Photo by Tanya Goehring, Styling by Robin Del Pino and Jordyn Taylor-Robins
Winner
Purple Tea Trio from JusTea
Most people don’t know about purple tea, but that might soon change if Paul Bain and his dad Grayson have their way. The Kenyan-grown tea leaves are naturally purple thanks to the presence of anthocyanins, giving them 10 percent more antioxidants than green tea, with 60 percent less caffeine. Pair that with the company’s eye-catching stacking tin design that comes with a hand-carved Kenyan tea scoop, and you have the ingredients to brew up the start of a purple revolution.
$19.99, justea.com
Honourable Mention
Blue Valentine Hoochy ’Booch
Imagine your blue raspberry Slurpee up and melted on you. Now imagine you found it again, it tastes great and it’s suddenly good for you (thanks to a blue-green algae called E3Live that gives it its electric colour). That’s this kombucha.
$5.50, hoochybooch.com
Honourable Mention
Tea Discs from iLola
The perfect marriage of loose-tea flavour with the precision of a bag. You drop one of these sustainable, packed-with-probiotics little numbers in your tea strainer, add boiling water and voila, a perfect artisanal moment. Brilliant.
$36.00 for 12 tea discs, ilolalife.com
Honourable Mention
Hula Hula Shake Tropical Milkshake Sour by Main Street Brewing
A tart, fruity sour with just enough frothiness and a hint of vanilla to create a creamy texture that somehow works beautifully. It’s that rare something-for-everyone beer.
$12.79, mainstreetbeer.ca
