Whenever visiting a large city, I always try to make time to explore Chinatown. There’s something so genuine about the dingy alleyways, and delicious smells wafting from restaurants, tanks of live fish, and foreign kitsch that can’t be found in the sleek and shiny shopping and business districts of most cities. China town offers an oasis of sorts in the midst of skyscrapers and pavement.

While on a weekend getaway to Montreal with Cliff last January, we discovered this great tea store, called My Cup of Tea. I treated myself to a new double-walled glass tea set and to their blooming tea. I promised myself that I would return to purchase a variety of their loose leaf teas, but just haven’t had the opportunity to cross the northern border since.

Aching for a cup of decent green tea, I ordered 100 grams of their Jasmine Pearl, which arrived this morning. As soon as I arrived at work, I turned on our electric teapot and plopped 8 pearls into my teacup. Pouring the boiling water over the pearls released the sweet scent of the tiny flowers, and within minutes the small green pearls unfurled to reveal the long slender leaves that created a tiny nest at the bottom of my cup.

I can’t think of a better way to start the morning.