From avo on toast and sausage brioches through to Biscoff and strawberry combos.
You can also have any regular dish at a smaller size for the young ones. See here for full menus
It's a family affair.
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We regularly host private parties at our teahouses.
They can be during the day or evening.
Food menus are created after consultation with you and bespoke to your occasion.
Layout can be seated or buffet - formal or informal.
Drinks can be selected and brought in so that you have your favourites at hand.
Suitable for parties from 20 - 80, depending on location.
Feel free to contact us via email (info@waterlootea,com) or via the contact page, and we can get the ball rolling.
Enjoy
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To buy or read more - click here
]]>Fill up your basket, and when going through checkout select Pick up in the Delivery method section.
We will have it ready for you when you pop along.
The money you save in shipping is roughly the cost of a cuppa in store.
No brainer.
]]>Considering the economic climate, we wanted to ensure that there was something suitable for all. As a result, we have launched a range of brunch brioches, that are both filling and keenly priced.
We hope you enjoy as much as we do.
Toast 3.5
Cinnamon fruit loaf, sourdough, brown, gf bread. Butter & preserves
Banana bread (ve) 4.5
Warmed banana bread, with espresso & cinnamon spread
Overnight oats (ve) 5.5
With chai spiced apple & seeds
Fried egg & smoked cheese 6
with red onion marmalade & sriracha mayo
Merguez sausage & fried egg 6
with sriracha mayo
Smoked salmon 6.5
with dill & horseradish cream cheese, pickled cucumber
Poached eggs 8.5
2 poached eggs, spinach, homemade hollandaise, sourdough
Avocado (ve) 9.5
Smashed avo, miso ‘butter’, crispy onion, seeds, chilli oil, sourdough
Mushroom (ve) 8.5
Sauteed mushroom, spinach herb aioli, sourdough
Welsh rarebit (v) 9
Made with leeks, smoked cheese & Yunnan tea, served with salad & chutney
Chilli (ve) (served from 11.30) 8.5
Black bean chilli, flatbread, avocado coconut cream, pickled red onion
Panko chicken (served from 11.30) 9.5
Hoisin glaze, pickles, lime mayo, brioche bun served with side salad
Soup (ve) (served from 11.30) 6
Soup of the day served with bread
Add ons: two poached eggs 2.5 //smoked salmon 4 // avocado 4 //mushrooms 3// merguez sausage 4//
v = vegetarian, ve = vegan
]]>Try something different with our new blends:
Our Wellness range now includes Relax, Detox, Energise and Immunity. You can have the whole range s part of our Wellness Collection.
We also have :
Cinnamon Spice
Cranberry Apple
Elderflower Soothe &
Invigorate Mint.
We hope you enjoy the season, and that our teas can bring you some warmth and deliciousness.
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As well as our extensive range of teas and award winning coffees, we also have chef-led kitchens at all of our teahouses. Using local suppliers and ingredients to create our regularly changing menus.
We pride ourselves on our teahouses being havens for catch ups and meetings. Next time you visit, enjoy a spot of brunch or lunch that you can wash down with one of our brews.
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Being a tea business, there are some unavoidable pitfalls that we encounter, particularly the importation of tea from around the world. However, despite this there are things we can and must do to offset/reduce these.
Loose Leaf Tea
In using loose-leaf tea, we encourage customers to reduce pollution. The use of tea bags leads to a greater amount of plastic pollution, as many conventional tea bags won't fully decompose. In offering loose-leaf tea, we are able to give our customers a way to enjoy the nation's favourite drink without the risk of further polluting our planet with plastics and unnecessary packaging waste.
Many of our teas can also be re-infused, which not only means more bang for your buck but an ever changing brew from the same leaves. Instead of using 5 tea bags you can use the same 5g of Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong tea to get 5 nuanced and varied pots of tea - what more could you want!
Not only is loose leaf better for the environment but it's going to be much more enjoyable!
