Gong Fu Tea

Des Moines, Iowa

With fall officially commencing last Friday, we've been observing that the hours of daylight are slowly beginning to decrease. This prompted us to share our favorite tea that provides that extra boost of energy we sometimes need in the fall and winter months, Organic 500 Mile Chai.  The tea's name originates from the many late night truck drivers stopping at small chai stands along India's highways asking for a very strong and sweet brew to help them drive long distances ("for another 500 miles"). Organic 500 Mile Chai is a blend of small leaf black tea, dried ginger, cloves and cinnamon.  
 
We discovered this delicious tea at one of our favorite tea shops, Gong Fu Tea.  They offer a broad selection of fine teas, including one of our staples - Spice Tea, as well as lovely teaware.

http://www.gongfu-tea.com/

Pars Persian Store

Chicago, Illinois

It seems lovely fall weather has arrived providing us with the perfect reason to enjoy even more tea! We've been busy refilling our tea tins and wanted to share one of our favorite neighborhood tea shops, Pars.  Unfortunately, Pars does not have a website which means that if you do not live in Chicago you will just have to add this to your list of reasons to visit this great city :)

Pars carries much more than tea (everything from specialty foods and spices to home goods and more) but we go there for their wonderful (and inexpensive) selection of loose leaf teas and tea accessories.  They have shelves lined with containers of tea - the equivalent of a tea 'candy store' - complete with the scoop to fill your bag with as much tea as you can afford to take home! Some of our favorites include the English breakfast tea and green flowering teas (which are individually sold so you can take home a variety to sample).

Peter Rabbit Tea

We were thrilled to become first time aunts in May, and could hardly wait to plan a baby shower tea party in honor of our sister, Nicki, and our new nephew, Sam :) With a shared love of Beatrix Potter, we had such fun designing our tea party around this theme.

We paired our menu items with our
favorite Beatrix Potter characters.
(Lindsey's boyfriend kindly drew
impromptu illustrations on our
tea party signage)

A darling Beatrix Potter cupcake kit
with cupcake paper liners and toothpicks
was the perfect decoration for
Mr. McGregor's carrot cupcakes.

We were not brave enough to attempt making our scones
from scratch, so we purchased Sticky Fingers cranberry
scone mix - the next best thing! We did spring for
homemade devonshire cream though :)

Our menu included one of our
favorite childhood recipes: mud pies
named in our nephew's honor.

Our tea buffet

We purchased an eclectic mix of tea cups and invited guests
to take their tea cups home with them as a tea party favor.

We personalized the tea cups with each guest's name.

Our baby shower tea favor included a tiny tin of Muggswigz
Earl Grey tea.  We decorated the tins with green jute ribbon
and Peter Rabbit gift tags.

Our father, master gardener and
landscaper extraordinaire, designed
baskets that perfectly complemented
our Peter Rabbit theme.

Thanks to Etsy's vendors and Pottery Barn Kids for their lovely selection of Beatrix Potter decorations :)

The Amherst Rose: Afternoon Tea with Jane Pettigrew - Day 2

The second day of our weekend of tea featured an afternoon tea buffet followed by a tea tasting and discussion of how to brew a proper pot of tea.

  

 

 

We can not think of a better way to spend a leisurely weekend then with two consecutive days of afternoon tea! The second day of our tea weekend was the perfect sequel. The tea buffet was so beautifully prepared and displayed that we almost hated to eat any of the delicious looking treats. After being served tea and filling our plates from the buffet, our tea host, Mary Jane, passed around mini tea cups and introduced us to her Zojirushi tea kettle. The Zojirushi immediately won us over and has now been added to our list of must-have tea accessories.

While Mary Jane prepared our first tea, Jane Pettigrew handed out Tea Tasting worksheets that listed the teas we would be sampling: Camellia Joy white flowering tea, Huang Shan Mao Feng green tea, Dong Ding oolong tea, Tregothnan English tea, and Charleston Tea Plantation black tea. There was room on our handouts to take notes on the following characteristics of each tea: Appearance of Dry Leaf, Appearance of Liquor, Aroma of Liquor, Taste of Liquor, Appearance of Wet Leaf, Aroma of Wet Leaf, and a Comments Section in which we noted the proper brewing time and water temperature for each variety of tea.

As we sampled the tea, Jane Pettigrew provided us with a background on each tea that included the process used to prepare the leaves which establishes the tea's classification: white, green, oolong or black tea. All of the teas were delicious, and we were extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to sample the first flush black tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation, which is owned by the Bigelow family. We learned that the Charleston Plantation has a walk-through tea factory which allows you to see the process in which the tea is prepared as well as a trolly tour of the tea fields. We can hardly wait to plan our visit!

http://amherstrose.com/

The Amherst Rose: Afternoon Tea with Jane Pettigrew - Day One

The first day of our weekend of tea featured a five course afternoon tea followed by a discussion of the social history of tea.

 

The Amherst Rose is a charming home that hosts private tea parties and scheduled tea events. We were fortunate to be able to attend a weekend of afternoon tea at The Amherst Rose with British Tea Specialist, Jane Pettigrew.

When arriving at The Amherst Rose you immediately see the beautiful gardens surrounding the brightly painted property. You enter through the front door into a delightful tea shop selling various tea accoutrements. Upon our arrival, Mary Jane, owner of The Amherst Rose and host of our tea weekend, greeted us personally and made us feel very welcome.

When we entered the tea room itself there was one long central table surrounded by smaller tables. Resting at each place setting, was a small canvas with a picture of a tea cup personalized with each guest's name. A gift bag was placed on each chair containing lovely tea accessories.

