It's no secret that I've been a fan of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf ever since my early blogging days. (Feel free to stalk my ancient CBTL blog posts from 2012 onwards! HEHE) I used to always join their Open House events (not as a blogger but as a consumer) whenever they'd launch a new flavor. Fast forward to this year, I was invited to attend their 15th anniversary celebration at the 26th St. Bistro in BGC. My work in QC ends late at night so I took a half day leave from work for this. Oh, the things I do for love. 💜
CBTL has really gone a long way from their first store in Southern California, to opening their first flagship store in the Philippines at Greenbelt 3 way back 2003. For their anniversary night, they have prepared a buffet spread for us. Look at all the FOOD! 🐷🐽
Chicken Pesto Sandwich
Pastrami Sandwich
Fresh Mozzarella & Tomato Salad
Caesar's Salad
Sardine Garlic Linguini
Banana Chocolate Muffins & Red Velvet Muffins
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Guiltless Chocolate Cake
Triple Decker Cheesecake
Mango Tres Leches
And a choice of our drink! Guess which one I picked. 😉
AFRICAN SUNRISE TEA LATTE 💜
African Sunrise Tea Latte is my favorite drink from CBTL. Papa loves it as much as I do! I bought a box of African Sunrise tea for my dad to steep at home. It's a caffeine-free herbal infusion that has a sweet mix of orange and vanilla. A tin can containing 20 tea bags may seem steep at P595, but it's super worth it!!! I cannot stop raving about it. You just have to try it. 👍
During the event, we had a coffee and tea cupping activity. I enjoyed the Tea Cupping more. We got to try different types of tea: Genmaicha Green (green tea), Noori Tea Garden (black tea), and African Sunrise (herbal & fruit infusion). It's my first time to try Genmaicha Green and it's has a surprisingly pleasant twist compared to regular green teas in the market. This one has popped rice in the mix! The other guests on our table tried African Sunrise for the first time and they ALL loved it.
Steeping time for teas:
- 3 minutes for green tea
- 5 minutes for black teas
- 5 minutes for oolong teas
- 7 minutes for herbal & fruit infusions
Do not over-steep your teas or else they will taste bitter. Oolong teas are an exception as the taste doesn't change even when they're steeped for too long.
We also had a "Make Your Own Ice Blended" activity. My teammates loved their coffee extremely, so they chose to have it with twice the coffee kick!
As for me, my perfect combo would be: Milk base + matcha flavor + espresso jelly + hazelnut swirl + whipped cream. Sounds good? 😋 This would be a lovely idea to offer their customers! 💡
Our DIY Ice Blended drink!
And to celebrate #15YearsOfYouAndMe, you still have 7 more weeks to get CBTL's bestsellers for only P100 every Monday until July 30, 2018! Tomorrow's featured drinks are Mocha Coconut and Caramel Coconut Latte and Ice Blended. This was their seasonal drink last summer, and it's back by popular demand. 😍
Let's all wish CBTL Philippines a happy 15th anniversary! More blessings and fruitful years to come for my favorite coffee place! 💖
Love,
Helen
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