Loose leaf tea room · Marian Road, Calabar
Slow down.
The kettle is already on.
Fourteen loose leaf teas from the Mambilla highlands and beyond, a proper afternoon tea, and a quiet plum room in the middle of Calabar.
Since 2019
Seven years of pouring tea on Marian Road, two minutes from Watt Market.
Silverleaf began with one tin of Mambilla black tea and a borrowed kettle. Today it is a calm, light filled room with twelve tables, a wall of tins and a pastry kitchen that starts baking at six.
We brew every pot to order, with water at the right heat and a timer on the tray, so the tea tastes the way the grower meant it to.
Our storyThe flavour wheel
Not sure what to order? Follow your nose.
Choose the flavours you already love, from honey to ginger, and the wheel shows you the teas that carry them.
Spin the wheel to find your cup
Every tea we pour sits somewhere on this wheel. The inner ring holds six flavour families; the outer ring holds the notes you will actually taste.
- Tap a family to see every tea that belongs to it.
- Tap a note, like ginger or honey, to narrow it down.
- The wheel turns so your choice sits under the marker.
Fourteen teas, eighteen notes. Ask at the counter for a tasting spoon of anything here.
Spin the wheel to find your cup
Every tea we pour sits somewhere on this wheel. The inner ring holds six flavour families; the outer ring holds the notes you will actually taste.
- Tap a family to see every tea that belongs to it.
- Tap a note, like ginger or honey, to narrow it down.
- The wheel turns so your choice sits under the marker.
Fourteen teas, eighteen notes. Ask at the counter for a tasting spoon of anything here.
How a pot is made here
Three small rituals, done properly every time
Weighed, never guessed
Every pot gets its leaf weighed on a little brass scale: two and a half grams a cup for black tea, two for green. Too little and it is thin; too much and it turns bitter.
Water at the right heat
We keep three kettles at three temperatures. Green tea gets 80 degrees, oolong 90, black tea and herbals a rolling boil. It is the single biggest difference you will taste.
A timer on every tray
Your pot arrives with a small sand timer. When it runs out, pour everything into your cup or the second pot, so the last cup is as good as the first.
Afternoon tea
Three tiers, one long, unhurried afternoon
Fish rolls with Calabar pepper butter, warm scones with pineapple jam, cocoa tart and a pot of any tea from the wall.
- The Marian
- ₦18,500 a person
- The Garden
- ₦17,000, vegetarian
- Little guest
- ₦9,000, under twelve
Guests say
Kind words from the tables
“I came for one pot and stayed for the whole afternoon. The cocoa chai is the best thing on Marian Road.”
“We booked the golden hour seating for my mother’s seventieth. They remembered her name and the cake was perfect.”
“The flavour wheel is a clever idea. I always thought I disliked green tea, and now I order the highland green every week.”
From the journal
Notes on tea, from our counter to your kitchen
Visit
Find us on Marian Road
22 Marian Road, Calabar, Cross River State (example address)
Two minutes from Watt Market, with parking in the side lane and a generator that keeps the kettles on through every outage.
Directions and hours- Tuesday to Friday
- 10am to 8pm
- Saturday
- 9am to 9pm, carnival season to 11pm
- Sunday
- 12pm to 7pm, after church
- Monday
- Closed, we are blending
Tables for walk ins every day. Afternoon tea by booking. Pay by bank transfer, POS or cash.
Example details for this demo.