Are you planning to visit the best spots for afternoon tea on your next trip to Paris? The City of Light has long been a hot spot for tea and the Parisians love affair for the beverage is getting more passionate by the day.It may surprise you to learn that ladies in Paris were drinking…
Best Afternoon Tea in Chicago
Afternoon tea is hotter than ever in Chicago. From the glittering hotels along Michigan Avenue to the friendly tea stores of the suburbs, residents and visitors alike can be seen drinking tea all day long. Tea is everywhere, and served any way you desire: hot or cold, fast or slow, green or black, in porcelain…
Best Afternoon Tea in Montreal
Where do you go for the Best Afternoon Tea in Montreal? This is one of my favorite North American cities because it’s filled with art, food, history, and tea - all infused with a bit of la bonne vie, the good life. Here are a few of my suggestions for seeing the city with tea on…
Tea in a Time of War
Cafe owner pours tea in a London street. As German bombs fell on London in September 1939, the British tea industry faced a dilemma it had feared for some time. How would they protect the commodity that fueled an empire? That fuel was tea. Lord Woolton, Minister of Food, recounted the tumultuous time: “When…
The Traditional British Cup of Tea Is Changing
The UK needs to nurture younger tea drinkers.The traditional English cup of tea, once considered a necessary luxury, is undergoing its biggest change since tea was first advertised for sale in London in 1657. British tea consumption has fallen from 2.5 ounces per person per week to less than an ounce. That means Britons are drinking…
Finding Tea Nirvana in the Shadow of Mt Fuji – Day 1
I hosted the Japanese American Society of Kentucky in my retail store on a Sunday morning in October where I gave a short lecture on Okakura Kakuzo and The Book of Tea. I ended my talk by telling my Japanese guests that I hoped very much to visit their country someday.Pay attention to what you…
Carson’s Guide to Tea at Downton Abbey
Indeed, Carson was well-schooled in the myriad duties entrusted to his care at Downton Abbey. If a question of protocol did arise, he surely had the butler's bible of the day sitting on his desk. Published in London in 1823, The Footman's Directory and Butler's Remembrancer contained the answers to every bit of etiquette minutiae…
A Poetic Riddle in a Teacup
British Prime Minister William Gladstone If you are cold, tea will warm you; If you are too heated, it will cool you; If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you. This famous tea quotation is attributed to British Prime Minister William Gladstone (1809–1898) whose public career lasted…
Results of the Teas of the United States Competition Held in Hawaii
The international panel of judges - Jane Pettigrew, Kevin Gascoyne, Bruce Richardson and, Selena Ahmed - pose with event organizer Eva Lee (center) in front of the TOTUS Awards display at Volcano Village, Hawaii.The first Teas of the United States (TOTUS) competition was held on the Big Island of Hawaii November 4-7. I was delighted…
How to Clean a Teapot
Brown Betty TeapotThe English homemaker of the last century followed a simple ritual for washing her Brown Betty teapot. After use, the teapot was emptied of its spent leaves, rinsed with hot water, and turned upside down in the sink to dry. The Brown Betty was a common utensil in the home kitchen - or…