I drink tea everyday and as the weather warms up, I like to swap my hot comforting drink for a cool, refreshing one. Drawing inspiration from my favourite summer foods, here are three easy to assemble tea-centric drinks made with Pure Leaf unsweetened teas. With 0 sugar, 0 artificial sweeteners and 0 calories, the Pure Leaf unsweetened teas were a perfect base to start with to #TweakYourTea. I also liked the natural, genuine tea flavour of the drinks themselves. Personally, I am not a fan of iced tea sodas and the Pure Leaf teas tasted nothing like them.

1. Watermelon Mint and Unsweetened Pure Leaf Tea
Ingredients: Cubed Watermelon / Fresh Mint Leaves / Lime Slices / Unsweetened Pure Leaf Tea
In a tall glass (or pitcher), add mint leaves, diced watermelon and lime slices, pour over with tea.
This drink is sweetened naturally from the watermelon and full of summer flavours. For a stronger taste, muddle the mint leaves at the bottom of the glass first, and squeeze in a wedge of lime before adding the tea.
Optional: Add a splash of rum to turn this into a summery cocktail

2. Scotch and Unsweetened Green Pure Leaf Tea
Ingredients: Scotch / Lemon / Green Pure Leaf Tea / Mint to Garnish
In a tumbler glass, add a shot of scotch and fill with Green Pure Leaf Tea. Top with slices of lemon and a sprig of mint.
Optional: Add simple syrup to sweeten this drink

3. Ginger and Unsweetened Lemon Pure Leaf Tea
Ingredients: Simple Syrup with Ginger / Lemon Slices / Unsweetened Lemon Pure Leaf Tea
Make a simple syrup (2 parts water to 1 part sugar) with slices of ginger added in. In a tall glass, add two tablespoons of the simple syrup and the cooked slices of ginger. Pour in Unsweetened Lemon Pure Leaf Tea and top with fresh slices of lemon.
This is a perfect drink for the evening to stay warm after the sunsets with a touch of spice and heat.
Optional: Add a splash of dark rum for even more spice.

These drinks are perfect for summer BBQs, paired up with dinner or a boozy cocktail hour. The Pure Leaf teas were versatile and easy to work. Also, since I’m still working on shedding my winter insulation (aka 5 lbs), I really liked how the teas were 0 calories and still super flavourful. A great beverage alternative for those who don’t love to drink just plain water.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All drinks reviewed below were provided complimentary. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

This year’s Kampai Sake Festival took place on Thursday May 29 at the Distillery District. Prior to the event, the SIO held a trade and media session where restaurant owners, bloggers and media were invited to walk around, sample the sakes being poured and speak to the brewery representatives.

Disclaimer: All drinks and dishes were provided free of charge by the restaurant. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

The volume of different sakes present was overwhelming. I’ll let the pictures below tell the story and showcase the variety but it was an amazing event. Between the media launch and press session, my knowledge on sake has grown immensely and it was an amazing experience. I would highly recommend the event as it was well organized and the level of excitement from all of the brewery representatives were contagious. It was easy to see that everyone in attendance truly had a love for sake and for sharing that love.

I had the opportunity to taste many Junmai and Daiginjo sakes at the media launch, so I wanted to try something new and different. With all of the choices, I walked the room and tasted every fruity offering. Yes, that’s right, I’m that kind of drinker. I tried every sake that had the word “peach”, “pear”, “sparkling” or “fruit” on the label. My three favourite fruity sakes (in no particular order) were:

1. Homare Strawberry Nigori, Homare Brewery, Fukushima Prefecture, 7.0% Alcohol
Tasting Notes: I’m such a sucker for strawberry flavour alcohols and this Strawberry Nigori was perfect. The unfiltered sake had a great richness and it’s sweetness combined with the strawberry juice is a great combination. This was very mild and easy to drink.
Availability: Will be available at the LCBO in November

