Tea time in Woodstock

WORDS Maciek Dubla PHOTOS Fay Jackson

Lees in Afrikaans.

What started out as tea from a caravan has become Cape Town’s newest escape in the form of Lady Bonin’s Tea Parlour. Maciek Dubla chats to Jessica Bonin about her charming revamp on a shoestring, which relied heavily on resourcefulness, DIY and the Milnerton Market.

Jessica Bonin never intended to make tea her career. Tea chose her. Over the past two years, Lady Bonin’s Tea Parlour caravan has traversed the country, attending festivals and giving partygoers a magical escape with her brand of personalised tea blends. 

Now, the wandering gypsy has found a home for herself and her many loose-leaf tea lovers. Tucked away in the newly renovated Woodstock Exchange is the new Lady Bonin’s Tea Parlour.

“Initially, I wanted to start a café and tea was the way through which I could embody the feeling and emotion I wanted in the café,” Jessica explains sitting at the large high-rise table in the shop. “I wanted it to be a place where people could share worlds, share moments, escape from the world and use it for the means they wanted.”

Wanting to recreate the atmosphere of her caravan while combining industrial-meets-bohemian old-world character, Jessica sought the help of carpenter Gene Kierman, someone with a keen creative eye who got her concept immediately.

The mobile mantelpiece at the centre of the shop serves as the focal point around which the entire shop is designed. This is the first piece Jessica bought for the shop and Gene built it into the design. Accustomed to working in a small space, the compact nature of the area allows her to have everything exactly where she needs it.  

A tight budget meant building design features at a fraction of the price. The multi-shaped floating shelves as well as the side tables were ideas she came across on Pinterest. The elements were found by scouring forests and places that sold cut-offs, mostly in throwaway piles of wood.

While you may not notice them immediately, Jessica has used the upside-down teacups as lights to avoid using the ghastly fluorescent tubes and creating a gentler, day-at-dusk ambience in the shop. These, along with the yesteryear travellers’ suitcases poking from the wall, were found at the Milnerton Market in Cape Town, a source of many of Jessica’s trinket hunts. She also isn’t shy to admit that it was she who took to the suitcases with a saw to create those nifty shelves.

Always having had seating on the floor whenever she served tea from her caravan, Jessica wanted to bring that feeling of outside in. The wooden palettes and the cushions were custom-made for the shop. She sourced the fabric from Ashanti (135 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock) and the couches were made at Dexter Furnitures (302 Albert Road, Woodstock).

Jessica’s teas are not only about the health benefits and about bringing people together, but they are also about the individual experience with Jessica priding herself on her blends – particularly ones that she creates to resonate with each person she serves.

“I have a lot of fun playing with spices and herbs trying to embody personalities and moods in the actual tea. For a lot of my clients I offer to make them a blend that represents them,” says Jessica.

When asked what tea blend would best represent VISI, Jessica suggests Oolong. It’s an elegant tea with the best of several worlds. Caught between black and green tea, it contains certain properties of both, but an entity on its own. It blends beautifully with a lot of herbs and spices, but there are only particular ones that work well with it. It has its own style, but it’s adaptable.

“How’s that?” she asks.

Us: down to a t(ea). 

Unit A11b Woodstock Exchange (previously Woodstock Industrial Centre), 66 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, www.ladybonin.com