Marisha Golla, owner of House of Tea, stands in front of rows of jade green and candy apple red tins that are stacked from floor to ceiling and brimming with exotic varieties of loose-leaf tea. As she measures out a take-home sample of Ginger Spice tea – a blend of ginger and exotic warming spices – she remarks, “While the weather may be warm today, it will plunge tomorrow.” Ginger, she confirms, is known to create heat in the body – the tea is a perfect blend for the transition into the cold days of late fall.
Customers can’t help but instantly trust Marisha’s expert recommendations. Not only does she know the taste and therapeutic benefits of the more than 300 varieties she carries, but she also has first-hand knowledge about where her teas come from and has personal relationship with many of the workers who manually harvest the plants.
“These are very old plantations and very old relationships,” Marisha says. “It wouldn’t have been possible to bring tea directly from these plantations to Toronto without these connections.”
