Between those Christmas puddings, ports and hefty wedges of Stilton, we could all use a post-crimbo detox. I refuse to live on cabbage soup, but I am prepared to trade lattes for tea with medicinal oomph.

Start the day with this super detoxifying blend ($7) of lychee, lemon, flowers, Kombucha and Green Tea from Toronto’s tea kings, Tealish. 728 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-203-3301 www.tealish.com

Packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, Sea Buckthorn ($5.99) is a superhero in the plant world with healing properties as long as the Great Wall.  At www.noahsnaturalfoods.ca

With delicious ingredients including cinnamon, ginger and licorice, cardamom, clove and black pepper, this tea ($30) from Teaopia warms the cockles, cleanses and calms. At www.teaopia.ca —Athena Tsavliris

The city has coffee bars and tea lounges aplenty, but where to go for an energy boosting shot of yerba mate?

Look no further than El Almacen, Toronto’s first yerba mate café. Made from the leaves of a tree that’s in the same family as holly, Argentina’s national drink tastes a bit like green tea and is loaded with anti-oxidants.

At Almacen, your mate is served in a traditional cured gourd with a bombilla (a filter-tipped metal straw) to sip it from.

Mate can be drunk at any time of the day, but the most important part of the tradition is that it’s drunk en masse.

Get your Gaucho and head on over.

El Almacen, 1078 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-516-2898.

With the humble postcard making a comeback after years of being stamped out, we’ve discovered an original way to send one.

A London company, Postcard Teas, will send your postcard affixed to a lovely bag of loose teas.

Simply choose your tea from the wide selection, fill out the virtual postcard, and they will print it out and post your tea anywhere around the world.

It’s such a charming way to say ‘Thank you,’ ‘I miss you’ or ‘Let’s meet for a cuppa’ – and far more personal than a speedy tweet or text could ever be.

www.postcardteas.com

Whether you take it strong and sweet or light and lemony, tea is the perfect feel-good bevy for those blistery winter days ahead.

With tea shops sprouting up all over town, getting a good cuppa is easier than ever. But true connoisseurs know to head to the House of Tea, where even the pickiest drinker can find the perfect blend among the hundreds of green tins that line the shop walls. Owner Marisha Golla’s credentials as a tea taster in her native Sri Lanka mean you are in good hands.

We leave armed with a classic Earl Grey, a lemony herbal brew and a delightful Rooibos Chocolate Truffle for those special Sunday afternoons by the fire.

House of Tea, 1017 Yonge St., Toronto, 416-922-1226, www.houseoftea.ca

Unlike Karl Marx who only drank herbal tea (“all proper tea is theft”) we like our tea black, strong and sweetened with a dash of milk and honey.

Lately, we’ve taken to bringing our loose leaves to work in a handy thermos ($23.95) made by B.C.-based Libre.

Totally leak-proof and made with a BPA-free polypropylene cap and filter, the glass vessel brings a touch of style to our mid-morning tea break.

Friday was Assam and violet petals, today is smoked Lapsong. And tomorrow? Perhaps a delicate tisane in honour of Mr. Marx.

Purchase online through www.libretea.com

In a crisis, Brits brew tea. It’s true, “Let’s have a cuppa” is the standard British reaction to most dramas.

Keep your pot of Tetley warm with a sweet, homespun cozy ($65) from Kenana Knitters. Made in Kenya using all-natural, eco-friendly yarns, our favourite is the bah bah black sheep.

Put one under the tree for the black sheep of the family, perhaps?

Available at Fawn Ceramics & Home, 55 Mill St., Toronto, 416-861-9988, www.fawnceramics.com

We’ve all heard about the medicinal benefits of loose-leaf tea—ginger pumps the circulation, green reduces wrinkles and peppermint eases upset bellies.

Get your daily cuppa ($2-$2.50) at All Things Tea, a new independent teahouse on busy Bloor Street.

With over 150 varieties to choose from there are enough teas to impress a maharajah. Pick from unusual blends like Pumpkin Spice and Strawberries and Cream or savour the classic flavour of a smooth Earl Grey.

Teas are organized by category (green, white, black, rooibos, rare) and are stored in glass jars on floor to ceiling shelves.

À votre santé.

All Things Tea, 476 Bloor St. W., Toronto.

It's Mother's Day on Sunday and even if you've already splurged on something special there's no harm in accumulating more brownie points and treating her to a spot of afternoon tea.

Herewith, our favourite Toronto tea rooms.

By far the prettiest teahouse in the city, The Red Tea Box brews more than 32 varieties of tea served with delectable bento boxes, cakes and tartlets. 696 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-203-8882.

For a proper old-fashioned tea parlour, take mother to Madeleines, Cherry Pie and Ice Cream. From fruity tarts to macaroons, she won’t be disappointed. 1087 Bathurst St, 416-537-3131, www.madeleines.ca

The tearoom at the Windsor Arms is elegant, quiet and refined. Nibble on smoked salmon sandwiches and scones with berries and whipped cream. 18 St. Thomas St., 416-971-9666, www.windsorarmshotel.com

For a more informal tea-for-two, grab a table at Moonbean in Kensington Market. More than 30 loose leaf teas, springy banana bread, moist carrot cake and delicious vegan cookies will send mama over the moon. 30 St. Andrew, Toronto, 416-595-0327, www.moonbeancoffee.com

“Placeres cotidianos” – “daily pleasures”, is how Sandra Rojas-Chinni describes the contents of her creamy-white boîte on Adelaide.

From scrumptious alfajores (butter cookies welded together with a dollop of dulce de lece) to stylish stemware, stationery and scented candles, at La Merceria every little item is carefully curated.

Sip tea (provided by Tealish, $2.25), nibble on croissants (from Clafouti, $1.95), and take home some hand-milled lavender soap ($15.99).

Doesn’t life feel lovelier already?

La Merceria, 506 Adelaide St. W., 416.848.0057, www.lamerceria.ca