Like steam engines and cryogenically frozen sea monkeys, tea leaves come to life with just a little hot water. Harness the transformative power of hydration with today’s Groupon to The Tea Room. Choose between the following options:

• For $8, you get tea for up to four people (up to a $17.20 total value, including tax) that includes:
• Two pots of loose-leaf french-pressed tea (a $3.81 value each)

• Up to four baked goods (a $1.90 value each)

• For $8, you get $16 worth of loose-leaf tea and tea accessories.<p>

A student-owned and operated zero-waste café dedicated to fostering ecological responsibility, The Tea Room keeps cockles warmed with more than 30 types of organic, fair-trade teas along with baked goods and a host of tea accessories. Quartets of noshers can engage in relaxed breeze-shooting over sips of loose-leaf french-pressed tea served in sentient pots that dispense steeped sippables between choruses of “Tip me over and pour me out!” Forged from locally sourced ingredients when available, a dulcet lineup of baked goods including muffins, cookies, and scones keeps sweet teeth sated. Alternatively, shoppers can scoop up take-home tea wares, such as Numi boxed tea ($8.50) available in a rainbow of steepable flavours. Travel mugs ($15+) facilitate in-car hydration, and a bamboo-themed Sigg water bottle ($16) keeps liquids contained while attracting jealous stares from passing pandas.

A number of environmental programs reflect The Tea Room’s allegiance to green practices, such as in-house vermicomposting that employs red wiggler worms to chow down on waste, effectively keeping garbage out of landfills and worms out of trouble. Real-time energy tracking enables customers to monitor the store’s power consumption, and the zero consumer waste initiative eliminates the need for the café to use garbage cans as all cups, packaging, and utensils are made from compostable or recyclable materials.