Teahouses
Our teahouses are focused on the concept of community and shopping locally. We use quality local suppliers ensuring there is a minimal footprint. We are supporters of the Foundational (Circular) economy, and understand the beneifts of supporting smaller sized businesses.
We use compostable boxes and cups for those that wish to have our food and drink to take away. However, re-using is always a better choice than the impact creating something new has on the planet and so we have now introduced a 50p discount for all drinks to takeaway that are in a re-usable cup. We hope that this helps to encourage our customers to choose to re-use more often.
Online
All of our teas are available to purchase online and so it's important we are aware of the impact this can have on the environment. We have transitioned to using recyclable boxes and packing materials when posting tea to our customers and wholesale partners.
We also re-use whenever we have an opportunity to. Whether this is re-using packing materials from deliveries we may have had ourselves or re-using bags to help supply our own teahouses with tea.
Future
There is a long way for many organisations to go to ensure we use the tools at our disposal to have as minimal a negative impact on our environment. We hope to continue to make strides to show that there are better ways of doing business..
What ideas do you have to help us do more to protect the environment?
]]>Spring is the seasonal inspiration behind our Elderflower Berry infusion. We wanted to create a drink that would taste just how a crisp and sunny Spring day feels like. However, it was also important to ensure that it would work whether you wanted to start your day off with a pot, drink some whilst at work or needed something to introduce calm before going to sleep.
To do this, we wanted to make sure that the blend was caffeine-free, but also to have a fresh Spring feel that would invoke the seasonal flavours that we were looking for.
All of our teas are hand-blended in our warehouse based behind our original Waterloo Gardens Teahouse in Penylan. We love testing out tea combinations and developing new tea blends and this one was no different. However, after weeks of trying different Rooibos blends, we realised that despite making great flavours, we were still missing the fresh feel that a Spring blend should have.
We pondered and dwelled, until inspiration appeared in the form of Elderflower. We took the Rooibos out and replaced it with Elderflower. One test later and we fell in love.
Elderflower 'tea' is a herbal infusion that's high in Vitamin C and powerful anti-oxidants. Adding this, meant it helped to create a blend that would combat cold symptoms, as we come out of the winter months, whilst simultaneously adding a strong flowery note - exactly what we were after! (Vitamin C is best preserved when made as a cold brew)
We ended up with an incredible blend that did everything we wanted. It uses Elderflower as a base and is combined with Elderberries, Rosehip and Hibiscus Flowers to deliver a fruity, flowery combination.
When you take a sip the infusion begins with a beautifully light and floral presence but it is quickly followed with a clean and crisp, sweet berry flavour. This means it has the freshness to awaken your senses yet also has the soothing sweetness perfect for a night-time brew.
To make the most of the Elderflower Berry tea you should brew it with boiling water for at least 4 minutes depending on how strong you want the flavours to come through. It's important to use an infuser basket or a teapot with an infuser basket so you can remove the leaves once its brewed to your desired strength. Use approximately 1g of loose leaf tea to 100ml of boiling water.
As a cold brew increase to 1.5g per 100ml and leave in a fridge for a few hours or overnight.
This infusion truly blossoms in the Spring. We hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we did making it.
Elderflower Berry is now available to purchase both online (here) for a 10% discount available online for the month of April and in store. If you visit one of our teahouses and want to try for yourself, we will be serving a pot for 50p cheaper than usual.
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It's been a long time coming but after months of tasting, testing and tasting again we finally have four original wellness blends available for purchase.
Wellness is so frequently a buzzword that's thrown around without any real meaning and so we wanted to ensure that each of our blends had a specific purpose in mind. Calm, Detox, Energy and Immunity.
Each tea has been specifically designed so they don't just work well but they taste great. They are the spearheads of these categories of teas, which we are now using to help filter our existing teas into to help ensure that you can find the teas that you want with as much ease as possible.
Lavender Calm
Our Lavender Calm blend is filled with brand new herbs that we've never stocked before. Lavender, holy basil (tulsi), lemon balm and raspberry leaf. Simple but effective.
