Tea Blog

Many of you work the Monday-through-Friday routine where you get a short break once or twice a day to savor a nice cup of tea. This also means you look forward to the weekends as your time to enjoy those things most special to you. For the tea lover, this means a chance to fully take in the aroma, color, and flavor of a special tea or two in an extended 2-day (Saturday and Sunday) tea break — or even a longer holiday weekend tea break!

In Britain and other countries, “tea” doesn’t just refer to the beverage. It refers to the whole process of preparing a potful, putting together various food items to eat with the tea, and setting everything up to enjoy both beverage and victuals. There is Afternoon Tea served around 4 pm usually on a coffee-table-height table and involving simple foods like bread and butter and cakes. And there is High Tea, originally served around 5 to 6 pm as an evening meal for people coming home from work and including meat dishes, that has morphed into the most fancy and expensive of tea times at many tea rooms here in the U.S. and elsewhere. Your extended weekend-long tea break can involve all of this and more.

Some great weekend tea break activities:

• Re-organize your stock of teas. If you’re like me, you shove new teas into the pantry or cupboard wherever they fit. Thus, an oolong could end up on the green tea shelf or the spiced chais could get “infiltrated” by other flavored teas (if the container each tea is in is airtight, no problem; otherwise, aromas could “travel” from one to another).
• Visit a tea shop or tea room in your area, put all serious thoughts about your job out of your head, and take in the sights and aromas and tastes around you. Then, weather permitting, walk off the cheesecake, puddings, scones and jam, or heartier dishes consumed with the tea.
• Go online and read blogs like this one about tea, learning more facts and increasing your enjoyment thereby.
• Try a new recipe for a cake, casserole, milkshake or other delightful treat made with tea.
• Hold an intimate tea party with a few friends and/or family. As we come into nicer weather, an outdoor event is even better. You can enjoy gentle breezes, birds singing, and — uh, well, a neighbor’s lawnmower (part of our modern world) while sipping on your favorite chilled or iced tea.

Whatever you choose, don’t let that glorious weekend time slip away. It will refresh you for the inevitable Monday morning to come. Enjoy!

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