Advertisement

Tea blowing competitions open Amsterdam Tea Room in Winnipeg

The Amsterdam Tea Room is where to go to sip a Cherry Goddess — tea with elderberry, hibiscus, rose hip and of course, cherries — and observe art while "watching the world go by," according to co-owner, Daniel Card.

And as much as Card knows what his newly-open Winnipeg shop is, he knows what it's not: "A place where you feel like, 'Okay, I should come get my coffee and get out,'" he said.

The space is located at 211 Bannatyne Avenue in Winnipeg's Exchange District. On Sunday, Card stood before the building, instructing passersby how to participate in tea blowing competitions.

"Take your entire face, put it over the large part of the tea pot," he told a man and a woman who came by to see what was going on.

"Blow so the tea comes out of the spout. Spray your opponent down or fill a little pot a bit of a distance away," he said.

The woman gave up after trying once and the man jokingly took his tea pot in his hands, splashing Card with its contents.

Art gallery

Card describes his shop as a retail establishment, saying in the future, he and his business partner plan to become a European-style cafe — "something along the lines of a tea bar with tea-infused cocktails and sangrias," he said.

At the moment, people can get tea or coffee, shop for high-end loose leaf teas and check out the work of Winnipeg artists who, according to Card, haven't had an opportunity for their big break yet.

"The gallery operates as a zero-commission space for local artists to present their art in a cultural centre area of the city," he said.

That Amsterdam feel

The space is named for Amsterdam, which Card calls "a real hub of the tea trade, historically."

But, he said, the name — and vision for the tea shop's future — aren't entirely unrelated to marijuana and the potential for its legalization in Canada.

"Who knows … how things are going to change here or if such things are ever going to exist in North America," he said.

"I think if that situation arose and we didn't at least take time to consider the fact, we'd be crazy."