Lavender can so easily become overpowering yet it offers so many purported benefits when it comes increasing levels of calm. Reducing its quantity and combining it with lemon balm and holy basil allows a subtle lemon flavour to build up alongside it. Both of these herbs have been chosen to help soothe symptoms of stress and aid sleep.
Detox Green
This blend of green tea, peppermint, nettle and fennel will leave your body feeling cleansed and new again.
Using these key ingredients has allowed to to create a balanced blend that can be used throughout the day to help get you out of a slump. It will work best in the morning to get over the night before or to drink after dinner to help aid digestion.
Immune Boost
Brimming with antioxidants, this wellness blend will give you a natural boost for your immune system. It's packed full of ingredients that are reputed to help defend against a common cold and flu.
Turmeric, ginger, orange, liquorice combined with a rooibos base to create a sweet yet fiery brew.
Wake-Up Maté
Give yourself a burst of energy with this Yerba Maté based wellness blend.
Maté helps to deliver an uplifting boost without the crash later on.
Combined with peppermint and lemon verbena this blend will awaken your senses and leave you energised for the day ahead.
Find our wellness collection here.
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Our venues at Lakeside, Cardiff city centre and Penarth have substantial outdoor seating should you prefer. Wyndham's outdoor seating is in the arcade - which provides protection from the elements.
Our duty is to ensure that we create a safe environment for when you visit. We have distanced tables, NHS Covid-19 App & Track and Trace forms.
As well as implementing current government policies we bolster with best practise for our industry.
Our takeaway offer has also increased and thank you for supporting us on that front. We can do takeaway afternoon teas that can pre-booked by calling your local teahouse.
You can download our app from the Apple store or Google Play for click & collect. You can let us know the time you would like to collect and we will have it ready for you. For every purchase on the app you receive 10% loyalty points (£10 spend = £1 in points) - which makes it even more worthwhile.
We are working on a delivery aspect to the business also - so do stay tuned for that.
We fully understand that some of us will be venturing out less over the coming months. We have added brew at home wares so you can perfect your tea/coffee making skills. Along with loose leaf tea we also stock freshly roasted coffee that we can grind to your specification.
We run monthly discounts to those who sign up to our newsletter - which you can do at the bottom of the home page here.
Should you have any particular needs then do always get in touch via the website and we will tailor something fitting for your needs during these times.
Stay well and very much hope to see you soon.
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Welcome back!
We have opened the doors to five of our teahouses - operating a takeaway service as well as offering outdoor seating at most of our venues. (Wyndham Arcade, Cardiff city centre will be opening at end of July)
As well as teas and coffees we also have a wide range of cakes as well as a breakfast and lunch offer. We will be looking at increasing the food menus in the days ahead.
We will slowly be adding more services such as click and collect and deliveries which you can keep up to date with on our social media handles @waterlootea
Thank you for support since we have opened back up - it's been lovely seeing you all.
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As a lot of you may know, we have been busy working with other food businesses to feed our NHS staff over the last week. From a standing start we have delivered over 3,500 meals in our first week.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/feeding-nhs-staff-at-uhw-heath-h…
#FeedTheHeath is how the project is known on social. @FeedTheHeath
Working with the likes of James Sommerin, Penylan Pantry, Cinnamon tree, Milkwood, Juboraj, Wallys Deli, Brod, The Early Bird, Wellfield Fish bar, Penylan Preserves, Cakes By Angela and others - we have aimed for this to be a truly collaborative effort. Cowshed Communications and Full Stop Accounts have also kindly volunteered their time to help us with the project. Go Panda are our delivery partners. Although we raised the flag for this project to begin, as we all know, ideas by themselves are nothing without great people to take them forward. Thank you to all involved.
Our partners on the ground are the Cardiff & Vale Health Charity and CVUHB - who are helping with delivery once on site as well as knowledge on requirements at different hospital sites. Amazing teams to be working alongside. Keep supporting them when this is over. Hospitals should be flooded with our spare cash.