2. Izeko Sparkling Jelly Sake Peach Flavour, Ozeki Corporation, 5.0% Alcohol
Tasting Notes: At first glance this might sound weird, but it’s really amazing. Since I was sampling every sparkling sake, the Izeko Sparkling Jelly caught my eye immediately. Talking to the girl at the Ozeki booth, she described the drink like a sake jelly shot, pre made and in can form. I was sold. It was my favourite find of the night. The peach sake itself was delicious, the bubbles lovely and then it was all in jelly form, amazing. I wouldn’t recommend this drink along side steak dinner, but at the cottage, a backyard bbq or girl’s night, perfect.
Availability: Currently available only at Kingyo Izakaya and through LCBO private order

3. Ozeki Yuzu Umeshu, Nakano Shuzo, Ozeki Corporation, $12.5% Alcohol
Tasting Notes: My favourite sake is yuzu flavoured and I was happy to find a plum wine that was very similar in taste. The Yuzu Umeshu has a crisp citrus flavour and would be a great summer drink.
Availability: LCBO private order only

Overall, I can’t wait for next year. Kampai Toronto does a great job of introducing sake to those unfamiliar to the drink and expanding everyone’s repertoire with new breweries and flavours. With the increasing availability of sake in Toronto at the LCBO and in restaurants, Kampai Toronto is the best venue to discover your next favourite bottle and how to get your hands on it.

Leading up to the Kampai Toronto Sake Festival this year I was invited by That’s Life, a Sake and Wine importer, to a Sake Saloon held at Cafe Bar Pasta. I had the pleasure of tasting a few of the award winning Sake’s imported by That’s Life at the Kampai Media Launch and was happy to continue expanding my sake knowledge.

Disclaimer: All drinks and dishes were provided free of charge. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

I walked by Cafe Bar Pasta at first. After consulting Google Maps on my phone, I noticed the hanging sign with a pictogram of coffee beans, a bottle of wine and a bowl of pasta, cute idea. The red, black and white colour scheme established with the sign and bright front door continued throughout the restaurant. Exposed brick walls were painted white and decorated with large pieces of red wall art. At the front of the dining area, a collection of wine corks are displayed behind plexiglass.

Our first stop was the bar where deletable sake cocktails were being assembled. The drink was sour, sweet and one of my favourite sips of the night. That night, we were poured samples of 7 sakes produced by two breweries from the Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan. Representatives from both Tengumai and Fukumitsuya breweries along with That’s Life’s Sake Specialist, Mariko Taijiri, were on hand to answer questions and speak to the sakes. I sipped two glasses of chilled Kagatobi Gokkan Junmai and Kagatobi Ai Junmai Daiginjo. Both sakes were clear, crisp and easy to drink.. Between the two, I actually preferred the Junmai, which I found was a touch sweeter with a rich flavour. The Daiginjo was very smooth.

Servers circulated the room with bites from Chef Jay Scaife, including housemade pasta, lamb meatballs, teriyaki octopus and fried smelt. Each dish was elegantly presented in easy to grab portions. I really enjoyed the lamb meatballs, smelt and housemade pasta. All of these dishes were nice compliments to the sake with rich, savoury flavours. I had a great time at the Sake Saloon and enjoyed the preview to the food at Cafe Bar Pasta. I’m looking forward to a return trip and digging into a full plate of their housemade pasta with a beautifully crafted cocktail.

Looking back, I should’ve planned the night better. Barhop on a Friday night is packed even at 8pm. I thought we would hit the sweet spot between after dinner rush and pre bar hoppers, this was not the case. Every table was packed, along with all the bar seats and basically every square feet had a person. I wanted to try their drink menu though so we put a name down on the chalkboard and made ourselves as comfortable as we could with half a ledge and two stools between the five of us.

Their drink menu is extensive with 30+ beers on tap, 2 cask beers and pages and pages of canned/bottled choices. There’s also a wide selection of gluten-free ciders and seasonal drinks. I went with a flight of four 5oz samples before settling on pints of a Belgian pale ale. Our server was helpful with recommendations and patiently waited while we were overwhelmed by the selection. All of our drinks arrived quickly and we did eventually get some seats by the front window.

Barhop’s a lot cosier and relaxed than the other beer “gastropubs” in town. It would be easy to spend a night exploring their menu or enjoying hard to find favourites. Go early though, because those tables are golden and it seemed like most patrons settle in early for the night. They also have mussel specials on Mondays and $1 shuck oyster nights on Tuesdays.