We were seated at the long central table and were immediately served a homemade vanilla cream and rosewater sparkling soda. We enjoyed chatting with fellow guests who had traveled from Canada, Michigan, Pittsburgh and various other locations for the tea event.

We were served a five course tea, of which we enjoyed every last course. Some of our favorites included the pork tenderloin sandwich, Kensington Palace scones and garden medley quiche.

Our Five Course Tea Menu:

Vanilla Cream and Rosewater Sparkling Soda
French Vanilla Cupcake with Rosewater Frosting

Three Cheese Soup
Kensington Palace Scones
Lemon Curd and Double Devonshire Cream
Strawberry Rose Preserves

Tarragon Chicken Salad on Croissants
Cucumber and Dilled Cream Cheese Rounds
Garden Medley Quiche
Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Savory Sauce

Double Chocolate Raspberry Truffles
Turkish Delight
Petite Creme Brulee
Rose and Pistachio Gelato
 
After finishing our five courses, our tea host, Mary Jane, introduced the guest of honor, Jane Pettigrew. Jane then began her discussion of A Social History of Tea. Jane's presentation was very lovely and informative. We enjoyed learning how tea was introduced in Britain and America, and how it became, and continues to be, a part of both countries' culture.  Some of our favorite tidbits we learned included the origin of the word tip (to insure promptness), and "noonshine" which was one of the original names for lunch.
 
After the presentation, Jane Pettigrew was available to autograph her books, which were happily sold in The Amherst Rose's gift shop.

http://amherstrose.com/

Travelers Who Tea Celebrates Its One-Year Anniversary!

We are so excited to celebrate our one-year anniversary in June! And what better way to celebrate than by attending a weekend of tea with Jane Pettigrew at The Amherst Rose.

The Ritz-Carlton Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio

Best Takeaways and Loveliest Piano Music

Lindsey's recent birthday included a surprise afternoon tea at The Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland.  What a wonderful way to spend a gray, Sunday afternoon (or really any afternoon).

Entrance: After taking the elevator to the 6th floor, you arrive in the lobby of The Ritz-Carlton hotel. Beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling create a lovely, sparkly ambiance.

Greeting: A charming Ritz employee escorted us to a quaint room where the tea-ers are seated.  Upon entering the room we were greeted and shown to our table.  As we were the first to arrive for tea, we were seated at the best table which was directly across from the gorgeous roaring fireplace.  The early bird gets the best tea table!

Service: As contrary to other tea services, we did not have tea pots on our table.  Instead, the servers poured us tea from communal tea pots which were placed on a table in the center of the room. The servers were excellent and we never got to the bottom of our cup before it was quickly refilled. Our tea was never cold and we were very impressed with the constant attention.  The servers first brought out a plate of sandwiches within minutes of us sitting down (although we had arrived a little early). Long before we finished the sandwiches, our server brought out a three-tiered server with scones and desserts.

Presentation: Our table was beautifully set with cream, sugar and a trio of jellies and honey. The beautiful presentation matched the elegant surroundings.

Table decor: Our matching tea ware was a lovely floral pattern fitting for the upcoming Spring season.  I adored the trio of jellies on the table.  The gorgeous tiered server and tea pot were silver and adorned with a lion at the top (a symbol from The Ritz-Carlton logo).

Aesthetics: An inviting and warm atmosphere was enhanced by lighting from the marble fireplace and chandeliers.  A plush floral carpet with rich draperies were perfectly fitting for a luxurious afternoon tea. The room was filled with dark wood tables with various arrangements complemented by an array of beautiful settees, sofas and chairs. Ornate picture frames decorated the wood paneled walls. A large parlor table sat in the center of the room with a lush plant surrounded by an array of tea pots.

Tea Quality: Our tea selections were The Ritz-Carlton Blend (Blue Sapphire) and the Vanilla tea.  We both took our tea with cream and sugar and thoroughly enjoyed every sip!

Tea Variety: The Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland offers 7 tea choices: The Ritz-Carlton Blend (Blue Sapphire), Special Rare Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Vanilla, Peppermint Tisane, Green Jasmine, and Cherry Sencha.

Food Quality and Variety: Our first course included 4 finger sandwiches: smoked salmon, cucumber (Lindsey's favorite), sliced egg, and black forest ham (Lindsey's tea companion's favorite).

The next course was a three-tiered server with a variety of desserts and scones.  The scone course featured an elderberry scone and pineapple upside down cake.  For the pastry/dessert course, they served espresso caramel cashew cake, pomegranate poached baby pears, and banana cream tartlets.

Since it was Lindsey's birthday, she received an extra course - a chocolate covered strawberry, caramel and cashew cake (with a lit candle in it) and a Happy Birthday chocolate!

Music: The entire tea service was accompanied by a lovely pianist. He played soft melodies appropriate to the relaxing setting. The pianist also kindly played "Happy Birthday" for the patrons celebrating their special day!

Lighting: The chandelier lighting and glow from the fireplace were appropriate for an afternoon spent leisurely sipping tea.

Bathroom: There were two bathrooms located near the tea service; both featured marble walls, grand stalls and cloth disposable hand towels.  Lovely floral pictures accented the bathroom walls, and Lindsey was told the men's room featured a picture of a polo player.

Takeaways: The lovely hostess allowed us to take home a menu insert along with the trio of jellies on the table. The hostess wrapped up the leftovers and put them in a charming Ritz-Carlton bag.

Price: Average

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Cleveland/Dining/TheLobbyLounge/Menu.htm