The set up is simple - our local food and drink businesses (like everyone else in our community) is keen to help in any way we can and that is safe to do so. We set up a fundraising page which pays for ingredients so that the businesses involved can cook for the NHS staff. Everyone involved is volunteering their time and there are no admin fees or staff wages involved with what we are doing.
Please donate if you are able to, spread the word, and stay tuned for updates on the Go Fund Me page. We have scheduled another 10 weeks for this project - so please help where you can.
Much Love.
Drink Tea.
Links
https://www.gofundme.com/f/feeding-nhs-staff-at-uhw-heath-hospital
https://docrobertsblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/12/feed-the-heath-the-power-of-goodwill/
But, here's the thing. The compostable cups that are available on the market are only able to be broken down if put into the commercial food waste stream. And, if you do the simple maths on this (will members of the public who have take away drinks have access to commercial food waste bins?) it's clear that they aren't being used in the manner that would be most effective.
Solutions on this front regarding compostable cups would be to have more effective waste streams for use by the public. Instead of having just a general waste and a recycling bin, adding on a food bin where compostables could be placed would be a big step in the right direction. This is normally an initiative that would be led by local councils but may well need to be spearheaded by businesses to get the concept tested before others take it up.
However is the implementation of an infrastructure to support a single use culture the right way forward? And the conclusion that we have come to is that it clearly is not.
Reuse
The growth of the reusable cup culture has been a sight to behold. Gone are the days when perversely it was fashionable to carry 0.5 litre plastic bottles of water along with single use coffee cups. If anything, they are being scorned upon. And quite rightly so.
With the number of manufacturers and hence options in the the reusable cup field increasing every day, there is the right cup out there for everyone.
What are we doing?
We have had an initiative running for most of 2018 where if you use your own cup for a take away drink, we have been taking approximately 1/3 off the cost of the drink (£3 becoming £2). As well as selling a variety of cups at each of our teahouses our role is to incentivise our customers to make that change and to switch over to reusable rather than single use.
We can do more, undoubtedly. Boston Tea Party must be applauded for their approach on this matter.
What can you do?
Carry your keep cup with you at all times, in your bag, in your office. Make it part of your routine, give it a rinse when you get a chance (a clean cup is nicer in your bag vs a used cup). Encourage your friends to do the same.
Recycling is better than landfill.
Compostable can be useful in certain scenarios when there is the waste stream structure in place.
Reusing is the best. Drink, Wash, Reuse.
]]>Here are a few of our favourite things...
Launching the UK Tea Brewers Cup and opening a forum of collaboration between our peers in the Tea Industry. This was followed up by the World Tea Brewers Cup in Dublin staged at the same time as the World Barista Championships.
Importing and curating our tea portfolios to be able to offer something for everyone - from the novice to the connoisseur. Working with small farms in Asia, and often offering them a route to export for the very first time. Showcasing teas that had never been sold in volume in the UK previously. (Conversations often went along the lines of "...yes, people in Europe are interested in quality teas..")
Supplying our teas to some of our favourite businesses in the UK and across Europe - introducing tea in a fashion that it was served on a par as their other goods. Specialty teas in specialty cafes.
Working with manufacturers such as Marco Beverage Systems, Hario & BWT, on novel equipment discussions and development.
Hosting the UK Coffee Brewers Cup, and showcasing Cardiff to the coffee fraternity.
Launching the Welsh Aeropress Championships at our teahouse in Wyndham Arcade, working with WAC and La Marzocco.
Being listed in The Guardian/Independent/Telegraph in "Top places to drink coffee in UK"
Winning best Cafe in the UK (BSA Awards - Industry body, three unannounced visits). This was judged on three drinks that were ordered by the visiting judge.
Serving our tea at TEDGlobal and Ted Talks alongside the Coffee Common and The Speciality Coffee Association of America.
Working with The DO Lectures in Cardigan - facilitating mindfulness with our brews.
Working with our peers in the food and drink industry locally - sharing ideas and collaborating on events. Friends, not competitors.
