The Art of Tea
There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.~ Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady
Tea Time at The Thistle Hotel
It's no secret that I am a Tea Drinker. I've never developed a taste for coffee and only rarely does brewing coffee even smell good to me. I am indifferent to coffee. If I'm out and can't get a decent cup of tea (and in the US, that is most of the time when I'm out of my house), I'll settle for a cup of hot chocolate.* And, despite what you may have heard here and there about my alcohol drinking habits, in times of emotional distress, or to soothe tiredness, or just lift my spirits, it's tea I want, every time.
Crabtree & Evelyn Tea
Tea soothes and stimulates. You can relax with a cup of tea. And when you're on vacation, there are few things so decadent and relaxing as being able to stop for a cup of tea whenever you want it, with whatever you want with it ... a scone, a gateau, a sandwich, something sweet, gooey, plain... Tea!
There is a prejudice against tea drinkers in this country. In the office where I work is a coffee machine with a selection of about a dozen different kinds of coffee -- vanilla flavored, Italian roast, French blend, hazelnut... you name it. And the coffee machine that makes it uses those little cup things you put in the slot and the hot water comes out, runs through the k-cup and makes coffee. But when you put a tea bag in a cup and press for hot water, the water comes through the same spigot where the k-cup has been resting and making coffee, so your tea water comes out through left over coffee. Yuck! It takes me a good 15 minutes to clean out the stupid machine to let the water run through clear enough to make tea that isn't coffee-flavored. And even then, the water isn't really hot enough.
Spoiled coffee drinkers!
But everywhere we went on our last trip to England, we had lovely tea. We had nice tea at breakfast in the B&B. And each day, after a few hours of sight seeing or wandering, we'd stop for a "nice cream tea." We started to feel like Pippin in Lord of the Rings, where he recites the order of meals: breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, tea time and supper. Some days it felt like we were eating them all. All different teas and all different scones in all different places.
A lot of places were particularly nice. The Thistle Hotel in Stratford-on-Avon had a lovely courtyard, full of flowers where we had a very nice tea, with sandwiches and scones.
The Thistle Courtyard
And Stow-on-the-Wold had a nice little tea shop on the square, where the scones were hot and fresh and the clotted cream was divine!
Ann Willows Tea Shop
Another late morning we went to the Market Day in the town of Moreton-on-Marsh and it was rather drizzly weather, so we soon stopped for tea at a small shop. This shop had their own blend of tea. It was so wonderful, I bought a bag to bring home with me. It's gone already and now I'm sorry I didn't buy more.
One of our big treats was to have a formal champagne tea at one of Britain's Top 50 Places for Tea, Benson's in Stratford-on-Avon. It was, indeed, a lovely tea.
Tea at Bensons
The tea they served at Benson's was also excellent, and I went to their shop which sold tea, pots, cozies, etc. and bought some of their Stratford Blend.
Another view of Tea at Bensons
MaryAnn and I also made our own Stratford Blend by combining the two boxes of Twinings tea bags we bought in Somerfield's supermarket in town. She had bought English Breakfast tea; I bought Assam. Throwing both types into a pot made a perfect combination.
Have a sandwich with your cuppa!
Alas, that tea is also all gone. Time for another trip to England.
Oh yes, that's right. We have one scheduled! Until then, at tea time the current favorite available here: Tetley’s British Blend!
Tea of the Evening, Glorious Tea!
*I can recommend Dunkin' Donuts hot chocolate.
