From helicopter pilot, to restaurant owner, mother of two young daughters, and now owner of a specialty tea shop in Old Taipa Village, Monica Gonzalez Gomez is a bundle of energy, enthusiasm and warm-hearted hospitality.
Originally from Northern Spain, near Porto, on the border with Portugal, she and her husband first came to Macau in 1999 and stayed almost nine years, during which time they started and ran the Spanish restaurant Don Quixote in Old Taipa Village.
In 2007 they sold the business and returned to Spain and settled in Barcelona. They soon became close friends with a Swedish and Italian couple who had a very successful tea shop.
The East soon beckoned again and they moved back to Macau almost a year ago. Having spent so much time learning all about tea from her tea shop friends, before leaving Spain, Monica discussed the idea of franchising their business in Macau. But with their support and encouragement, Monica was inspired to start up her own brand and business and thus, Tea Time was born.
Monica had kept her import business from the Spanish restaurant days, so it was easy to for her to import the tea. Returning to Macau they brought with them from Spain a full container load of items to set up the shop: display containers, tins, accessories, tea related gifts and of course hundreds of boxes of tea.
The shop has some traditional teas, but it also has blends with flowers, chocolate, vanilla, fruit and herbal teas. They come from all over the world – black tea from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, white tea from Japan, green and red tea from China, rooibos from South Africa, lapacho from South America. They are blended in Europe and Monica buys them from Spain.
Quality is key when it comes to all food products, and tea is no exception. Tea Time’s loose teas and herbs are blended in Europe, and Monica buys directly from a factory in Spain where she’s been to see the operations, is satisfied with the high level of product quality and production, and has a good relationship with the people involved.
Asked if she minds the long hours that running a shop demands, Monica smiles. “The soul of a place comes from the person who runs it” she explains, “and so I need to be here for my customers; I appreciate them and they appreciate our service!”
Of the varieties she sells, ‘Red Dragon’ – a Pu’er tea – is extremely popular with her Chinese visitors, as it has less caffeine than black tea. The green teas are also much in demand. Green tea with ginger and lemon is the best seller as are Sunny Sen (green tea, pineapple pieces, orange peel, sunflower pedals, papaya, mango, and mallow petals), Moroccan green tea with mint and the spicy Chay (green tea, cinnamon pieces, ginger, rose hip peel, pepper, cloves and citrus). The Japanese mix of white with green tea called ‘Tokyo’ is another tea admired for its good slimming and body cleansing qualities.
In the black teas on offer, the names are magical and full of intrigue. Macau Secret is black tea with orange peel and cinnamon, best drunk with milk. Then there’s Passion, Saint Valentine, Winter Dreams, Spanish Nights and Chocolate Time – black tea with chunks of dark chocolate, best brewed with hot milk.
The herbal teas are in fact not teas at all, but tisanes, which means that they are another plant brewed for 2-3 minutes in very hot to boiling water to release a characteristic of the plant into the water. Hawthorn berry, chamomile, rose, hibiscus, tilia for insomnia, tea time slimmer for body cleansing and the very interesting South American Pau D’Arco herb with its anti-viral, anti-fungal healing properties are some examples.
For the diet conscious, Mate, a traditional infused drink from Brazil is a good antioxidant, diuretic and laxative. Due to its high levels of teina it is an excellent slimmer drink.
From South Africa, Tea Time’s rooibos collection features combinations as diverse as the rooibos leaf with rose petals, jasmine, mango, banana and coconut. All caffeine-free, the original recipe is known to be good for curing headaches, insomnia and irritability.
Fruit teas, are as their name suggests, a mixture of different fruits. Apple and hibiscus tends to form the base of most. Caffeine-free, suitable for young and old, they are very good anti-oxidants and can be drunk hot or cold. Tea Time sells nine different kinds, with delectable names such as Apple Cake, Red Forest, Mango Tango, Strawberry Yoghurt, Pinacolada and Caipirinha.
Tea Time’s retail prices are MOP30 for 50 gram bags and MOP56 for 100 gram bags. Some of the shop’s wholesale clients are the coffee shops around Taipa such as Lax Café, El Gaucho and Café Cherry. Monica is keen to meet more people in the food and beverage industry in Macau to share her knowledge and passion for tea, and to help develop the tea market through menus offering wider tea selections.
Tea Time also sells a whole host of tea related gifts and accessories. From their iced tea controller, hot tea controller and silver base heater, fun teapots, to hot favourites the Royal Worcester fine bone China mug and tray sets.
With the name ‘Tea Time’, part of the shop design includes several different style wall clocks.
“Customers coming in kept asking if they were for sale, and so now they are!” Monica exclaims.
Tea Time
www.teatimemacau.com
G/F, 25 Rua dos Mercadores,
Old Taipa Village, near OTT
853-2882-5654
Suzanne Watkinson is Managing Director of property company Ambiente Macau. A trained chef and a hotel and club manager in her previous life, she is a regular contributor to Macau CLOSER on food and beverage, personalities and events in Macau.