Being able to honour the contract between ourselves and yourself - by ensuring the ingredient quality that we brought into Waterloo Tea was delivered to you, with no airs and graces.
Each teahouse having monthly art exhibitions - with internationally reknown artists through to first time solo exhibitors. With 20% of sales going to the artists charity of choice - this, although not food or drink, has been one of our proudest feats. The arts are not optional, they give voice to topics and peoples.
Working on a scheme with The Big Issue magazine - when a member of public buys a mag, we give them a free tea or coffee. Simple things, big impact.
Here's to another ten years of fun and deliciousness..!
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Winding through the centre of the city, the arcades act as a home for many of the city's independents and are a point of difference for visitors to the city.
Next time you are in the centre, spend a day working your way through the many jewels that can be found in amongst the arcades.
You can read more about the City of Arcades project here.
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It is a joy to have him launch with a seafood pop up at Penarth Pier Pavillion.
]]>He started his career as a dishwasher in Sheffield at the age of 14, followed by a three years at the 5 star Hyde Park Hotel in Knightsbridge (now the Mandarin Oriental)
Grady then worked in the US for the next 16 years as well as in Hong Kong, Paris and Sicily. His last 6 years in the US were spent teaching the Culinary Arts at Le Cordon Bleu in Los Angeles.
Grady has been in Cardiff for the past 10 years and as Head Chef achieved 3 Rosettes at Le Gallois restaurant.
We had the pleasure of hosting Grady at 'The Common' held at The Washington Buildings. His Trio of dinners all sold out.
It is a joy to have him launch with a seafood pop up at Penarth Pier Pavillion.
From Grady
"This series of dinners will be served in the family style - Long tables where the food is served on platters for each party. I hosted these dinners in Los Angeles on a regular basis and they garnered a good following.The idea is to create a fun, communal atmosphere with a strong emphasis on powerful seasonal flavours. Here’s to celebrating the bounty of ingredients available on our doorstep and slightly beyond."
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Our mission when we visited this Spring was to uncover some hidden gems, find farming practices that were unique and ethical, and to do all of this whilst building relationships with farmers with whom we had synergy.
The results are now beginning to land in the UK, and they are spectacular. For all the teas below they are the highest quality we have had in each of the processing styles. There are many more on the way too - some familiar, some new to our tea portfolio. So do keep checking in to see what we have received recently.
Enjoy!
Silver Needle - Spring 2018 harvest
A juicy and succulent version of the the high end benchmark for white teas.
Golden Needle
Buds that have been processed as a black tea - vs as a white tea as is the case with a Silver Needle. An insanely refined chocolate impact on the palate - the highest end black tea we have in stock.
Yunnan Gold
High proportion of golden tips in a tea that can be seen as a gateway drink. Delivering good body and malt chocolate.
Yunnan Breakfast
Remember this one? We have brought it back into play. Larger leafed and higher grade than the Yunnan Breakfast of a few years ago - but still able to act as the perfect breakfast tea, allowing drinkers to enjoy black or with milk. An alternative to unadulterated Assams and Ceylons.
Mao Jian Buds - early Spring 2018
Our highest grade Chinese Green tea - but with more Long Jing due in soon. Processed as a green from buds and delivering incredible fresh sweetness to set it apart from lower grade greens commonly found in the market.
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We first met the charity that operates the Pavilion when we opened our teahouse in the Washington Buildings in Penarth town centre. Last year we began helping out with consultancy at the pavilion - to pass on the knowledge that we had learned or had passed onto us.
Waterloo Tea has now taken over fully in terms of operations at the pavilion cafe. The goal is for us to be able to develop the venue so it reflects the beauty of its surroundings in terms of quality, and allow a steady stream of income to flow to the charity who run the Pavilion building.
They in turn will be able to focus on their portfolio of arts and community projects and further cement the venue as the natural heartbeat of Penarth.
In all places of public interest such as museums and art galleries, the food and drink operation is becoming front and centre of their make up. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Penarth Arts and Craft Limited for not taking the easy option and asking one of the mega national companies who normally take over these sites - and instead to go local, with a focus on quality and shared beliefs.