This year, Marben’s been my go to restaurant for late night drinks when I’m downtown. I love the location being steps away from the central entertainment district and that you can order a charcuterie plate at 11pm. Seriously, cured meat is how I want to pair my cocktails. Thus, in continuing to celebrate the BF’s birthday we headed to Marben after Luma and Les Mis for a special surprise.

Atmosphere: We arrived way after the dinner rush and had a nice private table in the back of the restaurant. The dim lighting made the space feel intimate although conversations were a bit hard to carry over the music playing. The interior’s decor is industrial yet rustic with a lot of natural materials, wood, pendant lights and a beautiful art fixture along the ceiling that resembles waves.

Service: First of, a big THANK YOU to the staff at Marben for executing my special request perfectly. The BF was super surprised and I got major girlfriend points (or at least I’d like to think so). Our server was friendly and when I ran out of cocktails from their menu to order, he suggested the bartender could make something up for me. There was a bit of lull between our drinks and food arriving, but that was more due to our timing. The kitchen was still on break from dinner and starting to prep the “late night” menu offerings.

Food: Both the BF and I like our charcuterie and he doesn’t have a huge sweet tooth. I was too lazy to tackle bacon roses, so even better, I thought of a birthday charcuterie platter. When making my reservation for Marben via opentable, I entered the special request but was only about 50% confident that it would be executed. While we sipped our drinks, I constantly checked out the charcuterie board that was being plated on the kitchen window but I couldn’t tell what was happening. Then our server brought out the board with a lit birthday candle, a happy birthday message written out in mustard and it was even better than I had expected.

Each meat presented was in turn salty, gamey, fatty and all were full of flavour. I loved the whole grain mustard. For cocktails, I started with their daiquiri and the BF had the Hemingway’s. Both drinks were strong and not overly sweet. I followed with the request for a strawberry drink and enjoyed the surprise concoction as well.

I had a great late night cap at Marben and I truly appreciate them indulging my, perhaps odd, request. I still need to go back for that burger.

My friend had a great Groupon for Insomnia, which included a cheese plate, entree, dessert and a drink along with each course. The cafe’s located right on the south east corner of Bathurst and Bloor and was very easy to find.

Atmosphere: We made reservations for a Friday night and they were ready with the table. The seating areas were varied with a bar area, traditional tables at the front, a lounge area with couches in the back and where we sat, two armchairs set up with a small round table in between. The table was really small, it would’ve been sufficient if we were just having drinks, but for a full meal, the room was tight. The armchair were also far away from the table and we had lean forward to eat as well as hold a conversation. It was a Friday night, so the noise level was loud and the restaurant was full capacity. The lighting was dim, and would’ve very romantic with the isolated tables. I also liked the art on the walls, there was a lot of variety and themes.

Service: The service was attentive, there wasn’t any wait time between courses and our drinks were brought right away. For the cheese plate appetizer, each different cheese was introduced. The server patiently listed our drink options several times while we decided.

Food: Overall the food was pretty good, the entrees were pretty normal. We ordered the steak, medium rare, which turned out nicely pink. The salmon flaked easily and wasn’t overcooked. The grilled vegetable skewer that came with the salmon was kind of a write off, not very much vegetables, and it also came with a huge dollop of garlic butter. We actually used the garlic butter to eat the mashed potatoes with that otherwise, would’ve been a bit too dry.

I did really enjoy the flat bread and cheese platter. The flat bread was warm and toasted, and I loved that they served a selection of fruit with the cheese. There was a soft cheese, a mild hard cheese and one that was more aged. I don’t know my cheeses very well and don’t usually like it, however the choices were all mild enough, especially accompanied by the fruit that we polished off the plate.

For dessert, we finished with a creme brulee and chocolate cake. The creme brulee was delicious, perfect burnt top, the chocolate was a little much. It was a lot of chocolate and very sweet. We also enjoyed a lovely glass of sparkling champagne, on top of the two glasses of white wine I had already enjoyed.

I liked the restaurant and the atmosphere was fun. I would love to re-visit to check out their promising brunch and extensive drink menu.