Purple Cane Tea, Kuala Lumpur

It’s summertime in the Philippines. With most school children on their two-month break, many families take a vacation at this time of the year. Some go to their home towns; others fly out of the country to discover new places and experiences.

Because of its proximity and lack of visa requirement, Malaysia is a popular destination. If you’re visiting Kuala Lumpur and you find yourself in the Chinatown area, you might want to check out a tea store called Purple Cane almost right across the street from the arch that marks the entrance to Petaling Street. We discovered it quite by accident. But once inside, I was hooked.

There were shelves and shelves of canisters of loose leaf tea — oolong, green and black, flavored or unflavored. If you’re new to tea drinking, there are gift boxes with sampler sized pouches of tea.

Then, there are equipment and accessories for tea making — tea cups in various colors and designs, tea pots in many different sizes — in ceramic, glass or terra cotta.

What’s so unique about Purple Cane is that not only does it sell tea, it advocates an entire lifestyle based on tea. They sell tea-related products that include books, music, snacks and decor.

When we were there last year, I didn’t know there was a Purple Cane Restaurant too — three, in fact — but located in other parts of Kuala Lumpur. The menu, as described in the Purple Cane website is a “a modern concept of light but flavourful dishes with less salt, oil, sugar and no artificial flavours.” These dishes include homemade tea soup, green tea rice and almond bean curd in black tea. Next time I visit Kuala Lumpur, I will make it a point to visit a Purple Cane Restaurant.