Very much hope to see you soon!
Penarth Pier Pavilion
The Esplanade
Penarth
CF64 3AU
029 2070 4896
Available for Afternoon Tea, Barista Courses and to a Monetary Value - we've got you covered.
Click here to see the range.
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For the rest of you - we're offering free shipping until Monday 18th December.
Just type in the voucher code #xmastea on checkout and we'll deliver the teas at no extra cost.
They won't be delivered by reindeer, but hope this gets you in the festive spirit nevertheless.
]]>The reason for us getting involved on this front was to have art displayed in areas of high footfall. There is nothing more saddening than seeing quiet art galleries which impact on the reach that art can have. We feel it should be the fabric of any setting.
Our alumni of artists range from local, international, first time and globally renown. Exhibitions change monthly are are accompanied with a private launch where the artists can invite their community to see their works.
From each sale we take 30% from the value as commission. 10% is for general upkeep and for the launch costs. 20% we ask the artist to nominate a a charity and we donate on behalf of the artist. We are proud to have raised thousands of pounds over the years for good causes - thanks to both the artists and the public who purchase.
Should you be interested in exhibiting do get via our contact page.
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Our goal is to again create a hub for the area where friends can catch up, meetings can take place and of course, where we can share the passion we have for speciality tea, coffee and good food.
We will be open late on Thursday, Friday, Saturday - 'til 10.30pm as a late night cafe when you don't necessarily want to go for a meal or a pub. Cakes, teas (think herbal, caffeine free), coffees and puddings will feature on the menu.
With lots of plug points and wi-fi it should also be a perfect venue for meetings for those of you who work after regular hours and struggle to find places where you can connect with colleagues and clients.
You can find us at :
17-19 Clearwater Way, Lakeside, Cardiff, CF23 6DL.
We hope you enjoy the teahouse as much as we have enjoyed creating the space for you.
Back of House
Firmly established as one of the nations top cafes/tea houses we have been developing our food programme to mimic what we have been doing in tea and coffee.An ability to work with ingredients on a seasonal basis, experience of working as part of a team and presentation skills are some of the qualities that we will be looking for. We are keen to push boundaries. To get a feel of our food offering click onto our teahouse pages for current menus.
In one of our stores we are contemplating late evening opens on the weekends - where our offering will be different to that in the daytime. This will be a real opportunity to create something in the manner of your choosing, should you wish. The positions would allow flexible working patterns.
Candidates who are in the Chef de Partie category would be ideal - but full training can be provided to those with passion and relevant experience.
Front of House
Happy, smiley people who have experience in customer facing roles. We can provide full training on procedures, although if candidates do have a history in working with speciality tea and coffee then it would obviously count in their favour.
Our team, both front and back of house, has a knowledgeable yet relaxed approach. Every member of the team has an equal voice and allowed the environment for them to shine.
Ideal candidates would be experienced, imaginative, ambitious, and hard working. Being a local company we have positions in all venues based on your locality.
We are looking to fill positions on a permanent basis. Salaries dependent on skills etc.
Part time opportunities also available.
Go ahead…
CVs with a covering note to : info@waterlootea.com
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With locations in Penylan, Penarth and the city centre - the teahouses have increasingly become home for an after hours scene that allows patrons to break away from the corporate/commercial offerings that are more commonly seen in hotels and conference suites.
With a wide range of bespoke options on food and drink, tailored to your needs - get in touch via our contact page to see if we can help you on those special occasions.
Conferences, book launches, client get-togethers, birthdays, engagements, weddings, or just a big bash to have some fun.
Whatever the reason - we hope we can offer a break from the norm and be the place where you feel at home.
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"Given that much of Japan has four very distinct seasons, seasonality plays a very important role in much of Japanese culture, and washoku, Japanese cuisine is no exception..."
She will be popping in on the last Saturday of May, June & July in 2017 at Washington Tea, Penarth.
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