it…. It’s like chunks of cheese with tea. I guess that’s some people’s thpe of tea but not mine…

Lastly, the customer service. It was REALLY disappointing. My cousin asked for something and she was attended to really rudely! Second, they got my order wrong and made me pay the extra 80 cents! It’s pretty sad considering the hype around this place. They were laughing over our order. I know it was late, but at least have some respect for the customers!

In conclusion, considering the Instagram reels and Tiktoks, it’s pretty overrated… and im disappointed. Hopefully they change up the menu or something because the only thing keeping this place open is the...