Move over, coffee, the tea industry is on the rise. According to the Tea Association of the USA, tea has grown from a $2 billion to $10 billion industry in 20 years and is expected to double in a couple of years.
The accelerated growth may go hand in hand with an aging population. Every day, it seems a new study emerges revealing a tea’s health benefits, from reducing risk of cancer, heart disease, oral disease and kidney stones, to assisting in weight management and blood-sugar control, and staving off neurological decline.
Tea’s wonderworkers are antioxidant plant compounds including phytochemicals, flavonoids and flavonols that help to boost the immune system and prevent DNA damage.
But, really, how many people make dietary choices for health reasons alone?
No, we drink tea because it’s such a pleasure. And the tearoom, once the province of luxury hotels, is popping up all around Honolulu.
One of the latest is from two former denizens of London, where the afternoon tea tradition was born. There, Shakkel and Liza Yunis were in the hardware sales and property development business, working long hours and yearning for a more relaxed lifestyle.
In her spare time, Liza Yunis was a student of international tea expert Jane Pettigrew, and she entertained thoughts of opening her own teahouse. She never imagined it would be halfway around the globe.
On a trip to discuss state business projects, Shakkel Yunis met Na Mea Hawai’i/ Native Books owner Maile Meyer, and talk turned to tea. For the past three years, the Native Hawaiian book and gift store has been the setting for informal Tea and Talk Story sessions hosted Sundays by Hawaiiana expert Nake’u Awai. But the store lacked a formal tearoom.
The couple started reading up on Hawaiian history before moving here in November, when they began converting the back of the shop into what is now the Monarch Tea Room.
Liza Yunis said she found the connections between Hawaii’s monarchs and the United Kingdom "surprising and delightful." She felt a tearoom paying homage to Hawaii’s alii and the traditions they loved would complement the work already taking place at the shop, including workshops and demonstrations that keep Hawaiian traditions alive.
Portraits of royals from Liholiho to Lili’uokalani now line the walls, and a tea hutch is filled with antique pots dating from 1835 to the 1920s, roughly coinciding with the monarchy period.
Guests may drop in for locally roasted coffee, a casual pot of tea and sweet treats such as scones, macarons and red velvet cupcakes. Espresso is $2.25; cappuccino, $3.50; and latte, $3.75. A pot of tea is $5.95, and tea to go is $3. But the highlight is the afternoon tea, based on a British tradition encompassing tea served with sandwiches, scones and cake. The service is available noon to 4 p.m. daily.
According to Liza Yunis, afternoon tea began in the early 19th century when Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, sought to fill the gap between lunch and dinner, served then at 8 p.m.
It’s best to reserve your afternoon tea, which may be the best priced in town at $36 for two. (Bring a friend; tea for one is $28.) Each of you will receive your own choice of tea, which include categories of white, green, black, oolong and herbals, with up to eight selections per category.
I’ve observed that tea audiences tend to skew older, and for this crowd, menus read like fine print in teensy-weensy 5-point type. If you left your reading glasses at home, you can smell your way through the menu with samples in tea sniff jars that offer a good idea of the sweetness of passion fruit or lychee oolong; the floral perfume of champagne and rose cream white tea; and the spiciness of masala chai, one of my favorites.
Unlike other local tearooms, at Monarch the tea is steeped before service to optimal specifications. This amounts to tea lighter in flavor when most of us have grown accustomed to leaving the leaves in the pot and have developed a preference for stronger tea. You can always request a longer steeping time, or for leaves to be left in the pot.
The tea is accompanied by a three-tier tray, with a bottom layer of savories, middle layer of scones and top tier of desserts. Although it doesn’t look like much food, during my three visits I’ve never made it to the top tier. That meant going home with minicupcakes and macarons from Cakeworks and other patisseries.
The savories are made at the tearoom from recipes that Liza Yunis continues to develop. Recent offerings were crave-worthy originals such as a miniature whole-wheat sandwich of chicken salad sweetened with lilikoi and spiced with the curry flavors of cumin and coriander; portobello mushrooms on Parmesan crackers; an asparagus, goat cheese and brie tart; a cucumber, basil and taro minisandwich; and a bacon-cream cheese scone with Hawaiian pepper jelly.
Scones are accompanied by tart Tahitian lime curd, cara cara orange marmalade with a generous amount of rind adding a bitter element, and Devon cream.
It’s a great place to entertain out-of-towners or to hold birthday parties, baby or bridal showers, or business networking events, because the room seats 25.
Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.
