Generally, while I write, I like to enjoy a steaming cup of tea. And my absolute favorite store in the entire world right now is Teaopia. If you've never heard of it, just imagine Utopia filled with tea. Aaah. Heaven.

When I went into Teaopia for the first time, I felt totally overwhelmed by the selection and the sheer size of the store. The whole back of the store was a wall of giant tea tins carrying over 100 types of tea. There was a rack of tiny tea tins in the midst of the store, on a turnstile, where you could smell a sample of each type of tea they carried.

There was an espresso bar where you could (not get espresso! ya coffee nuts) request a brewed cup or a tea latte (think chai latte) of any type of tea they carried. They also had flavored tea drinks and pressed tea brewed espresso-style. Brilliant. By far my favorite experience in Canada, next to Thai Boat. Of course, they don't have Teaopia in the US. So I tearfully said goodbye my last day, walking out of the store with an armful of Oolong mixes, Peppermint tins, and a rooibos chai latte. And just about a day ago, I ran out of my favorite tea. I almost cried. I'm not planning to be back in Calgary until July. Can I really wait that long for quite possibly the best tea I've ever had?

Come to find out, not only does Teaopia ship their tea all over the US and Canada, but if I spend more than $75 on my order, I get my international shipping free. Honestly, I can't afford that right now, but I'm gonna start saving up for my mad tea-buying.

Anyway, they are running this fantastic contest right now called the Mad Hatter Tea Party. It looks like a ton of fun, and I'm considering doing one. They have invitation cards all printed out for you already, and tons of ideas of what to serve and do. I still have enough Teaopia to last me for about a month, but if I had a tea party, that would wipe me out. So we'll have to see.

But the Mad Hatter Tea Party is also a contest. Send in pictures, get entered to win great tea stuff from Teaopia.

So what about you? Do you like tea? Do you prefer coffee? What is your favorite kind of tea? (Or coffee?) Do you have a writing habit like me, for beverage consumption?