Almond Tea (also known as Tea Blossom) is a character from the Strawberry Shortcake franchise. She is one of Strawberry's friends from the country of China Cup.
General Information[]
1980s[]
Almond Tea was one of the many new friends met by Strawberry Shortcake during her trip around the world immediately before the 1983 TV special. A native of the Asian country of China Cup, Almond Tea returned the favor and visited Strawberryland to help Strawberry Shortcake celebrate her move into her Berry Happy Home with a big, huge housewarming party.
2003[]
Tea Blossom was re-introduced as one of the international friends in the 2003 series. She lives in an antique shop from China Cup that serves herbal tea. Strawberry met her in the direct-to-DVD special, "World of Friends". She and the other international friends met and they all had been invited for the house party where Strawberry was having. Tea Blossom had trouble adapting to all the customs and foods in Strawberryland and got upset about it.
Personality[]
In 2003, she is Strawberry's friend from China and she stays at Strawberry's house. She is sweet, but shy. She has trouble adjusting to Strawberryland and the new lifestyle makes her anxious. She's nervous and tentative. She is a crybaby and whines in her younger years. She is polite and has good manners. She meets Peppermint Fizz when she and Strawberry are traveling across the world. Tea Blossom and Peppermint get along, and Strawberry is happy to see her friend after several years. She lets them stay at her house over night and then helps them find a boat across the ocean. She doesn’t realize that the boat captain is actually the Purple Pieman, but then again she has never met The Purple Pieman.
Appearance[]
1980s[]
Almond Tea is a young Chinese girl with dark short bob hair with a yellow lily hat atop her head. She wears a purple vest with a floral, long-sleeved shirt underneath. Almond Tea also wears lavender pants with green-striped socks, and purple Mary Janes.
2003[]
Tea Blossom re-appears, but this time with dark purple hair and purple eyes. She wears a purple and green cheongsam with cuffed jeans along traditional platform sandals. Her hair is tied into odango buns, but as a teenager, it is tied into pigtails along the rest of it is long and down past her waist.
Pets[]
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In both the 1980s and 2003 generations, Almond Tea/Tea Blossom has a pet panda named Marza Panda. Marza Panda's gender has been a bit vague throughout their appearances in the franchise, being referred to with both he/him and she/her pronouns. While they can be friendly, Marza Panda also tends to be vain, selfish, and dignified. They are also rumored to be descended from panda royalty.
In the 1980s, Marza Panda resembles a teddy bear. They have a white (or lavender, depending on the artwork) head and upper body, with the latter ending in a scalloped hem. Their ears, arms, lower body, and legs are purple, along the pads of their paws are white and circular. Their eye patches are also purple, along vary between being depicted as circular and depicted as flower-shaped. They have black bead eyes and a black heart-shaped nose. They wear a lime green ribbon around their neck.
In the 2003 design, Marza Panda looks more like a real panda. Their ears, arms, upper body, legs, and tail are purple, along their head and lower body are white. Their eyes have lavender irises, and are surrounded by circular purple eye patches. They have a purple triangular nose and round dark purple paw pads. They wear a lime green ribbon around their neck, which is decorated with a flower that has an orange center along five pink and white-edged petals.
Trivia[]
General[]
- Her pet Marza Panda's name is a pun on marzipan, a confection made from sugar, honey, and ground almonds.
1980s[]
- Almond is the third non-white character in the 1980s series, after Orange Blossom and Cafe Ole.
- Almond is the only International Friend to never speak in any of her appearances.
2003[]
- This is the only incarnation of the character to speak.
Gallery[]
1980s[]
Artwork[]
Screenshots[]
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2003[]
Artwork[]
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Screenshots[]
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Merchandise[]
