yumchaa

If you find yourself frazzled after a shopping spree on Oxford Street/Carnaby Street/Regent/Regent Street, or if you've had a big lunch in Soho and need to digest with a cup of herbal tea, Yumchaa is a great place to get your breath back.

It's a small, cosy cafe, with a huge selection of lovely teas and delicious, homemade cakes, displayed temptingly as you choose your drink.

You can have a sniff around their selection of loose leaf teas that sit in these cute little labelled pots. They smell incredible and it makes it seriously difficult to choose your pick!

That afternoon however, I was in need of a good strong coffee, so I opted for a double espresso which was pretty good. Of course, we didn't pass up the cakes! My chocolate velvet cake was spot on, and E loved his banana & nutella loaf.

I couldn't walk away without buying a bag of one of their teas, so I picked the beautifully scented Japanese cherry garden tea.

I have tried it, and I have to say, it's love. Just perfect brewed in my beloved glass teapot. I will definitely be trying more of their teas when I am next in the neighbourhood, possibly the Mango Sunrise that my friend raves about.

You can also buy their teas online! Dangerous.

If you need a moment of respite after rummaging through the post-Christmas sales, you know where to go.

the glass teapot

About 5 years ago, I remember my mum being obsessed with finding the perfect glass teapot. At the time, I had absolutely zero interest in the matter because a) I wasn't a huge tea drinker and b) because it was a teapot. I had no idea why she was so fixated on this, but when she eventually found one I was glad, because we no longer had to look in every place remotely likely to sell one when out shopping.

Anyway. 5 years later and apparently the most predictable thing has happened: I have become my mother. Since getting into the colder months I have become quite addicted to tea. And as soon as that happened, I started coveting that illusive glass teapot.

I was chatting to my friend C about this a while ago, and she suggested that she would hunt one down for me for my birthday. Of course I was polite and said no! don't worry! I don't want anything! But she knows me too well (and I didn't protest that much).

She looked high and low - seriously, it really is hard to find - but she found the most perfect teapot in the world.

Is it not the most beautiful thing? I just love that you can see the leaves through the colour of the tea, the little drops of water and the way it steams up when you pour the boiling water in. This one is from John Lewis.

Maybe it's ridiculous to be so excited about this, but at the end of the day, it's the little things in life. This teapot, pomegranate tea and I had such a cosy Sunday afternoon watching the drizzly rain and the passers-by.

Thank you so much, C! (p.s. she also got me a Le Creuset pie dish. I am both spoilt and under pressure to find the perfect recipe to use that dish for.)